Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Murray Davidson admits he MUST think about changing full-blooded approach ahead of St Johnstone v Aberdeen

Murray Davidson is sent off against Hibs.
Murray Davidson is sent off against Hibs.

You’re never too old – or too far into your football career – to change.

And Murray Davidson intends to prove that point with St Johnstone.

The veteran midfielder was sent off on day one of the Premiership season for a late sliding tackle on Ryan Porteous.

It would have been a run of the mill challenge for most of the former Scotland international’s time in the game.

But Davidson knows that if he’s to avoid further red cards and suspensions, he’ll have to adapt his mindset.

“Do I have to think about changing the way I play?” said the 34-year-old. “Yes.

“I tell the young boys here that when I started playing you could volley someone up in the air, you’d get a booking, then another warning and then maybe a red eventually.

“The game has changed from that, massively.

“If you go in over the ball, go in to hurt someone or you go in completely recklessly then send them off – I totally agree with that.

“But there are times that players are making clean challenges and being booked.

“We have to be careful it doesn’t go too far because you are running thinking ‘if I mistime this by a fraction I could be off’.

“For players like me, we have to adapt.

“It might look like you’re pulling out of tackles but that’s because you are so wary of the punishment now.

“That’s hard when you have played a certain way for a long time, but it’s something players like me have to get into their heads.

“The game has changed and as a player you have to change now too.

“I don’t have too much time left so I don’t have to worry about it for too much longer but football has to be careful it doesn’t take all the contact out of it.

“For me, too many strong physical tackles are being punished now and not every tackle has to be a foul.”

VAR consistency

Davidson, back in the Saints squad for Saturday’s clash with Aberdeen, welcomes the imminent introduction of VAR in the Premiership.

“It will be interesting because it will go one of two ways,” he said. “Either more things being pulled up or less.

“The one thing I do hope it brings, though, is consistency.

“If you take the Hibs game as an example, would VAR decide that if I am a red card then the Hibs player would be and if I am a yellow then he’d be a yellow?

“We have had meeting already and if it’s run properly, which I don’t see any reason it won’t be, then it will help the game.”

Dressing room torture

Davidson is known as one of the most combative midfielders the top flight has had in the last decade but thankfully he hasn’t endured the misery of sitting in an empty dressing room, alone with his thoughts, too often.

“I’ve had two red cards for St Johnstone, one against Aberdeen and the one against Hibs a few weeks ago,” he said.

Referee Kevin Clancy shows Murray Davidson his other red card.
Referee Kevin Clancy shows Murray Davidson his other red card.

“The Aberdeen one was for a tackle on Craig Bryson (in 2019) and when he came here he always used to moan his ankle was knackered because of me!

“It’s not a good feeling. I hate it and you stew on it for a few days afterwards.

“Immediately once you go into the dressing room.

“Late in the game I heard the roar from the Hibs fans, so I knew what had happened.

“That makes it a hundred times worse and then it’s compounded by the boys coming in telling me about other tackles in the game that were just as bad.

“That makes it even more frustrating but when I saw both tackles back it was really annoying.”

Conversation