Simo Valakari is St Johnstone’s 18th permanent manager in the last 50 years.
And he’ll take charge of his first game at McDiarmid Park on Saturday, with Ross County the visitors.
Courier Sport looks back over the last half-century to see how Valakari’s predecessors fared on day one.
Craig Levein – Draw
Alex Cleland was in the dugout for Saints’ first win of last season so the need for a new manager bounce wasn’t as desperate as it could have been.
Two points lost? Saints were 2-0 up against Motherwell with nearly 70 minutes on the clock.
One point gained? They were hanging on for a draw by the end after conceding a quick-fire double.
Steven MacLean – Win
Following Callum Davidson’s sacking, MacLean was tasked with keeping Saints up as caretaker and, once that was achieved, he was the obvious candidate to be confirmed as a permanent successor.
That happened just before Saints beat Livingston in the last game of the 2022/23 season.
Callum Davidson – Draw
Both Davidson and Micky Mellon were new to their jobs when Saints travelled to Tannadice for a league opener without fans in the 2020-21 closed-doors campaign.
Nicky Clark put Dundee United ahead from the penalty spot early in the game and Michael O’Halloran was then sent off, so to come away with a point thanks to Liam Craig’s second half equaliser was a satisfactory way for the post-Tommy Wright era to begin.
Tommy Wright – Win
First matches don’t come much better than this one, beating an established European name, Rosenborg, 1-0 on their own pitch.
Wright even claimed a win in his first league game as well, a 1-0 victory over Hearts at McDiarmid.
Steve Lomas – Draw
Lomas inherited a team doing well, with senior pros at its core.
They ensured a smooth transition from one manager to another at a tough venue when, a few days after arriving in November, 2011, the Northern Irishman opened up with a 0-0 draw at Ibrox.
Derek McInnes – Draw
McInnes was young enough to be a player/manager if he’d wanted but chose not to go down that route.
His opening game as a head coach was at Firhill in December, 2007 and he had Paul Sheerin and Kenny Deuchar to thank for turning a 2-0 deficit into a 2-2 draw in injury-time.
Owen Coyle – Loss
Coyle gained a reputation for writing his own scripts in his playing career and starting his managerial career with Saints away to old club, Airdrie, appeared ready-made for another one.
Alan Gow had other ideas at the end of the April, 2005, contest, scoring a late winner.
John Connolly – Win
Given the Connolly era lasted less than 40 games and the league season was pointless after three matches, it might come as a surprise that he actually got a win in his first match.
David Hannah and Michael Moore scored the goals in a 2-0 League Cup victory over Hamilton Accies.
Billy Stark – Loss
Saints came so close to winning at Tannadice in the League Cup in October, 2001 and, as it turned out, this kick in the stomach was very much a sign of things to come.
Jim Hamilton equalised at the death for United, who then won 3-2 in extra-time. Another four defeats followed in the league before Stark put points on the board.
Sandy Clark – Win
Beating Hibs 4-0 in a League Cup quarter-final in September, 1998 gives Wright a run for his money as far as ‘best first game’ is concerned.
Saints blew their opponents away and the game was over before the hour-mark, with Nathan Lowndes the star of a one-sided encounter.
The Perth side were just one step away from a first final in a long time – which they’d take by beating Hearts just over a month later.
Paul Sturrock – Win
Luggy had good reason to hope that Dens Park was the perfect ground to start his managerial career given all he had achieved there as a Dundee United player.
And Allan Moore’s early goal on November, 20, 1993 (it would turn out to be his last for the club) was enough to get Saints their first league away win of the season.
John McClelland – Loss
There has never been a more controversial sacking in St Johnstone’s history than Alex Totten’s in December, 1992.
It was a JFK moment for a generation of Perth fans.
McClelland had the hardest of acts to follow and lost his first game at Ibrox, 2-0.
Alex Totten – Draw
Geoff Brown’s first managerial appointment as new owner was made with one game left in the 1986-87 campaign.
After watching Saints draw 1-1 with Raith Rovers (Andy Millen was the goal-scorer), Totten ripped up the squad he inherited and then steered them to promotion from the old Second Division the following season.
Ian Gibson – Win
Like Totten, his predecessor also started out (as a 29-year-od player/boss) with a match against Raith.
It was Saints’ first fixture as a bottom tier club and Gibson was one of the opening day scorers in a 2-0 Stark’s Park victory.
Alex Rennie – Loss
Credit to Rennie for going straight into the dugout after giving up a coaching position at Tynecastle to manage Saints for the one game left of the 1979/80 season.
That one game was at, yes, Tynecastle.
And Saints lost it 3-0.
The first fixture that really mattered – at the start of the following season – didn’t go to plan either. Saints were beaten at Muirton by Stirling Albion.
Alex Stuart – Loss
Taking over from caretaker, Frank Christie, Alex Stuart, who had previously managed Ayr United, watched Saints fall three goals down within half-an-hour against Clydebank on October 7, 1978.
The final score was 3-2.
It took another seven games for Stuart to get a win.
Saints were a team and club on the slide at that point but just before he was sacked, he did have the good sense to introduce a 16-year-old Ally McCoist to the first team.
Jim Storrie – Draw
Jackie Stewart bequeathed a team heading out of the new Premier League and into part-time status and there was nothing Storrie could do about that.
Drawing 1-1 with Dundee on April 17, 1976 was a creditable way to get up and running, though.
And under Storrie, Saints actually only lost one of their last four games as a top-flight club.
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