The St Johnstone players “let down” Callum Davidson, defender Ryan McGowan has admitted.
Saints’ 2-0 defeat to Livingston proved to be Davidson’s last game in charge at McDiarmid Park, with a recent winless run reaching six.
The chasing pack beneath them in the Premiership is closing in and Perth form shows no sign of improving.
Speaking before news broke of double-winning boss Davidson’s departure, McGowan said: “It’s just not good enough – all across the board.
“Players have let themselves, the manager, the supporters and the club down.
“We can only apologise to the fans.
“Football supporters are switched on – they can see our performance levels haven’t been acceptable.
“If we don’t start playing better we will be in freefall.”
🚨 BREAKING St Johnstone part company with Callum Davidson.
What do you make of the decision? 🔽 pic.twitter.com/GX5vthGRqP
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) April 16, 2023
The Australian international pointed out that the problem in West Lothian was the manner in which Saints put Davidson’s plan into action rather than the strategy itself.
“We’re letting the manager down massively,” he said.
“There’s only so much he can do.
“Everything he told us through the week, basically we didn’t do.
“We were taking too many touches in the middle of the pitch, we weren’t turning them around and as a back four we weren’t tight enough to their front three.
“That’s down to us as players.
“It’s easy to shift the blame on the manager but we need to take responsibility for the run we’re on.
“We’re not doing what he’s asking us to do and falling below our performance level.”
Ryan McGowan says formation picked by Callum Davidson not the problem
McGowan added: “The million dollar question is probably, ‘where has this come from?’
“And I’m not sure.
“Training was good during the week and, personally, I felt ready for the game.
“But we just seem to be making silly mistakes.
“For the first goal I should get tighter and stop the boy (Bruce Anderson) from turning.
“After the second goal we’ve left ourselves a mountain to climb and that’s what we’ve been doing for the last four or five weeks.
“We know that we have to turn this situation around pretty quickly.
“Talk is cheap. With performances like that, we are in trouble.
“We’re the only ones who can put this right and that starts next week.
“It is still in our hands but we need to turn the corner quick-smart.
“We need to be more difficult to beat.
“A win next week could open up the gap again to eight points with five games left.
“There are still three teams who would love to be in our position.”
▶️ Livingston kept their top-six dream alive as they beat St Johnstone to leave them five points from the foot of the Premiership 🔽 pic.twitter.com/FaQPks6wph
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) April 15, 2023
Davidson switched to a back-four for the match, having deployed a central defensive three for the vast majority of his three seasons as manager.
McGowan believes formation talk is a red herring.
“We could have played eight at the back today and still got beaten,” he said.
“During the week we watched a video of the last 20-odd goals we’ve conceded and we’ve just added another couple to that.
“It was too easy for them.”
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