Davidson stuck between rock and a hard place at Saints
St Johnstone manager understands fans’ frustration but calls for unity
CALLUM DAVIDSON treads carefully, but it is a fine line he finds himself walking. The St Johnstone manager, with enough on his plate already, has been rather unfairly dropped into the middle of a bitter dispute between fans and board, one that is undoubtedly making his job more difficult.
Saturday’s Scottish Cup fourthround tie is set to enter the record books for all the wrong reasons. The club’s decision to hand Rangers supporters three stands at McDiarmid Park sparked a boycott from Saints fans that is set to result in their lowest home attendance.
Parallel to this fiasco, on- pitch outcomes have plummeted postWorld Cup, and the atmosphere during the 4- 2 weekend defeat to Livingston had a mutinous feel. The Perthshire side have lost five consecutive Premiership matches, so this is a grim sideshow their manager could do without.
“I played, assistant managed and now I’m managing, supporters obviously mean a lot,” he said. “I understand where they are just now and I can get their frustrations.
“But more important is getting performances on the pitch. When they do back us, when we give them something to get behind, they are very good. Saturday will be no different. If they aren’t there, it’ll be a difficult atmosphere for the players. Most importantly, it’s about getting them to perform at a better level than we’ve been at.
“It’s not a situation where I want to be answering questions like these. I’m not part of the decision. I pick the team and the players.
“I’d rather our supporters be behind us as one. You get out of trouble by being one, not by being factions. This has happened, we need to deal with it and get on with it. I’m hoping they come and support the players. That’s the big thing because it’s a huge game.
“The cups have been good to us lately, so hopefully we can get a result, give them something to cheer about and go home with some positivity.
“I think we all make decisions in life where we think it’s the best decision then we think maybe it wasn’t.
“I’ve known the chairman for years and he is a St Johnstone fan. I don’t think it was a decision made for the wrong reasons but looking back now he maybe thinks those decisions could have been made differently. I think it’s something when it happens again there will be a clearer picture.”
Saints chairman Steve Brown issued a statement yesterday addressing the “negativity and hostility” which followed the decision. While he insisted it was taken with the club’s best interests at heart, Brown accepted that “certain criticisms have merit”. It was, however, widely noted that his address did not contain an apology.
“The seating arrangements and pricing for the forthcoming Scottish Cup tie against Rangers has been met with a huge amount of negativity and hostility from a number of our valued fans,” Brown said. “The club has endeavoured to respond to the various communications sent to the club both by way of email and telephone over the last fortnight, and the club is aware of the views of various sections of fans both from social media activity and press reports.
“The decisions made in respect of this cup tie were taken with the best interests of the club at heart. However, we totally understand the frustration our supporters feel and their level of disappointment.
“On reflection, the club accepts that certain criticisms levelled against the decisions have merit and going forward the club will take this feedback into account in considering both pricing and seating arrangements in future fixtures. Whilst we hope to see as many of our supporters as possible inside McDiarmid Park on Saturday, we understand and respect our supporters who choose not to attend on this occasion.”
I’d rather our supporters be behind us. You get out of trouble by being one, not by being factions