St Johnstone are fighting for their Premiership status – but boss Simo Valakari insists his long-term target is more major trophies.
Saints sit second bottom of the Premiership after a run of results that have not matched improving performances under Valakari.
Defeat to Hearts on Sunday could see them hit the bottom of the table.
But while preparation work is ongoing ahead of what should turn out to be a busy January transfer window, the manager has shed light on his longer-term aspirations at the club.
And the good news for fans is that they are tied up in silverware.
In a YouTube interview with the Scottish Sun, Valakari explained: “I want to win things. I want to win trophies.
“I have been fortunate enough to win trophies back in Finland and back in Riga.
“It’s not a dream. That’s my target.
“How we are going to get there, that’s a different story. That journey, we have started one month ago. There is a lot of work ahead. We need to change, improve many, many things.
“But I would not say these things if I did not see it’s a possibility because I am always very, very honest.
“I see it’s a possibility with our club. Is it easy? No, no, no. Definitely not. But it’s a possibility.”
Asked about the difficulties of emulating the achievements of Tommy Wright’s 2014 Scottish Cup winners and Callum Davidson’s 2022 cup double-winners, Valakari added: “It is possible.
“In this league, you need to always leave Celtic and Rangers out, but the rest of the teams, there is not much between.
“There are a lot of things some clubs do better than other clubs.
“But what we have here is basically everything – we have a nice stadium, good training facilities, people inside the club who want to push the club in one direction, we have owners who have come with new energy, new ideas… so yes, it is possible.”
Valakari’s confidence has been boosted by his developing relationship with St Johnstone’s US-based owners, headed up by Adam Webb.
In them, he revealed he has found kindred, “crazy” spirits.
Valakari said: “If you don’t dream big. Nothing will happen.
“That’s why, what I like about our owners [is] they are like me – they are crazy, in a good way.
“Because we really believe that we can take this club [forward] and we would like to create St Johnstone to be a club where players don’t come and say: ‘Okay, I go to St Johnstone because I didn’t find anything better.’
“We want to be a club that players can say: ‘Yes, I want to go there. There is an idea, an identity, there is a possibility to enjoy doing something.
“Or for young players: ‘St Johnstone is a club [where, if] I go there, I will be successful there. [if] I play good there, I go to bigger things.”
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