St Johnstone are still bottom of the league after their weekend defeat to Motherwell and Callum Davidson has made it plain what he expects to see improve.
Eric Nicolson assesses the big selection decisions for Wednesday night’s quick-fire shot at moving up two places in the Premiership against Ross County and the role people behind the scenes have got in turning the ship around.
Collective responsibility
“Results have been disappointing and it’s important I take responsibility for that.”
It’s the sort of statement a manager, in this case Davidson, should make when his team are 12th out of 12, on a run of six straight defeats and are unable buy a goal in open play.
But it also doesn’t come close to encapsulating the developing St Johnstone crisis.
It goes without saying that, as a group, the players have been underperforming for quite some time – players who either secured two winners’ medals and legendary status while being managed by Davidson or have been signed by him.
Perth fans last at Fir Park just over two years ago. Probably most worried I'd been about league prospects since promotion. Until now… No one can say Saints aren't where they deserve to be. Can they turn it round again? https://t.co/4LTGj4mzYf
— St Johnstone 1884 (@stjohnstone1884) December 18, 2021
They can start putting that right in midweek and, for some, keep themselves at the club for the second half of the season.
The notion of collective responsibility goes much deeper, though.
Those behind the scenes need to do their bit to help Davidson and St Johnstone out of this trough.
Saints are suffering for what happened in the summer in terms of signings in and out.
The head of recruitment (Stevie Grieve) and head of football operations (Scott Boyd) have to right those wrongs in a transfer window which is much harder to operate in than the one that preceded it.
Daniel Cleary is a good start in terms of astute talent identification and decisive deal conclusion.
Others of equivalent calibre need to follow him through the McDiarmid Park front door.
Soon-to-be out of contract defenders are out of form
There are many red lights flashing to alert you to the scale of the problem.
League position, goals scored, shots on target and a creeping rise in meek acceptance of defeat when Saints go behind are all among them.
Another – and the one which will be the chief focus of Davidson’s thoughts just now – is you don’t need all five fingers of one hand to list the number of ‘must start’ players for a fixture of enormous significance in midweek.
Picking the best front two or front three out of the available contenders just now is enough to keep a manager awake at night.
All the forwards have had a go and not one has grasped his opportunity (opportunities) for quite some time.
SPFL Premiership
Form Guide
Points Last SixRangers 18
Celtic 18
Motherwell 10
Aberdeen 9
Ross County 9
Hearts 9
Hibs 8
Livingston 7
Dundee 6
St.Mirren 4
Dundee Utd 4
St.Johnstone 1— Pie & Bovril 🏴 (@pieandbov) December 19, 2021
But, as so often happens when a team is in a tailspin, areas of strength start to corrode as well.
Defensive selection and solutions are every bit as problematic going into the Ross County match.
With the exception of Zander Clark and Liam Gordon, the form dip has seeped into the backline.
That includes double-winning Hampden heroes, Jamie McCart and Shaun Rooney.
It hasn’t been a straight line decline.
There has been good play in amongst the not so good.
But muddled decision-making and lost confidence have been ruthlessly exposed and punished by Rangers and Motherwell recently.
Dean Cornelius scored his first goal for Motherwell before Kevin van Veen made it 2-0, moving them to fourth place in the table and keeping St Johnstone bottom 🟠
Highlights 👇 pic.twitter.com/o71NKGt5IA
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) December 18, 2021
Only McCart and Rooney will know whether the combination of their contracts running out in the summer and a transfer window looming large has affected their football and focus.
It certainly did with Joe Shaughnessy a few seasons ago. And it would be understandable.
Davidson has that age-old dilemma.
Does he persist with talented, and proven at this level, defenders who have served him so well in the past in the hope they play their way back into form?
Or does he decide they, and the team, would benefit from temporarily being taken out?
There is, of course, risk in both options.
