Tam didn’t play that’s why Saints cut his pay
ST JOHNSTONE chairman Steve Brown has hit back at departed defender Tam Scobbie’s claim he was forced out of McDiarmid Park by the Perth chief.
Scobbie said he was left feeling “undervalued” when Saints offered him a 35 per cent wage cut to remain with the club this season.
The 29-year-old Scottish Cup winner – who has now signed for Dundee United – described the one-year deal as a “slap in the face”.
But Brown now insists the package for Scobbie was fair given the lack of certainty over his place in Tommy Wright’s line-up.
In a statement posted on the Saints website, he said: “He only started 18 out of 46 competitive games last season and over the course of his five seasons with us he was in the starting line-up in less than half of the games.
“With this in mind we tried to structure a deal which, although it did reduce his basic wage, offered a higher reward for starting matches so that if he played he wouldn’t be worse off.
“We were only offering him a one-year deal after consulting and agreeing with Tommy.
“It stands to reason you have to try and balance the financial scales. That’s what I saw us attempting to do with someone who was a squad player.”
Meanwhile, Saints skipper Steven Anderson was sent for a scan yesterday on a knee injury picked up in Thursday’s 0-0 closed-door friendly with Rangers.