Lack of killer instinct could prove fatal to St Mirren’s season
Published:
The international break will give managers up and down the Ladbrokes SPFL time to fine-tune their sides to iron out any wrinkles with around a quarter of the campaign gone.
And there are no prizes for guessing what St Mirren boss Ian Murray will have his sights set on in the 10 days before their next game with Livingston.
Conceding late goals has been a problem for the Buddies this term with nearly 40 per cent of strikes against them in the league coming in the final 15 minutes of matches.
But what’s even more widespread than that, is the Paisley outfit’s penchant for throwing away leads.
Indeed, shrewd punters could have made a killing backing them to discard a goal advantage in each of their Championship outings this term, the latest coming when conceding a 75th minute equaliser against Alloa.
On three other occasions have the Saints taken the lead, against Hibernian, Falkirk and Livingston, only to fail to pick up the three points,.
Staking £10 on this happening in every league game this season would have yielded a none-too-shabby profit of £127.50, and with Livi again coming from behind in the League Cup to win 3-2 that profit rises to £167.50 when all competitions are included.
If we lived in a parallel universe where football matches in the Ladbrokes Championship were brought to a close after 45 minutes, St Mirren’s season would be looking rather different.
A first-half league table would put them in fourth place this season on 10 points, behind just Rangers, Hibs and Falkirk, something that many fans would probably accept.
Two draws on the bounce may have provided a small amount of respite for their fans, but the fact remains that they still only have one win to their name from their last eight matches.
Whether it is under the tenure of Murray or someone else Ladbrokes believe that their sluggish start is unlikely to go on for much longer however.
A price of 10/11 on them making the promotion play-offs compared to the 6/4 on offer that a bottom half finish is in store suggests positives are to come.
However fail to become more clinical when they are in front and the play-off they could be contesting in May could be of a very different kind.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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