Simo Valakari challenged his St Johnstone fringe players to show him what they were made of during the international break.
And the Perth boss was delighted with the response he got.
Two weeks on the training ground and a closed-doors match against Queen’s Park have given Valakari an opportunity to make a deeper assessment of who he can call upon over the next few months.
With a demanding fixture list to negotiate over winter, Saints won’t be able to move up the Premiership table with 13 or 14 men.
Valakari’s mantra of “you’re either with the team or against the team” may be tested.
So far, he is getting the right answers.
“I was very happy with what I saw in the bounce match,” he said.
“Sometimes these games can be tricky for players who haven’t been in the first team.
“But all the boys showed what I wanted to see – very big character.
“They wanted to show: ‘Hey gaffer, I am here, I am ready’. All of them.
“The international breaks are over until March. We’ve got a lot of games and will need all our players.
“It’s the hardest part of football when you’re not playing.
“You might start feeling sorry for yourself, you’re calling your agent, that sort of thing.
“But the kind of club and team we want to be, our culture is very black and white.
“You’re either with the team or you’re against the team. There is no grey area.
“It can’t be a case of: ‘Ah well, I’m not playing, I don’t give a sh*t’.
“It’s not easy but it’s very simple for the players.
“Even if you’re sitting on the bench you can set a positive tone.
“If we are not like that we will not be strong enough to see it through this league and win matches.
“We need everyone and so far everyone has been there.”
Ville Tikkanen
But the defender opted to move to HJK Helsinki.
It’s natural that Valakari will look to his homeland and Scandinavia for potential January recruits but there is one box that has to be ticked before he would think about making a serious move.
“Coping with the physical demands of the Scottish league would be the first thing I’d look at,” he said.
“If you can’t deal with that, it’s difficult to play here.
“The Finnish market is interesting.
“It’s hard to compare leagues.
“There are very technical players. The game is slower and more tactical, which can sometimes make games a bit slow and boring.
“But there are good players there. Everybody would look at it as a big step up to come to Scotland.”
On Tikkanen, Valakari said: “I signed him earlier in his career.
“When I got him he came as a young midfielder and he turned into a centre-back/midfielder.
“You know how it works – a free player from Finland, Finnish coach at St Johnstone.
“He’s a good player but it was not something for us.”
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