WIN IS THANKS TO ACADEMY Davidson credits Saints’ youth system
St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson believes his team’s historic league cup win is a credit to the hard work the club has put in over the years to nurture young talent.
A number of starters in last month’s Betfred Cup final triumph included the likes of Zander Clark, Jason Kerr, Ali McCann and Chris Kane, all products of the Perth youth academy.
Fan favourite and 2014 Scottish Cup winner Stevie May also came off the bench that day, having followed the same career pathway.
And the former Millwall and Stoke City assistant says the club’s continued tradition of building the team on a foundation of homegrown players can lead Saints to a bright future.
“What the club has done with the academy is a tremendous achievement and so many people deserve credit for it,” Davidson said.
“Alistair [Stevenson] brought them in and then there has always been a pathway for players after that.
“Tommy [Wright] did it with young players, sending them out on loan and it’s something we will continue doing.
“We want them out playing because that’s how they learn and it’s how we learn about them as well.
“I always remember speaking to Gary Naysmith about Jason Kerr and he said he wasn’t sure about Jason going to East Fife because he wasn’t sure he would play.
“I told him to give it six weeks and he’ll be in his team no bother - and look what happened.
“He went there, started on the bench and he did make mistakes but he learned from them and became a better player for it.
“Jason played over 100 games before coming back here to the first team and it was the same for Zander Clark, Stevie May, Chris Kane and some of the others.
“We can point to them and say ‘look, they’ve done it and they have a cup medal now’ - what more inspiration could the young lads get?”
“They all showed a good attitude on loan, the managers trusted them and it gets back to the manager here that they can be trusted.
“That’s how we work it and what we want to see.”
Manager Davidson added that many of the youth players’ attitudes have been “spot on” and hopes they can benefit from the loan system when lower league football returns.
“We have a lot of other good young players here below the first-team, it has been hard for them this season because of COVID and not getting games,” he said.
“So we will look to send a few of them out on loan when League One and League Two start up again.
“What we tell them is go out, give it a real go and if it doesn’t go your way don’t take the huff - just get better and try harder.
“Football doesn’t come to you. You have to go out and grab your chances - and that’s what young players need to learn.
“Your attitude needs to be spot on every time you train and play. “Having six or seven players here who did that, went on loan and have become regulars here gives the other ones hope. “I have seen improvement in them from training with us.
“It’s know about taking that next step, going out on loan and showing that when they come back we can trust them to make the jump up.”
“We will tackle the season in front of us in phases and remain hopeful the picture may yet change from June onwards.
“We have written to all April and May ticket holders offering flexibility and options so that we are able to welcome them back to the racecourse as soon as we are permitted to do so.
“We feel that the most flexible solution in these unique circumstances is to offer each ticket holder for our April and May fixtures this year a Perth Racecourse voucher to the same monetary value of their ticket(s).
“The voucher is redeemable on our website for any fixture in 2021 that permits racegoers and shall remain valid right up until the end of our 2022 season.
“All voucher holders will enjoy booking privileges such as early access for any future fixtures which may be subject to restricted capacities.
“If for any reason a customer does not wish to accept the Perth Racecourse voucher, they may of course request a refund in full.”