logo
Are St Johnstone doomed as trap door edges closer?

Are St Johnstone doomed as trap door edges closer?

BBC News09-05-2025

In the most surreal of surroundings for such a momentous occasion, Callum Davidson punched the air with his right fist.Just yards away, five of his players crashed to their knees in exhaustion and disbelief, the undreamable playing out in front of nobody at a barren Hampden Park.Saturday, 22 May 2021 was the day St Johnstone Football Club probably peaked in its then 137-year history. Their first ever League Cup secured earlier that season, now the Scottish Cup was in the bag. Heroes.For all that was the highest of highs for the Perth club, a troublesome four years since has led them to the brink of relegation, a fate which could be sealed tomorrow if defeated by Ross County.Is it an inevitability? Or do this season's long-term strugglers still have a hope?
The present - alarm bells deafening
The facts facing St Johnstone and manager Simo Valakari make for grim reading. Currently bottom of the Scottish Premiership by six points with nine left to play for, really only a win on Saturday at home to 11th-placed County is going to do.Valakari's team have lost their past four on the spin. They've also only won twice in the league in the past three months, bizarrely most recently against champions Celtic in a rare rally.However, a stall in form is nothing new. St Johnstone have been in the bottom two in the league this season for 160 days, first entering that drop zone seven games in.And glancing further afield, if Dundee avoid defeat at Kilmarnock, realistically 11th is the best St Johnstone can hope for even if they win the relegation rumble against County.
The history - cause for hope or panic?
So St Johnstone have toiled for large swathes of this season. That much isn't really in question. But they're not the first and they certainly won't be the last side to stumble their way into trouble at the wrong end of the table.Since 1999, the team who were bottom of the table with three games to go have only escaped relegation five times, and two of those seasons were because there were no relegated teams at all.In 2005, Dunfermline Athletic overturned a three-point deficit as Dundee went down. Four years later, Falkirk clawed back a four-point gap to actually finish two places above the drop with Inverness Caledonian Thistle dropping out.And in 2014, Kilmarnock finished ninth after being bottom with three games to play, albeit they were just a point adrift of a hat-trick of sides.And while St Johnstone's points tally of 29 with three to play is relatively high for a bottom-placed team, those in and around them are also above average.You can probably put this down to bigger teams dropping more points. Rangers have spilled points in 15 games, Hibernian and Aberdeen doing the same in 20 of them.The main glimmer of hope lies in St Johnstone's nearest rivals. Already this season, they've taken seven points from nine against County, and also four against Dundee, who they face in the final game. There's also a swingable goal difference at play.There's been three narrow 2-1 defeats to Wednesday's opponents Hearts, but timing may be on their side with the Tynecastle club hunting for a new manager.
The reality - 'No one is safe'
Brian McLauchlin, BBC Sport ScotlandSt Johnstone boss Simo Valakari says his job is on the line at the club should they be relegated from the Premiership into the Championship for next season.Valkari says he is in the same situation as everyone else at the club, and insists it would be a huge financial blow should their 16-year stay in the top flight comes to an end."Yes, everyone's job, of course, yes, of course [including my own]," he said."We know how football works and there is no hiding. We can talk about this and this and this, but everyone is on the same boat. No one, no one is safe."Of course we chat [with the owners] every week. We chat many times during the week. They are not happy with the results, who would be?"They understand the circumstances, they see behind the results as well, which is very, very important when you talk about the process."

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

'An absolute master, a wizard with the ball' - who is new City man Cherki?
'An absolute master, a wizard with the ball' - who is new City man Cherki?

BBC News

time21 minutes ago

  • BBC News

'An absolute master, a wizard with the ball' - who is new City man Cherki?

Rayan Cherki is only the latest talent fresh off the Lyon production line, but he may be the best joined Lyon at the age of seven from AS Saint-Priest and, aged 16 years and 140 days, became their youngest goalscorer in January that, in November 2019, a Champions League debut came against Zenit, while he also helped France reach the quarter-finals of the European Under-21 Championships in has just enjoyed a breakout campaign in Ligue 1, providing 11 assists, 22 big chances - the most in the league - 13 through-balls and 48 successful dribbles.A return of 12 goals is by far the best of his short career, but it is his work and understanding of the game off the ball that has arguably improved the most this football expert Julien Laurens, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Euro Leagues podcast, said: "He has been incredible this season. Since he was 16 - even before that - the talent is there, left foot or right foot."A player at this level who takes corners with each foot depending on which side of the corner it is, to be an inswinger every time is just incredible."He is one of the greatest technicians in Europe right now."Of the 44 shots he took with his feet in Ligue 1 last season, 22 came with the left and 22 with the growing reputation was only enhanced by Thursday's stunning international debut on Thursday against Spain, when he sparked France's comeback from 5-1 Laurens certainly isn't Cherki's only legend Thierry Henry has previously said he has "never seen a player in history who dribbles as quickly as him", while Lyon's captain Alexandre Lacazette described him as "special".Cherki, also part of the France squad that finished runners-up at the 2024 Olympics, scored in both legs for Lyon against Manchester United in a Europa League quarter-final defeat in to BBC Sport in April about him, Lyon's former Arsenal player Ainsley Maitland-Niles said: "He is the best natural talent I've ever seen. An absolute master, a wizard with the ball."He is taking chances, assists and dragging us up the pitch by taking people on and nutmegging them - he is a genius."

Why is Crystal Palace in Europa League a problem now?
Why is Crystal Palace in Europa League a problem now?

BBC News

time26 minutes ago

  • BBC News

Why is Crystal Palace in Europa League a problem now?

There have been many instances of Premier League clubs - Brighton, Manchester City and Manchester United over the past two summers - being affected by this multi-club issue but not being booted out of Uefa competition, so why is it a particular problem for Crystal Palace?The major issue is it has not been dealt with before a deadline. Significantly, that was brought forward to 1 March this year from the end of the season because Uefa simply did not have the time and space to deal with all the potential cases before the respective early qualifying draws next week (clubs all over Europe are affected - not just in England).So, instead of knowing what the situation was, clubs had to second guess early in the season. It was fairly obvious Nottingham Forest had a good chance of making European football by that point, so they took preventative will never know what they would have done if they had been in Palace's position towards the end of February - about to play Millwall in the fifth round of a competition they had never previously won, knowing both Manchester clubs, Newcastle, Forest and Aston Villa were still in now Palace are pointing out John Textor has a significant stake in the club but has no input into how it problem for them is the rule is there. Uefa has to make a judgement on a particularly tricky issue knowing if the outcome does not suit any party, they can go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) with an has already upheld a Fifa decision to kick Mexican club Leon out of the Club World Cup for transgressing stated multi-club ownership regulations.

Rayan Cherki signs for Manchester City on five-year deal
Rayan Cherki signs for Manchester City on five-year deal

The Independent

time36 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Rayan Cherki signs for Manchester City on five-year deal

Manchester City have completed the signing of France midfielder Rayan Cherki from Lyon for an initial fee of 36million euros (£30.5m). The 21-year-old moves after an impressive season with Lyon in which he scored 12 goals and provided 20 assists in 40 appearances. He also made an eye-catching debut for France last week when he came off the bench and scored in a 5-4 Nations League loss to Spain. Cherki has put pen to paper on a five-year deal which will keep him at the Etihad Stadium until 2030. He said: 'This is a dream for me. Honestly, to be joining a club like Manchester City and have the opportunity to make the next step in my career here is something very, very special. 'I have worked so hard for this all my life. I love this sport, and I can't wait to develop further here in Manchester with Pep (Guardiola) and his backroom staff. 'Everyone knows how good City are – they have been so successful for many years now. The responsibility to help the team continue winning is something I want to embrace. 'I would only leave Lyon for a project I really believe in and everything at City suggests I can develop my game and help the team be successful in the future. I can't wait to show City fans what I can do.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store