The Benji Kimpioka transfer saga proved to be a double whammy for St Johnstone, Simo Valakari has admitted.
According to the Perth boss, the Swedish striker emotionally checked out in January, which had an impact on and off the pitch.
Not only did he become a shadow of the player who had reached double figures for goals by October, Kimpioka deprived Saints of a much-needed transfer kitty boost when none of the moves lined up proved to be to his liking.
“Of course, it was a big factor in our season,” said Valakari, reflecting on the fact his star asset became an empty jersey.
“He was a player who had been scoring before I came here, and he had started scoring again after I arrived.
“I think he was close to being the top scorer in the league when he got his goal at St Mirren (on October 30).
“Then came this transfer saga, which started before the window opened.
“There were two reasons it had an impact.
“The first was that we didn’t get any money for him, which we could spend on another striker.
“That affected the chemistry in the dressing room.
“It affected the chemistry on the field as well.
“So it was a double blow.”
Hindsight
When the window shut, Valakari did his best to reintegrate Kimpioka into the first team environment.
But, with hindsight, another course of action might have been wiser, he acknowledged.
“Probably, it was a bigger thing than I thought it would be,” said the Finn.
“Looking back, maybe that’s something I could have handled differently.
“When he was exploring his options, I could have put a deadline on it.
“And then, when I saw that mentally he was not with us anymore and had left us in his head, I could have removed him.
“But we were short of numbers, and he was our top scorer.
“I took a gamble that maybe, maybe he could do something on the field.
“It didn’t turn out that way.”
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