Saints legend says the time is right to end their hoodoo

JOHN CONNOLLY, the last man to score a league winner at Ibrox for St Johnstone, believes his former club will never have a better chance than tonight of ending a run that stretches back 46 years.

The Saints legend, a subsequent stalwart for Everton, Birmingham City and Hibernian, feels the state of flux that exists at Rangers makes then entirely susceptible.

He is amused by the 4-1 odds on a St Johnstone victory and feels it would be no surprise if they continued the pain for interim manager Graeme Murty, who has already lost his two other matches in charge.

Connolly said: “If you are in the St Johnstone team, you would have to be thinking that this is a good time to get Rangers.

“I think all of the teams will be thinking that. Graeme Murty is on a hiding to nothing. He’s got to take the team until they find a successor.

“I don’t think Saints will have a better chance of ending this record and enhancing their chances of getting back into Europe.”

Saints were two points clear of Rangers when they went to Ibrox on April 17, 1971, in the penultimate match of the season but had inferior goal difference. They won the match thanks to an early Henry Hall goal and then a lastminute strike from Connolly.

He said: “I can’t believe it’s 46 years since Saints last won in the league at Ibrox, but if I was a betting man I would jump all over the 4-1 odds. It’s time for the run to end and it would be great to see a new hero emerge to replace me as the last match-winner there. It was a great season in 1970-71 because we finished above Rangers in third place in the league and that got us into Europe.

“We had a really good team at that time and, of course, we had played Celtic in the League Cup final the season before when they narrowly beat us 1-0. We also won at Celtic Park in the October of 1971. We could be a match for anyone. We actually did the league double over Rangers back in 1970-71 as we beat them 2-1 at Muirton Park earlier in the season and I scored in the game.

“So it was a terrific time in Perth then and the match we won at Ibrox was a crucial one for us in terms of getting into Europe. A win this time round could have the same effect.”