Andre Raymond and Dan Phillips are back together on Trinidad and Tobago duty this week.
And when the St Johnstone wing-back left Scotland to play for his country in the Nations League, Perth boss Craig Levein had half a mind to get him to pass on a finder’s fee to the former Saints midfielder.
Phillips recommended Raymond to Levein before he left McDiarmid Park in May.
And after following up the tip-off, the Saints manager couldn’t be happier with the player he has brought into his new-look squad.
“Andre has been brilliant, honestly,” said Levein. “I need to send Dan Phillips an agency fee!
“As soon as Dan told me about him, I went to watch his clips. There wasn’t much of him playing back in Portugal.
“But in all the international games, he was playing against guys worth £30 to £40 million – and not giving them a kick.
“I thought: ‘How the hell did he end up where he is?’
“Everyone has got a story of how they got to where they are – look at Adama’s stuff.
“Andre’s route has just been a wee bit more circuitous than everyone else’s.”
Levein added: “He’s got a smile on his face every day. He gets on brilliantly with the lads.
“I’ve not seen a player settle in and look so relaxed and at home.
“He’s got good mates here now and he’s a really well-respected member of the team.
“Players get to where they get to through different routes. That’s how it’s always been.”
Tenacity the key for Raymond
Raymond has come to a physical league and, at around 5ft 7in tall, is one of the smallest full-backs in the Premiership.
That’s not proved to be a problem for the 23-year-old so far, nor does Levein expect it to be.
“There are loads of players who’ve played in Scotland who aren’t the biggest,” he said.
“Morgaro Gomis was tiny but they didn’t come any tougher than he was.
“They are out there and sometimes they don’t get the opportunity.
“A lot of it is to do with tenacity.
“The ones who are tenacious and don’t like getting beaten in any individual one on one carry that everywhere with them.
“It’s not like you can only do that at a certain level.
“Those tend to be the ones who improve again and again and again when the challenges come.
“Because their nature is that they don’t ever want to get beaten.
“It’s not a seam of gold – It’s easy to get this stuff wrong. It’s just about every individual situation, trying to guess if it’s going to work or not.”
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