Craig Levein has bought into St Johnstone’s recipe for success.
And the Perth boss is hoping that new striker Benji Kimpioka will be the latest example of a player whose career is spectacularly revived at McDiarmid Park.
Going back to the likes of Jody Morris and Michael Duberry, Saints’ ‘glory years’ history is full of footballers getting back on track in this part of Scotland after losing their way in England or abroad.
It’s a market Levein is tapping into this January, with former Sunderland forward Kimpioka ripe for a Premiership reboot.
“St Johnstone are not signing ready-made players,” he said. “That’s what I’ve realised.
“People who have already achieved a level, we are not getting them because we can’t afford them.
“So it’s about finding the players who might have been overlooked or who have been somewhere else and lack a bit of confidence.
“Macca did a great job bringing in Matt Smith and Luke Robinson, who are two really good examples.
“Matty hadn’t been playing at MK Dons and Luke was overlooked a bit at Wigan, but both have come here and it’s brought the best out of them again.
“I think Benji is the same.
“He’s someone who I think we can work with and get going again.
“I’ve realised very quickly that I’m not fishing in the same pond as I was at Hearts, so you have to look at things a bit differently.
“Getting strikers is the hardest thing to do and sometimes you can strike it lucky.
“Hopefully with Benji we can do that.”
Levein on ‘really quick’ Kimpioka
The Swedish forward is blessed with raw speed, which Levein hopes will complement his main goal-getter, Nicky Clark.
“Benji’s really quick,” he said. “He’s got proper pace and I’m hoping that will be a strength that adds something to us.
“Defenders are scared of quick forwards – it’s the biggest thing they don’t want to come up against.
“If Benjy had been scoring 20 goals a season we would have been nowhere near getting him.
“So it’s about trying to find a player who is really good at something and then try to add bits and pieces to their game to help them improve.
“He’s already been in the UK with Sunderland and a couple of other clubs.
1⃣2⃣ goals in 8⃣games for Benji Kimpioka now
🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/EECJoyFOVX
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) November 23, 2017
“We got a recommendation from Jack Ross on him and it was quite straightforward.
“I look at him and think he’ll stretch the game for us and that will bring people like Nicky into prominence and let him get on the ball more.
“Adding Benji’s pace and strength to the team will hopefully enhance us and help the others in the team too.
“He’s trained well since he came in so we’ll see if he plays on Saturday.”
More business to come for St Johnstone
So far it’s been a case of three in and two out in the transfer window.
“I think some will be going out and I hope we’ll have more coming in,” said Levein.
“Some people are not playing at the moment so they might want to go and do something else.
“So we’ll just have to wait and see what the next few weeks brings.”
Dara Costelloe swapped McDiarmid for Dens a couple of weeks ago, with Levein understanding of the Burnley man’s desire to play more regularly than he was getting the opportunity to with Saints.
“I think Dara wanted to go because he wasn’t getting game time and I understand that,” he said. “It’s normal.
“I don’t know if it was him saying to his club or his club saying to him.
“It’s difficult because you can only judge on what you see when you go into a new club.
“Some of the players might be feeling a lack of confidence or something, but all you can do is look at games, training and base your opinion on that.
“That means sometimes people get overlooked. It’s just what happens when a new manager comes in.”
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