Taxi for Tommy!

One typical Tommy Craig pose...

At least Tommy Craig avoided the ignominy of having the shortest reign of any St. Mirren manager, but then it will take some doing to wrest that particular title away from Iain Munro, in charge for just 24 hours in September 1996.

In the end, Craig lasted less than seven months as boss in Paisley, presiding over just nineteen matches.  His record?  Three wins, three draws, thirteen defeats, thirteen goals scored, thirty-three goals conceded.  One of those wins came against League One Dunfermline in the League Cup.

Nineteen games doesn't seem like very long.  Yet it is a rather damning indictment of his reign that it feels like he could have been dismissed much earlier.

Part of that is because his appointment in the first place was utterly stupid.  Danny Lennon's departure in the summer was not unexpected, nor was it unjustified; whilst he had won the League Cup in 2013, St. Mirren never finished higher than eighth in his four seasons.  Until a very late resurgence in form at the end of last seasons, they were not so much flirting with a relegation playoff as inviting it around to the house for a nightcap.

and another typical Tommy Craig pose...

The Buddies seemed to have gone stale under Lennon, a likeable man (despite his weird references to himself in the third person during interviews) who got the team passing the ball around, but who struggled badly in the transfer market, too often bringing in players who should have been in the bin rather than the bargain bin.

St. Mirren needed new men and new ideas - and instead they went for Lennon's assistant, a man linked to the previous failed regime, whose managerial CV was not worth speaking about.  Sure, he had a good reputation as a coach, having previously assisted Billy McNeill at Celtic, Roy Aitken at Aberdeen and John Collins at Hibs, as well as seven years as first team coach at Newcastle.  As a manager, not so.  Aside from five years in charge of Scotland's under-21s in the nineties, the only other club he had managed was Belgian side Charleroi.  He only lasted nineteen games there, too.  At Charleroi he won only two.

...and another typical Tommy Craig pose...

His transfer market record has, unsurprisingly, been reminiscent of his predecessor's.  Whilst some of this is down to bad luck - Ellis Plummer has been injured, while former Derby prodigy Callum Ball has to spend more time getting his weight down than practicing his shooting - others certainly weren't.  The injury-prone Isaac Osbourne can't be trusted to play very often.  Meanwhile, anyone who has watched forward James Marwood (signed from Gateshead) will agree that he doesn't belong at this level, for example.  But Marwood's dad is the Chief Exec of Manchester City, who have loaned the club a few youngsters.  Coincidence?  I couldn't possibly say.

Meanwhile, on the field, they've been dreadful.  Of course, the injuries to talismanic forward Steven Thompson haven't helped.  Thompson has started only two league games, and was withdrawn at half-time due to injury in both.  Craig has sounded like a stuck record in interviews, blaming Thommohawk's absence for their impotence up front (only three league goals at home!).  But relying on a 36 year old striker was always going to be a risky strategy.  Craig didn't help himself with a curious announcement at the club's AGM a fortnight ago where he held up a piece of paper with, he claimed, the names of several strikers that he had tried and failed to sign in the summer.  But he refused to let anyone actually see the piece of paper!

Tactically, his master plan has not been clear.  I can't tell whether he wanted to them to play at a fast or slow tempo, with a direct style or a passing one, with an attacking or a defensive mindset, simply because they were so poor at keeping possession or holding their shape anyway.  Meanwhile, his recent decision to blood youngsters Jack Baird and Stevie Mallan was not a courageous move but a desperate one.  Neither looks ready for first team action, and many fans felt that, by playing them, Craig was trying to protect himself from criticism for bad results, as he could say "well, I'm playing a bunch of kids".  But debuting them away at Hamilton Accies, where the side were thumped 3-0, had a feeling of lambs to the slaughter about it.  And playing Thompson, just back from three months out, three times in eight days, resulting in another muscle strain this weekend, was a recipe for disaster, but that's how desperate things were at St. Mirren Park.

...and...well, you get the picture!

If there is one silver lining to be taken from this sorry situation, it is that St. Mirren are, remarkably, not adrift at the bottom of the table.  In fact, they're not even bottom, with goal difference keeping them above Ross County.  Motherwell are only two points better off.  But, having seen all three teams in recent weeks, there is a spirit and scrap about the other two clubs that St. Mirren simply don't have.  Craig's replacement has a job on his hands.  His first task must be to strengthen the squad, particularly in central defence and up front.  There are two very special players at the club - Kenny McLean and John McGinn - who have regressed this season, and who need to be revitalized.

But expect Motherwell (under a new manager themselves) and Ross County (with the benefit of their chairman's cheque book) to improve during the transfer window too.  Will St. Mirren's board be able to provide the funds required to build a squad capable of remaining in the Premiership?  Tommy Craig's terrible tenure has left St. Mirren in a terribly deep hole, which will take some climbing out of.  To most, and with justification, they are favourites for the drop.

Lawrie Spence has ranted and spouted his ill-informed opinions on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007.  He has a life outside this blog.  Honestly.