Wright’s life with Saints

make a semi-serious effort to get him out of Mcdiarmid but a Wright-stephen Thompson partnership was always going to be a non-starter

Wright is one of a small group of ex-goalkeepers to be given a chance of managing at the top level, and an even smaller group who have made a success of it. That’s a story in itself. It was a bonus for Saints that he knew a good goalie coach when he saw one, with Stevie Banks and Paul Mathers both regarded as excellent in their field.

Dundee are Dundee United’s biggest rivals, of course, and that applies in reverse. But St Johnstone fans have to split their derby emotions two ways.

Being the top team in Tayside might not be a title the Dundee duo are overly bothered with but it is a badge of honour in the Fair City and Wright has brought permanence to it.

United under Jackie Mcnamara came close to changing that but it wasn’t just in the Scottish Cup final that Wright got the better of him – Saints couldn’t stop

“Wright was never shy in going public when he felt a player had been unfairly overlooked either for the full or under-21 squad

beating the Tangerines by the end and Mcnamara’s last game was a defeat at Mcdiarmid Park.

This is arguably Wright’s greatest strength. You could picture him leading a team in different professions. Judging how to get the best out of different personalities is an art that brings down many a sharp tactical mind. ‘Losing the dressing room’ was never a phrase coming out of Mcdiarmid.

Wright had a few run-ins with opposition managers (some the public got to hear about, others not) but the highest profile was undoubtedly with Dundee boss Mccann.

The Dens Park tunnel incident, and everything that followed it, was offthe-pitch theatre, the type of which the media love. There wasn’t any acting needed, though. The phrase ‘no love lost’ really doesn’t do it justice.

The barren run against Celtic in the last couple of seasons shouldn’t be allowed to alter the fact that there were plenty of memorable victories against both Glasgow sides under Wright.

Danny Swanson’s stunning winner at Parkhead in 2015 was one obvious highlight and the League Cup triumph at Ibrox (Saints were utterly dominant that night) in the same season was another.

Wright didn’t have one and, if he did, he wouldn’t use that word. Tactics and formations changed during a season but football was about getting the best out of your players and winning as far as he was concerned, rather than being a martyr to a style of play.

He loved one when the Saints squad had an overnight stay before a game. Pity the quiz-master or the team-mates who got in the way of a Wright victory, though!

Where it all began. He couldn’t have wished for a better start than this after taking over from Lomas – beating a club that been more used to the Champions League than the Europa League at their place and then finishing the job on a summer night at Mcdiarmid. Wright was up and running and so was Stevie May.

Yes, there was May 17 on their star striker’s shirt but every club that gets to a final can claim some sort of ‘destiny’ back story. This wasn’t a triumph written in the stars. It had to be earned. Wright helped achieve that by getting the better of Mcnamara in the build-up, making sure his players didn’t freeze on the big stage and being tactically on point.

Little things like Dave Mackay bullying Gary Mackay-steven and Frazer Wright winding up Nadir Ciftci are unlikely to have happened off the cuff. Wright made sure the Saints players all knew their tasks – the rest was down to them.

By the time Saints travelled to Dens Park on March 10 2018 Saints hadn’t been able to safely distance themselves from the bottom two places in the league.

Wright, like Sir Alex Ferguson when his team were playing Arsenal or Chelsea, knew that this was a time to field the guys who had fought in the trenches for him to such good effect down the years. On a filthy afternoon, back came Steven Maclean and Liam Craig, who were outstanding alongside the likes of Chris Millar, Steven Anderson and Murray Davidson. The 0-4 scoreline (it could have been more) said it all. Steven Caulker might still be having nightmares.

There have been a few of those down the years but Chris Kane probably deserves a special mention. Sent on as a substitute at Pittodrie, he secured a place in Europe for Saints. This season, when there were plenty of fans questioning Kane’s value to the side, Wright’s faith was repaid with tireless work off the ball and a crucial late winner against Motherwell. A player pleasing him was all that mattered to Wright.

The first few months of this season weren’t much fun. No game better summed up Saints’ early struggles than a Betfred Cup defeat to Ross County, when the Perth side should have been well ahead but ended up being punished for poor finishing and defensive failings. He wouldn’t have seen the funny side of it at the time, but Wright taking a freshair swipe at a water-bottle carrier with his weak foot and then making sure he connected with a second swing of his better one was comedy gold!

Leaving Saints has undoubtedly enhanced Wright’s chances of being appointed Northern Ireland manager. It’s his dream job and one to which he is ideally suited. Failing that, expect him to be back in the Premiership before next season is finished. Wright will also be an excellent director of football if he eventually goes down that route and, who knows, maybe even back at Mcdiarmid.

He may have been pragmatic as a Saints manager but Wright was always willing to indulge a player whose gamechangingskillsoutweighedtheirdefensive contribution. Arguably the easiest team on the eye in these last seven years was the one that had peak Danny Swanson pulling the strings, while in his last season Wright deployed two out-and-out wingers in Matty Kennedy and Drey Wright.

It has probably only been this season that Wright has truly started to shake off the unfair tag of being a manager who doesn’t give youth a chance. The biggest legacy he will leave is the youngest side in the Premiership, with two or three players in it who should bring in substantial transfer fees.

Wright won’t shy away from the fact that defensive solidity and discipline were the base of his teams’ successes – and why, when those qualities evaporated, it went wrong for a while in 2019.

Dave Mackay, Frazer Wright, Steven Anderson, Brian Easton, Joe Shaughnessy and others could all pass a football but they knew that their first job was to keep the ball out of the net and clear the danger in whatever way was required. You got the feeling Anderson was more proud of the clean sheet than the opening goal in the cup final. Wright’s team scoring just 34 goals in a season but still finishing fourth is a feat likely never to be emulated.