4 St Johnstone talking points: Sticking to the plan, pyro danger and a cup record others would envy

The Courier

21-04-2025

St Johnstone were blown away by Celtic in Sunday's Scottish Cup semi-final.
The Perth side caved in before half-time as their treble-chasing opponents produced a relentless spell of attacking football that yielded four goals in just over 10 minutes.
Courier Sport reflects on Saints' afternoon in Glasgow, picking out five talking points from the contest.
It was all going pretty well for more than half-an-hour.
Andy Fisher hadn't been troubled and the fact that Cameron Carter-Vickers felt the need to shoot from 25 yards out was emblematic of the fact that Celtic were struggling to break Saints down.
His was one of several ill-advised long-range shots that spoke to a growing frustration.
All that good work from a Perth perspective and annoyance from the green and white side of things was wiped out by a Barry Douglas chipped dead-ball pass and what followed it.
Simo Valakari didn't speak directly about the veteran defender floating a goal kick in Stephen Duke-McKenna's direction, which quickly became a numbers' game Saints couldn't cope with once Alistair Johnston had intercepted.
But it was the most obvious error that fits his post-match analysis.
'We stayed solid for 30 minutes but made a couple of not so good decisions with the ball,' said Valakari. 'Celtic were still doing the same things at the end of the game as at the beginning.
'We did 30 minutes of things we were practicing then we thought: 'Let's try something different'.
'Boom – everything went out of our hands.'
Given the high standard of Celtic's overall performance, it would be harsh on Douglas to overstate the significance of the pass that didn't find its target or talk it up as a game-defining 'if only'.
However, it highlighted once again the dangers that lurk round the corner if football players deviate from the head coach's script, particularly from their own goal-kicks.
It's not only Celtic who score goals within the blink of an eye after a ball is turned over in the middle of the park – Makenzie Kirk's disallowed effort early in the second half showed that even the best side in the country is vulnerable in those circumstances.
The last thing you want is footballers feeling constricted by having to paint by numbers.
But Valakari will no doubt be ramming home the point in training this week that tactical discipline is one of the fundamental essentials if Saints are going to win the matches they need to win from now on.
Arne Slot and I share a pet hate.
It is permissible, or should be, for a player to put hands on the back of another player without it being a free-kick.
In a sit-down interview with Sky Sports pundit, Jamie Carragher, the Liverpool manager went off on a tangent when he was asked about Virgil van Dijk playing a captain's role is ensuring the Reds found a way to beat West Ham United.
Slot was clearly keen to get a point across about a key moment in the build-up to his skipper's 89th minute winning goal and his annoyance about an aspect of refereeing.
'Big compliment to the referee,' he said.
'The referee didn't fall into the trap of a very smart player (Lucas Paqueta) who thought nine out of 10 times referees blow their whistle – wrongly.
'He was thinking: 'If I feel anything, I'm going to fall'. Many referees fall into that trap.'
If Kirk's disallowed goal popped up on Slot's phone on his way back to Merseyside from Leicester, the Anfield boss would have approved of referee Calum Scott's decision to allow to play to continue when Adam Idah hit the deck.
He had a perfect view and made his judgment.
But he would have shaken his head when VAR man, Steven McLean, told Scott to think again.
Quite simply, it shouldn't be beyond the capability of officials, especially those who have time to watch replay after replay, to tell the difference between hands on the back that don't have the force to warrant a powerful striker throwing himself to the ground and a proper push and foul.
In the grand scheme of things, Kirk's goal standing wouldn't have changed the outcome of this semi-final. Maybe it would have spurred Celtic on to score even more than the five they got.
But the overrule denied the Saints attacker a moment to cherish – a Hampden Park goal to tell the grandchildren about.
Unfortunately, Slot's 'nine out of 10' theory is probably accurate.
The St Johnstone fans were a credit to their club again.
That's the fourth time in just over a month the team have been backed by a substantial four-figure travelling support.
The players rightly spent longer than usual acknowledging them after the full-time whistle.
Flares being thrown from the stand on to the track at the start of the game was an uncomfortable watch, though.
Stewards, photographers and fellow supporters were all at risk.
Whether there's such a thing as 'safe pyro' and a way for it to be accommodated in football grounds is a point of debate.
'Safe' certainly isn't a word that could be used in relation to what happened on this occasion, however.
There's no hiding from the fact that St Johnstone are strong favourites to get relegated next month.
The end of this latest cup run is a timely moment to reflect on Saints' ability to make hay while the sun has been shining or, more accurately, when it hasn't.
These last four seasons have been the bleakest of their 16 in the top-flight – every one of them a relegation battle.
But, even in that time, they have made it to Hampden for two national semi-finals – on both occasions being unfortunate to be paired with Celtic in the draw.
Only five clubs – Rangers, Celtic, Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibs – have been involved in more.
Dundee United, Dundee, St Mirren and Ross County haven't reached a single semi, while Kilmarnock and Motherwell have played in just one.
Saints' league form has dropped alarmingly but in testing times they can still boast a knockout competition record that would be the envy of many rivals.