St Johnstone boss Simo Valakari has pledged there will be big changes at McDiarmid Park as he sets his mind to bringing the Perth club back into the Premiership.
A 16-year spell in the top flight came to an end after Saints were beaten 2-1 by Hearts at Tynecastle.
After the players had thanked the fans for their fantastic backing, a late Ross County penalty at Dundee denied them a chance of taking the survival battle to the final weekend of the season.
Valakari revealed there were tears in the away dressing room when they heard the news.
But his thoughts have already switched to the job that is now in front of him – making sure Saints attack the summer rebuild with purpose and secure a swift bounce-back from the Championship.
“I see it this way,” said Valakari. “We could not get the result in our game so it was out of our hands what happened elsewhere.
“Of course, it’s sad. There were tears. But that’s football, that’s life.
“We cry tonight, we cry tomorrow and then on Friday we turn our heads to changing this club back to winning ways.
“That starts on Sunday.
“I’ve already told my players it was hard to play in this relegation battle but if this was pressure, it will be even more pressure next year.
“Pushing for promotion you need to be at your best every day and even when you are not at your best you still need to get results.
“It will be very, very hard and a big job to turn around the culture of the club.
“But that starts on Friday.
“We respect the table.
“We weren’t good enough, clinical enough in key moments.
“We put ourselves in a difficult place.
“When you look at the history of this club it has been difficult for a few years.
“We’ve been fighting relegation for a while.
“Now it has happened and it hurts.
“We need to face it and become the club that can get back to the Premiership.
“I am ready for that challenge.”
Big task
Valakari added: “It’s a lot of work ahead.
“I’ve never hurt this much in my life before. Never ever.
“There are no excuses.
“We had enough games to turn it around and we didn’t.”
On the squad overhaul being a big one, Valakari said: “Yes, definitely.
“We have a lot of players with contracts and a lot out of contract.
“Now we know where we are. The work we’ve done behind the scenes now kicks in.
Three changes
Valakari made three changes to Saturday’s team, with Sven Sprangler, Uche Ikpeazu and Adama Sidibeh being replaced by Victor Griffith, Makenzie Kirk and Stephen Duke-McKenna.
One of the two centre-halves in a back four, Barry Douglas, found himself with an opportunity to drive forward on seven minutes.
After he picked out Josh McPake, the Perth attacker cut inside and forced a low save out of Ryan Fulton.
Having settled into the contest nicely, Saints fell behind on 17 minutes in a hugely frustrating manner.
Hearts hadn’t threatened at all up to that point but when Harry Milne sent over a low cross from the left, Douglas lost his bearings and turned his attempted clearance into his own net.
Saints are a team which has conceded in clusters this season and they nearly did so again two minutes after the opening goal, with Yan Dhanda’s 20-yard free-kick striking the crossbar.
Hearts got their second just after the half-hour mark, though.
Alan Forrest had looked in the mood all evening on their right and when the ball was slipped into his path by Lawrence Shankland, he gave Andy Fisher no chance with an angled finish in off the post.
Hearts were now in a comfort zone, popping the ball about without a care in the world.
There is such a thing as being too comfortable, mind you, and Frankie Kent was guilty of letting his concentration drop with a pass out of defence that McPake intercepted shortly before the break.
The former Rangers man tried to steer his shot to Fulton’s left, but the home goalie made a superb save with his left boot.
Griffith and Curtis were replaced by Sprangler and Graham Carey for the start of the second half, then before the hour, Ikpeazu and Fran Franczak came on for Kirk and Jason Holt.
Saints have conceded goals of all shapes and sizes over the last few months but there was nearly something a bit different on the hour when Shankland spotted Fisher off his line and tried his luck from just inside the Saints half.
Thankfully for the on-loan goalie, the shot just missed the target.
A Graham Carey special
There are few things more dependable in this Saints side than Carey’s left boot and on 74 minutes the wand gave them a lifeline with a 25-yard free-kick that Fulton had no hope of getting to.
The Saints fans were now seeing a performance worthy of their support and they nearly had an equaliser to celebrate when Taylor Steven was close to connecting with a Duke-McKenna drilled cross at the back post.
Despite throwing everything at snatching a point, there was to be no equaliser.
Then, after the players had applauded the supporters and headed for the dressing room, news came through from Dens that an injury-time Ross County penalty had sent Saints into the Championship.
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