St Johnstone boss, Simo Valakari, has admitted there is no option other than to be “ruthless” in the January transfer window.
It can be seen in the senior pros who were left out of his match day squad for the Scottish Cup victory over Motherwell.
It can be seen in parting company with David Keltjens.
And it can be seen in the fact that Connor Smith was allowed to join Hamilton Accies on a permanent deal without Valakari getting the chance to take a close-up look at last January’s signing from Hearts.
“In an ideal world we would bring everybody back to have a look at them, like we have with Taylor (Steven),” said the Finn.
“Or we could take a bit more time in the summer.
“Unfortunately, that’s not realistic.
“We have guidelines that we need to get players out to bring players in, which is fair. Everyone understands that.
“This month we need to be ruthless and make decisions pretty quickly.”
Taylor Steven
Young forward, Steven, has had the chance to catch Valakari’s eye.
And he has seized it.
On returning from Cliftonville, the 20-year-old was under pressure to make an instant impact.
After he impressed on the McDiarmid Park training ground, Valakari gave Steven second half game-time against Rangers.
Then he was a substitute for Saturday’s cup game, while the likes of Matt Smith, Josh McPake and Cammy MacPherson were omitted from the 19-man squad.
“I really like Taylor,” said the head coach.
“I spoke to him and told him that he’s different. When I say ‘different’ I mean that in a good way, he’s a kind of street footballer.
“He’s difficult to play against.
“He’s the kind of player who when he’s pressing you, he steps on your toes. Then, with the ball, things happen.
“He can go one v one and he can drag a defender out of position with his runs behind the line.
“He’s a little bit different to the other players we have here.
“I like this fearlessness – not thinking about problems, just going out and enjoying his football.
“I’m happy to have him back here.
“I tell the young boys every day that it’s important they stay that way – don’t fear anything.
“It’s up to us to teach them good football things and help them understand the game more, while they keep their honesty.”
Valakari added: “When Taylor came back, he didn’t have time to adapt. He just did it.
“I didn’t know the kid and from the first training session there was no holding back in the way he was going into challenges and taking people on.
“I liked the mentality I saw straight away.”
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