When there’s a game of football to be played the day after a transfer window shuts, how that game of football goes will inevitably shape fans’ feelings about deadline day and their club’s recruitment as a whole.
A home loss for St Johnstone to Motherwell, combined with the fact there’s now a match-less fortnight to stew over it, hasn’t helped to put a positive spin on the business that has been done on one of the smallest budgets – possibly the smallest budget – in the Premiership.
Courier Sport takes a step back to assess the Perth ins and outs and where the squad transformation leaves the McDiarmid Park club for the season ahead.
Goalkeeper
Out – Dimitar Mitov, Dave Richards and Jack Wills
In – Josh Rae
There’s no escaping the fact that the current goalkeeping situation at McDiarmid Park is as far removed from ideal as it’s ever been in the current 15-year spell in the top flight.
It was the one position in the team that Steven MacLean didn’t have to worry about this time last year and, although others put their shoulder to the wheel, Mitov played by far the biggest part in keeping Saints in the Premiership.
As such, it was almost inevitable Saints wouldn’t be able to replace the Bulgarian international like for like after Aberdeen triggered his release clause.
Saints were two wins from two when Craig Levein first spoke about a goalkeeping dilemma.
Josh Rae, a young player of undoubted promise who Airdrie fans were disappointed to see leave, had performed well in pre-season and the Premier Sports Cup and was “in the driving seat” to nail down the No.1 position at that point.
However, it wasn’t clear cut.
“I’ve still got the thought in my head that we might need another, more experienced goalkeeper,” said Levein.
That was near the end of July and, despite Rae having an up and down run of matches after that point, the Saints boss didn’t bring another goalie in.
Whether that was down to managerial judgment, who was available and at what price, or a combination of all those factors, it matters not.
The end result is the same – no Premiership-proven (or another country’s equivalent) goalie in the building.
It wouldn’t be easy to pick up a suitable free agent keeper before January so it will be 23-year-old Rae, 23-year-old Ross Sinclair or 19-year-old Craig Hepburn starting for at least the next 16 league games.
Rae was dropped at the weekend following two errors at Tannadice and Sinclair deserves a proper shot at establishing himself, having recovered admirably from Motherwell’s set-piece opener.
And don’t rule out Hepburn getting his chance at some point, despite his youth.
He’s very highly rated at McDiarmid and is the same age as Craig Gordon when Levein put him into the Hearts first team.
If ever a set of goalies needs a goalie coach, it’s this Saints trio.
That absolutely has to be put right before the season resumes.
As sure as top goalkeeping will save a team from the drop, poor goalkeeping will take it down.
One of the three will have to emerge as a reliable presence behind the defence.
It’s that simple.
Otherwise, by the time Levein gets the opportunity to address the position in the next transfer window, Saints could be in serious trouble.
Verdict – the most important position has the biggest question mark hanging over it.
Defence
Out – Tony Gallacher, Callum Booth, Andy Considine, Liam Gordon, Ryan McGowan, Luke Robinson, James Brown.
In – Andre Raymond, Kyle Cameron (loan), Jack Sanders, Lewis Neilson (loan)
This was always going to be the area of greatest churn.
Four full-backs and three centre-halves moved on.
With Liam Gordon deciding he wanted a fresh challenge, Ryan McGowan is the only player on that list who would split opinion significantly in the fan-base over whether he should have been retained.
The broad picture was clear, though – pace and youth needed to be added to the backline.
And, it has.
I’d be loath to criticise any of the new recruits too heavily, despite the fact defending their penalty box at set-pieces has quickly become an alarming issue for St Johnstone and requires urgent remedy.
Against Motherwell, Andre Raymond had his poorest game since signing but you don’t need to worry about him. He’s a significant upgrade at left-back.
Cameron has had a couple of fraught moments outside the box but has largely been decent inside it.
Neilson isn’t in Jason Kerr’s league with the ball at his feet, however until he came up against Dan Casey at corners, had been pretty steady.
And since Sanders came on for Sam McClelland early in the second half of the Premiership opener against Aberdeen, he’s been Saints’ best defender.
Verdict – If Levein can further bolster his central defensive options by signing Charles Dunne, or a free agent of similar quality and experience, it would tip the scales in favour of the backline being stronger compared to last season.
As thing stands, it’s a case of six and two threes – a defence more mobile but less commanding.
Central midfield
Out – Dan Phillips, Cammy Ballantyne, Ali Crawford
In – Aaron Essel, Jason Holt
Saturday was the St Johnstone midfield at its season’s worst.
Solid structure, high tempo and efficient pass and move football were all in short supply.
Until the substitutions around the hour mark.
Graham Carey got his foot on the ball and Jason Holt kept things nice and simple by putting himself in the right position and changing the point of attack quickly.
He’s exactly the type of player this team has been lacking and, at 31, should be at the peak of his career.
That’s a very good signing.
So too is Essel, for different reasons.
Saints should end up making a tidy profit on that investment.
Max Kucheriavyi can’t complain that he didn’t get enough of a chance to impress Levein, while Connor Smith will find it extremely hard to break into the team.
Both could yet leave on loan.
Given Levein never turns to Sven Sprangler these days you do wonder why the Austrian was given a new contract in the summer.
Like Raymond, Matt Smith has impressed thus far and can be excused one poor(ish) game against Motherwell.
Given the way Dan Phillips’ form tailed off in the last part of the 2023/24 season, Saints are in a healthier spot now than then.
Verdict – There hasn’t been as much change in central midfield as some would like but replacing Phillips with Holt and Essel has strengthened Levein’s hand.
Wide midfield/forward
Out – DJ Jaiyesimi
In – Josh McPake
Raymond doesn’t have an obvious deputy in a wing-back system, by Levein’s own admission.
As things stand, it would be a case of deploying Graham Carey or asking a right-footer like Drey Wright, Fran Franczak or David Keltjens to do a job.
That’s an obvious box that remains unticked.
So too is an out and out winger.
Again, the man for many positions, Carey, is an option on the left, while Wright in front of Keltjens on the right works.
Whether Josh McPake is going to become a genuine contender for Premiership starts remains to be seen.
At the moment, it feels unlikely.
If that doesn’t happen, it will be hard to find the logic in giving him a two-year contract.
Verdict – Not worse but not better.
Strikers
Out – Chris Kane, Stevie May (loan)
In – Uche Ikpeazu and Makenzie Kirk
Chris Kane and Stevie May were, and always will be, club legends.
But the Saints attack needed a makeover, which began in January.
Even Levein’s critics wouldn’t challenge the strategy of blending pace with power up front.
Benji Kimpioka has started the season better than anyone, while Adama Sidibeh was getting close to catching him up before his double red card at Tannadice.
It’s a significant achievement to have both still at the club for the next few months – goal-scoring centre-forwards get noticed.
That Uche Ikpeazu being sidelined before pre-season training even began hasn’t hampered Saints, is a credit to those two forwards.
And Makenzie Kirk has also shown that he can change a Premiership game as a second half substitute.
Get Nicky Clark close to his best and Levein is blessed with all the attacking weapons a manager at this level could wish for.
The club also has assets who should be worth proper money in the transfer market.
Verdict – One of the best goalkeepers in the league kept Saints up last season. It will need to be goals this time around. There’s a good chance the Perth club will have two centre-forwards who reach double figures.
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