St Johnstone still have “two or three pieces” to put in their recruitment upgrade jigsaw, according to club head of operations Ian Flaherty.
And new employee behind the scenes, Gus MacPherson, will be a key part of the revamped structure.
The former St Mirren boss has been announced as head of football operations, replacing Scott Boyd.
Having spent decades in the SPFL, Flaherty believes MacPherson will be an invaluable administrative appointment.
Manager Callum Davidson recently outlined the recruitment model he would like to see develop at McDiarmid Park.
And Flaherty and MacPherson will be singing off the same hymn sheet as the head coach.
“The way the club is, anybody who has an insight into the football side of things will have an input,” said Flaherty.
“Football is all about contacts.
“Having people who can tap into different markets widens the contact base that we’ve got.
“Callum and myself have sat down at great length over the last few months and we both have the same vision of where we are and where we want to go to.
“There will be two or three more pieces of the jigsaw to put together and Gus will be part of that.
“We want to get better – and that means from youth recruitment all the way through to first team recruitment.”
Dugout days are over
Flaherty pointed out that MacPherson doesn’t harbour any ambitions to return to the dugout.
“We interviewed some really good candidates and Gus was the best of them,” he said.
“He’s got vast experience in the game.
𝗚𝘂𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗣𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
The Club is delighted to announce the new Head of Football Operations.
“This is a fantastic opportunity and one I’m really looking forward to."
— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) September 13, 2022
“Gus has got no interest in the management side of it. He’s had enough of that.
“There are no intentions of getting back into it.
“But that vast knowledge will be a great benefit to us.
“We’ve moved quickly to ensure a good hand-over and Scott will work with Gus for a couple of weeks.”
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