Is St Johnstone the best run club in Scotland.....?

[jambonian]

I've not got a lot of time for St Johnstone and my dislike of them was more evident when Tommy Wright managed them. A torn-faced miserable git who would show respect to other clubs in interviews after games but never showed any to Hearts. He would whinge and whinge about various things and gave us no credit which is a surprise considering Neilson couldn't beat him. He's the type i thought would make a good Hibs manager because of the chip on his shoulder regarding Hearts. They are next in-line after Hamilton and St Mirren that i'd have enjoyed seeing relegated.

However....Wright's gone now, and Davidson has done a remarkable job in his first season. Only Celtic, Rangers and Aberdeen have done doubles in the last few decades and now St Johnstone. A club with little finance or fan-base but have shown a consistency that our own board and management should be utterly embarrassed about. Their managers seem to leave "by mutual consent" rather than get sacked. 

I couldn't be arsed watching the Final yesterday and was out and about seeing local Hibbies getting all excited. I wound one up saying why have you got a Hibs top on when you're not going to win the thing? He laughed and said something like "aye, right, we'll rip that lot up for arsepaper!" (OOPS! ) Looking forward to bumping into him sometime later this week when he's out of hiding!

Edited May 23, 2021 by jambonian

[Hearts1975]

Think there are a number of factors to be considered for being the best run club in Scotland. Whether they merit that, or not, is another story.

 

Couldn’t really give a rats arse what happens to them as a club but I think Davidson and his coaching team have a well drilled unit and who know their jobs well.
 

No superstars and no prima Donna’s either 

 

Wouldn’t really say they are flash on the pitch, but for that type of club, 5th and 2 cup wins in one season will be about as good as it gets for them.
 

Cant see them holding on to their manager now in all honesty 

[JackLadd]

Their football is dull but effective. Davidson obviously doing something right but I don't see it lasting. 

[Bazzas right boot]

Could easily be 4th next season or 11th. 

St Johnstone are a funny one, many of their players have been around them for years and their team is made up of good, hard working pros. 

Guys like Clarke seem to stay with them for a while, while in the past we can't keep guys like Niemi or even recently Joe who will move on for bigger contracts. 

They seem to attract players that are better than bottom 6 but not really good enough for a top 3 team, so end up with a decent, hard working team that is consistent. 

Wright highlighted that for me, done well, over performed but no one else at a higher level wanted him, still don't. 

Wright gave them consistency and now they've peaked under Davidson. 

Will they kick on, will their team be stripped like our teams that have won the cup or even like the hibs team they beat yesterday who will Likley lose thier 3 /4 better players?

 

They're also one of the shite house clubs that rely on the of to fill up their stadium so in terms of well run they'll get limited praise for me.

 

Done well this year tho and if it wasn't for them hibs might have been on for a cup double so well done them and hope they enjoy the success. 

 

Edited May 23, 2021 by Smith's right boot

[Spellczech]

We've abandoned our challenge for a while now, so others will step in to take advantage. Once the OF are knocked out of a cup the trophy is pretty much anyone's. Look at the previous 2 SCs - if they hadn't been Celtic's they would've been ours, and we've been garbage!

[rudeskaboyuk]

Watch them get relegated next year.

 

It's a funny ol game .

Realistically this should increase their fan base by another 2-3,000.

 

It would certainly help the appearance of SPL if these clubs could at least get 6,000 home fans every week.

[Hectormasson]

37 minutes ago, rudeskaboyuk said:

Watch them get relegated next year.

 

It's a funny ol game .

Realistically this should increase their fan base by another 2-3,000.

 

It would certainly help the appearance of SPL if these clubs could at least get 6,000 home fans every week.

Over 2  full stands at mcdiarmid ?can't see them.filling that , never know mind"

[Niemi’s gloves]

Lots of sniping at StJohnstone on here but to me it’s pretty simple. Clubs that show patience, stability and continuity tend to outperform relative to their size. Clubs that continually churn their players and managerial staff tend to underperform. Having lots of “scarves over the head” pictures every summer may give supporters a short term buzz, but it’s much better to build a stable core of players who stay at the club for a good number of years. I think in a post on another thread some months ago I cited Leicester, St Johnstone and Arbroath as clubs at very different levels of the game who seem to be doing well on that basis,

 

There’s been quite a lot of discussion of Josh Doig on here but I think it’s also worth looking at St J’s Liam Gordon who was with us as a youth (picked up from Raith) but then deemed not good enough at 19. StJohnstone signed him, had him out on loan at Elgin and Peterhead  for a couple of years and has now become a regular CB for them over the last 2-3 seasons. He may not be a world beater but he’s a good example of a player fitting in and being at a club where he wants to do well (he’s from Perth).

[leginten]

2 hours ago, Hearts1975 said:

Think there are a number of factors to be considered for being the best run club in Scotland. Whether they merit that, or not, is another story.

 

Couldn’t really give a rats arse what happens to them as a club but I think Davidson and his coaching team have a well drilled unit and who know their jobs well.
 

No superstars and no prima Donna’s either 

 

Wouldn’t really say they are flash on the pitch, but for that type of club, 5th and 2 cup wins in one season will be about as good as it gets for them.
 

Cant see them holding on to their manager now in all honesty 

I’m sure you’re not intending to, but the part in bold seems to me to understate their achievement considerably. Regardless  of league position - almost an irrelevance in this context - their cup double is something so remarkable that I would put good money on it not recurring for any club outside Glasgow for the next fifty years at least. I think Aberdeen in their pomp under one of the greatest managers the game has ever seen managed it once.

 

Speaking as someone who has witnessed more than half a century of (mainly) underachievement from my club, a cup double is substantially better than it gets for us.

[Weakened Offender]

They regularly tell their own fans to squeeze into under half of the ground to accommodate the Uglies, us, Aberdeen and the mob they beat easily yesterday. They also rely on funerals as an income and may well still be considering losing a stand for a new road so I'm not sure they are that well run. 

 

They have had the season of dreams. Whether that would have happened if fans had been in the stadiums is another thing. 

[Niemi’s gloves]

16 minutes ago, Weakened Offender said:

They regularly tell their own fans to squeeze into under half of the ground to accommodate the Uglies, us, Aberdeen and the mob they beat easily yesterday. They also rely on funerals as an income and may well still be considering losing a stand for a new road so I'm not sure they are that well run. 

 

They have had the season of dreams. Whether that would have happened if fans had been in the stadiums is another thing. 

Not sure what of this is both true and makes them less than well run. If they make money out of funerals, it’s presumably because the are next door to Perth Crematorium and do post funeral catering - don’t see any problem. As far as I can see the planned new road has no impact on their stands but might marginally impact their training pitches. And as for making space available for visiting fans, well some home fans may not like it but surely it’s a case of cutting their cloth to suit circumstances.

[redjambo]

My apologies, but this is a marquis:

 

 

whereas this is a marquee:

 

 

Guess on which of these items shows would emblazon the names of their stars, thus producing the term "marquee signing"?

 

Edit: I now see that someone subtly pointed out the mistake above, and much more cleverly than I did. Carry on chaps.

Edited May 23, 2021 by redjambo

[Section Q]

43 minutes ago, Weakened Offender said:

They regularly tell their own fans to squeeze into under half of the ground to accommodate the Uglies, us, Aberdeen and the mob they beat easily yesterday. They also rely on funerals as an income and may well still be considering losing a stand for a new road so I'm not sure they are that well run. 

 

They have had the season of dreams. Whether that would have happened if fans had been in the stadiums is another thing. 

This season aside they've had a better run of managers in the last decade than us. Something Levein told us was part of his five year goal. Their captain yesterday has been on their books since he was 16. Loaned out to East Fife for a spell and then made the youngest captain in the SPL. Most of their managers have gone onto bigger clubs after successful spells. Coyle McInnes Lomas Wright and now Davidson. Doesnt really matter if they sell empty seats to opposing fans, and part of their hospitality caters for funerals and weddings.

[Weakened Offender]

23 minutes ago, Section Q said:

This season aside they've had a better run of managers in the last decade than us. Something Levein told us was part of his five year goal. Their captain yesterday has been on their books since he was 16. Loaned out to East Fife for a spell and then made the youngest captain in the SPL. Most of their managers have gone onto bigger clubs after successful spells. Coyle McInnes Lomas Wright and now Davidson. Doesnt really matter if they sell empty seats to opposing fans, and part of their hospitality caters for funerals and weddings.

 

They've definitely had an excellent ten years or so. The best in their history, with some great European results. 

 

 

[Tasavallan]

When they first won promotion to the Premier League, StJ decided not to run a Youth Academy playing in the Pro Youth League and instead disbanded their youth set-up and only kept on the elite of their U18s as part of the reserves.   By doing this they saved £££.  Chris Kane came through this set-up.  Tas Lad #2 left when the U17s were disbanded and joined Chocolate King at Livi U18s.  Then Chocolate disbanded its Livi Academy.

[Weakened Offender]

1 hour ago, Niemi’s gloves said:

Not sure what of this is both true and makes them less than well run. If they make money out of funerals, it’s presumably because the are next door to Perth Crematorium and do post funeral catering - don’t see any problem. As far as I can see the planned new road has no impact on their stands but might marginally impact their training pitches. And as for making space available for visiting fans, well some home fans may not like it but surely it’s a case of cutting their cloth to suit circumstances.

 

Fair enough. 

[Thomaso]

11 hours ago, Gordon Ramsay said:

Certainly better than us but that isn't hard. 

 

As much as I enjoyed seeing Hibs fail again it's rather embarrassing Anne and Robbie celebrating winning the Championship like its the world's greatest achievement while St J have just pulled off a cup double. 

 

Absolute last chance saloon this season. We HAVE to get it right this summer with signings. 

Summed up perfectly Gogs! 👍

[Thomaso]

8 hours ago, Weakened Offender said:

They regularly tell their own fans to squeeze into under half of the ground to accommodate the Uglies, us, Aberdeen and the mob they beat easily yesterday. They also rely on funerals as an income and may well still be considering losing a stand for a new road so I'm not sure they are that well run. 

 

They have had the season of dreams. Whether that would have happened if fans had been in the stadiums is another thing. 

Right that settles it - we’re better than them......😏

[Weakened Offender]

28 minutes ago, Thomaso said:

Summed up perfectly Gogs! 👍

 

Doesn't really though. 

 

 

[Kiwidoug]

When we get it right on the park, we'll leave St. Johnstone and their ilk in our wake.

 

But when will that be?

[Hearts1975]

20 hours ago, leginten said:

I’m sure you’re not intending to, but the part in bold seems to me to understate their achievement considerably. Regardless  of league position - almost an irrelevance in this context - their cup double is something so remarkable that I would put good money on it not recurring for any club outside Glasgow for the next fifty years at least. I think Aberdeen in their pomp under one of the greatest managers the game has ever seen managed it once.

 

Speaking as someone who has witnessed more than half a century of (mainly) underachievement from my club, a cup double is substantially better than it gets for us.

Exactly the opposite my friend. I guess it’s in the context. I meant the comments literally. I can’t really see how they would emulate that type of feat in all honesty. Certainly not trying to understate their achievement. 

[Ron Burgundy]

I quite like them now.

Made this season slightly more bearable.

 

[4marsbars]

At our level, football's all about bragging rights.

 

When you consider that in December we were two penalty kicks away from winning the Cup, then factor in the line-ups for the semi-finals of both cup competitions this year, (Motherwell, St J, St M, Hibs) and (St M, St J, Dundee Utd, Hibs), what's the worst that could have happened?

 

But it didn't happen. Thank goodness that St Johnstone have the measure of Hibs.

 

A close shave.

[Paolo]

21 hours ago, leginten said:

I’m sure you’re not intending to, but the part in bold seems to me to understate their achievement considerably. Regardless  of league position - almost an irrelevance in this context - their cup double is something so remarkable that I would put good money on it not recurring for any club outside Glasgow for the next fifty years at least. I think Aberdeen in their pomp under one of the greatest managers the game has ever seen managed it once.

 

Speaking as someone who has witnessed more than half a century of (mainly) underachievement from my club, a cup double is substantially better than it gets for us.

Yes.  Aberdeen are the only other side to manage it, and they done it with a decent side, and a world class manager.  They also done it at a time, where the financial gap between the OF and everyone else was much smaller.  
 

St J probably have a fraction of the budget of Aberdeen, Hibs, and of course us, and probably Dundee Utd,  never mind the OF.   It is a remarkable achievement.  

[Thomaso]

14 hours ago, Weakened Offender said:

 

Doesn't really though. 

 

 

In your opinion.

[BigAlim]

23 hours ago, redjambo said:

My apologies, but this is a marquis:

 

 

whereas this is a marquee:

 

 

Guess on which of these items shows would emblazon the names of their stars, thus producing the term "marquee signing"?

 

Edit: I now see that someone subtly pointed out the mistake above, and much more cleverly than I did. Carry on chaps.

 

Clicking into a thread about St Johnstone and being met with a picture of the author of 120 Days of Sodom is the most surreal thing i've experienced for a while  

[redjambo]

2 hours ago, BigAlim said:

 

Clicking into a thread about St Johnstone and being met with a picture of the author of 120 Days of Sodom is the most surreal thing i've experienced for a while  

 

[Guest ToqueJambo]

They are the best run club of clubs their size for sure. That position tends to change every 5 years or so mind you. It was Killie not long ago, now look at them. Before them it was Motherwell for a bit. Again, now look at them. 

 

Not sure any comparisons wth us are meaningful. There's a huge difference between being a club generally very happy to get top 6 once in a while and have a cup run every so often - with all the low fan expectations that go along with that - than one with bigger ambitions, like us, Hibs and Aberdeen. Sometimes a bigger budget can be a bit of a poisoned chalice in that between us, Hibs and Aberdeen only one of us can get 3rd, and cups are a bit of lottery. So, at least two of those 3 behind the OF underachieve most seasons. Sometimes they underachieve badly like we have recently. Aberdeen and Hibs have had their horrendous spells too.