St Johnstone boss Callum Davidson questions appointment of German official after defeat to Austrian side LASK

St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson looked back on a tie that was laced with ill-feeling and said that it was an unnecessary red card that cost them their ongoing involvement in European competition.

St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson exchanges words with the officials during the Europa Conference play-off defeat to LASK (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

But he said that rather than dwell on that pivotal moment, he would rather focus on the positives.

“I thought for 70 minutes of the game the players were phenomenal. They were performing against a team who have performed at a high level for the past couple of seasons. For this game and the Galatasaray game my players gave me everything they’ve got.

“Ultimately it was a sending off that cost us. It is frustrating every time you get a player sent off and it is difficult to deal with.”

Although admitting the referee Daniel Siebert had been left with a decision to make, the Perth boss was surprised that a German had been chosen to officiate a tie against Austrian side LASK.

“That’s like us getting an Irish or a Welsh one. I told my staff beforehand to be careful with the officials, because they and the Austrians would understand each other.

“But I would rather talk about my players and their performance than the sending off. I am very proud of them. You look at the resources that LASK have compared to us, but we saw our team spirit. The outstanding achievements of last season have given us these games to enjoy but for me you want to progress.

“We have competed against two top teams in Europe and we nearly got through. It has given them a taste of European football and I said to then let’s make sure we get that again.”

There was no fond farewell from LASK manager Dominik Thalhammer, who had described playing against Saints as “disgusting” and the managers did not shake hands after this one.

“Their coach made a comment last week about us being disgusting and I let it go because maybe it got lost in translation. But I now know that wasn’t right. It’s disappointing to come across another manager who acts the way he did, because I want to respect every manager. I’ll always conduct myself that way.

“But whether he shook my hands is irrelevant. I was more concerned with our players at the time.”

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