Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Keeper Alan set to leave Saints
ST JOHNSTONE have confirmed that Alan Mannus will leave the club at the end of the season.
TheTele recently revealed a player-coach role at Shamrock Rovers, where Mannus previously played, was a possibility but another former club, Linfield, is another possible destination.
The experienced goalkeeper will not renew his contract in the summer, making him the second experienced member of the squad to depart the club.
It was announced on Monday night that striker Steven MacLean would be leaving to join Hearts at the end of the current campaign and Mannus will follow him out of the door by ending his sevenyear association with Saints.
Mannus has made over 200 appearances for St Johnstone since arriving from Shamrock in 2011, and was part of the Scottish Cup winning side in 2014 as well as three successive fourth-placed finishes under Tommy Wright.
The Saints boss said: “I spoke t o Alan about a month ago and he told me then of his desire to go back to Ireland with his family.
“After seven seasons with the club he decided the time was right to go back there to live and to continue his career.
“I’ve known Alan since 2001 when he was at Linfield and I’ve always had a great relationship with h i m . H e ’s a model professional who has helped our younger goalkeepers enormously and he’s been a shining example to them.
“I think it’s safe to say that over the past few years he’s been in the top three or four goalkeepers in Scotland and he’s done tremendously well for the football club.”