Davidson’s debt of gratitude runs deep in Perth... yet his ambition burns brighter than ever
DOUBLE CUP-WINNING BOSS OFFERS A STOUT DEFENCE OF HIS RECORD AND SETS AN AUDACIOUS TARGET FOR HIS ULTIMATE DUGOUT AIM
AFTER two muted trophy presentations at an empty Hampden, it was a belly slide which provided the defining image of St Johnstone’s double cup triumph. As a shirtless Callum Davidson deliriously dived and skidded headlong across a champagne-soaked dressing-room floor, he could scarcely have imagined he was previewing the trajectory of his second season in management. Davidson stoically claims that last term’s relegation escape was an even greater feat than clinching the League and Scottish Cups the year before.
It’s much harder to argue with his assertion that had he done it the other way round, the conversation around his reputation would be entirely different.
In the afterglow of season 2020-21, Davidson was hot property to the point where he was quoted among the runners for the vacant Rangers job when Steven Gerrard upped sticks for Aston Villa.
Yet Saints were already on the cusp of a hopeless collapse in form. With prime assets Ali McCann and Jason Kerr sold on transfer deadline day and mainstays like Liam Gordon and David Wotherspoon injured, the hit to the first-team was impossible to absorb and hastened a 10-game losing streak that also saw their Scottish Cup defence fail at the first hurdle against League Two side Kelty Hearts.
When Aberdeen were hunting for a replacement for Stephen Glass just a few weeks later, Davidson was judged to be an inferior option to Jim Goodwin, a capable and decent manager for St Mirren, yet without anything like a trophy haul on his CV. Goodwin has succeeded in
improving Aberdeen but, going into the World Cup break, his side sat just four points ahead of Davidson’s resurgent Saints, who are operating on a fraction of the budget at Pittodrie.
Grateful for the unwavering support of chairman Steve Brown at a time when Dundee joined Aberdeen in dismissing a young manager at the merest whiff of relegation, Davidson is in no hurry to quit McDiarmid Park.
That shouldn’t be confused with a lack of ambition.
At 46 and with assistant manager’s gigs at Millwall and Preston on his CV, it’s not difficult to see Davidson returning to England one day. Ultimately, though, he wants to manage his country.
And with the Brown family announcing their intention to put the club up for sale, change will soon be the order of the day at McDiarmid Park.
‘For me, it’s all about timing,’ says Davidson, the longest-serving boss currently managing in Scotland’s top flight. ‘I’m quite pleased with how I’ve gone about my business across three very different seasons.
‘We had the cups, then a relegation battle and now the third year is a rebuild. You couldn’t ask for a better learning curve.
‘People laugh when I say staving off relegation is a bigger achievement than the cups.
‘If you reverse it and I staved off relegation first and then won two cups the year after, I think people would see me in a totally different light. But I actually think I’m better for what I have gone through in the two years.’
It’s informative to hear Davidson discuss his relationship with Brown, who succeeded his father Geoff at the helm in 2011, three years prior to the club’s Scottish Cup success under Tommy Wright.
A dependable, canny operator who had Davidson at his side when he lifted the club’s first ever major trophy, Wright probably stayed in situ too long and eventually clashed quite publicly with his chairman.
Yet while Brown has adopted a very careful approach to the club’s finances, he was equally steady regarding Davidson’s position.
As the pressure mounted at this time last year, he did not distance himself from his manager but delivered on his promise to let him see it through.
With Brown confirming his intention to stand down as chairman at the end of the season and the club set to be released from secure and stable ownership that stretches back to 1986, the dynamics at St Johnstone are about to change for good.
‘The chairman was fantastic last season,’ continues Davidson. ‘Not once did he ever say I was under pressure or needed to win. He was feeling that pressure just as much as I was, but he was with me all the way and he helped me. Sometimes you don’t get that.
‘He understood where we were with the players we were missing, the injuries and deadline-day exits.
‘We had just drawn with Galatasaray away in Europe, drew with LASK away. Those were fantastic results and we nearly got through to the Conference League.
‘I got a really good player in Cammy MacPherson to replace Ali but he popped his shoulder. Losing Jason was difficult because he was the captain and leader, only a young man but inspirational on and off the pitch.
‘It was tough but the chairman was really strong. He said to me: “You’re in. You’re staying no matter what, so just get on with it. Keep us safe”.
‘I was very grateful for that support and fortunately I managed to repay him. I probably did have a wee bit of credit in the bank from the year before.’
Brown’s reward came via a playoff victory over Inverness, with Stevie May’s first goal in more than seven months opening the floodgates in a 4-0 secondleg win after a 2-2 draw in the Highlands. The team has scarcely lost momentum
My country is my one sole passion. The Scotland job is the pinnacle
since. Recognising the need to play May back to form, Davidson poached Nicky Clark from Dundee United and added further experience in Andy Considine to replace Jamie McCart, one of the pillars of the cup wins.
‘For St Johnstone it is always about the team not individuals,’ declares Davidson. ‘Different players link together, combine. Nicky Clark has brought the best out of Stevie May and we have probably been a bit more offensive this year. Drey Wright and Adam Montgomery have come in as attacking wing-backs and we want to be quite direct, create as many chances as we can.
‘In this league it’s difficult for managers in the bottom eight to play a certain style. The first remit is to survive. We all want to play attacking but that doesn’t keep you safe, keep you in a job or keep the team in the league.’
Around the time of last year’s link with Rangers, Davidson was also touted for a return to one of his old clubs, Preston North End.
‘There weren’t any offers,’ he insists. ‘But even if there were I
The chairman stayed strong. He told me: ‘You’re staying, no matter what’
wouldn’t divulge them, I’m not that kind of person.’
Yet, even without the prospect of regime change on the horizon, it would only be prudent to keep an eye out for future opportunities.
Davidson is not the slightest bit coy on his ultimate ambition.
‘My country is my one sole passion,’ he states. ‘I love Scotland.
‘Watching the World Cup, I’ve been thinking about how we can get there. How can I help?
‘When I started my playing career, what did I want to do? Play for Scotland. I didn’t want to play in the English Premier League or go and play in Italy, I wanted to play for my country.’
Davidson not only played for Scotland 19 times but he also assisted in a coaching capacity under then manager Gordon Strachan.
‘Working with Gordon was brilliant,’ he says. ‘It opened my eyes to learning and getting into different things.
‘When I started coaching away back, I always thought the Scotland job would be the pinnacle. Whether I can get there or not, I don’t know, but I will always strive…’
Davidson is still young enough to harbour and pursue club ambitions without compromising his international dream.
‘People forget I played in England for 14 years and was assistant manager at two different clubs in the Championship,’ he adds. ‘So I have always been the type of person to try something different.
‘As a player, I didn’t come through a youth academy. I went to university, studied. I love other sports. I love different ideas.
‘I also love my job here at the moment, a pressure job, but I always want to keep learning and try to prove myself.
‘I’m not stupid enough to think I will be here for another 15 years.
‘Whether they let me go or I move on, I will work as hard as I can to make this club successful.
‘I think people now know what St Johnstone means to me.’