'Big decisions required after St Johnstone's relegation'
Defeat at Tynecastle on Wednesday night brought an end to 16 years of top-flight football for St Johnstone.But given the club's fortunes in the Premiership in recent seasons, should we be too surprised?It was the 2020-21 season when Saints created history by winning both major cup competitions and finished fifth in the Premiership.All looked to be rosy at McDiarmid Park with a squad full of Scottish talent who knew exactly how to win games of football.But the warning signs were there early on the following season. Despite gallant away performances against Galatasaray and LASK, the European adventures were over by the end of August.A run of eight straight defeats in the league between the start of December and the end of January saw the club plummet towards the bottom end of the table.Although they reached the semi-finals of the League Cup, losing 1-0 to Celtic, there was huge disappointment when they fell at the first hurdle in their defence of the Scottish Cup to lowly Kelty Hearts.Premiership survival was only achieved after play-off success over two legs against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.The following campaign in the league was marginally better with a ninth-place finish. But early exits in both cup competitions left a huge sense of disappointment in Perth.Davidson left the club towards the end of the season having been player, coach and then manager over a ten-year period.After a short and unsuccessful spell for Steven MacLean, Craig Levein was tempted back into management.St Johnstone had been purchased by Geoff Brown in 1986, and along with his son Steven, they turned St Johnstone into one of the best run clubs in Scotland, but they had now decided it was time for someone else to take over the reins.And shortly after Saints secured their Premiership place on the final day of the 2023-24 campaign, the club was sold to a group of American entrepreneurs.Levein was sacked in September, just a matter of weeks after the takeover was concluded, with Simo Valkari taking over.And despite some brave performances, including a home win over champions Celtic, they were unable to avoid the drop.Valakri said "there were no excuses" and the team were simply "not good enough".He stressed "things need to change" if they are to bounce back to the top flight at the first time of asking.The 52-year-old also says he wants to stay, but when asked if he expects to be at the club, he answered: "we will see".The next few weeks and months in Perth will be telling, with some big decisions required by those in charge.
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BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Slicker endures horror debut - but who is Scotland's seventh-choice keeper?
Cieran Slicker flashed a quick smile at head coach Steve Clarke as he bounded on to the Hampden pitch six minutes and 37 seconds into Scotland's friendly with Iceland to replace stricken starter Angus 64 seconds later, the debutant took a panicked slash at a Kieran Tierney pass back and the ball eventually found its way to Andri Gudjohnsen, who arced a fine finish high over the stranded smile was gone. The misery was just beginning. Indeed, the next hour might be among the worst Slicker will endure in his career. How did the nightmare unfold? Slicker didn't really have any time to acclimatise to international mistake - and a relatively small one at that - one goal. confidence was visibly shaken and he rushed his next couple of kicks before unconvincingly clinging on to a shot from Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson at the second attempt. It was his only save of the second Iceland goal was caused by dreadful work by the entire Scotland defence, culminating with Slicker failing to scramble the ball off his line after it ricocheted towards goal off Lewis should have been an opportunity to regroup and reset, but the third concession was perhaps the most egregious. Victor Palsson's header was straight at Slicker, but the ball burst through his arms and into the back of the later, the sparse Hampden crowd cheered ironically when Slicker successfully caught the ball. It summed up a torrid night for the young man. So who is Slicker? Eligible through his Scottish father, Slicker was signed by the then-League One Ipswich Town from Manchester City for an undisclosed fee in the summer of 2023 on a three-year 22-year-old was an unused substitute for City manager Pep Guardiola for several first-team games in the 2021-22 season. He also spent time on loan at Rochdale before his Ipswich move, but failed to make a league was part of the Tractor Boys squad that recorded back-to-back promotions to the Premier League, making a few appearances in domestic cup competitions along the way and filling in as the back-up keeper on occasion too. But Slicker played just 10 minutes for Ipswich last season - in the FA Cup - and is still to make his senior league has 17 caps at under-21 level for Scotland - with three clean sheets - and was first called up for the senior squad in November 2024. What did Clarke say about it? "It's difficult for Cieran, I really feel for him," the Scotland head coach told BBC Sport Scotland. "He got thrown into a situation that he wasn't quite ready for but Craig Gordon's injured, Liam Kelly's injured, Zander Clark is injured."It's something I thought might come back to bite us [the lack of goalkeeping options]. The only good thing is it came in a friendly match."I'd imagine [Angus Gunn] won't play the next game."I've had young Callan McKenna in the squad so he'll travel then we'll have a look and see if we can find another goalkeeper in Scotland who's not on holiday." What happens now? Not only are Gordon, Kelly and Clark out at present, Robby McCrorie went down in the warm-up. It all likelihood, he's the one who would have come on against Gunn and McCrorie likely out of Monday's friendly against Liechtenstein, too, and Slicker's confidence through the floor, will Clarke turn to someone else?"You have to find out what's in the player's mind as well, how he's feeling about it," former Scotland defender Willie Miller said of Slicker."What you're looking for is honesty from him. Does he feel like he can take on the challenge in the next game, or that he doesn't want to?"Does the manager want to take him out of the firing line?"McKenna, 18, has more senior experience than Slicker, but not by much. He played nine matches for Queen's Park in the Scottish Championship before signing for Bournemouth in 2024. He's been in their development squad since and has been with the Scotland group as a training player for the past the lack of options, Clarke's first phone call might be to Jon two-time Scotland cap, 37, only played one FA Cup game for Swansea City last season and is now out of contract. But he was a squad regular, is experienced, and would likely be considered one of the safest options. Dundee goalkeeper Jon McCracken was in Scotland squads during the season just gone, but was replaced between at Dens Park by Trevor Carson midway through the Scottish-based options would be Scott Bain - recently released by Celtic - or Ross Doohan - recently signed by Dons keeper Craig MacGillivray has previously been called up by Clarke, too, but would appear to be a long way down the pecking order these days. 'Frustration bordering on anger at situation' Clarke was much more candid about Slicker's night than many thought he might spoke about this was too early for him, him not being ready for it. It's clear that the lad is suffering after being thrown in to a also sounds like he was always going to be third choice - and therefore there for experience rather than game time - until McCrorie's injury in the warm-up. It's an unforgiving thing is clear though, Clarke's manner over the goalkeeping situation was frustration bordering on anger.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Strikes by airport workers could disrupt summer holidaymakers, union warns
Holidaymakers have been warned of the potential for strike action at Glasgow Airport over the summer as more than 800 workers from five companies are involved in pay disputes. Unite the union said workers at Glasgow Airport Ltd, ICTS Central Search, Swissport, Menzies Aviation and Falck could be balloted for walkouts. The union said on Saturday that if there is no successful resolution to the disputes in the coming days, it will move towards holding votes on industrial action within two weeks. It warned strikes could 'ground planes and passengers'. Pat McIlvogue, Unite industrial officer, said walkouts could be held from the middle of July. More than 100 Swissport workers are locked in a dispute about rotas and work-life balance, according to Unite. It said the company 'is demanding that workers at extreme short notice have to work shifts at various times and for various durations, which is directly impacting on their personal lives'. Unite said some Swissport staff are 'struggling with chronic fatigue'. A further 250 ICTS Central Search workers, who deal with passengers directly in the security search area and process them for flights, are currently involved in a dispute over under-staffing, working conditions and pay. A total of 120 workers employed by Glasgow Airport Limited have rejected a basic 3.6% pay increase, with staff including airport ambassadors, airside support officers, engineers and managers involved. The same 3.6% pay increase was rejected by 50 Falck firefighters who perform fire safety functions at the airport. Meanwhile 300 Menzies Aviation workers, including dispatchers, allocators, airside agents and controllers, have rejected a basic uplift worth around 4.25%. The union recently announced a series of what it said were wage wins for 100 North Air workers across Scottish airports, and more than 140 staff based at Glasgow Airport employed by ABM and OCS. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: 'Hundreds of workers at Glasgow Airport are heading towards summer strike action which would ground planes and passengers. 'The companies involved are all highly profitable and can easily afford to give our members better pay and working conditions. 'The truth is that they are denying fair pay increases to cynically boost their profits.' Mr McIlvogue said: 'Unite is in dispute with companies at Glasgow Airport which could ultimately bring hundreds of workers out on strike. 'The companies can resolve these disputes with Unite before that situation happens by addressing the legitimate concerns and pay aspirations of our members. 'If the companies refuse to work with Unite to resolve these disputes, then we will have no option but to open strike ballots. This could mean strike action happening from the middle of July.' A spokesperson for Swissport said: 'We are in dialogue with Unite – the talks so far have been constructive and we remain focused on working together to address the issues being raised.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Pressure mounts on Scotland boss Steve Clarke after young keeper's debut turns into Hampden horror show
Steve Clarke claimed he had no choice but to select Cieran Slicker after the keeper endured a nightmare on his Scotland debut. A dismal 3-1 defeat to Iceland in their Hampden friendly led to jeers from the Tartan Army, and intensified the pressure on the manager ahead of the World Cup qualifiers in the autumn. Thrown on to replace the injured Angus Gunn after eight minutes, Slicker was at fault for each goal, but the 22-year-old wasn't solely to blame as Clarke's side turned in a lifeless and flat performance. Called into the squad despite playing just nine minutes of competitive football for Ipswich this season, his first involvement was a poor kick which led to Andri Gudjohnsen's opener, with another error amid a static Scotland defence leading to Lewis Ferguson's own goal after John Souttar had equalised. He then failed to keep out a routine header by Victor Palsson. Asked why he had turned to the young keeper, Clarke said Robby McCrorie had injured his thigh in the warm-up, and admitted the experience simply came too soon for Slicker. 'It was a difficult night,' he said. 'It didn't get off to the best of starts when we lost our No2 goalkeeper in the warm-up, then two minutes into the game our No1 gets injured as well. It was a tough night and I feel a little bit for young Cieran.' Asked how Slicker could recover from such a catastrophic debut, Clarke added: 'I'll sit with him over the next couple of days and have a little chat about it. I'll give him reassurance because he probably went in when it was too early. 'He wasn't quite ready for it. That wasn't his fault. That's the circumstances that dictated that. We'll now try and support him as much as we can. 'Listen, he'll get over it. Goalkeepers are a resilient bunch. His character is good in and around the squad. He's comfortable. 'This was probably just an opportunity that came a little bit too early for him. 'Listen, we could talk about Cieran and what happened for him, but it's a circumstance I pointed out in March. I could see something like this possibly happening. 'The only crumb of comfort to take from it is that it happened in a friendly match. And hopefully we can be better prepared when it comes to the autumn.' Gunn and McCrorie now join Craig Gordon, Liam Kelly and Zander Clark on the list of injured Scotland keepers. Clarke will add Bournemouth teenager Callan McKenna to the squad that travels to face Liechtenstein on Monday. 'I'll also have a little scout around and see if anybody is not on the beach and is available to come,' he said. 'Our options are not exactly jumping off the page at me. We will go away and see how he reacts, how he is overnight, how he is tomorrow and at training on Sunday. 'It is pretty unusual to have your five first-choice goalkeepers all injured. Not everyone plays regularly at their club. It is something we have to address and look at. But it is not going to change in a click of the fingers. It is more for the long term, and the next head coach and the next head coach after that. ' Clarke admitted the overall display fell well short of expectations. 'After the disruption at the start, we were quite lacklustre,' he said. 'It took us a while to get into the game. 'We made a few chances, their keeper made some good saves. We got ourselves back into it and then like the last game v Greece, we conceded a bad goal just before half time. We need to eliminate that type of concession and be more solid going into the half. That is something we can work on.'
