Buddie Banter: Losing Connor Ronan is a big blow but St Mirren have readymade replacement in Greg Kiltie

dailyrecord.co.uk:

I’ll be honest - I’m a sucker for a good old fashioned number 10.Football fans always seem to have a favourite player position.Some love a hard-working centre back, others prefer a flashy winger while a freescoring striker floats many a fan’s boat.For as long as I can remember it’s been attacking midfielders that have held my heart.Growing up it was Zinedine Zidane that sparked my love of a proper playmaker.The way he gracefully steered France to the World Cup trophy in 1998 and consistently lit up Champions League nights in front of the telly with my dad made him my first proper football hero.The mesmeric talent and happy demeanour of Ronaldinho saw him take Zidane’s crown, with Leo Messi soon replacing him as my love of talismanic attacking talents grew and grew.I’m not sure exactly where this obsession came from.

Perhaps it stems from my own playing career as a kid.I’d always try to replicate their style of play, with cutting through balls and the occasional long range worldie the highlight of my otherwise unexceptional contribution to teams.Unfortunately I never had the talent or work ethic to climb to any serious level in football, which is why I turned to the pen/keyboard in a bid to stay as close to football as I could without actually taking to the pitch.When I first started covering St Mirren it was Tony Andreu who first caught my eye.While he wasn’t the most consistent, and certainly wasn’t a huge fan favourite, his eye for a pass and his long range finishing immediately had me hooked.Jamie McGrath was the next to fill the playmaker role, and boy did he do it in some style.The Ireland international was sensational for so long in the stripes, with his passing and finishing up there with the best I’ve seen on a