St Johnstone couldn’t get their league season off to the flying start they wanted, going down to a 1-0 defeat in a McDiarmid Park clash with Hibs that had its customary refereeing controversy.
Courier Sport picks out three day-one talking points.
A fixture that guarantees a refereeing horror-show
It appears Callum Davidson and his team’s punishment from the footballing gods for claiming two trophies at the expense of Hibs will be to suffer refereeing injustices until goodness knows when.
The tap is running and Euan Anderson certainly wasn’t the man to turn it off.
A quick recap……
The dodgy McDiarmid Park last-minute penalty this time two years ago actually pre-dated the cup double.
Last season John Beaton’s spot-kick award against Jamie McCart (then sending off the same man) defined that fixture and Craig Bryson’s red on the stroke of half-time turned the second game between these teams.
It actually turned Saints’ season.
Anderson was the man in the middle for that contest but this was a far, far poorer overall day’s work.
TV replays have confirmed my in-game opinions – it was unjustifiable to send off Murray Davidson and not Marijan Cabraja.
Definitely worse than Davidson's. Is there a half-decent ref out there? Starting to seriously doubt it https://t.co/tpgXpW4EmO
— Eric Nicolson (@C_ENicolson) July 30, 2022
Anderson’s fellow officials were quite happy to pipe-up to aid Anderson in his red card decision but went very quiet when it came to Cabraja – and a Rocky Bushiri forearm to Jamie Murphy’s face.
Here we are, first day of the season and already a refereeing team have been exposed as totally out of their depth.
Let’s see if VAR aids them, exposes them or sees them use the technology to back-up their colleague’s initial judgment.
The only good thing is that Callum Davidson hasn’t tried to be diplomatic this time.
With Scottish officials, being polite gets you nowhere.
The signings
To think January felt like a big period of transition.
When Saints returned from the winter break there were only two men making their first Premiership appearance (at Tynecastle) – Nadir Ciftci and Dan Cleary.
On Saturday, Theo Bair included, there were NINE.
The part of the side that worried me the most when I saw the line-up – the central defensive unit – turned out to be the best.
Remi Matthews did well, coming for balls you’d want him to come for and leaving them alone at the right times.
Alex Mitchell was a star – both in terms of the personality he brought to what could have been a daunting occasion and the art of defending.
Ryan McGowan and Andy Considine made sure they weren’t exposed for pace and the latter was the safety net Adam Montgomery required on a few occasions.
The on-loan Celtic youngster is still looking like a winger learning defensive duties on the job.
On the other side, Drey Wright got his positioning wrong for the Hibs winner but he’ll be an excellent signing.
I expect to say the same about Graham Carey and Jamie Murphy in the months ahead but they both put in underwhelming performances.
Saints have been starved of the ball against Hibs on plenty of occasions down the years but the likes of David Wotherspoon and Craig Conway have got them up the pitch – and kept them there – more effectively than Saturday’s duo managed to.
Transfer clarity
To expect Bair to make the leap from a squad player not trusted to begin a game in his first few months at the club to the main man who will fill the Callum Hendry goals void was stretching the definition of optimism.
The Canadian has progressed over the summer and could become a valuable impact player and intermittent starter.
But the solution to Saints’ need for a focal point to build attacks around in the here and now, he is not.
They require a proven all-round number nine who can bring Chris Kane-esque qualities to the side AND come alive in the penalty box like Guy Melamed.
That might feel like a big ask (it is).
And such a player won’t be cheap.
But a lot of good work in the transfer market will be negated otherwise.
The same applies to the energetic central midfielder this team lacks against the slick pass and move sides in the division.
For all their flaws, Hibs have to be put in that bracket.
Those were the two priority signings in my eyes when the last ball was kicked against Inverness Caley Thistle and, over two months later, they still are.
With every passing game, the stakes get higher.
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