The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Saints’ fine start marked by awards
Tommy Wright hopes to extend Michael O’Halloran’s loan deal at McDiarmid Park after St Johnstone’s impressive start to the season was rubber-stamped yesterday with an awards double for the pair.
The Saints boss was unveiled as Ladbrokes Premiership manager of the month for August after the Perth side’s unbeaten start to the campaign while O’Halloran, on loan from Rangers until January, picked up the players’ award after scoring four league goals.
Wright revealed he is aiming to keep the 26-year-old attacker beyond the new year and did not rule out trying to make the move more permanent.
“I would hope to be able to extend the loan but a lot of things can happen between now and then,” he said.
“Our plan would be to extend it or maybe if I can get the chairman to release a few quid we might even buy him.”
O’Halloran found himself frozen out at Ibrox by Portuguese manager Pedro Caixinha but has already admitted he is enjoying life back at Perth.
Ladbrokes Premiership Player of the Month Michael O’Halloran yesterday credited Tommy Wright with getting his career back on track.
After playing bit parts under Mark Warburton following his £500,000 move to Rangers last year, the attacker found himself frozen out by Portuguese successor Pedro Caixinha.
But four goals since securing a loan move have elevated the 26-year-old to the top of the scoring charts and helped Saints maintain an undefeated start to the league campaign.
O’Halloran, who was originally brought to Perth from Bolton, is enjoying his football again after making just a handful of starts for Rangers last term.
He said: “Coming here was like putting on an old pair of boots. The staff have been brilliant with me. It’s like I’ve never been away I suppose.
“Obviously the lads as well have been brilliant. It’s a real family club and I’m getting that same vibe the first time I walked in. It’s good to be back somewhere in an environment I’m comfortable in.
“Tommy Wright is a very good man manager. He’s very good tactically as well but he knows his players and how to get the best out of them.
“He knows me as a person, as well as a player. I feel he knows how to get the best from me and I always want to go out and do my best for him and for the team.”
O’Halloran trained by himself over a short summer break to ensure he would hit the ground running if Rangers sanctioned a return to McDiarmid Park.
He added: “I think when you’re not playing you’ve got to do that extra bit. That’s something I’ve always done. But it’s frustrating come a Saturday when you’ve no game so you’ve got to go and do that extra bit of running.
“Anybody will tell you that when you’re not playing it is frustrating. You train every week for the Saturday and by the end I wasn’t even getting involved with the squad at Rangers, which was really disappointing.
“It was a frustrating time but I know in football you’ve got be ready for any opportunity to come and St Johnstone came in and for me it was a no brainer.”
O’Halloran was alerted to Caixinha’s recent comments stating he “wasn’t the type of player we need” when he picked up the papers.
“Obviously I’d heard about them,” he said. “I know my position there now. It’s clear. I’m just concentrating on being at St Johnstone.
“To not be given a chance and then told I had no future there like that is not nice. But that is football.
“I’m not sure about the future. I’m still contracted to Rangers at the minute so I can’t say anything on that. It’ll be interesting come January.”