DANNY WILLIAMS
@ dannyw1989
Last season was a rollercoaster prone to breaking down. We started on a high with European games and ended on a high with success in the play- offs, but in between was a tale of woe. There was League Cup semi- final heartache, and a dire Scottish Cup defence at the first hurdle against a fourth- tier outit. The big talking point is losing Zander Clark, our best player last season and No. 1 for years. It’s a hammer blow. This season will be different because there’ll be a largely new side. Whether such alterations turn out to be good or bad remains to be seen…
Our key player will be midfielder David Wotherspoon [ below]. If Jason Kerr and Ali Mccann leaving last summer were big blows, Spoony injuring his cruciate in the League Cup semi- final defeat to Celtic was a total disaster.
I won’t be happy unless we stay up, ultimately. Actually playing a little bit of attacking football this term would be nice, too. Any danger, lads?
The opposition player who grinds my gears is James Forrest at Celtic. I’ve got nothing against him, other than the petty fact that he can go missing for months, then re- emerge in time to net a hat- trick against us. The active player I’d love to have back is Mccann, currently with Preston. A wonderful footballer who was about three players in one in our midfield.
Fans think our owner is competent. Structures around transfers and wages can be frustrating, though we’ve never experienced the financial shenanigans that other Scottish clubs have. I’m least looking forward to playing
St Mirren. Four eye- bleeding encounters against them last season, from which we gained a grand total of two points.
The fans’ opinion of the gaffer is now between extremes. Some think Callum Davidson [ above] is a deity following the cup double in 2020- 21; others say he’s hopeless because of last season. The truth lies in the middle, but a slow start might conjure Perth’s equivalent to white hankies in Madrid. If he left, he should be replaced by
Kevin Thomson, a promising up- andcoming Scottish coach who had a real rapport with his Kelty Hearts players. We’ll finish 7th.
FFT VERDICT
12TH
Saints scraped survival by the skin of their teeth, which few would have predicted after 2020- 21’ s cup double. Scotland keeper Clark will be sorely missed, and they’ll be counting the days until vital midfielder Wotherspoon is back to full fitness from knee trouble.