Murphy says Saints must rise up from ‘ rock bottom’
Reality kicking in for St Johnstone forward as relegation battle looms
ST JOHNSTONE’S fortunes show little sign of turning. A fifth successive league defeat currently makes them the worst performing team in the cinch Premiership. More pertinently it has them hovering perilously above the relegation mire, a position they found themselves struggling with for the bulk of last season.
So much of Saturday had echoes of that campaign: the performance, the rhetoric around it post- match and the sense of unease around the club as supporters grow increasingly frustrated with decisions made off the pitch and performances on it.
There was no real surprise that the players were jeered off at the break – at which point they trailed 3- 0 – with the boos ringing out again at full- time. The little bit of fight shown by Callum Davidson’s side in the second period as two goals in two minutes from Jamie Murphy and Connor McLennan perhaps suggests that all is not lost just yet.
But the evidence on the pitch that they can arrest their current slump is hard to find. St Johnstone were desperate in the first half with the defensive display skittery and nervous; Livingston scored three out of four chances they created in the opening 45 minutes.
The likelihood is that there will be little stability incoming in the immediate weeks. Next up is a double header against Rangers in the Scottish Cup and then the league before a midweek Fir Park trip to go head- to- head with fellow strugglers Motherwell.
Murphy ( inset) was unwilling to offer any thoughts on the situation regarding tickets that has soured the build- up to the cup game, with St Johnstone fans irked at both ticket prices and the number that have been handed over to the Ibrox side.
He did accept, however, that the weekend performance was a sobering reality check of just where St Johnstone are heading.
“Hopefully, half- time on Saturday will prove rock- bottom for us, and we can pick it up over the next couple of games,” he said.
“I know we’ve got difficult fixtures coming up but we can sort things on the training pitch and get a bit of pride back in our performances. We know we had a spell before the World Cup when everything seemed to be going right, and now it has gone the other way.”
Livingston’s fortunes are significantly different than their Pethshire counterparts. They simply picked St Johnstone off with two goals inside the first 15 minutes from Stephen Kelly quickly dampening the early fervour that Saints had shown. By the time James Penrice added a third before the break it looked like the visitors had the points in the bank.
The trio of St Johnstone substitutes at half- time enlivened things with the two goals to change the tone of the game and the glee with which Penrice’s winner was celebrated was indicative of just how nervous Livingston had become about a second- half collapse.
Still, the win elevates them to fourth in the table with Penrice maintaining that the placing doesn’t flatter David Martindale’s side.
“We deserve to be there,” said the 24- yearold full- back. “When we turn up and play how we want to play we are a threat to every single team – apart from the big two.”