It was a win St Johnstone fans had waited a generation for.
By beating Rangers 2-1 at McDiarmid Park at the start of November, Callum Davidson’s team ended a drought that endured for well over a decade.
The second of back-to-back home victories, the historic result (and the performance which brought it about) suggested Saints were well-placed to serve up more home treats for their supporters over the next few months of the 2022/23 season.
Instead though, it remains the last time they have won a game of football on their own pitch.
And their record of just three home league triumphs is the joint lowest with Motherwell – one worse than bottom two, Dundee United and Ross County.
Courier Sport explores the themes of a six defeats and two draws record Saints will seek to put a full-stop to against County on Saturday.
Have Saints just been unlucky?
Not to a great extent.
Two red cards have been harsh – particularly Dan Phillips’ in the St Mirren game.
In the main though, it would be very hard to argue results were grossly unfair on the hosts.
If anything, that was more relevant before Saints beat Rangers rather than after it.
Early season losses to Hibs, Aberdeen and Celtic all had elements of misfortune about them.
Slow starts
Now this definitely has been a factor.
In arguably the three worst defeats – Hearts, Dundee United and Livingston – Saints took far too long to get going.
They were reactive rather than proactive and even though at points in all of those contests they looked like they might recover from their first half lethargy – as they did on the road at Kilmarnock – it was at this stage of the season when the term ‘slow starters’ really became a thing.
System issues?
Many Saints fans want four at the back to be the default defensive formation.
Davidson has tried it once at home in this section of the season and it worked pretty well – against Rangers in the Scottish Cup.
That was a direct consequence of the Livingston first half debacle.
Had Theo Bair tucked away Nicky Clark’s cross to the near post, that match would likely have gone into extra-time.
"Tavernier to the rescue!" 🎙
St. Johnstone give Rangers a big scare but their captain just managed to clear it away from his goal line 👀#STJRAN | #ScottishCup pic.twitter.com/S6LQ4KlIPy
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) January 21, 2023
Against Celtic, St Mirren and Aberdeen, there’s been a return to the familiar three, albeit Andy Considine’s dismissal altered the manager’s plans not long into last Saturday’s game.
The system may be a red herring.
But as long as Saints’ winless home record persists, so too will the perception that the way in which Davidson sets his team up is the wrapping paper around it.
The pitch
Coincidence or otherwise, Saints’ home form peaked around the same time as the grass stopped growing.
The first home game after the win against Rangers was also the first time Davidson mentioned the McDiarmid playing surface in his post-match reflections.
“First half we played really well and scored a great goal,” he said after drawing 1-1 against Motherwell before the World Cup break.
“Second half was a bit scrappy, the pitch was cutting up a bit which made it trickier for the players but in the end I thought both teams tried to have a go and win the game.”
Let's hope Adam Montgomery is good out of bunkers…. pic.twitter.com/RmklwgLHvh
— Eric Nicolson (@C_ENicolson) January 14, 2023
By the time Rangers were back in town – with just three Saints home games in between – it was being called a cow field.
That Saints have been more successful away from McDiarmid Park, where pitches have been better, is numerically irrefutable.
Stylistically, it’s been the same.
Davidson has had to adapt his tactics to suit a surface on which a football doesn’t run true.
He’s also lost a key player – Phillips – to a red card in a big match after a bobble affected his usual sure touch.
Put it this way, Saints have a far better excuse in this regard for their meagre record of three home wins than Motherwell, whos Fir Park pitch is one of the best in the league.
The fans
Now this certainly is not part of the equation.
The Saints players were only booed off when they deserved to be booed off (half-time against Livingston) and nothing more needs to be said about the justifiable boycott of the Rangers cup tie.
The home support has been magnificent.
We can all think of teams who find it harder to play in front of their own fans, either because they don’t get behind them as fervently as travelling supporters or they actually get on their players’ backs when they should be encouraging them.
This St Johnstone side definitely isn’t one of them.
Yes, the away ends have played their part in some memorable afternoons and evenings on the road.
St Mirren (Home)
25/02/2023 pic.twitter.com/47D3EpOtLO— FAIR CITY UNITY (@faircityunity) February 28, 2023
But Fair City Unity have brought colour, noise and passion to their corner of the East Stand and the rest of the ground has stuck by the team as well.
If there was a direct correlation between home support and points, Saints would be a top six side.
Putting it right
When Saints were at their worst – December and January – it wasn’t a home or away thing.
For a few weeks they lost their way as a team wherever they played and it was that run of poor form that has cost them a top six place.
Things have broadly improved since but there has only been one occasion when Saints have seized control of a match and control of a result – Motherwell away.
That’s the template.
Against Ross County, they are once more facing a side not as good as them player for player.
Making it show is a mindset battle as much as a tactical one.
Their excellent away results point to a team more effective at counter-punching than front-foot football, as has often been the St Johnstone way of things down the years.
Whatever the formation, and even on a pitch as bad as this one, altering that balance is key to beating a few bottom six sides at McDiarmid over the next couple of months.
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