Simo Valakari has launched a passionate defence of his St Johnstone goalkeepers, with the Perth boss admitting he can’t get his head around the fact they were left to work without a specialist coach for over a month.
At the point in the season Josh Rae was replaced by Ross Sinclair, Ryan Esson had left McDiarmid Park and Gordon Marshall had yet to be recruited to the backroom staff.
Former Scotland under-21 international, Sinclair, found himself in a position where he was splitting his time between playing and coaching.
And Valakari believes both young goalies, neither of whom have a Premiership campaign under their belts, were let down.
“I’ll be very honest, the biggest mistake was to not have a goalkeeper coach,” said the Finn.
“I could not believe it when I heard. ‘Wow, they have been training on their own?’
“In this league, goalkeeper is the most difficult position. So many balls come into the box.
“You’re under pressure all the time – and from the fans and the media.
“But they were on their own and had nobody to talk to about it.
“If you treated your kids like we treated our young goalkeepers, you wouldn’t be happy as a parent.
“You can’t have two 23-year-olds and a 19-year-old left to practice themselves.
“Ross is a very responsible guy and started to take training but as a player you can’t think about your own training and coaching at the same time.
“That’s why I don’t like how much criticism our keepers have been getting – because it wasn’t fair for them.
“Marsh has been working very well with them so later on we will start judging where they are.”
January wait
Valakari confirmed he won’t be signing a free agent goalie, preferring to put his faith in Rae, Sinclair and Craig Hepburn before assessing whether to strengthen in January.
“The window was closed and there wasn’t a free goalkeeper coming up somewhere,” he said. “It was my decision to work with the three goalkeepers that we have.
“As always at every football club, when the window opens, then we need to see where we are.”
Valakari confirmed that a muscle injury which forced Sinclair off at half-time of Saints’ defeat to Hearts will rule him out of contention for the trip to Motherwell on Saturday.
“We’ve not got all the information we need but he will be out for the weekend,” he reported.
“In the St Mirren game there was a moment when he landed awkwardly and hurt his hip.
“It was very tight for a couple of days and then, when that happens, you start compensating and you can get a muscle problem somewhere else.
“It was a surprise for me when I got in the dressing room on Saturday.
“There’s no drama or anything.
“It will now be a good opportunity for Josh who has been waiting for his chance.
“I’ve not seen him play yet – only in a closed-doors game against Hibs – and the situation now is totally different to the situation at the start of the season.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how he plays.”
Local lad
Valakari admitted that, as at other clubs across the world, life can be tougher for players rooted in the local area, with Sinclair having come through the St Johnstone academy.
“Of course,” he said.
“As an outside coach or player, you come to the club and then you leave.
“For local guys, this is their home.
“People know that they care about this club. They’ve grown up with the club. It’s in their blood.
“If this person gets smashed, he really gets hurt.
“As a local boy, he is doing everything he can for his club and his community. He lives and breathes it and helps coach local kids.
“I don’t understand why sometimes local boys are a target.”
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