This piece is from yesterday's Buddies Briefing newsletter, which is emailed out at 6pm every Thursday. To receive our full, free St Mirren newsletter straight to your email inbox, click here.
I recall recently turning to a colleague and suggesting if St Mirren started with a back four against St Johnstone then it could be a long evening.
Fortunately, in recent weeks a 5-2-3 formation has been readopted by Stephen Robinson which actually allows for far more attacking impetus and creativity than when a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 system is selected.
Ahead of the victory over the Perth club, I had mused that the return to a formation with two wide 10s and one sole striker would bring stability and ensure the best possible chance of success this season.
On the limited data so far that appears to have been proven correct, well, unless you count the draw against Ross County a match in which I was expecting a lengthy VAR check to attempt to decipher what sport was being played at the SMiSA Stadium.
Putting the draw with Ross County to one side with the extenuating circumstances of it being a third match in six days, there is reason to be optimistic over the system change in recent weeks beyond keeping it tight against Rangers and beating St Johnstone in Paisley.
Against Hearts - the last outing before reverting to 5-2-3 - St Mirren registered a 0.26 xG (expected goals). That's dreadful.
Against Rangers at Ibrox it improved to 0.56 xG, and then in the win over St Johnstone it was 1.31.
More importantly, given it is the basis of all success, defensively St Mirren have been far more sound in recent weeks.
The 0.49 xG conceded against Ross County is the lowest this season, with the 0.65 xG against St Johnstone the third lowest. A marked improvement from the vast chances conceded to Hearts, Rangers, Dundee United, Motherwell, Dundee, Celtic, Aberdeen and even in the win over Hibs on the opening day of the Scottish Premiership season.
Take a step away from the laptop management and even purely on the eye test, St Mirren look an altogether different prospect in the 5-2-3 which is deceptively attacking.
Why is this? Well, there are a handful of reasons.
Starting from the back, there is familiarity in the system for the defence having played it all of last season and less sole responsibility with shared responsibility split across the backline.
It's a formation that allows time for Marcus Fraser, Alex Gogic and Marcus Fraser to advance out of defence and join the midfield while staying regimented when the ball is coming in the opposite direction.
More crucial, is the freedom the formation provides for the wing-backs to drive forward. Scott Tanser was a standout last term and has returned to that form in recent weeks - and the system is crucial to that.
Watch the number of times the ball is distributed to the left flank for Tanser to win a header and then advance into a left wing position. The same is not said for Elvis Bwomono who is more natural in a defensive only role.
That has led to a pivotal tweak from Robinson. It was evident at times last season but has become more pronounced this term.
Tanser is released and quickly the defence goes into a dreaded back four - only this time it works as it offers more attacking support.
Greg Kiltie is allowed to drift inside to take up a central 10 position, Tanser becomes the left winger, James Scott goes out to the right flank or has the option to gamble and move to be a second striker alongside Olusanya.
It's a far more balanced system and less crowded in the key areas like was seen when Olusanya and Mikael Mandron played together and ended up occupying the same spaces at times.
Mark O'Hara and Killian Phillips have the ability to burst into the box but aren't forced into overextending either as when the strikers were isolated in a front-two formation.
The only slight concern is the fact that Bwomono has been shoe-horned into a less comfortable role. In an ideal world, St Mirren would have a Tanser-like on the right as well meaning for easy shifting to a back four dependent on which side the attack began.
Had Shaun Rooney still be at the club and available for selection then a pendulum-style back five to four routine could have been optimised to allow for alternating attacks down both flanks.
That's not possible currently, evidenced by Robinson's frustrations at Bwomono's more measured and less explosive forward running.
Conor McMenamin was earmarked for the 10 position off the right flank, but against Ross County he was thrown on in the right wing-back slot - a clear measure of Robinson's intent to have flying wing-backs.
It'd be little surprise to see McMenamin preferred at wing-back over a more defensively sound option in home matches - albeit with Bwomono the expected starter against tougher opponents or away from home or matches when St Mirren won't have the luxury of seeing a lot of the ball.
