St Johnstone boss, Simo Valakari, wants his players to live locally.
The McDiarmid Park head coach won’t insist that new signings and current players move to Perthshire.
But he will preach to them about the benefits of being embedded in the area they represent.
Valakari, who lived a few hundred yards away from Fir Park when he was a midfielder at Motherwell, knows that commuting to your work is a common practice in Scottish football.
So, there will be no Jim McLean-type five-mile radius diktat.
However, the Finn does hope the balance in his squad shifts towards players rooted in their community, as it has at Dundee United and Dundee in recent years.
‘Look people in the eye in Tesco’
“I was a little bit shocked that so many players were travelling every day from Glasgow and Edinburgh,” Valakari admitted.
“That meant they were spending at least two hours in a car every day.
“It is not ideal for your body to do that, or for your recovery.
“Sometimes as well, I felt it (McDiarmid Park) was just a place for the players to come to work.
“You come, do your work, then leave for Glasgow and no one knows you were there.
“That’s why I’d like players to live more local because you feel what the city feels as well.
“When you lose the match, you have to look people in the eye in Tesco.
“That’s why I liked the players who came here and took the bus every day to training.
“That gives you something extra.
“It’s not just you close the door of the stadium and drive out of here and forget it totally.
“No, you have to face the people.
“And the other way round, you see the happiness of the people when you have done well.
“You have to feel what the club means to the people.
“So, it’s that and performance too.
“Two or three hours a day sitting in a car isn’t ideal.”
Gym time
Expanding on the practical football-related impact last season of having too many commuters in his squad, Valakari said: “Sometimes we had to adjust our training.
“We let the boys do their own training in a gym close to them, so they didn’t travel here.
“That was a little bit more time that we didn’t spend as a team together.
“It’s all part of it.
“When players are in the gym you can have informal chats with them, work with their game.
“That’s one thing I need to change for this season.
“We are here and it’s up to you that you live closer and up to you to take care of your performance.
“Especially the young boys.
“If you want to maximise your career, you better take care of your recovery and find a way you can be closer.
“I know that could narrow down the players available to us because here in Scotland, people are used to travelling every day.
“But if I can encourage players to stay here, then I will.”
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