St Johnstone boss Simo Valakari opens up on why he wants to stay
Simo Valakari has reaffirmed his commitment to St Johnstone.
The McDiarmid Park head coach signed up for a long-term project in Scotland when he replaced Craig Levein.
And his determination to help transform the Perth club will be undiluted even if they drop into the Championship.
Finland's biggest and most successful side, HJK Helsinki, put Valakari at the top of their managerial wish-list when they sacked Toni Korkeakunnas recently.
Courier Sport understands that follows an attempt a year ago to lure him home from Latvia.
But Valakari isn't looking for an early exit.
The Saints rebuild that is on its way this summer, regardless of the division they are playing in, remains his sole focus.
'I want to be here,' said the 52-year-old.
'I am putting everything I have into the rest of the season for this club and fighting to win games.
'And no matter what happens, I want to be very much part of the rebuilding.
'I am the most frustrated and disappointed we haven't been able to get out of trouble yet and I want to make it right.
'After that, I want to make this a much better football club once again.
'That is the project.
'When I spoke to the owners that is what we talked about. St Johnstone head coach Simo Valakari. Image: SNS.
'Obviously, the first part of the job was to come in and firefight, try to plug the holes that we had.
'But the other part was the long-term, building something here.
'We all knew after a couple of weeks how big the rebuilding job was going to be – it's not just the playing side, it's every aspect of the football part.
'It's everywhere.
'We need many things on a lot of different levels.
'It's a big job but we knew that, and that was part of the attraction.
'That's why we have all been rolling up our sleeves and getting on with it.' Not a straight line
Valakari stressed the need for a collective 'clear head' at McDiarmid.
'Of course, the moments when you're not getting results on the field that's when there's negative thoughts about how the rebuild is going,' he said.
'But it's in those moments you need to keep your head clear and stay focused on the path we want to take the club.
'It's never a case of just saying we will do this and automatically things will move smoothly in the right direction.
'In football it doesn't go in a straight line – there are always a lot of curves and we have seen that.
'You must have a plan.
'Sometimes it needs to be adapted depending on your circumstances, but you have to stay clear in what you're trying to do.'
You don't have to look to far into the past to recall a St Johnstone team that was heading in the right direction, having beaten Celtic in the league ahead of a trip to Hampden Park in the last four of the Scottish Cup.
'We all felt it, I felt it and the team felt it before all the injuries,' said Valakari.
'We saw what kind of team we could be – that we could be a strong team.
'There was a Scottish Cup semi-final, we were keeping clean sheets, looking solid and playing with a proper identity.
'That's where we want to take this club.' Ikpeazu's training load
Meanwhile, Uche Ikpeazu is set for a lighter than normal week of training ahead of Saturday's must win clash with Ross County in the wake of his first full game of the season the previous weekend.
'We will see with Uche,' Valakari explained. 'We will handle his training because it's not easy to be out so long then play 90 minutes. Uche Ikpeazu has a shot saved by Kilmarnock goalkeeper Kieran O'Hara. Image: SNS.
'Maybe Uche will need some more rest than others, but we will see how he is.
'We are still waiting to hear on Zach (Mitchell).
'Charlton are doing tests with him and will let us know when they have made a decision.'
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