They seem to be in freefall since their manager left to Aberdeen in February. Since hiring Steve Robinson they’ve played 8 and lost 7 of them, the only win being a 1-0 win over Dundee FC. Four of those games have been against the clear top 3 this season (Celtic, Rangers and Hearts), and only one against a team in the bottom 6 (the win against bottom placed Dundee FC). They’ve also only scored 6 in those games whilst conceding 19. Still, they were looking at 6th place when Robinson left, now they’re only 6 points off relegation.
From Flying Kiwis. But that did allow for wholesale changes just after the hour with Greive and Connor Main brought on at the same time as Rangers’ on-loan Manchester United winger Amad Diallo.
So how’d he go against the reigning Scottish champs? He definitely had a lot of defending to do against a strong team intent on more goals, Greive throwing himself into the match with his typical enthusiasm and energy. To the point where he got himself clattered by James Sands battling for a half-clearance at the back. That one rocked the jaw and he needed some treatment (to the frustrations of Rangers fans, whose team was on the attack).
Joe Aribo then scored an incredible fourth goal for RFC, given too much space on the edge of the area and boom what a goal. But Greive had a couple impressive moments in attack too. Peeling off to the left on 82’ the pass from Connor Ronan was probably a little heavy dragging Greive wider than he intended and that shot was blocked. Though five minutes later he dribbled infield from the left and ripped a quickfire shot that for a split second looked like it was gonna beat Allan McGregor inside the far post but nah the veteran keeper showed he’s still got it with a wonderful low diving save. Main then headed over from the resulting corner.
So St Mirren did have chances for a consolation goal in there. Just weren’t able to convert, not that it would’ve made a difference. 4-0 loss and that ends the first phase of the SPL. A couple months ago they looked like they might finish as high as fourth but now the Saints have dropped into the relegation rounds at the split. Got some work left to do to avoid the drop.
The Saints couldn't have wished for a better start - taking the lead with just four minutes on the clock. Charlie Adam inexplicably played the ball across the face of the Dundee box straight to Greive who knocked home from close range.
Danny Hay (rightly) noted the step up from A League but seriously compare the quality of the A League this weekend with some top draw goals and tactics on display vs the lower half of the SPL ….
It’s a passionate and fast paced league but I’m not seeing much else outside Celtic, Rangers and Hearts..
"Good things happen when Alex Greive plays football. St Mirren are fast learning that much after his assist last week gave them to a much-needed return to winning ways. That one came in his first start for a couple months and Greivesy wasn’t settling. He wanted more over the last few matches...
AG: “It was so good to get three points again. It’s been a while since we won a game, so we can breathe a sigh of relief and move on now. We knew there was going to be a bit of pressure but the way we looked at it was the pressure was on them. They needed to win to keep fighting. We came in knowing the pressure but we didn’t let it take too much of a thought in our minds. There’s definitely a lift of the pressure. We can look up the table now and try and get as many points as we can before the end of the season. That’s all we can do, so that’s our target, for sure. We’ll definitely try our best. Seventh is a realistic target that we can get and we’ll do everything we can to do it.”
And wouldn’t you know it the fella put his money right where his mouth is with a fourth minute strike to get things underway against Dundee. His second SPL goal and his third overall for the club. Taking full advantage of a superb cross perfectly into his path by Liverpool/Blackpool legend Charlie Adam. Only drama there was that Mr Adam happened to be playing for Dundee, not St Mirren.
Yeah... not really sure what he was thinking with that one. But shout out to Greivesy for being in the right place at the right time to capitalise as good strikers tend to do.
That goal came very early but it reflected a strong start for St Mirren. Connor Main had a header brilliantly saved while Greg Kiltie drove one narrowly wide. But they didn’t score a second and a speedy start to the second by Dundee, inspired by some typically sumptuous Charlie Adam set pieces, caused some havoc. One was nudged off the post after some scrambling in the box. Somehow escaped danger the there... and then Connor Main made it 2-0 with a thumping finish after being picked out in the area with a long ball in transition. 55 mins gone.
That second goal was the killer. St Mirren settled their nerves and looked much more comfortable the rest of the way, Alex Greive with a chance to double his personal tally after showing a clean set of heels down the left wing and slicing back into area... but he was isolated and his shot got crowded out by a couple defenders. Ended 2-0. Consecutive wins for the Buddies and with these three points they’re officially clear of any possibility of relegation with two games to play. Get in there.
Alex Greive, by the way, has an 18-month contract so he’s all signed up for next season... but would not be shocked if he gets an extension in the offseason."
Grieve starts and plays 60’ in a 2-1 pre-season win over Northern Irish champions Linfield. Alex opened the scoring in the 2nd minute. Interestingly, this Linfield team recently beat Qatar 1-0 in one of the strangest friendlies you’ll ever see.
Former Adelaide player Ryan Strain also started for St Mirren and Keanu Baccus of WSW will be joining them imminently.
Good news for Alex, as he extends his stay with St Mirren for another two years. He was initially signed on an 18 month deal halfway through last season.
Excellent news for the lad, he already seems a very popular figure at the club.
𝘽𝙪𝙯𝙯𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚.
We are delighted to announce that @alexgreive7 has agreed a new two-year deal with St Mirren. #OurStMirren
Comes off the bench in the 86th minute and manages to open his account for the season with the third goal in a 3-0 win. He replaced the guy who scored the first two goals. Greive's goal is a nice counter-attack from a defensive corner, with Greive managing to run onto a ball played into space and then slots the ball past the onrushing keeper. Highlights here.
So after two defeats to start the season for St Mirren, it's now back-to-back league victories. Things are not so great for Dundee Utd though, as they have a solitary point from an opening day draw at Kilmarnock, and have lost their last three matches 0-7 to AZ Alkmaar in UECL qualifying, 1-4 to Hearts, and today's 0-3. Alongside Strain and Baccus for St Mirren, Aziz Behich started for DU, while Mark Birighitti was on the bench, having been dropped after those heavy defeats.
Edit - Baccus starting. Strain & Greive on the bench. All played at Eden Park. Aussies galore in Scotland. Phillip Čančar (ex WSW) on bench for Livingston.
This week's Flying Kiwis. Greive is from Auckland so maybe he just personally chose to have an extra day(s) in the 09.
"Before the international break, St Mirren broke a 38-game unbeaten league streak of Celtic’s as they beat the perennial reigning champs 2-0 in a thrilling upset. But Alex Greive didn’t play, an unused sub on that occasion. After the international break, which he missed the first game of due to a late arrival and then played off the bench in Auckland in the second (including getting a set of sprigs to the ribcage from St Mirren teammate Keanu Baccus), Greive was apparently then late getting back to Scotland.
Weird one there because the two Aussies at the Buddies both arrived back on Wednesday local time. On the other hand, Greive didn’t get there until Friday which his coach Stephen Robinson wasn’t too chuffed with – ominously saying that he plans to have a word to NZ Football. Good luck with that, bruv.
SM coach Robinson: “Look, I’m a big supporter of international football and boys getting called up. I’ve worked at that level so I know how hard it is. But it’s been a bitty week. We haven’t had a full squad together to work with. But you can’t have everything. You can either have lads missing out on international squads and moan about it or you can see them get called up and moan about the travelling when they come back. The Aussie boys were back on Wednesday and trained that day. I’ll be speaking to Alex and New Zealand. I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation for it but I want to find out why he’s just [now] arriving back. That’s because I want everybody available and fit. We run with a small squad. We’ve got a couple of knocks with our strikers.”
It does seem odd that there’s a two day diffo between when the Aussies arrived and when Greive arrived – although if Danny Hay gets an angry voicemail then he can rightly point out that Greive was late in joining the All Whites squad as well so it goes both ways."
