Latest news with #AdamWebb
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
'No regrets' - Saints owners focused on 'making club great again'
St Johnstone chief executive Francis Smith says the club's American owner Adam Webb has "no regrets at all" about getting involved, despite his first season at the helm ending in businessman Adam Webb took control at McDiarmid Park last summer. However, despite replacing manager Craig Levein with Simo Valakari last October, the club finished bottom and will play in the second tier next season for the first time in 16 years."No regrets at all, Adam and the investors are focused on making this club great again," Smith told BBC Scotland."So they are going to work hard, the ones that are on the board will work with us other directors to make sure the club continues to be a sustainable model."We want to get through the [next] season without making too much of a loss because we want to make sure that when we come back to the Premiership we are focused and ready to fight for top six."Smith added: "Nobody has made a boob, they bought the club, they said at the start they are in here for the long haul."They are here to rebuild St Johnstone, build the infrastructure, give us the tools to be a successful club."It won't be this rebuild every year after year. Now we are at the bottom, we will rebuild and make it sustainable for the future."Smith stressed the importance of getting promoted from the Championship at the first attempt and says Valakari will be given the tools to enable him to do winning a remarkable domestic cup double four years ago, it has been a steady decline for St Johnstone, culminating in this season's relegation."We can only assess what we have been involved in, so we can only assess from August to now," said Smith."We have given extra money where we can, we have appointed a manager who has an enthusiastic approach to football, but again maybe it comes down to past recruitment and things like that that. Maybe we have not had the best players or the best value players to sell on."St Johnstone is a club that needs to bring in youth players that become either good assets on the park or sellable assets to allow us to work as a good sustainable club, that is what St Johnstone do."We will probably post a profit again this year from the Premiership and then going into the Championship we will look probably to make that loss."But we are focused on rebuilding the club, we have been making all these little changes around the stadium and the infrastructure and things like that and we have obviously backed Simo in January, we brought players in – was that too late? Potentially it was."
BBC News
16-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'It meant everything' - Valakari eager to repay Saints faith
Simo Valakari says the backing of St Johnstone owner Adam Webb "meant everything" as he looks to lead the club back to the top 16-year Premiership stay was ended in midweek when the 2-1 defeat by Hearts consigned the Perth side side to the who took charge in October, remains as head coach after Webb insisted the Finn was "just getting started on the project to return St Johnstone to its glory days"."It meant everything to me," Valakari said. "The first day he signed me, he put faith in me and I feel it most that I could not do it [keep St Johnstone up]."We're all disappointed about the results, all disappointed about the outcomes. Of course, we need to understand that nothing is guaranteed in football."That's why, yes, it was good from our club, from Adam, to make it clear again that this is what we are, that's where we go and now we start working on it."When I first came here, we already started to work on two sides. We had this short term that we wanted to stay in the Premiership. I need to be very, very clear, we wanted really badly to stay in the Premiership and do the rebuilding in the Premiership."We could not do it, so now we are in the Championship and the rebuilding continues. On the football side, all the aspects of the club have been together, but now because we know where we are, we can open it. We only have one plan and we start working towards it."
BBC News
16-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Holt 'gutted' after back-to-back relegations
"Gutted" Jason Holt admits St Johnstone have "clearly not been good enough" this season as he comes to terms with successive midfielder went down with Livingston last term and has now suffered the same fate with Saints after their demotion to the Championship was confirmed following the midweek defeat at Hearts."It's hard because as a player, you don't want any relegations on your CV," said 32-year-old Holt."Unfortunately I've been on the end of two. I think throughout your career there's going to be bumps in the road, there's going to be ups and downs."Certainly the last two years have been difficult because you're not winning a lot of football matches. You try not to, but you take that home with you and it affects everything."It's been challenging at times, but that's the life of a football player. There are bumps along the road. Unfortunately, I've been on the receiving end of a couple of bad ones."We're really disappointed and gutted but, overall, we've clearly not been good enough."Holt expects a revamp of the Perth squad this summer under head coach Simo Valakari, whom owner Adam Webb confirmed on Thursday will be kept on."Naturally, I think if a club goes down, there's probably a bit of a rebuild," Holt said. "I don't know what that looks like, but I'm sure the club will have decisions to make over the summer."I think we're going to probably be one of the favourites (for the Championship) so there comes a different pressure in winning games every week."
BBC News
15-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Relegated St Johnstone will back 'visionary' Valakari
Owner Adam Webb has backed "visionary coach" Simo Valakari to "return St Johnstone to it's glory days" following their Scottish Premiership at Hearts on Wednesday - combined with Ross County drawing at Dundee - consigned the Perth side to a bottom-placed finish with one game to ends a 16-year top-flight stay that included several top-half finishes, two Scottish Cup wins, one League Cup triumph and European successes were waning by the time American lawyer Webb took control in July 2024 and the club parted with Craig Levein two months later following four straight Valakari replaced the former Scotland manager but St Johnstone continued to struggle for results, despite an upturn in performances. "Relegation certainly wasn't part of our plan for St Johnstone," said Webb in an open letter to fans. "We will need your support next season more than ever before. "First and foremost, we will back Simo. We have a visionary coach and a solid core group of players who will be staying with us for next season. "Simo is just getting started on the project to return St Johnstone to its glory days. We have seen Simo's tireless work ethic, as well as his aspirations and passion."Webb expects the Championship to be "gritty and challenging" and urged fans to turn out in numbers home and away, while admitting they "deserved much better"."This is not the time to slacken in our resolve," he added."Our budgeting shows that our club will lose nearly £2m in revenue. This is simply the natural order when a club drops from the Premiership."We will never take your support for granted and are well aware that our standards must be higher in the seasons to come. We embrace this challenge. "But we are not foolish enough to think we can do it without you. If you will have faith in us, and back Simo and the lads, you will be rewarded." The stats behind St Johnstone's relegation The numbers illustrate why St Johnstone have dropped out of the top have struggled to get going in games and often left themselves with too much to do later have conceded 35 first-half goals in 37 games, the worst in the Premiership. In addition, they have failed to score a first-half goal in 26 of those matches. Again, bottom of the charts.A fair few of those goals have been avoidable, too, with 10 leading from errors - the top flight's joint-worst record along with too often, they concede when they shouldn' cumulative expected-goals (xG) against is 54, but they have shipped 12 more than that, suggesting they are susceptible to letting soft Johnstone have also dropped 20 points from winning positions, the fourth worst in the league and another damning indictment of a side who have often seemed devoid of confidence and belief. 'Big decisions required after relegation' - analysis Given St Johnstone's fortunes in the Premiership in recent seasons, should we be too surprised?It was 2020/21 when they created history by winning both major cup competitions and finishing fifth in the Premiership. All looked to be rosy, with a squad full of Scottish talent who knew how to win the warning signs were there early on the following season. Despite gallant away performances against Galatasaray and LASK, their European campaign was 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 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 at Kelty survival was only achieved after play-off success over two legs against Inverness Caledonian following seasons in the league were marginally better with ninth and 10th-placed finishes. But again there were early exits in both cup some brave performances this term, including a home win over champions Celtic, they were unable to avoid the 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 next few weeks and months in Perth will be telling, with some big decisions required by those in charge. 'Relegation four seasons in making' - your views Dunc: Not a lot you can say about the way it has all ended. Radical surgery required, and Valakari must be allowed at least one window going forward. Gutted, but we knew it was coming. The last three seasons were a shambles. We would, at times, have been hard pressed to beat a Sunday League pub Again, the simple answer is that Valakari should not be allowed to continue in the Championship. His team selection could at best be described as eccentric, and playing out from the back has been a notable failure and tested to destruction. Beyond that, the 3981 miles between Atlanta, Georgia and Perth has been allowed to become too great structurally by the new owners. They have not committed enough attention to the executive dimension of the club. Although in mitigation, the deterioration reaches back into the later days of the Brown regime. Relegation has been at least four seasons in the There's never been a better time to remember the 2021 cup double and reflect on how good a month May has been to us recently, what a fantastic high to measure the lows I hope Simo stays, he brings positivity and a clear way of playing, we just need to overhaul the squad and start building for a promotion We have the right man in place. A busy few days ahead weeding out the unwanted players and keeping the ones we'll need. Hopefully, plans are already in place for a few much-needed signings. The Saints will rise This is down to Craig Levein, playing inexperienced goalkeepers, whose mistakes at the start of the season probably cost six points. Also loss of two key central defenders left that part of the team decimated. Keep Simo, rebuild and look for an immediate return to the Premiership next season.
NDTV
02-05-2025
- Business
- NDTV
US, Ukraine May Wait Decade Or More To See Revenue From Minerals Deal
London: The financial payoff from a new minerals deal between Ukraine and the US is likely to take a decade or longer as investors face many hurdles to getting new mines into production in the war-ravaged country. Developing mines that produce strategically important minerals in countries with established mining sectors such as Canada and Australia can take 10 to 20 years, mining consultants said on Thursday. But most mineral deposits in Ukraine have scant data to confirm they are economically viable. Investors may also baulk at funnelling money into a country where infrastructure such as power and transport has been devastated by Russia's three-year-old full-scale invasion and future security is not guaranteed. "If anyone's thinking suddenly all these minerals are going to be flying out of Ukraine, they're dreaming," said Adam Webb, head of minerals at consultancy Benchmark Minerals Intelligence. "The reality is it's going to be difficult for people to justify investing money there when there are options to invest in critical minerals in countries that are not at war." While the financial benefits from the deal are uncertain, officials in Ukraine hailed it as a political breakthrough: They believe it will help shore up US support for Kyiv that has faltered under President Donald Trump. Ukraine needs US support - especially weapons and cash - to withstand Russia's military invasion. On the US side, Trump heavily promoted the deal, especially the access it provides to Ukraine's deposits of rare earth elements which are used in everything from cellphones to cars. So government policy could hasten investment. The US does not produce significant amounts of rare earths and has ramped up a trade war with China, the world's top supplier. The text of the deal signed in Washington showed that revenues for the reconstruction fund would come from royalties, licence fees and production-sharing agreements. The text mentions no financial terms, saying that the two sides still have to hammer out a limited partnership agreement between the US International Development Finance Corp and Ukraine's State Organization Agency on Support for Public-Private Partnership. The text details 55 minerals plus oil, natural gas and other hydrocarbons. According to Ukrainian data, the country has deposits of 22 of the 34 minerals identified by the European Union as critical, including rare earths, lithium and nickel. "The transition from a discovered resource to an economically viable reserve requires significant time and investment, both of which have been constrained, not only since the onset of the war but even prior to it," said Willis Thomas at consultancy CRU. Ukrainian finance ministry data showed that in 2024, the Ukrainian state earned 47.7 billion hryvnias, or around $1 billion, in royalties and other fees related to natural resources exploitation. But the joint fund created under the deal will only get revenue from new licences, permits and production-sharing agreements concluded after the accord comes into force. Slow pace of mining licences Ukraine was slow to issue new natural resources licenses before Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion. From 2012 to 2020, about 20 licences were issued for oil and gas, one for graphite, one for gold, two for manganese and one for copper, according to the Ukrainian geological service. There are 3,482 existing licenses in total. Since the agreement creates a limited partnership, the two countries may be looking at direct government investment in a mining company, analysts said. Chile, the world's biggest copper producer and owner of state mining company Codelco, could be an example they follow, Webb said. Another hurdle is that some potentially lucrative projects are on land occupied by Russia, and the agreement does not include any security guarantees. Washington has said the presence of US interests would deter aggressors. Seven of 24 potential mining projects identified by Benchmark are in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine and include lithium, graphite, rare earth elements, nickel and manganese. An official of a small Ukrainian company that holds the licence for the Polokhivske lithium deposit, one of the largest in Europe, told Reuters in February it would be tough to develop without Western security guarantees. "The deal ties the US more closely into Ukraine in that now they've got a bit more of a vested interest in this war coming to an end so that they can develop those assets," Webb said.
