February Round Up at McDiarmid

Long Time no Blog

Regular readers will have noticed the lack of blogs over recent games. Aberdeen, Dunfermline and Killie have all went unblogged for various reasons. With the first team having a free weekend, now is good time for a round-up of all the good things happening under Steve Lomas and Tommy Wright.

Firstly, Alan Mannus is getting the chance to stake a claim for the starting jersey next season. The Northern Ireland keeper had played second fiddle to Enckleman for most of the year, eventually securing a start in the Scottish Cup replay against Hearts at McDiarmid. He saw a penalty fly past him in that game, but he saved one at Rugby Park.

There is little secret that Lomas is hunting for a new goalkeeper and Enckeman’s departure is surely now no more than a formality. Equally, there is little evidence to suggest that Mannus is doing enough to secure the jersey. Enckleman, Callum Davidson and Jody Morris are big earners at our club and all three seem set to depart in the summer leaving reasonable sums of money for Mr Lomas to work with.

Helping his cause is the form of our on-loan gems. Cads, May and Clark have all starred for the loan teams whilst Vinnie is getting stuck in at Borough Briggs too. If we can retain youngsters at half cost, whilst getting them games at a decent level, we’ll have better players and more opportunities to loan those hitting 19 years of age.

I expect that Enckleman’s salary will go straight to our new goalie and I also expect that Zander will remain on board for another year, assuming he can secure a season long loan. By the end of next season, if he hasn’t proven good enough to be our back-up; he’ll probably be away.

At right back, Dave Mackay looks more and more comfortable each week. He certainly plays better football when he’s paired with Midgie Millar, but Lee Croft’s gradual improvement, in form if not fitness, is allowing Cup Tie to flourish and Lomas must be delighted to have him on board for next season.

The three central defenders all have contracts for next season too so that only leaves Maybs and Davidson with decisions to make. Maybury will surely be offered terms, Lomas has often highlighted the great versatility of the former Hearts player. Of course the fullback may well look elsewhere for regular starts but I suspect that security of income will keep him at McDiarmid for one more year.

Callum Davidson is a more confusing one. Involved in some training of the young boys and a hugely calming influence on the pitch; Cal is far from being the player he once was for us. He is drawing a large salary and is arguably struggling to justify his rate. Liam Craig can play the full back role and Davidson certainly hasn’t got his best years in front of him. That said, we all remember the struggles of the first division when Liam was our regular full back and there’s no doubt that Liam behind Compton would leave us exposed down that side of the pitch. For my money, I’d keep Callum on the same terms; he’s a great example of professionalism, style and attitude. The young lads look up to him and that speaks volumes; a leader on and off the pitch.

In midfield, Chris Millar has been sitting on a revised offer for some time now. I still think that the Take That wannabe will sign on for another couple of years but he won’t do so without some assurances. It seems  clear that he’s not exactly a Lomas player but that doesn’t mean there’s no future for him. He’s beaten off the rivalry of several wide men over the last few years and he’s significantly better than Lee Croft at the present moment. That leads to two questions; how long before Croft gets bored and how long until he gets fit? Undoubtedly a fit and enthusiastic Lee Croft is an asset to St Johnstone, but I’m not convinced we’ll ever see that realised. Compare Croft to Compton and you’ll the see the difference between night and day in terms of hunger and desire.

If Midgie doesn’t sign; neither McIntosh nor Gray are ready to step up. Arguably Stevie May could play wide right, but only in an attacking sense. He’d be a hard act to replace; I hope we secure a deal shortly.

In central midfield, Jamie Adams remains on the sidelines whilst Kevin Moon must be considering buying houses in Leicester. There are various stories surrounding his latest absence, all that matters is that he should be fit for Paisley. Moon is a player who can transform our team and we need him available and fit. Thankfully, Moon is under lock and key for next year. Jamie may well have to prove himself in pre-season.

Muzz and Morris will continue to form the basis of our midfield for the remainder of the season. I expect that Morris will be away in May and that will be a mixed blessing for the club. He’s undoubtedly a super wee player but....

Murray Davidson is becoming a bit of a target from sections of the support. They praised him and raised him into something he wasn’t in his debut season and now that he’s falling short of their delusions, they are castigating him for failure! The lad has never been that good and he is bumbling through the season in customary form. He always gives 100% and is a true crowd pleaser in terms of his tackles; but he’s not a great player. It’s not through coincidence that clubs have stopped scouting him. We should have pushed him harder when we had the chance.

David Robertson remains a Saints player.

Liam Craig is one of several players who’ve blossomed under Steve Lomas. The left footed midfielder has turned in some excellent performances for the new gaffer including a brief spell as an attacking central midfielder at Fir Park. He was Derek McInnes’ first signing and he may well prove to be his longest lasting signing. He is contracted into next year and must be a player we’re hoping to tie down for a few years to come. Jack Compton is his direct rival and I sincerely hope to see the two of them play bit parts in games. Compton looks a magical wee star and will hurt teams with thirty minutes to go. Whether or not he’ll deserve a regular start remains to be seen, but he looks very good so far.

Up top and it’s all a bit of a revelation. Haber is the only one of the front men who looks likely to be offered revised terms. Sheridan’s wage is eye-watering and the deal simply cannot suit his parent club. I fully expect him to extricate himself from the Bulgarians and to get even half of his salary he’ll have to move down South, possibly with Jody.

Sandaza was always gonna use Saints as a stepping stone to greater things so it’ll be no surprise to see him bid farewell. He fully recognises the importance of getting amongst the goals between now and the season’s end. He’s been snatching at things in recent weeks but he’ll lose that with his next goal. He remains a class act. He will score again. He will score soon.

Haber is working harder for Lomas than ever he did for McInnes. He is almost perfect in one v ones and has a might shot when he gets room for a strike. He’s good in the air and has sufficient strength for this league. What he lacks is that final bit of grit and arguably he needs to make more intelligent runs. Under Lomas’ tutelage he could easily be our number striker next season.

Finners is effectively released and there is little doubt that Mr Higgins is being encouraged to find a new club. Lomas needs, and deserves, players who are fully committed to St Johnstone. Stevie Amy seems likely to play a part in next season’s SPL campaign, interesting that Haber has many similar traits to Stevie Reynolds....

So watch out for an expensive keeper, two strikers (one proven and one gamble) and a central midfielder who can also play right midfield. I don’t expect Cads to play SPL next season, Gayfield could remain his loan club.

In terms of the under 19s, Gray and Kane are the two most likely to break through. That said, the 11 players on show today were excellent and that was without Gareth and Kano. A brief match report can be found at http://banned101saint.blogspot.com/2012/03/saints-v-hearts-u19-spl.html

 

Other issues surrounding the club include the financial incompetence of our rivals. Rangers and Dunfermline are the latest clubs to hit financial troubles. Both clubs, like Hearts and Dundee United can trace their troubles to arrogant leaders, who couldn’t count beans. Scottish football is in a dire condition. The game is a patient relying on the life support of SKY/ESPN money. When it goes, our game will die a slow and undignified death.

We need the SFA to wise up and take control of our whole game. The SPL was a joke started by greed and driven by the bigot brothers. It needs to be scrapped as it serves no function. The cash handouts are wrong, but not by much. Sport is a meritocracy and it’s only correct that the winners get more than the losers. What’s wrong is the percentage split. It needs to be in some semblance of balance or the rich will walk away from everyone else.

Club chairmen, not ours thankfully, are generally too stupid to recognise that they need to increase income and reduce expenditure so the ruling body needs to motivate them to run fiscally sound businesses. The quality of our game cannot sink much further so we should be bold and radical in our approach. We should consider enforcing a single bank account rule for day-to-day transactions. The implantation of a points’ deduction if clubs are in a debt position; one point deducted per £10,000 of debt. We should shun TV unless it’s on our own terms. Loyalty has been scrapped away from clubs as more and more fans sit in their homes and pontificate online. The next generation will be greatly depleted unless we bring them back into our stadia.

We should stop paying attention to our European co-efficient. Most fans, including this writer, don’t understand the word and it really is futile in deed. Most Scottish clubs who qualify for Europe do not gain in any material fashion. Many real fans cannot afford the trips, the clubs incur expensive costs and bureaucratic difficulties. And for what? Defeat to an unheard of team, super!

We can’t cap players salaries but we can do almost the same thing by capping the gate price. If clubs can’t get into debt, have no TV money and rely on gate receipts and we reduce those gate receipts there are few other ways to pay their players. If the leagues in Scotland all charged £5 per game, we’d see crowds and clubs transformed.

Of course stadia would need developed and ticket money alone would not meet that cost. Ground sharing would become the norm and that would require artificial pitches. That has benefits for the club. A source of midweek revenue for one; a groundman’s wage saved for another. Clubs need to become businesses. They need to create money from stadia and they need to invest that money wisely in the hope that they can attract new customers to the club; both commercially and through football.

If Rangers, Hearts, United, Killie and Dunfermline all close their doors; I’d care not a jot. History would be lost, but lessons would be learned. TV could not replace punters, fans remain the lifeblood of football clubs and fans must be encouraged to return whether through financial catalysts or sheer and brutal loyalty.

I love St Johnstone as do many others. We should be thankful for the Browns and mindful of the Murrays and Milesons.