This time last year Callum Davidson was a manager needing to keep an eye on the free agent market.
Recently signed Efe Ambrose had just made an impressive debut in a 1-0 win at Pittodrie.
Viv Solomon-Otabor would be picked up in November and then Jacob Butterfield the following month.
It’s a different story 12 months later.
There are no glaring gaps in the Perth squad.
And Davidson is in the far more enviable position of only having to concern himself with which players to keep and which to farm out.
Courier Sport assesses the outlook for the Saints fringe players and asks the question – to loan or not to loan?
Cammy Ballantyne
No great dilemma here.
Ballantyne needs to be tested at Championship level, after impressing in League One with Montrose over the course of three seasons.
There have been occasions when Davidson has been short of central midfielders but – apart from the League Cup group stage – he hasn’t turned to the 22-year-old.
Ballantyne, who has been with Saints since 2015, is under contract until the summer of 2024.
Charlie Gilmour is getting regular second-tier game time with Cove Rangers and hopefully a club in that division will take his McDiarmid team-mate for the rest of the campaign.
Bobby Dailly, William Sandford and Spencer Moreland
With Alex Ferguson, Liam Parker and Taylor Steven at East Fife, you would expect the trio above to get fixed up with lower-league temporary moves.
Dailly, in particular, looks physically ready for men’s football – probably at League One level.
John Mahon
The heroic performance from Mahon in the second leg of Saints’ play-off against Inverness Caley Thistle feels like a long time ago.
The Irishman got his big chance to cement a place in the Perth backline in pre-season and then the League Cup but didn’t take it.
Now, with Ryan McGowan, Alex Mitchell, Liam Gordon, Andy Considine and maybe even full-back James Brown ahead of him as far as a central defensive starts are concerned, it is likely to take at least two of the above being unavailable to give Mahon a Premiership opportunity.
Dundee were rumoured to be weighing up a loan offer and if he could find a promotion-chasing Championship club, the former Sligo Rovers man could build up his confidence and be in a better place to stake a claim next summer, when he’ll still have a year left on his Saints contract.
Max Kucheriavyi
The young Ukrainian will be disappointed he hasn’t had more than half-an-hour of league game-time for Saints but Davidson’s recent comments would appear to put to bed any possibility of a third loan for the player who greatly enhanced his reputation at Brechin City and Kelty Hearts.
Looks a penalty to me 🤷♂️
Terrific tackle by Max Kucheriavyi before he wins the penalty too. Exciting prospect 👏
🎥 @KeltyHeartsFC #KHFC #SJFC https://t.co/LJTlIYuKMf pic.twitter.com/6UcDBm0oQv
— Alan Temple (@alanftemple) February 24, 2022
If Graham Carey’s knee injury isn’t serious and David Wotherspoon’s comeback progresses as everybody hopes, there’s a chance that could change in January because wide forward/creative midfielder is an area of strength in depth at McDiarmid.
Michael O’Halloran
It’s (highly) likely that this will be the three-time cup winner’s last season as a St Johnstone player.
And it’s also likely that O’Halloran will remain a fringe player for the duration of 2022/23.
But Brown is more a full-back than a wing-back and the former Rangers and Bolton Wanderers man is the nearest thing to a like-for-like replacement in the event of Drey Wright, who has started the season superbly, getting injured or being suspended.
As such, Davidson should be selfish and keep hold of O’Halloran despite the fact he is now behind Connor McLennan as pacey impact sub first option.
Theo Bair
This is the trickiest one.
In hindsight, a Championship loan for Bair after he signed for Saints in January would have been advantageous.
The Canadian was barely used in the second half of last season and, despite teasing the prospect of a big breakthrough in the pre-season clash with Cove Rangers, the rough edges remain.
𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨: 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙤 𝘽𝙖𝙞𝙧 🇨🇦🐻
We had our camera focussed on Theo Bair in training today 💪
Who would you like to see us focus on next? 🤔#SJFC | #COYS | @ttbair pic.twitter.com/IaEHpndOj9
— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) July 4, 2022
For pure player development, there’s a strong ‘loan him now’ argument.
But if Davidson continues with Nicky Clark and one other up front – which I think he should – Bair and McLennan are the only two other centre-forwards available at the moment.
As with with O’Halloran, Davidson should put the team’s potential needs first, keep Bair until Chris Kane is fit and, if he hasn’t taken a leap forward, loan him then.
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