Cup victor so happy to Call shots

ST JOHNSTONE became the 16th different side to win the League Cup last weekend when Shaun Rooney’s header secured victory at Hampden.

It was a great moment for Saints supporters and a particularly satisfying one for relatively new manager Callum Davidson.

Davidson had been assistant to Tommy Wright when the Perth side won the Scottish Cup in 2014 and took over as boss last summer.

So far, the new manager’s ideas have paid off – happy days at McDiarmid Park. By contrast, the atmosphere at Livingston will be one of extreme disappointment.

And manager David Martindale would not have been comforted by the thought of facing league leaders Rangers three days later.

I never think the West Lothian pitch lends itself to flowing play but the quality in Wednesday’s clash was really poor. The play could only be described as turgid.

Was the Alfredo Morelos incident a penalty? Let’s just say if it was your team, you would certainly think so.

There was probably some justification in the fact Morelos scored the winner. It was a great three points for Rangers and the final moment of a few days Martindale won’t recall with any great affection.

It might also be regarded by Steven Gerrard with mixed emotions too

Sad news for all Scots fans this week was the death of Ian St John.

In the summer of 1972, I went out to South Africa to play for a team called Hellenic. The big derby was against local rivals Cape Town City and when I took my place at centre-half I discovered I was up against Ian.

It was a tough contest. Two competitive Scots, in the twilight of their careers, no quarter asked, none given. Ian put in a real shift that night and was always a handful to deal with.

I found him to be a very pleasant guy and a pleasure to chat with. My thoughts are with his loved ones.

Scotland have played few matches at this time of year but since the start of the 21st century, there have been two, both friendlies, each a 1-0 win.

At Hampden on March 3, 2010, we beat the Czech Republic and then defeated Poland in Warsaw on March 5, 2014. The winning goals were scored by the same player – not a star you normally associate with scoring too many goals. So, who was he?

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