Just when things looked to be progressing smoothly for St Johnstone in the Premier Sports Cup for a change, they find themselves back in a precarious position that is all too familiar.
Progression to the knockout stages of the competition is out of their control.
After losing 3-2 to Alloa Athletic on Tuesday night, the non-negotiable bit is beating East Fife this weekend.
But they also need Morton to either defeat Alloa or draw and win the penalty shoot-out.
Far from ideal.
Missing out on the extra money that comes with last-16 League Cup football would be costly.
And a third group stage exit would end the Adam Webb takeover honeymoon.
Arguably, yet another ignominious cup loss to lower league opposition has already done just that.
Courier Sport picks out four talking points from an evening that left Saints with ‘here we go again’ feelings rather than ‘brave new world’ ones.
Team selection
Craig Levein took a gamble.
That it didn’t pay off is the definition of stating the obvious.
You can understand why he would want to spare Graham Carey and Drey Wright a three-game week, with the fixture in the middle, on a plastic pitch the obvious one to stand down those two in some respects.
But it was also the toughest of the four group games – probably by some distance.
Win it – or even make sure they didn’t lose – and playing at home against a League Two side would have offered up an opportunity that carried less jeopardy to mix things up.
However, it would be grossly unfair to lay the blame for this performance on just the manager and the three men (Josh McPake, Connor Smith and Taylor Steven) who didn’t start against Morton.
There wasn’t a single St Johnstone player who could take pride from their performance, apart from young Liam Parker, who was introduced in testing circumstances and looks a far better defender than the one who toiled against Stirling Albion this time last year.
When a team that plays well and controls a game turns into a team that plays badly and lets a part-time opponent seize the initiative and maintain it, the spotlight inevitably shines brightest on those who were part of the second starting line-up and not the first.
Asked if it was fair to say they didn’t grasp their opportunity, Levein succinctly answered: “Yeah, that would be fairly accurate.”
Another goalkeeper
I suspect he’s now made his mind up.
The second – and game-defining – Alloa goal was a Josh Rae gift.
It was a big misjudgement to get involved in an edge of the box situation Jack Sanders was in control of.
Sanders and Adama Sidibeh (more the latter than the former) shared responsibility for the free header that opened the scoring and David Keltjens was at fault for the third goal.
Rae actually made a very good save before Keltjens sat on him.
Even if the former Airdrie man had left town with a second clean sheet in a row, I would still have said that a Premiership team likely to be fighting relegation needs a goalkeeper over the age of 23 in the building.
Signings
It’s going to be fascinating to see how the last few weeks of the transfer window play out for St Johnstone.
Levein confirmed recently that the new owner’s increase of his budget had already happened.
The big question is – does Adam Webb top-up the top-up?
One bad night should never be the basis of long-term planning.
And don’t let anyone tell you Saints are in an equivalent to, or worse, position than 12 months ago.
But they’re short for a long and winding league campaign in a few positions.
That remains the case for goalkeeper, central defence and central midfield.
They are the three priority positions between now and the league starting in under a fortnight.
Premiership-ready recruits don’t come cheap, though.
And sending a few fringe players out on loan – which absolutely needs to happen – and/or releasing a couple permanently, won’t be enough.
When you buy a football club, important decisions come at you fast.
Leader
Some people questioned the wisdom of making a loan player St Johnstone’s club captain.
Saints fans have no need to worry on that front.
Not only has Kyle Cameron looked like he’ll be a good fit for Scottish football, his commitment to the Perth cause hasn’t waned while he’s been on the sidelines.
Sat a couple of rows in front of the press seats at Alloa, Cameron was as engaged in what was happening on the pitch as any supporter, shouting out instructions and encouragement when it was the right time to do so.
The former Scotland under-21 international is a born leader and his return to the heat of the battle can’t come soon enough.
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