RELIEF MUST BE FOLLOWED BY REVIVAL IN PERTH
DURING a bleak mid-winter run of nine straight losses stretching from November to January, Callum Davidson managed a smile when asked about the stresses of being a struggling football manager.
Tapping newly-formed flecks of grey on his temples, the Double-winning St Johnstone boss signalled he had gone from securing silverware to gaining silver hair. The relief was palpable on the 45-year-old’s face on Monday night after his Saints buried Inverness Caley Thistle under an avalanche of secondhalf goals to secure their top-flight status. ‘People have asked me about winning the two cups and staying in the league. For me, this is the bigger achievement,’ said Davidson after strikes from Stevie May, Cammy MacPherson, Callum Hendry and Shaun Rooney had clinched a 4-0 home win and a 6-2 aggregate victory.
It was a statement understandably born out of raw emotion after months of high anxiety. Winning the Scottish Cup and League Cup in the same season for a club with Saints’ tiny budget was undoubtedly remarkable. What Monday’s survival actually did was protect Davidson’s legacy. His team’s hopes of building on their League Cup victory over Livingston last February and their subsequent Scottish Cup triumph over Hibs three months later began to falter on August 31, 2021. The sales of midfield talisman Ali McCann to Preston and captain Jason Kerr to Wigan so late on transfer deadline day triggered a dramatic downturn in fortunes.
Yet while mistakes have been made by Saints, standing by Davidson in his hour of need was an act of commendable bravery. The ex-Blackburn and Scotland left-back will be a better boss for having emerged out of the other side of this storm.
With out-of-contract players potentially heading for the exits, including Zander Clark, Jamie McCart, Rooney and Hendry, his hard work starts now to ensure there is no repeat of this horror season.
‘We can’t afford to let this happen again — no way,’ said midfielder MacPherson. ‘We don’t want to be in this position again next year. We want to be back fighting for the top six and going deep into the cup competitions again. We have to put it right again next season. We will learn from it. ‘It might be a few of the lads are leaving, but I don’t know. Zander Clark has been here a long time. It was a great send-off for the big man to go out like that with a win and a clean sheet. ‘But next season, we will come in and set our targets to make sure we avoid being in a relegation battle again.’