How St Johnstone got over their early-season struggles and now look set to make a push for Europe

Callum Davidson has recovered from early pressure to have St Johnstone moving in the right direction, as Craig Fowler writes ...
Stevie May celebrates with his team-mates after scoring against Hamilton Accies. Picture: SNSStevie May celebrates with his team-mates after scoring against Hamilton Accies. Picture: SNS
Stevie May celebrates with his team-mates after scoring against Hamilton Accies. Picture: SNS

A late September defeat to Livingston left St Johnstone joint-bottom of the Scottish Premiership table with only seven points taken from the first nine games. That very day, a thread appeared on leading fans’ forum Perth Saints entitled ‘Taxi for Davidson’.

Opinions on football forums typically tend to touch extreme dramatics at either end of the positive-to-negative scale on a weekly basis. There was even a thread on the same forum which existed for years along similar lines if you swapped the name ‘Callum Davidson’ for ‘Tommy Wright’. But while that topic always had fearsome backers of the cup-winning boss, there wasn’t the same kind of robust defending for the new man in charge. It also, troublingly, was fairly well-measured in its reasoning. It wasn’t someone frothing at the mouth saying Davidson had to go immediately. It plainly stated many reasonable concerns why the former assistant and beloved player didn’t appear to be the right man to replace a legend.

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After much back and forth, it was agreed upon that a change in results had to occur sooner rather than later. The very next game saw them lose 2-0 at home to Celtic, but it was a step in the right direction. They were seconds away from claiming a point against the reigning champions and played with an intensity that had been missing from previous games.

Manager Callum Davidson has presided over a ten-game unbeaten run.Manager Callum Davidson has presided over a ten-game unbeaten run.
Manager Callum Davidson has presided over a ten-game unbeaten run.

This weekend sees Saints facing off against Neil Lennon’s men at Parkhead for the first time since that last encounter – and they haven’t lost a match since.

Including a bonus-point-penalty-shoot-out loss to Dundee United in the Betfred Cup group stages, which officially counts as a draw, the Perth club have gone ten games without defeat. In that time they’ve netted 23 goals and conceded nine. They’re now up to seventh in the league table and are in the quarter-final of the Betfred Cup. The same supporters who openly questioned whether Davidson was the right man are now admitting they made a mistake. So what has changed?

Lady luck finally forgives

Truthfully, St Johnstone were never actually that bad. They were, however, one of the least fortunate teams in the league – and still are. According to the advanced statistics, working on Expected Goals for and against, St Johnstone should be third in the table based on the combination of quality of chances created and those allowed to the opposition.

Callum Hendry got back among the goals at Motherwell.Callum Hendry got back among the goals at Motherwell.
Callum Hendry got back among the goals at Motherwell.

Only Celtic and Rangers have attempted more shots, while only Rangers have swung in more crosses. They have been a threatening attack for the majority of the season, just not one who could take advantage by converting pressure into goals.

Poor finishing was certainly an issue. Stevie May started the season with injury troubles and took a while to get going, while Callum Hendry’s confidence in front of goal evaporated after a very strong finish to the 2019/20 campaign.

But overall, St Johnstone were just a bit unlucky. As a team they were wasting the opportunities they created for themselves, while seeing opponents dispatch half-chances with a regularity they could only dream of. That has started to change in recent weeks, though the recent home draws with Motherwell and Dundee United show the issue of winning when on top is not quite fully resolved.

Small alterations

Danny McNamara has impressed on loan from Millwall.Danny McNamara has impressed on loan from Millwall.
Danny McNamara has impressed on loan from Millwall.

Davidson deserves credit for sticking to his guns but not being too stubborn to notice areas where change was required. He started, and has played the majority of the season, in a 3-4-3 formation with two split No.10s behind a lone striker. However, after the dreadful early-season form he did begin to play about with the system; first moving the front three around so two central attackers partnered each other, backed by a single No.10 in a floating free role behind them.

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He’s since moved back to the more traditional 3-4-3 (if that isn’t too much of an oxymoron) but with the two No.10s playing a little closer to the central striker, who no longer appears as isolated as Hendry did earlier in the campaign.

Speaking of Hendry, Davidson spent the summer drawing up an attacking game-plan and recruiting players (such as free-crossing wide-men Danny McNamara and Craig Conway) who would help build the team around the promising young target man. When it became apparent Stevie May was the best solution to the striking problems, he adjusted the team slightly in favour of the more experienced forward’s game. Hence the need to have the wider players operating more centrally, to both link with the selfless May and also to feed through balls into the channels.

Here come the Saintees

St Johnstone's last defeat came against Celtic in early October.St Johnstone's last defeat came against Celtic in early October.
St Johnstone's last defeat came against Celtic in early October.

Both forwards started the 2-1 come-from-behind cup win at Motherwell over the weekend as Hendry netted his first goal against Premiership opposition this term. If he can regain his confidence and get firing then Saints fans will thoroughly enjoy the rest of the 2020/21 campaign.

They are already high on the style of football this team play. Gone are the days of St Johnstone being a functional, agricultural side. The change in philosophy goes back a couple of years when Wright slowly began to introduce more youth into the team, but Davidson has taken it to the next level. Those forced to watch at home via stream have been impressed with the approach of this unit, both in terms of the passing style and the organisation throughout. Simply, they just appear very well coached on a weekly basis, even compared to Wright’s team. The problem was whether this approach would translate into enough success to trouble the top six.

That now certainly appears to be the case. If May and Hendry, such a promising partnership in the final months of last season, can rekindle that relationship then there’s no reason this squad can’t win the race for fifth place and claim the final European spot.

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