Tommy: Saints still marching up the hill
ST JOHNSTONE manager Tommy Wright claims talk of his team being in decline is way off the mark.
Saints sit eighth in the Ladbrokes Premiership, six points off sixth, and are in danger of missing out on a top-half finish for the first time i n seven years.
But only Celtic have been in the top six longer and this season is the first time Scotland’s biggest five clubs are in the top flight together since 2012.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Celtic Park, Wright said: “The level of inconsistency has meant we are just short of the top six at the moment, but it’s not as black a picture as people are making it out to be. It only looks black based on the three fourth places we have had in a row.
“If you’re comparing it to that, yes we are not in that position this season, but the league is stronger. People have got to recognise that.
“The money that has been spent, particularly by the big five, it was going to happen.
“It has to be put into perspective. Yes, we are not happy with how we have done this season but decline? Crisis? No. Those sort of things have been bandied about, probably by people who should know better.”
Saints have been accustomed to proving the doubters wrong, but Wright insists they do not need to use the growing criticism as fuel.
Wright added: “Some of the things that have been bandied about, that we have kept the older players too long...
“Steven MacLean was our leading goalscorer last season. How many teams get rid of their leading goalscorer?
“Criticism is bandied about a lot in football and we have to accept it. It doesn’t drive us and it doesn’t drive me.”