BID FOR MAY LOOKS DEAD IN THE WATER Contract talks stall in quest for striker
A committee member at Perth’s King James VI Golf Club travelled to Northern Ireland last week to mark its historic involvement in the beginnings of a world famous golf club.
David Angus paid a visit to the Royal Portrush Golf Club, which hosted the 148th Open Championship last weekend, where Irishman Shane Lowry won his first major.
A member from the King James VI Club was the first to strike a ball on the famous Portrush links in 1887.
For the full story go to page 48 Stevie May’s hopes of bagging a hero’s return ticket to hometown club St Johnstone look to have been dashed, the PA understands.
It had appeared the Aberdeen striker had been set to pen a threeyear deal with the Perth club after passing a medical earlier in the week.
But talks to finalise the contract broke down in advance of Saints’ 4-0 Betfred Cup win over Brechin City on Wednesday.
Manager Tommy Wright, who was eager to be reunited with his 2014 Scottish Cup winner and fans’ cult hero, chose not to appear at the customary post-match interview.
Saints chairman Steve Brown had stated he was ready to “go the extra mile” to bring back May, five years after the home-grown attacker had left for Sheffield Wednesday in an £800,000 deal.
Perth supporters eagerly anticipated May donning his old number 17 shirt, and hoped he would be unveiled before the Brechin match. But as the PA went to press yesterday, it looked like there was no chance of a deal being struck.
It opens the door for Dundee manager James McPake to revive the Dens Park club’s interest in capturing May, with Dundee United and St Mirren also having expressed an interest in the Scottish striker.
May’s agent and one-time Saints player Rowan Vine was spotted at McDiarmid on Wednesday beside Paisley boss Jim Goodwin.
Saints declined to comment on the speculation when contacted by the PA yesterday.
Many of the Saints players have spoke of their desire to see May back in the blue shirt of Perth.
Speaking earlier this week, Saints winger Matty Kennedy reckoned a return to the Fair City side for May would bring the best out of him.
“I’ve seen a few clips that come up on social media of him scoring so many goals for St Johnstone,” Kennedy added.
“This might be his home where he plays his best football. I know he’s not a big, massive target man but he seems to get a lot of headers. He is a good player and I’ve heard some good stuff about him.
“[But] say no-one comes in, I just think we need to be a bit more positive.
“We have a good bunch of lads and everyone is still close
together.”
Stevie May at Dons and, below, with Scottish Cup in 2014
positive manner and have worked extremely hard throughout.
“They are aware of the challenges that lie ahead and are ready to keep working hard to improve.
“Nothing new is expected from the players as they have been magnificent over the past couple of years, developing and improving as we have gone on and I am confident this will be the case as we look forward into the EOS.
“We will be looking to give a good account of ourselves in every game that we play and hopefully we can do that consistently over the course of the season ahead.
“First up, we are away to Craigroyston and from the information we have this will be a tough game to kick off our season with. However, it’s one that we believe we can take something from if we play to our capabilities.” Swifts boss Ross
Gunnion said: “We’ve done all we can to ensure the players are ready for the tough challenge ahead and hopefully we can start well with three games in seven days. Preseason has been good.
“We’ve had plenty game time and given ourselves good challenges throughout.
“It couldn’t have started with a much harder game than playing Camelon, a team we know well from last season.
“We showed up well in our league games with them but Camelon showed what a quality team they are in winning two cup competitions.”
With the average age of the squad having dropped, Gunnion is looking to the future.
“The team this season will be younger than ever and we’ve focused on building a squad capable of playing together for a number of years to come,” he added.
“We’ve identified a few areas of improvement from last year and have worked to tackle these in pre-season.
“We’ve recruited well and the players who have come in have gelled well with the existing group.
“Players like Connor McLaren and Paul Simpson are moving into their second season with the club after performing very well in their first year.
“They are now tasked with improving their game and the team further.
“The new players coming in are all looking good and eager to hit the ground running.
“Jake Dolzanski has slotted in very well at centre-half and Mark Smith has done well in pre-season alongside Chris McLeish.
“Kevin Sinclair came in just last week but looks fit, strong and ready to stake a claim for a place in the first 11.
“We’ve discussed targets internally and we’ll monitor this as the season progresses.
“One thing is for sure, we have a very talented and exciting squad who play some fantastic attacking football.
“We showed last year that we are capable of beating anyone when we are playing well and that includes teams from the Lowland League.”