St Johnstone manager, Craig Levein, is confident that the real Matt Smith is back.
And the Perth boss believes he knows the reason the former Manchester City midfielder’s form dropped off towards the back end of last season.
The Welsh internationalist was Saints’ star performer in the Premiership opener against Aberdeen and backed it up with another accomplished performance in last weekend’s victory over Kilmarnock, twice coming close to scoring.
Levein was impressed by the high standards Smith consistently hit after he took over from Steven MacLean a few months into the 2023/24 campaign.
The fact that those standards dipped during the Premiership run-in can be attributed to the perpetual motion player hitting an energy “brick wall”.
‘Took its toll’
“Matty reached what I consider to be his true levels against Aberdeen and Killie,” said Levein.
“When Andy (Kirk) and I came in last year, early on, he was our top player, week in and week out.
“He tailed off towards the end of the season.
“It was maybe something to do with how much he was asked to play.
“He’s been in the academy at Man City, hasn’t had a load of week in, week out, first team football.
“Maybe it just took its toll.
“When you watch him in training and stuff like that, his energy is unbelievable.
“So I just think he hit a brick wall last year.
“His work was very good in pre-season.
“He looks like the Matty Smith that was playing mid-season last year.”
Different positions
Smith is one of a few players at McDiarmid Park who can be tasked with different match-day roles.
“Matty’s really about energy and running but he’s got really good quality as well,” said Levein.
“He’s not physically the most intimidating person but his grit and determination and his boundless energy are really useful.
“You can see why he’s got the amount of caps for Wales (19) that he has.
“He’s played in a load of different roles as well – I actually don’t know where he’s best.
“Sometimes he plays really well off the side, even though he’s not a winger, and other times he’s in the middle.
“He’s not one of these guys who says ‘I want to play here’ or ‘I want to play there’.
“Wherever he’s asked to play, he just plays and does his best.
“He can provide so many different things.
“You can go through a discussion in the coaches’ room about who plays where, and Matty’s picked in all four positions at some point.
“That’s a compliment, isn’t it?”
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