Don’t expect anybody in the St Johnstone camp to say the primary mission of the season has been accomplished.
But Callum Davidson’s final whistle reaction at Tannadice told you everything you needed to know about the importance he placed on Saturday’s clash with Dundee United.
Saints aren’t going to finish bottom of the Premiership.
Even if they don’t pick up another point for the rest of the season there’s a chance that their current total is all the money in the bank they will require.
Of the eight fully-completed campaigns since the play-off and split were introduced, 30 has been enough.
The average magic number is 29.
There is work still to be done to make it second mission accomplished, namely staying out of the play-off place.
Historically, it’s taken anything between 33 and 37 to get that job done.
If there’s one season in particular this is starting to resemble it’s 2017/18 when Saints ended up eighth and had a handy cushion over the four sides below them well before the end.
It took 34 to finish third bottom that year and that mark feels about right just now this time around.
That’s a long-winded, statistical way of saying, Saturday’s victory was Saints’ most significant of the season, closely followed by the previous triumph on the road at Motherwell.
St. Johnstone’s winning goal today. Superb 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/tVyJ6EP0F6
— Iain (@IainWATP) February 18, 2023
When they’ve really needed to, this team has delivered.
I’m certainly not counting out a top six finish now that the pressure has eased and the fixture list stretching out in front of them appears to be the most appealing of any of the contenders.
Saints probably need to beat St Mirren on Saturday.
Do that and it really is game on.
No man’s land isn’t failure
If it doesn’t happen and Saints become a ‘no man’s land’ team that ends up on the lower side of the split, while keeping the nail-biting stuff at a safe distance, don’t let anyone move the goalposts and turn this into some form of under achievement.
A few will no doubt say ‘this should be a top six squad’.
Well, you could claim the same about every one of those clubs currently above them in the table.
The side that secures their survival through the play-offs probably has the toughest task the year after.
Their manager and recruitment staff certainly have the shortest time to plan for the next campaign, the areas in need of attention are greater for obvious reasons and mental debris from a grim slog of a season just completed takes longest to shift (on the pitch and in the stands).
That’s magnified when the team coming up (in this case, Kilmarnock) has a budget and a head coach capable of taking promotion euphoria and turning it into top flight belief.
A late Saints surge that opens up all sorts of possibilities, the type of which has been their habit through the years, is clearly the aim.
From there, any club making the top six will have a realistic shot at qualifying for Europe.
But to find themselves in a position where seventh is the ceiling for the last five games and fans can bask in the comfort of a bit of relegation rubber-necking really wouldn’t be so bad.
Two wins and the only achievement that matters will be boxed off.
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