The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Loan ace Montgomery suited to Saints switch
Given that neither of last season’s left flank defenders, Callum Booth and Anthony Gallacher, will be fit for the start of the new campaign, St Johnstone’s loan signing from Celtic, Adam Montgomery, is going to see plenty of firstteam action.
And given Callum Davidson is likely to start with a formation based on the familiar three at the back – even though the Perth boss has talked up the prospect of greater tactical flexibility – expect it to be at left wing-back initially.
Courier Sport took a look at the 19-year-old’s Opta statistics to assess Montgomery’s suitability for the position and his chances of becoming a McDiarmid Park success story.
Montgomery actually played more Premiership games for Celtic (eight) in the first half of last season than he did in the second half at Aberdeen (seven).
But starts (four to three) and minutes (365 to 337) are weighted towards the Dons.
The most relevant general point is that in a Celtic side that was a work in progress under new manager Ange Postecoglou in the early months and in an Aberdeen one that started losing its way badly during his time there, Montgomery’s passing accuracy percentage held up very well.
Reaching 84.3% and 82.9% was no mean feat.
There is no doubting Montgomery’s “signature” Premiership game for the Hoops so far.
It probably persuaded Stephen Glass to sign him on loan three months later, in fact.
The Scotland U21 international played the full 90 minutes of Celtic’s 2-1 away win against Aberdeen on October 3.
He led the way, or jointly led the way, in six Opta categories that day – dribbles, successful dribbles, aerial duels won, possession won, chances created and assists.
The assist was for the winning goal, scored by Jota with just six minutes left on the clock.
The advanced position Montgomery picked up inside the width of the 18yard line showed that he won’t be a wide player afraid to come in off his touchline when the opportunity presents itself to support his attacking team-mates.
Montgomery’s last start for Celtic was the December stoppage-time victory in Dingwall that proved to be a key moment in their titlewinning campaign.
By the time ex-Saint Anthony Ralston was sparking a pitch invasion with his headed goal, he had been substituted.
The most pertinent aspect of the night for Montgomery was that Postecoglou deployed him wide in the attacking trio of his favoured 4-3-3 formation.
The very fact he was trusted in this position shows that the “versatility” card managers play when describing a new signing isn’t just talk as far as the Celtic academy product, who played his formative football as a striker and winger, is concerned.
But, on the flip side, the absence of any successful dribbles and a plummeting passing accuracy percentage suggest Montgomery is a more effective player when he’s coming on to the ball from a bit deeper.
To expand the “further up the pitch” theme, Montgomery made his most significant contribution as an Aberdeen player in a 4-23-1 formation against Motherwell at Fir Park in February when he started on the left of the three behind Christian Ramirez.
All his passing statistics were excellent and he provided an assist for the opening goal of the game that was even more impressive than the one for Jota a few months earlier.
And, more importantly as far as his Saints loan is concerned, the run beyond the Motherwell right-back is exactly the sort of one his new manager will be wanting him to replicate in blue and white.
Montgomery hasn’t yet played in a wing-back system in senior, competitive football but you can see why Davidson believes he has all the qualities to thrive in the role at McDiarmid Park.