Steven MacLean has now got the full set of results in his three games in charge of St Johnstone – a draw, a win and a loss.
Courier Sport picks out three talking points from the last of those, Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Motherwell.
No VAR complaints
I must admit I’ve not been paying close attention to the job Scotland’s VAR officials have been doing as far as applying the letter of the law when goalkeepers are facing a penalty kick.
There have been far bigger issues to worry about in as awful a season for referees and their helpers that anyone can remember.
To the naked eye, wiping out Remi Matthews’ save from Kevin van Veen and ordering a retake did seem very harsh.
The far side official has one job to do when a penalty is about to be struck and he didn’t spot a foot-fault.
But, as we saw on Sportscene, the correct decision was arrived at in the end.
🔥 Kevin van Veen equalled the record for scoring in eight consecutive Scottish Premiership matches as Motherwell beat St Johnstone 🔽 pic.twitter.com/HnQS0m6ABj
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) May 13, 2023
As with offside, this is one part of the VAR remit where there can be no excuse for anything other than a 100% success rate.
Matthews does make a jump forward before Motherwell boot made contact with ball.
As with outfield players and how they shape their body to avoid handball offences in the box, keepers will need to get the back foot drag ingrained into their penalty routine.
And the VAR officials will need to keep up their strict, no shades of grey benchmark.
Kane’s important role
Chris Kane’s 84th minute introduction off the bench was no token gesture.
Saints’ predicament in this game and this season was/is perilous.
It’s been a hugely important step in the right direction that the team is more defensively sound than in the last few weeks of Callum Davidson’s reign.
But Saturday’s match was a stark reminder that attacking deficiencies are far harder to remedy.
The two goals Saints have scored under MacLean have earned four points.
But one should have been saved by the goalkeeper and the other came from a long-throw and featured a fresh air swipe assist.
The ball was passed around pretty effectively in the first half on Saturday but there was nothing close to a clear-cut chance to show for it.
And the lack of dynamism and flow after Saints went behind was concerning.
Kitchen sinks were not being thrown and Liam Kelly will seldom have enjoyed as comfortable an afternoon.
Stevie May was the furthest forward player in blue and white by some distance when you study the team’s average position map and he was left far too isolated.
Melker Hallberg was missed – he does the best job of getting close to May.
But anybody watching Saints play this season would tell you the way to get the best out of the club’s top scorer is for him to be picking up the pieces off a number nine, not the other way around.
“It has been the toughest year and a half ever. I was absolutely delighted to be back out there, I just need to get my fitness better and focus on the next few games.”#SaintsTV spoke to @Chriskane1994 after our 2-0 defeat to @MotherwellFC this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/jX5QzC679o
— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) May 13, 2023
With not so much as a full bounce game under his belt in 16 months, a half-fit Kane holding the ball up to let May do his thing remains the best hope of the Perth side scoring a goal in open play.
Draws
For all the talk about creative shortcomings, defensive solidity is the absolute key in the next two games.
With the way Livingston are playing, I’ll repeat last week’s point – they could well lose all their post-split matches.
Saints welcome them to McDiarmid Park on the last day of the season, of course.
While players and fans would much rather not be in a position that a win is needed to finish third bottom, ensuring that is the worst-case scenario has to be the base goal.
Draws at Kilmarnock and Ross County will ensure that survival is in their control in a fortnight.
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