Graham Gartland kept good company in his time at McDiarmid Park.
The Irishman shared many an A9 car journey with a player who would go on to break the St Johnstone appearance record and another who would mastermind unprecedented trophy success from the dugout.
Over a decade later, Saints are still reaping the benefits of getting the big decisions right.
And for Gartland, putting his “car crew” colleagues, Callum Davidson and Liam Craig, at the heart of the club – and keeping them there – definitely sits high among those.
“Myself, Liam and Callum would travel up to Perth from Stirling,” said the Irishman.
“We’d talk a lot of football.
“I’ve been in car crews where everything can be negative and be about people getting slaughtered but that one was great – it was about getting better and improving.
2009 | After a 7 season absence from the top tier, St Johnstone open the 2009/10 season with a 2-2 draw at home to Motherwell. Murray Davidson and Graham Gartland scored for Saints. pic.twitter.com/LlEGEaN0ga
— Saints On This Day (@SaintsOTD) August 15, 2021
“Callum and Liam both had a good manner about them even back then.
“Liam was great at taking on information and he’ll be great at passing it on now.
“While other clubs have been chopping and changing, St Johnstone have had a direction for a number of years.
“Ultimately that brings success.
“Liam and Callum have passed their good habits on.
“The likes of Ali McCann and Jason Kerr are proof of that.”
Perth patience
Hibs sacked a manager four months into his first job.
And Dundee sacked a manager who had got them promoted and off the foot of the Premiership table.
But when the going was getting tough at St Johnstone, they didn’t flinch.
“I was delighted to see Callum be so successful last season,” said Gartland. “He’s one of the good guys in the game.
“It was refreshing to see a club stick with a manager through a hard time and not panic.
“They’d lost their two biggest playing assets and Callum deserved that patience.
“Fair play to the club.
“He’d earned that grace after producing the best season St Johnstone have ever had.
“St Johnstone stuck with someone they had faith in, who knows the club and was working hard.
“None of their players have been critical of Callum and rightly so. You can tell there’s a togetherness there.
“They have an owner who won’t panic.
“Steve Brown probably expected them to be fine and maybe competing for Europe again rather than fighting relegation but he still hasn’t panicked.
“’We trust you and we’ll stick with you’ has been the message.”
🗣 'I remember hugging Neil [McCann] afterwards on the pitch and he was in tears!'
Graham Gartland recalled some of his most memorable moments as a player, fan and a coach | ⚽️
Football w/ @SkyIreland
Full chat ➡️ https://t.co/egaQvcKwTK pic.twitter.com/K599Ws6lJO
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) January 23, 2022
McPake’s departure had echoes of Neil McCann and Gartland being relieved of their Dens Park duties, particularly regarding the peculiarity of the timing.
“James brought them up from the Championship – through the play-offs,” he said.
“Did they expect to come up and be mid-table?
“When I was at St Johnstone and we got promoted, the objective the next season was to stay up. Then you try to build on that.
“I don’t understand the expectation around Dundee sometimes.”
Zander Clark close to leaving
Back to St Johnstone and their wise decisions.
There’s one that proved to be a crossroads call for player and club which sticks in his mind.
“Zander (Clark) was struggling a bit when I was at St Johnstone,” he recalled.
“I’d be saying to him: ‘It will come. You’re going to be a good height and just keep working on the things you need to work on.
“I think Derek (McInnes) gave him a three-month contract to give him a chance.
“Zander used to struggle with his kicking. Gordon Marshall came in and worked with him and the improvement was drastic.
“They made the right decision to give him another chance with the three-month deal. That three-month deal has turned into longer ones and he’s still there now.
“It did look like he was going to leave at one point.”
The mention of Clark and Gartland throws up the subject of the Dundee v Saints game which is remembered as much for what happened after the match than during it.
The 4-0 victory for Tommy Wright’s men in March 2018 was followed by touchline and tunnel flashpoints.
“There had been a bit of needle between the two clubs,” said Gartland.
“I’d worked with Tommy when Steve Lomas was at St Johnstone. We’d spoken a few times since.
“We actually had a good record against St Johnstone that year – I think we won three of the four.
“They’d beaten us that day obviously and, I’ll be honest, I thought Tommy was hamming it up a bit at the end.
“I didn’t think there was any need for it. We’d beaten them twice before that and didn’t do it.
“I was the one taking Zander away and then I was taking Neil in. It just got out of hand.
“For the game after split back at Dens, Neil was suspended. We scored with about five minutes to go and it cemented our place in the division.
“We shook hands after that game and it’s water under the bridge now.
“I don’t think I’ll be bumping into Tommy in the next few years anyway. I’ve seen Zander since and had a chat. Neil has too. These things happen in football.
“Tensions run high. It means so much to people. Nobody wanted to win as much as me and Neil did for Dundee and Tommy did for St Johnstone.
“It sometimes spilled over but that’s the way it goes.”
⚽️ Dundee 0-4 St Johnstone
Emotions spilled over at full time.
➡️ https://t.co/l3Egfk6h1U pic.twitter.com/jOMFEaTvuV
— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) March 10, 2018
Saturday’s game carries greater importance for Dundee than Saints, with the home team unlikely to have a route to Premiership safety this time around if they lose.
“When somebody has something you want – for Dundee in this case it’s 11th place – you have to beat them,” said Gartland.
“If you get the chance to beat the side closest to you, you have to take it.
“You can’t expect other teams to do you favours when you’ve got the chance to do a favour for yourself.
