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Andy Kirk and Alex Cleland leave St Johnstone with one of the coaches lined up by Raith Rovers

Andy Kirk and Alex Cleland leave St Johnstone with one of the coaches lined up by Raith Rovers

The Courier21 hours ago

St Johnstone boss, Simo Valakari, has decided to overhaul his backroom team as well his playing squad.
Assistant manager, Andy Kirk, and first team coach, Alex Cleland, have both left the Perth club.
Courier Sport understands that Cleland was offered a post in the Saints academy but decided the time was right to move on.
Valakari wants a clean slate after relegation from the Premiership.
He released 16 players at the end of last season, and also believes identifying his own coaches is an important part of the rebuild.
Saints return for pre-season training on June 23.
Despite the fact that Valakari is a hands-on training ground head coach, both Kirk and Cleland will be replaced.
It is expected that one of the new men will come from abroad, with Saints seeking to identify someone who has a coaching and analytics background.
The other, Valakari's number two, will have a deeper knowledge of Scottish football.
Cleland spent the best part of two decades at McDiarmid Park in various roles.
He was brought to the club by Derek McInnes after leaving Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Tommy Wright promoted Cleland to the role of assistant manager in 2018, having previously been in charge of the under-20s.
There have also been three short spells as caretaker boss of the first team, the most recent in the wake of Steven MacLean being sacked.
Kirk was Craig Levein's right-hand man and was given far greater responsibility than most assistants.
He too became an interim boss for Saints, before Valakari decided to keep him in post following Levein's dismissal.
It is understood Kirk could be in line for a quick move to fellow Championship side, Raith Rovers.

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