The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Cup win would reward Saints’ canny approach
This weekend belongs to St Johnstone, who have been Tayside’s top team for a decade. Saints have been fixtures in the top league for the last 12 seasons.
A League Cup final win would be a fitting reward for a club that has been run in a truly professional manner since Geoff Brown saved their bacon when he took over in the 1985-86 season.
Back then, the club was at death’s door, with attendances regularly hovering around the one thousand mark.
There have been spells outside the top flight but the club has, unlike some others, always maintained a financially sound footing, never over-reaching themselves to the danger of their very existence.
Some may call it parsimony but, for me, it’s been the triumph of deliberate substance over dangerous style.
Saints’ canny approach under the Brown dynasty has seen them ensconced, mortgage-free, in their own stadium, with cash in the bank, great nights in Europe and a Scottish Cup tucked in the trophy cabinet.
Under Tommy Wright they embedded themselves firmly as a top flight club and under Callum Davidson, along with a very productive youth set up, the future looks assured and, indeed, even brighter, with a nicely-balanced team capable of sweet football on their day.
A win at Hampden – which I’m tipping them for – and their second ever major trophy would be a fitting tribute for a club which is the very model for balancing ambition with realism.
Saints beat Livingston couple of weeks ago.
They have the tools repeat that result.
I fully expect Saints bring the trophy back Perth.
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Dundee and Dundee United need to steel themselves to take maximum profit from the remainder of the season.
United need to keep their eye firmly on the ball for a possible top six finish that’s
clubs must deliver
very much dependent on the results of others as well as their own.
Dundee need to start getting wins on the board.
Their last two losses, to QOS and Raith Rovers, are nowhere near good enough for a squad of their quality.
A finish in the bottom half of the Premiership table for Micky Mellon’s side would be disappointing but acceptable in a first season back in the top league, as long as they don’t get sucked into a
relegation battle.
Dundee, on paper, have the ability to grab second spot in the Championship to make the play-offs for the Premiership that bit easier.
Players on both sides of the street are at the sixth and seventh biggest clubs in Scotland – and that fact should always be reflected in their performances and results.
In Scottish terms, the Dundee clubs are good places to ply your trade.
They enjoy good general
conditions, training facilities, and decent crowds (when crowds are allowed in) by comparison to many others.
Along with those benefits come high expectations.
United have, to some extent, met those, but Dundee have fallen short so far this season.
There’s a desperate desire for both sides to be in the top league, bringing back the thrill and excitement of the city derbies.
It’s incumbent on both to deliver.
John Kennedy insists he does not see his new role as Celtic interim boss as an audition for the job on a permanent basis.
Kennedy stepped up from assistant after Neil Lennon resigned on Wednesday with the reigning champions 18 points behind Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership and with the quest for a recordbreaking 10 successive titles in tatters.
Ahead of the visit of Aberdeen today, Kennedy confirmed ex-Hoops captain Stephen McManus had moved up from reserve team coach to join his first-team coaching staff but denied he is viewing his own brief as a trial period.
“No, not at all,” he said. “This has never been about me.
“I am a guy who has been here a long time in several positions, always applied myself and given everything I possibly can and I have no interest in looking beyond this period of time in terms of what is in store for me.”
Asked if he would be interested in the job on a permanent basis, the former Celtic defender said: “I am not interested in anything other than Saturday and then next week. The club will look at it themselves.
“I know the players very well. I have a great relationship with them and the staff and I just want to guide them through this period.
“Naturally with bad results and pressure there can be a cloud on the training ground sometimes. I will try to lift that and let the sun come through the best we can but to do that we have to recognise what is important and that is everyone pulling together.”
Aberdeen have a doubt over Johnny Hayes who missed the win over Kilmarnock with a hamstring problem.
Striker Fraser Hornby looks like being out for the season with a thigh injury while Ryan Hedges and Greg Leigh are also sidelined.
● Hibernian boss Jack Ross will have to leave it until this morning to name his team to face Motherwell at Easter Road as he monitors a couple of injury doubts.
Ross did fear as many as five first-team members would be in danger of missing the clash but saw three of his casualty concerns return to training yesterday.
Motherwell captain Declan Gallagher is back in training following a hamstring injury but will not be risked in Edinburgh.
Steven Lawless returned to the bench in midweek but Graham Alexander still has 12 first-team players missing.
St Mirren are set to welcome striker Collin Quaner back for the visit of Ross County.
The former Huddersfield attacker has made just one substitute appearance since signing last month, but boss Jim Goodwin is hopeful he will be available again after a knee injury to face the Staggies.
Defender Callum Morris is almost certainly out of John Hughes’ County squad due to a hamstring injury.
John McGlynn admits he doesn’t know whether he’s going to get Barcelona or Broomhall Saints from his Raith Rovers side from week to week.
But he insists he would happily accept something in between against Alloa Athletic this afternoon.
Since their Boxing Day victory over the Wasps, the Stark’s Park outfit have followed every single win with a defeat.
Their inconsistency was highlighted when they overcame their coronavirus lay-off to beat Hearts at Tynecastle, only to be hammered by the Jambos 4-0 at home just three days later.
The Kirkcaldy men are again seeking to bounce back today following last week’s loss to Arbroath.
And McGlynn is adamant he could drop his high standards if it means more predictability from his side.
He said: “We’ve been up and down and that’s where the frustration and the disappointment comes from. We’re still searching for consistency.
“I don’t know if I’m going to get Barcelona or Broomhall Saints. That’s what a manager needs to know now.
“There are many ways to win a football match and we are trying to do it with a nice style and all the rest of it.
“That’s fine, but that doesn’t mean that everyone’s got to do it that way and it’s wrong if you don’t do that.
“I need to get something in between that’s going to get me 75% or 80%, seven or eight players playing to their full potential and you carry two or three – not the opposite.”
Lee Ashcroft insists it is time Dundee found a travel sickness cure and started picking up points on the road.
The Dark Blues have only won once in their seven away games so far this season in the Championship.
The 27-year-old centrehalf admits that is simply not good enough and he is determined to help put this right, starting against Morton at Cappielow today.
Ashcroft said: “Our home form has been good but our away form hasn’t been the best.
“So that is something we need to look at. Starting on Saturday, there aren’t a lot tougher places to go to than Greenock Morton.
“So if we can go there and get a positive result, then that can give us all the confidence in the world over the next few weeks coming up.
“We know how important this game is for us.
“Each week in the Championship, everybody seems to be beating everybody else.
“It is one of the hardest leagues to call results if you are a betting man.
“But we just have to concentrate on ourselves. If we can get a positive result at Cappielow, we can build from there.”
Dundee dropped out of promotion play-off contention following last week’s disappointing defeat – their second on the bounce – at Dens to Queen of the South.
Ashcroft believes Dark Blues did the not receive the rewards some of their good play deserved but he admits he would take winning ugly at Cappielow.
The former Dunfermline defender said: “I would much rather win a game than play well – 100%.
“I think the rest of the players and the manager are the same.
“At the end of the day, it is all about winning games. It is alright playing good football like we did in the second half last week but we never got the result.
“Going to Morton, it is never going to be a pretty game so we just need to roll up the sleeves as we know we are going to be in a fight from the start.”
With Dundee’s game against Ayr being postponed for a fourth time earlier this week, James McPake’s men are now looking at a hectic spell of seven games in March.
However. Ashcroft is hoping this game at Cappielow can be the launching pad to spark a month to remember.
He added: “Obviously the last couple of results haven’t been great so we have a run of fixtures coming up now and four weeks down the line, we will almost be at the end of the season.
“We just need to a game at a time.
“It all starts on Saturday and if you win one game, it becomes natural to keep doing that. On the other hand, sometimes when you are on a bad run it is hard to get out of it.” take it