Simo Valakari: I am St Johnstone figurehead and understand fan protest ‘anger’

St Johnstone boss Simo Valakari had no problems with supporters congregating outside the front door of McDiarmid Park to vent their fury at the club dropping eight points adrift at the bottom of the Premiership.

And the passion of the Perth fans, typified by the members of the Fair City Unity ultras group after Saints’ painful defeat to local rivals, Dundee, will be an asset the Finn wants to harness as he seeks to put down foundations for a much-needed rebuild.

“I wasn’t going to say anything to the supporters, I was going out there to listen,” said Valakari, who came to the main entrance just after the group had dispersed.

“I understood the frustration 100%. I understood the anger they were feeling.

“The manager is the figurehead, so I wanted to listen to them and let them express their emotions.

“I couldn’t take all my players out and the directors out, but as the face of the team it would have been good to do that.

“It’s great that we have passionate fans.

“We maybe don’t have the most supporters but they care about the club.

“It would be much worse if nobody cared so when you lose a game like that nobody is bothering.

“This club means a lot to people and that’s why it good to be part of.”

Saints have Rangers up next on Sunday, when nothing less than total application will give Valakari’s men a hope of picking up precious points.

“We don’t have time to waste games,” he said. “Every game is the most important one of the season now.

“We have to attack the situation ahead of us.

“There is only one way now – everyone has written us off so we just go all-out attack on this challenge.

“Take out the first 20 minutes of the Dundee game and we have been competitive in every game.

“In some moments we haven’t been good enough and we have lost goals, but that’s what we are working on fixing.”

Bounce-back from players taken off

Matt Smith and Andre Raymond had to endure a long walk round the McDiarmid pitch after being substituted less than half-an-hour into the Dundee game.

Valakari insisted there will be no hangover.

“I have been a player myself so I know how they would have been feeling,” he said.

“I could have taken almost anyone out the team at that point.

“I think they realise that it’s 25 minutes gone in a local derby and we’re 3-0 down so something had to change.

“I think everyone understood it.”