Relegated St Johnstone will back 'visionary' Valakari

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15/05/25

Owner Adam Webb has backed "visionary coach" Simo Valakari to "return St Johnstone to its glory days" following their Scottish Premiership relegation.

Defeat by Hearts on Wednesday, combined with Ross County drawing at Dundee, consigned the Perth side to a bottom-placed finish with one game left.

It ended a 16-year top-flight stay that included several top-half finishes, two Scottish Cup wins, a League Cup triumph and European adventures.

Those successes were waning by the time American lawyer Webb took control in July 2024 and the club parted with Craig Levein two months later following four straight losses.

Finn Valakari replaced the former Scotland manager but St Johnstone continued to struggle for results, despite an upturn in performances.

"Relegation certainly wasn't part of our plan for St Johnstone," said Webb in an open letter to fans. "We will need your support next season more than ever before.

"First and foremost, we will back Simo. We have a visionary coach and a solid core group of players who will be staying with us for next season.

"Simo is just getting started on the project to return St Johnstone to its glory days. We have seen Simo's tireless work ethic, as well as his aspirations and passion."

Webb expects the Championship to be "gritty and challenging" and urged fans to turn out in numbers home and away, while admitting they "deserved much better".

"This is not the time to slacken in our resolve," he added.

"Our budgeting shows that our club will lose nearly £2m in revenue. This is simply the natural order when a club drops from the Premiership.

"We will never take your support for granted and are well aware that our standards must be higher in the seasons to come. We embrace this challenge.

"But we are not foolish enough to think we can do it without you. If you will have faith in us, and back Simo and the lads, you will be rewarded."

The numbers illustrate why St Johnstone have dropped out of the top flight.

They have struggled to get going in games and often left themselves with too much to do later on.

They have conceded 35 first-half goals in 37 games, the worst in the Premiership. In addition, they have failed to score a first-half goal in 26 of those matches. Again, bottom of the charts.

A fair few of those goals have been avoidable, too, with 10 leading from errors - the top flight's joint-worst record along with Dundee.

And too often, they concede when they shouldn't.

Their cumulative expected-goals (xG) against is 54, but they have shipped 12 more than that, suggesting they are susceptible to letting soft goals.

St Johnstone have also dropped 20 points from winning positions, the fourth worst in the league and another damning indictment of a side who have often seemed devoid of confidence and belief.

Given St Johnstone's fortunes in the Premiership in recent seasons, should we be too surprised?

It was 2020/21 when they created history by winning both major cup competitions and finishing fifth in the Premiership. All looked to be rosy, with a squad full of Scottish talent who knew how to win games.

But the warning signs were there early on the following season. Despite gallant away performances against Galatasaray and LASK, their European campaign was over by the end of August.

A run of eight straight defeats in the league between the start of December and the end of January saw the club plummet towards the bottom end of the table.

Although they reached the semi-finals of the League Cup, losing 1-0 to Celtic, there was huge disappointment when they fell at the first hurdle in their defence of the Scottish Cup at Kelty Hearts.

Premiership survival was only achieved after play-off success over two legs against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

The following seasons in the league were marginally better with ninth and 10th-placed finishes. But again there were early exits in both cup competitions.

Despite some brave performances this term, including a home win over champions Celtic, they were unable to avoid the drop.

Valakari said "there were no excuses" and the team were simply "not good enough".

He stressed "things need to change" if they are to bounce back at the first time of asking.

The next few weeks and months in Perth will be telling, with some big decisions required by those in charge.

Dunc: Not a lot you can say about the way it has all ended. Radical surgery required, and Valakari must be allowed at least one window going forward.

Gutted, but we knew it was coming. The last three seasons were a shambles. We would, at times, have been hard pressed to beat a Sunday League pub team.

Gordy: Again, the simple answer is that Valakari should not be allowed to continue in the Championship. His team selection could at best be described as eccentric, and playing out from the back has been a notable failure and tested to destruction.

Beyond that, the 3981 miles between Atlanta, Georgia and Perth has been allowed to become too great structurally by the new owners. They have not committed enough attention to the executive dimension of the club.

Although in mitigation, the deterioration reaches back into the later days of the Brown regime. Relegation has been at least four seasons in the making.

Euan: There's never been a better time to remember the 2021 cup double and reflect on how good a month May has been to us recently, what a fantastic high to measure the lows against.

Paul: I hope Simo stays, he brings positivity and a clear way of playing, we just need to overhaul the squad and start building for a promotion campaign.

John: We have the right man in place. A busy few days ahead weeding out the unwanted players and keeping the ones we'll need. Hopefully, plans are already in place for a few much-needed signings. The Saints will rise again.

Donald: This is down to Craig Levein, playing inexperienced goalkeepers, whose mistakes at the start of the season probably cost six points. Also loss of two key central defenders left that part of the team decimated.

Keep Simo, rebuild and look for an immediate return to the Premiership next season.