St Johnstone manager, Simo Valakari, has admitted that learning the Perth team had a loan player as captain “raised questions” when he arrived at McDiarmid Park.
And the Saints boss believes taking skipper responsibilities off Kyle Cameron and handing them to Nicky Clark will be to the benefit of both men.
Valakari has confirmed that the temporary armband switch is now permanent, with the on-loan Notts County centre-back now free to focus on his own game as he seeks to re-establish himself in the starting line-up.
“I’m very honest,” said the new head coach.
“When I started at the club and saw Kyle was captain it raised some questions about a loan player as a captain.
“He’s a great character and a great person.
“To be a loan player and be a captain you need to be a special person because it doesn’t happen very often.
“Everything is about timing.
“When I came Kyle was injured. He’d come off injured in the Celtic game.
“He didn’t train for two weeks and Nicky was captain when we played Hibs behind closed-doors.
“It has happened naturally.
“I spoke to Kyle and told him that Nicky would continue.
“As I knew he would be, Kyle was very professional and understood.
“He doesn’t have to have an armband to be a leader.”
Weight of the armband
Cameron’s first appearance since his injury was off the bench to help secure a win at Dens Park, with the former Scotland under-21 international impressing.
Valakari is optimistic that passing the armband on will help the defender over the remainder of the season.
“It’s a very good point,” he said.
“That was one of the reasons when I was talking to Kyle.
“Loan player and captain – there is no room for error.
“Especially when results weren’t going the right way, it put a lot of pressure on Kyle.
“I think and I hope Kyle will play more freely. He’ll talk and lead but won’t have the weight of an armband.
“You saw that when he came on against Dundee – he calmed things down and did very well. I was really happy with his performance.”
Valakari added: “Everybody started with a clean bit of paper.
“It’s only us inside the club who can turn things around.
“That’s why I wanted to keep the existing staff as well – we have a lot of knowledge and leadership here already.
“Rules are a negative word for me. It’s about values and culture as a team, which brings leaders out from within the club.”
Left-back change
Andre Raymond is set to miss Wednesday night’s clash with St Mirren but his hamstring injury should have cleared up in time for the Hearts game on Saturday.
Barry Douglas may be included in the squad but Bozo Mikulic has yet to be granted a work permit.
“Bozo is in the middle of the process,” Valakari reported. “I think he has his English test this week.
“If it’s not before the international break, at the latest it will be just after it.
“He has not played competitively for a few months but he has played closed-doors games and he is as close to match fitness as you can get without the real games.
“He will get it quickly hopefully.
“It is the same with Barry.
“He is already helping with his presence. He’s ready to share his experience and knowledge.
“We have seen his quality in training. He’s taken good care of his body and has played at a high level for a long time.
“You need skill and understanding of the game to do that.”
Meanwhile, Ghana international, Dennis Khorsa, is still on trial with Saints.
“It’s been a very busy time and we will make our decision next week about what’s going to happen,” said Valakari.
“He’ll stay all week.
“We’ve seen in training that he’s got quality.
“But at the moment, with a busy week, these games are getting our full focus.”
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