Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Max Kucheriavyi had MORE not less to prove at St Johnstone when Craig Levein and Andy Kirk arrived in Perth

The Ukrainian knew both men from their time at Hearts and Brechin.

Max Kucheriavyi.
Max Kucheriavyi. Image: SNS.

Max Kucheriavyi knew there would be no special favours for him when Craig Levein and Andy Kirk arrived at McDiarmid Park as St Johnstone’s new management team.

And the young Perth star actually feared he would have MORE to prove as a consequence of his connections with the duo.

Levein brought the Ukrainian midfielder to Scotland when he was director of football at Hearts.

And Kucheriavyi was coached by Kirk at Tynecastle and then Brechin City, where the former Dundee United manager was an advisor.

The 21-year-old might have had a better insight than most in the Saints squad regarding the post-Steven MacLean set-up.

But he was well aware that every player would be judged with fresh eyes.

Andy Kirk and Craig Levein.
Andy Kirk and Craig Levein. Image: SNS.

“He (Kirk) is a very good coach and it’s great to work with him again,” said Kucheriavyi.

“Everybody will have their own first impressions.

“That’s three different teams I’ve worked with him at.

“Every time it is about learning as much as possible, as it is with every coach.

“He gives us a lot of information and everything is positive so far.

“I knew that there definitely wouldn’t be any favouritism towards me.

“I actually had a slight feeling that it could go the other way and that I would have to make sure I was 120% in every training session and every game.”

Back in the team

Last weekend, Kucheriavyi slotted into the Saints midfield at Tynecastle for his first start since MacLean was sacked.

“It felt like we were close to getting a result,” he said.

“The performance was quite good apart from the start when we were a little bit nervous.

“But once we settled it was an even game. It could have gone either way.

“The manager wants us to pass the ball and to involve the midfield more. That’s what we’re trying to do.

“Hopefully we’ll keep improving in how we do that.”

Max Kucheriavyi in action against Celtic.
Max Kucheriavyi in action against Celtic. Image: SNS.

An October, 2022 McDiarmid Park clash with Celtic was Kucheriavyi’s first and last start of the Premiership season for Saints.

“I was going out to prove myself against some of the best players in the country,” he recalled.

“I played in a midfield three but it wasn’t a game when we had a lot of possession.

“It was about doing my defensive jobs and not being shy if I did get the ball.

“Looking back, even with the way the rest of the season went for me, it was an experience that I will able to use moving forward.”

Conversation