St Johnstone will go into the post-split Premiership run-in five points ahead of Dundee but needing to quickly forget the weekend thrashing that was inflicted upon them by Celtic.
Courier Sport picks out three talking points as the Perth club’s season reaches its crossroads.
The opposition
By Ange Postecoglou’s own admission, his Celtic side are peaking, not to mention “pushing their limits”.
The depth of options he has created, particularly in midfield and attack, through shrewd transfer business and top level coaching is quite something.
And, with the multitude of like-for-like options at his disposal, the five substitute rule certainly doesn’t hinder him.
Celtic on top form – and this was top form – pass and move a football like no other team in the country.
Had Saints played to their absolute best this would still have been a comprehensive defeat.
Celtic went 9️⃣ points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership after thrashing St Johnstone 7-0 🟢
Which was your favourite goal? Plenty to pick from 😉👇 pic.twitter.com/O4cSKHhh0t
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) April 9, 2022
It could well have been worse than seven given there was still over 10 minutes left after the last goal went in and the Hoops passed up better opportunities than the ones they converted.
Doubles, trebles, invincible tags and European achievements define Celtic teams in a two-club league at the top.
This side still has all to prove on those fronts.
But, in this moment, it’s hard to recall one that has been easier on the eye in a long time.
Limited learnings
From a St Johnstone perspective, this really isn’t a match to drill too deeply into tactics and formations.
Callum Davidson tweaked his set-up slightly and made a couple of selection changes that he probably wouldn’t have had it been a more winnable game.
But when you look at the Opta average positions for the Saints players, you can see that they were trying to get men up the pitch.
They just couldn’t do it.
Ten touches in over an hour for Callum Hendry speaks volumes about the pattern of the play.
Shaun Rooney and Callum Booth getting pinned back, and Murray Davidson on top of his centre-halves, is what you would expect to see.
If anything, Melker Hallberg, Ali Crawford and Glenn Middleton are further forward than I would have anticipated in these circumstances.
There’s no doubt that last season’s St Johnstone were better at retaining possession and sustaining a pressing game than this season’s one.
Reaching those standards would have made the scoreline slightly more palatable.
But not by much, I suspect.
The bigger picture
There’s hope of catching St Mirren and maybe even Aberdeen but the job for St Johnstone remains the same as it has been for months now – finishing above Dundee and taking their chances in the play-offs.
The most important game for Saints on Saturday wasn’t their own.
It was the derby at Tannadice.
Had Dundee turned a two-goal deficit into a 3-2 victory rather than a draw, the weekend would have taken on true season-changing status.
The Dark Blues, though, remain a club without a win in nine games under their current manager.
Talk from the likes of James McPake and Michael Stewart that they will be going into the post-split fixtures as the only bottom-six club feeling good about themselves has to be viewed in that context.
On the three occasions Saints have lost since Dundee went above them following what turned out to be McPake’s last league game in charge, a victory at Hearts, the Dens Park side have failed to make hay.
When Davidson’s men were defeated in Dingwall, Dundee were hammered by Livingston.
On the midweek night Saints lost to Rangers, it was a 0-0 between Dundee and Hibs.
And when it was Saints’ turn to share the points with Hibs, Dundee were doing the same at Fir Park.
For two months, all the significant moves have been made in Perth.
📺🆕| Liam Gordon spoke to #SaintsTV following today’s disappointing result. #SJFC pic.twitter.com/sfOlLT9uQn
— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) April 9, 2022
The free weekend coming up lends itself to a reset rather than an extension of what has just happened on Saturday afternoon.
Clearly, given the 7-0 defeat and the comeback 2-2, that works in Saints’ favour rather than Dundee’s.
The words – and the body language – of Liam Gordon and Callum Davidson post-match at Celtic Park suggested they were already a long way down the road of boxing off their miserable Parkhead experience.
The task for Dundee is to find form and results that have eluded them all season.
The task for St Johnstone is to rediscover form and results that are still fresh in the memory.
