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.

4 St Johnstone talking points as Craig Levein sees good and bad of Perth side and Nicky Clark becomes mind-blowing quiz answer

The new Saints boss will have a clear picture of areas in need of improvement after they let two-goal lead over Motherwell slip.

Craig Levein got plenty food for thought in St Johnstone's 2-2 draw with Motherwell.
Craig Levein got plenty food for thought in St Johnstone's 2-2 draw with Motherwell. Images: SNS.

“Disappointed but not bitterly disappointed” was Craig Levein’s verdict on St Johnstone’s 2-2 draw with Motherwell.

It wasn’t a huge step back after the previous week’s victory against Kilmarnock under caretaker boss, Alex Cleland.

But it will have given Levein a clear picture of a few bad habits that have become ingrained in the Perth side and a few good ones that are emerging.

Courier Sport picks out four talking points from the match that saw Saints move to within two points of second bottom in the Premiership.


No room for doubt

One of the big themes of Levein’s first media conference was the extent to which he will be delegating duties to others on his coaching staff, chiefly the man he has brought with him from Brechin City, Andy Kirk.

Kirk will have a significant input on tactics and will lead the day to day work on the training ground.

This is far from a new model in football.

From Sir Alex Ferguson to Tommy Wright, many successful managers operate this way.

St Johnstone manager Craig Levein encourages his players from the touchline.
St Johnstone manager Craig Levein encourages his players from the touchline. Image: SNS.

And, with Levein, there is no room for dubiety regarding who is the boss.

Four years may have passed since the 59-year-old was last on the touchline but he was the same vocal presence in the home McDiarmid Park technical area as he was in the away one in his final game in charge of Hearts.


Dip was costly but it didn’t end up being fatal

The implosion in Paisley was the most spectacular example, but second half dips have been far too prevalent this season.

Only against Dundee, when they had nothing to lose, had Saints finished stronger than they started.

Until Tuesday night.

Levein was right to be enthused by the fact “at 2-2 we grew again and got better”.

That two goals being wiped out in 10 minutes didn’t become a fatal, defeat-inducing slump is progress.

It will now be up to Levein to get a grasp on whether the post-interval dips are physical, psychological or a combination of the two.

Six outfield players in the box and four on the edge for Motherwell’s first goal was asking for trouble and not pressing the crosser with enough zeal for that one and the equaliser was equally infuriating.

As Levein said in relation to the second: “These are things we can fix.”

You would back a manager of his calibre to do just that. And quickly.


Right wing-back

That Motherwell’s two goals both came from their left and Saints’ right wasn’t a shock.

Dan Phillips’ use of the ball was more often than not as good as you’d expect of a central midfielder asked to do a job in unfamiliar territory.

But is only a sticking plaster solution, of course.

Even if you sharpen up his pressing and positional sense, Phillips will never have the ability to take his opposite number on a lung-bursting run up the pitch and relieve pressure on his team by doing so.

Drey Wright will be out for a long time and Dara Costelloe for one more game.

Ross County scored both of their goals down that side of the pitch in August. Expect them to target it again on Saturday.


Clark’s incredible statistic

There are so many statistics flying around social media these days that most of them wash over you.

Occasionally, however, one can still pack a punch.

Nicky Clark’s last four games have been played under four different managers – Motherwell (Levein), Kilmarnock (Alex Cleland), St Mirren 2023 (Steven MacLean) and St Mirren 2022 (Callum Davidson).

There’s rarely a first in football but I defy anyone to find a player who can match that!

Conversation