Callum Davidson would pay attention if Sir Alex Ferguson passed judgment on one of his St Johnstone players.
But he won’t be losing any sleep over John Hartson’s insult about on-loan defender Hayden Muller.
Comments from the ex-Celtic striker turned pundit suggesting the penalty the teenager conceded against Rangers last weekend showed “why you’re at St Johnstone” haven’t altered Davidson’s opinion of a young centre-back who has shown great promise at McDiarmid Park in the early weeks of the season.
And the Perth boss hopes Muller will dismiss the remarks in the same manner.
James Tavernier struck a brilliant winner as Rangers came from a goal down to beat St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park in today's early Scottish Premiership game
Highlights 👇▶️ pic.twitter.com/Hj0i31fPQR
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) September 11, 2021
Hartson said on GoRadio: “St Johnstone go 1-0 up with a decent goal and then the boy Muller…
“You think to yourself: ‘This is why you’re at St Johnstone, by the way, no disrespect, because you do reckless and stupid things’.
“Why go and tackle? Why go on your backside and slide tackle in the box? He brings down Ryan Kent when he’s going absolutely nowhere.
“You give a penalty away and allow Rangers to come back into the game. Not using your head, not using your savvy, not using your football intelligence.”
Everyone makes mistakes
Davidson responded: “It doesn’t really bother me what other people say and I’d only be worried if Sir Alex Ferguson was phoning me giving advice on my centre-halves.
“Everyone makes mistakes. Every young player does it – whether it’s on the pitch or on the training ground.
“I know I did in my career.
“Hayden has been fantastic for us.
“He made a mistake on Saturday and as a defender it usually costs you.
“I’m not fussed about what’s been said because I’ve spoken to Hayden and he will learn from it.
“I am really happy with how he’s progressed already this season. He’s been really good.
“Hopefully he’s not on social media reading it and that goes for any player. If I was a player now I wouldn’t be on it, that’s for sure.
“I don’t think it will affect him.”
A lot of positives
Davidson added: “We sat down on Monday to go through things in the game.
“There were things he did really well – his reading of the game, his one v one defending was very good and he covered a lot of areas.
“Rangers had one shot in the first half from 25 yards, so when you are a young man playing centre-half that’s all credit to you.
“He knows he made a mistake at the penalty and for every goal there is a mistake somewhere.
“Hayden will be fine. He’s come in, been fantastic and played with a lot of maturity. We are delighted to have him here.”
