M&M doesn’t sound quite as exciting as SAS, but MacLean and May did for St Johnstone on Saturday what Suarez and Sturridge did for Liverpool.
Anfield manager Brendan Rodgers hailed his strike-combo as the best in England recently, and they showed why with one goal each against Crystal Palace.
Don’t expect Tommy Wright to start labelling his two frontmen as the most dangerous in Scotland.
But if they link-up as impressively as they did against Caley Thistle, when they got three goals between them, on a regular basis, others might be tempted to.
Theirs is already a pretty formidable partnership when it clicks, but MacLean believes it can only improve.
The former Sheffield Wednesday and Aberdeen man, who scored two at the weekend, explained: “I was hopeful from the start that it would be a good partnership.
“Stevie’s young and strong and works the channels really well. We’ve scored a few and we’ve set up a few for each other. Hopefully it can keep developing.
“It’s not just his goals. He showed today that his link-up play is excellent. Mayso did brilliantly for the two goals I scored by setting me up. If he keeps this going he’ll be a top player. Hopefully this partnership can keep blossoming.
“The good thing about him is he wants to learn. Whether it’s me or the gaffer, Callum (Davidson) or Alec (Cleland) , he listens and takes it in. That’s a good quality to have.”
MacLean is more often than not the unsung hero of the pair, and as a striker towards the back end of his career, isn’t likely to get mentioned in relation to Scotland call-ups like one starting out in the game.
May is already an under-21 and MacLean wouldn’t be surprised if he goes on to wear the dark blue for Gordon Strachan as well as Billy Stark.
He pointed out: “If he keeps scoring goals then why not? Is there another Scottish striker scoring more goals than him this season? That speaks for itself.
“That’s for Mr Strachan, though, but if he keeps going the way he’s going, he’ll not be far away. Look at Leigh Griffiths last season. His SPL performances got him in the squad.
“If Stevie can do well for the under-21s as well, he’ll have a good chance.”
MacLean’s two goals came in the second half, and as he alluded to, were aided by May.
On 73 minutes MacLean accepted the ball on the edge of the box before wrong-footing Dean Brill with a low shot into the keeper’s bottom right-hand corner.
Then on 82 minutes May crossed to the back post, from where MacLean had a close-range finish.
It was May who had opened the scoring on 18 minutes. He and David Wotherspoon had played a one-two and then MacLean got involved to tee up the goal.
The second goal of the game was another example of slick inter-play from Saints, with captain Dave Mackay the beneficiary this time.
In fact, all four goals were masterfully crafted, and there were plenty of other one-touch and brisk movements that didn’t result in goals.
Throw into the mix a “did it cross the line” goal/non-goal from Gary McDonald that wasn’t given when the score was 0-0, as well as a few excellent stops from Brill, and you get the picture of as polished and dominant a performance as you could hope to see in the Premiership, Celtic included.
The win takes Saints back into the top six, and MacLean is well aware that there will be no excuses if they let their standards dip again after the international break.
He said: “It was a great performance. To beat a team of the quality of Inverness 4-0 says it all. They’ve been outstanding this season
“It’s up to us to maintain those standards now. We played well against Ross County a few weeks ago.
“But no disrespect to them, they’re probably not as good a team as Inverness. It’s up there with that performance and the Rosenborg match.
“We’ve got to have that work ethic every week and hopefully more often than not it will result in performances like that.”
Asked whether Saints, who are now seven points adrift of second-placed Inverness, should be considered candidates for the end-of-season best-of-the-rest tag, MacLean replied: “Not on our performances of late, but on that performance we should.
“We have to do it week in and week out, not just one in every five. We have to win when we’re not playing as well as that. I wouldn’t say we’re favourites for second but we should be up and around the top six.”