Latest news with #Rae
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Protesters warn Scottish Government over Flamingo Land
An emergency meeting is being held in the community on Friday after the Scottish Government reporter upheld an appeal from the Yorkshire-based theme park operator. The official, however, added 49 conditions to the application. The Balloch and Haldane Community Council is demanding the Scottish Government reverses its decision to recommend planning permission. Local MSP Ross Greer said ministers stepped in to help Donald Trump build an Aberdeenshire golf course, which opened in 2012. He told The Herald: 'Ministers have the power to reject and recall this decision but they won't do it despite having done so previously for developers like Donald Trump. They wont do it when it is Scotland's national environment that needs protecting.' 'Government ministers got directly involved to help Donald Trump build a golf course in Aberdeenshire, but they're refusing to do so here when it's about protecting Scotland's environment. Read more: Emergency public meeting called over Flamingo Land decision MP demands Swinney steps in and recalls Flamingo Land recommendation | The Herald 'It looks like we have a government that is willing to stand up for American billionaires and stand up for big business but won't stand up Scotland's communities or our world famous natural environment.' Scottish ministers granted planning permission to Mr Trump, despite the local council throwing out the application. Ministers argued that the economic benefit would outweigh the environmental harm. Mr Greer added: 'We want government ministers to step in and reject Flamingo Land's application. They are hiding behind a government official. 'The National Park's board unanimously rejected this plan because the evidence against them was overwhelming. They are so destructive.' He added that Sepa, the Scottish Government's environment watchdog, also rejected the plans over flooding risks. 'Despite that, a government official has overturned that and Scottish Government ministers are allowing them to do so," he added. Balloch residents Rae and Alison told The Herald the community is prepared to fight the decision "every step of the way". Rae said: 'Everybody in Balloch is against this. We are all shocked that it was passed again, we didn't even know that it was coming back up to parliament. 'I don't know one person in Balloch, or Dumbarton, or in surrounding areas, that wants this. It is a unanimous no.' A Scottish Government spokesperson also said at the time: 'An independent reporter has issued a decision intimating that he is minded to grant planning permission in principle for the proposal subject to 49 planning conditions subject to a legal agreement being reached between the national park authority and developer to secure the employment and environment issues that are set out in the Lomond Promise. 'As the appeal remains live, it would not be appropriate to comment further on the merits of the proposed development.' As part of the conditions, the applicant will now have to reach an agreement with Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority – which rejected the proposals last year – before the application can progress. Under the £43.5 million proposals, Lomond Banks would see two hotels, more than 100 lodges, a waterpark and monorail built on the site at Balloch, West Dunbartonshire. The development has been proposed for years, with Lomond Banks pulling out in 2019 before returning with a new application, which has proven controversial with the local community. Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie accused First Minister John Swinney of backing "greedy developers" instead of the environment. Mr Swinney, speaking at First Minister's Questions, said it would "not be appropriate" to comment on the ongoing issue. However, he said he was "absolutely committed" to protecting the natural environment, but added the Scottish Government reporter was "entitled" to come to his decision based on evidence.
Straits Times
6 days ago
- Health
- Straits Times
Unspoken words, unsteady gait: Living with a rare brain disorder that affects mostly girls
Abby's parents, Rae and Daniel, had no idea anything was amiss until she started to regress after turning 18 months old. ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO Medical Mysteries Unspoken words, unsteady gait: Living with a rare brain disorder that affects mostly girls Medical Mysteries is a series that spotlights rare diseases or unusual conditions. SINGAPORE – Four-year-old Abby was born healthy and met all her developmental milestones in the first 18 months of her life. Her parents Rae, 41, and Daniel, 55 – who requested that The Straits Times not use their family name – had no idea anything was amiss until she started to regress after turning 18 months old. Abby's speech – from happy infant babbling to saying one or two words – suddenly halted in its development. Her movement and balance also regressed. Her parents tried hydrotherapy to encourage walking. 'We taught her how to walk in the pool, as we were told the water buoyancy would help her,' said Rae, who is an education consultant. But just two weeks after she started walking, Abby lost the ability to do so. 'It worried us. At the same time, the nursery school where we placed her suddenly told us that it could not support a child with special needs. We decided to send her for tests,' Rae said. Eventually, at three years and six months old, Abby was diagnosed with Rett syndrome, a rare brain disorder that affects mostly girls. 'We took blood for a DNA test at the KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), and it was only last August that the hospital confirmed Abby has Rett syndrome,' said Rae. Before that, doctors had thought Abby was autistic. 'We did not know about Rett syndrome then, and we thought that she was autistic . Yet she was very sociable – she still is – and she loves people. Those are not (commonly perceived) traits of autism,' said Rae. Rett syndrome is thought to affect about one in 15,000 to one in 10,000 female babies worldwide, but the exact prevalence is not known. 'Many patients with Rett syndrome may be undiagnosed due to lack of recognition of symptoms and limited access to genetic testing,' said Associate Professor Saumya Jamuar, a senior consultant with the genetics service at KKH. Abby's parents tried hydrotherapy to encourage walking. ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO Prof Jamuar noted that there have only been 10 cases diagnosed at KKH so far, with one or two patients identified every other year. But he cautioned that there could be others who are still undiagnosed in Singapore. He said the condition is caused by a genetic change in a gene called MECP2. The MECP2 gene provides the instructions for making the MeCP2 protein, which is important for brain development. Rett syndrome usually shows up in children between six months and two years of age. Affected children develop normally at first, but then begin to lose the skills they have already learnt, such as talking, walking or using their hands, said Prof Jamuar. Some may have seizures, heart issues or breathing difficulties. They could also have sleep disturbances and scoliosis, which is a sideways curvature of the spine. A hallmark of Rett syndrome is near-constant repetitive hand movements or hand wringing – something that Abby does. 'It is only when these symptoms appear that testing is considered. Even then, making a diagnosis requires a specific genetic test,' Prof Jamuar said. 'As the brain becomes more complex, it increasingly depends on the MeCP2 protein to support learning and retaining skills. The protein does not work in children with Rett syndrome and the brain cannot keep up with normal development... leading to loss of skills and other symptoms,' he said, adding that severity varies from child to child. Only some patients experience intellectual disability, and the extent can differ, he said. There is currently no way to reverse Rett syndrome, and treatment focuses on managing its symptoms and supporting the individual. A diagnosis marks the beginning of a coordinated, lifelong care plan involving multiple specialists and support services, said Prof Jamuar. 'The goals are to manage symptoms, support development, improve quality of life and prevent complications, to help each child reach her best possible quality of life,' he added. 'With appropriate care, many people with Rett syndrome live well into adulthood – some into their 40s, 50s, or longer.' Rae went online to search for a local community of patients and found the Facebook and Instagram accounts of Rett Syndrome Singapore, set up by an expatriate mother with a daughter who has the condition. 'I messaged her and became one of the very few members of the community,' she said. Rae also discovered that the condition is grouped under the Rare Disorder Society, a non-profit organisation initiated in 2011 by parents of children with lysosomal storage disorder, a rare genetic condition that causes a build-up of toxic materials in body cells. Abby now attends early intervention school at the Rainbow Centre and receives occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy and music therapy. Education consultants Rae, 41, and Daniel, 55, using a photo chart to help their four-year-old daughter Abby express herself. ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO Her movement 'is not very stable' and she tends to fall and hurt herself, according to Daniel, who is also an education consultant. Trips to the emergency department at KKH are 'becoming a regular thing', he said. 'We also hired a physiotherapist and an occupational therapist to come to the house every week to help stabilise her movement and gait. She swims and rides her balance bicycle. The occupational therapist teaches her how to communicate with us. She uses her eyes and other gestures, which we learnt from her too,' he said. Abby also suffers from seizures and is on medication to manage them. Born in Hong Kong, Abby moved to Singapore with her parents when she was three months old. Despite her limited verbal ability, she is exposed to a multilingual environment at home. Her parents and grandparents speak to her in English, Mandarin and Cantonese. 'We also encourage our helpers to speak to her in Bahasa Indonesia', said Rae. Daniel added: 'Abby is able to understand, but she just cannot reciprocate.' The couple also have a one-year-old daughter, Emma, who was conceived before Abby's diagnosis. As Rett syndrome affects mostly girls, there were initial concerns that Emma might have the condition. 'When Emma came along, we were of course worried. But when we saw her using her fingers to point at things – something that Abby could not do – we heaved a huge sigh of relief,' Rae said. Prof Jamuar said although Rett syndrome is a genetic disorder, the majority of cases are not inherited, and the risk to Emma was low, at 'approximately 1 per cent to 2 per cent'. Meanwhile, research continues into future cures or gene-based therapies, with some promising results from animal studies. In these studies, symptoms were partially reversed by reintroducing the normal MECP2 protein into the brains of mice, giving hope for potential treatment. For now, the only word Abby can articulate clearly is 'iPad'. 'She repeats it when she is adamant. Sometimes I don't know whether to laugh or cry, but we are taking this a day at a time,' said Rae. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Elle
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
All We Know About Addison Rae and Omer Fedi's Very Private Love Story
TikTok star and musical artist Addison Rae has been dating music producer Omer Fedi since at least 2021, but sightings and news about the couple is surprisingly rare. As much as Rae lives some aspects of her life in public, she has started to keep other things just for herself. In May 2021, Rae told Hailey Bieber in an episode of Who's in My Bathroom? that her previous relationship with Bryce Hall changed how she felt about sharing her personal romantic life with her followers. 'I think the lesson I learned from [that experience] is just keep your circle small, and keep your fights private, keep you know, intimate things private, and respect each other,' she explained. But Fedi is not an entirely unknown figure. He has a lot of cred in the music industry as not only an accomplished guitarist, but as a producer and songwriter. He has co-written hits like 'Montero (Call Me by Your Name)' with Lil Nas X and 'Mood' with 24kGoldn. With so much in common, Fedi and Rae naturally step into the spotlight with one another from time to time. Here is a complete timeline of Addison Rae and Omer Fedi's relationship so far. Rae joined Kourtney Kardashian and Megan Fox at a Machine Gun Kelly show, where Fedi was playing guitar. In pics, Rae can be seen smiling and taking in the music. Fans were already speculating on whether she was there to support anyone in particular when the pair was seen together alone a few days later in West Hollywood, shopping at Erewhon. Rae confirmed she was dating somebody when she posted a video of two shadows kissing in her Instagram Stories in early July. Fans kept careful record of comments and likes made by Fedi and Rae on one another's Instagram accounts in the early days of their dating. Then in August, they were seen sharing a kiss in Los Angeles after a lunch date at Ono Hawaiian BBQ. The cat was out of the bag! On August 21, Fedi shared a selfie with Rae on his Instagram Story, writing over it, 'She's wearing the pants in the relationship.' A few days later, E! shared photos of them holding hands in West Hollywood. At the end of the month, Fedi celebrated him and Rae having moments of success at the same time. A song he co-produced, 'Stay' by The Kid LAROI, broke onto Billboard's Hot 100 chart. Rae's Netflix movie He's All That reached the streaming service's top 10 list. In another Instagram Story, Fedi wrote, 'Me and my baby are both number 1 atm. I'm so so proud of her. Wonder if we the first couple to ever do that with movie and a song? Anyway love you babe.' They were photographed walking around in Los Angeles and wearing masks for some privacy and protection. By October, things were clearly very serious: Rae posted about Fedi on TikTok, her most beloved platform. On her 21st birthday, she appeared with him in a TikTok, lip-synching the words, 'Stop treating me like some girl that's obsessed with you.' She then gave him a kiss. Fans asked for a pic of the couple during one of Rae's Instagram Stories Q&As, and she gave them a black-and-white pic where they're reaching their tongues toward one another. The couple enjoyed the New Year in Turks and Caicos. Rae has since deleted photos from their trip. The couple posed for official photos at Paris Fashion Week, attending the Mônot show on March 5. In another public display, they attended Vanity Fair's Oscar Party, but they were not photographed on the red carpet, just leaving afterwards in matching black. They made their debut on the red carpet at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, where Fedi was nominated for the first time for production work on Lil Nas X's hit song 'Montero (Call Me By Your Name).' Rae attended the Met Gala in 2022 by herself, but they appeared to meet up afterwards. In a now-deleted photo, Fedi showed Rae eating a chicken nugget wearing her red carpet outfit. That same month, they went to the 70th Annual BMI Pop Awards in Beverly Hills. Photographers caught the couple sharing an adorable embrace in Los Angeles. They were spotted deep in conversation in Los Angeles in August. The Daily Mail shared pics of Rae and Fedi at Zero Bond with friends Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz. Rae helped Fedi cut off his signature hot red hair, seen in photos featured in a TikTok by creator @alexandrabellusci. Rae offered a rare comment on her relationship in an interview with British Vogue, describing a trip she took to Japan 'with my boyfriend for New Year 2023. When the clock struck midnight, I got my fortune read at the Sensoji temple, the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo,' she said. In a rare update, Rae confirmed she and Fedi were still dating in an early 2025 interview with Rolling Stone. The publication described Fedi as Rae's 'boyfriend' in her cover story. 'I'm very guarded when it comes to relationships because my first public relationship taught me a lot about myself,' Rae said, speaking of her ex Bryce Hall. 'That was a shit show. He was very vocal about everything, and it was a mess.' In an interview with ELLE, Rae made some comments about the different types of relationships in her life. 'I think all relationships in my life right now are going through a transformation in a lot of ways, whether that's good or bad or confusing or not,' she explained. 'And I think it's just a lot of self-confrontation right now in these moments, and just figuring out what I really want to do and what feels right.'
The Courier
21-05-2025
- Sport
- The Courier
St Johnstone 2024/25 ratings: All THIRTY-FIVE players who took Perth club down assessed
St Johnstone's first relegation season in nearly a quarter of a century is over. That the player of the year awards night was cancelled, sums up the fact that this was a campaign nobody wanted to celebrate. A total of 35 players were used by two managers (and a caretaker boss) over 10 months of Premiership football that yielded just 32 points. Courier Sport assesses their contributions. Rae looked a decent Championship goalkeeper with Airdrie, and he has looked a decent Championship goalkeeper once more with Raith Rovers, where he played the second half of the season on loan. There was nothing wrong with signing him in the summer – but it should have been as a back-up. Rae simply wasn't ready to be a Premiership number one. Who knows if it would have been different had there been an experienced back four in front of him (oh, and how about a goalkeeping coach at a crucial, early, stage of the season) but that certainly wasn't the case. A lot of the goalkeeping fundamentals were (are) there, but Rae had a tendency to push a shot back into the danger area rather than to the side and didn't have a high enough percentage of keeping out strikes from the edge of the box. Blair Spittal's long-range winner at Tynecastle after Saints had equalised was a perfect example of a goal that might not have looked like a glaring error at first glance but would probably have been saved by all the St Johnstone goalies who preceded Rae in recent years. Even though there's logic to keeping a player whose best football has been seen in the division Saints will be operating in next season, a fresh start makes sense all round. The other young goalie's situation was arguably even more unfair than Rae's. He had to fill in as a coach for around six weeks. Farce doesn't do justice to it. Sinclair has more credit in the bank than Rae – and would have been Valakari's first choice before the January transfer window opened had it not been for injury. He deserves credit for his performance in the victory over St Mirren in Paisley when Andy Fisher was ruled out through illness. Valakari will sign a goalkeeper over the next few weeks, however. And Sinclair now has to play regularly, likely on loan. Saints needed a Fisher-standard goalkeeper from day one. Had Craig Levein seen it as a priority, I'm convinced they would still be a Premiership club. Fisher's few months in Scotland were more notable for the lack of mistakes than the outstanding saves. The free-kick he conceded at Kilmarnock was the only glaring error and the clean sheet against Celtic the obvious high-point. Fisher wasn't as good as Dimitar Mitov, Zander Clark or Alan Mannus but Saints didn't need him to be – and he can return to Swansea with his head held high. The former Dundee United academy player didn't exceed expectations, nor did he fall considerably short of them. He played across the backline and in midfield before being recalled early from his season-long loan, presumably because Hearts were involved in a relegation battle at the time. The 21-year-old was guilty of switching off too often – St Mirren's first goal at McDiarmid Park in December a case in point when others pushed out, while he played Killian Phillips onside. I suspect the Championship will turn out to be Neilson's level. But seeing him hanging around the tunnel area at Tynecastle last Wednesday night and not even on the bench for Hearts, was a reminder that he would certainly have been useful at McDiarmid Park when full-back and centre-half became positional issues at the end of the season. The Israeli had a lot to prove after his form dropped off at the end of his first half-season in Scotland. The word from the training ground was he lacked intensity and focus. Keltjens was one of those players who became better in the eyes of some fans just by virtue of not being picked – and because right-back was an obvious area of weakness. Unfortunately, when he did get a chance, we saw why he was being overlooked. Keltjens wasn't good enough for this level of football, plain and simple. Had he not returned to the team at the end of the 2023/24 campaign, Saints would likely have fallen into the play-off place and possibly out of the league. Conversely, Wright's season-ending injury in the victory over Celtic was one of the big factors in this season's relegation. A winger becoming a wing-back later in his career is nothing new, but not many have found themselves deployed at centre-half. Even less have looked at home there, as Wright did. Valakari wants to keep hold of him for Saints' attempt at a rapid bounce-back but there are likely to be offers from clubs in the Premiership. The curse of the St Johnstone full-back strikes again. After performing steadily during Saints' run of 10 games with six clean-sheets, the on-loan Sheffield United youngster had a good excuse for struggling in the Scottish Cup semi-final against the likes of Jota and Daizen Maeda. But he had less of an excuse for struggling against Tony Watt. It was no surprise that Curtis was taken out of the team for the home defeat to Kilmarnock. He was better in the win over Ross County after a quick recall but hooked at half-time against Hearts. Curtis is only 19 so has time on his side but it would be a shock if he becomes a Bramall Lane first-teamer. It started so well for the first of several St Johnstone captains this season when he smashed a 25-yard shot into the net on his competitive debut at Brechin. That a loan player was named skipper was a nonsense and just piled pressure on a defender who could have done without that extra responsibility. Cameron's performance at Pittodrie was the highlight of his short stay in Perth, when he was promoted to the starting line-up after Bozo Mikulic felt an injury in the warm-up. But he lacked the intensity, mentally and physically, to thrive in the Premiership and was rightly allowed to return south in January. The centre-back's season only lasted 52 minutes so the jury is still out on whether he's a Premiership level performer or a Championship man. Now that he's in the final stages of his recovery from a ruptured Achilles, a deal through to January would appear to be wise for both player and club. McClelland played very well for Dundee United as they secured their return to the top-flight and the fact he isn't the quickest centre-back in the world won't be exposed in that league. You wouldn't know the Ghanaian is just 19 by looking at him. He's already a powerful athlete. And he didn't look like a boy among men when he was introduced as a second half substitute in a pre-season friendly against Arbroath. But as his game-time increased he increasingly seemed like a project player who should be developing at a lower level. Hopefully that will now happen on loan in America and Essel can make regular starts in the position that suits him best – central midfield. Few would have predicted January bids coming in for the Englishman after seeing his shaky start to the season. But Sanders had self-awareness and a capacity to improve – two qualities not as common in professional football as you would like to think. He played very well at times. Although he had a mistake in him until the very end (his 'assist' at Ibrox made for bewildering viewing) and he didn't cover himself in glory with the way in which he pushed through his transfer to MK Dons, Sanders has the raw attributes to be an English lower league success. And he was far from the worst defender to play for St Johnstone in their relegation season. If one player encapsulates the feeling of what might have been, it's the Croatian centre-back. After being signed by Valakari as a free agent, Mikulic steadily improved game by game to a point where he was a dominant Premiership defender, scoring winning goals as well as doing a no frills job at the back. Saints managed to do without him for a while after his season was curtailed in February by a training ground ACL injury, but he was the most dominant centre-back in the air and would have been a valuable asset after the split had he been fit. Quite rightly, Saints extended Mikulic's contract in the hope and expectation he'll be back in the autumn. Having seen the Latvian international play with Mikulic and Zach Mitchell beside him, and then as the only fit out-and-out centre-half in a back three or back four, we can come to the conclusion that Balodis is the type of player who thrives with a partner. The dip in performance level after Mitchell's injury speaks to that. Stepping up as the main man in a malfunctioning defence so soon after arriving in a new country and league was a big ask, possibly an unfair ask. Balodis should be excused his short-lived wobble (against Motherwell then Kilmarnock). It should be remembered that on the night Saints were relegated at Tynecastle, he stood up to be counted, with a man of the match display. Hopefully Valakari can sell his long-term vision to Balodis and convince him to stay. The Charlton kid injuring his hamstring at Tannadice was the moment survival hopes died. Saints had just about coped without Mikulic, but this was a defensive setback too far. I can pay Mitchell no bigger compliment than saying he's come closer than anyone to filling the Jason Kerr-shaped hole in the team and is likely to go even higher in football than the double-winning legend. Pace, power, comfort on the ball, positional awareness and leadership – he ticks all the boxes to be an EFL Championship regular at worst. Hopes were high that the Trinidad and Tobago international would bring Adam Montgomery-esque drive to the left-back position. Even though you could see rough edges in the early weeks, the plus sides of Raymond's game outweighed the negatives, and the fans took to him. Unfortunately, the enduring memory of his season will be missing a sitter at Tannadice. That can, of course, happen to any player. But of greater relevance when assessing Raymond's contribution, and whether he should be retained, is that the defensive aspects of full-back play didn't improve and there weren't many assists to his name either. After being subbed in the first half of the new year defeat to Dundee, Raymond fell out of Valakari's first team plans and was tasked with cutting out the 'sleepy moments' on loan with Dunfermline. That he couldn't nail down a place in a struggling Championship side doesn't bode well for a second chance in Perth. Raymond has a year left on his deal, but it was not great shock that he is now on the available for transfer list. Had Valakari liked what he saw of Raymond, the veteran full-back wouldn't have been needed. It was a free agent signing that made sense in a few respects, with Douglas a player of serious pedigree who could cover a couple of positions and add experience to the squad. An early injury lay-off was a worrying start and, though there were a few decent performances after the turn of the year when the former Dundee United man filled in on the left of a back-three, he looked like a player whose race was run in the last couple of months of the season. And the less said about that Tynecastle own goal, the better. You did wonder why the Austrian was given a new deal by Levein last summer when he didn't feature in the early weeks of the campaign. After Valakari took over, though, Sprangler established himself as a reliable CDM, protecting the defence and showing better ability on the ball than many had given him credit for. Dropping into the backline for a league game against Motherwell at the end of January seemed to disrupt his rhythm in central midfield and he was never as effective again. Perhaps Sprangler felt the effects of a first full season in Scottish football, having been injured for several months of the previous one. You could never question his heart, however. He even filled in at right-back on a couple of occasions. If he signs a new contract, Sprangler may well find Championship football suits him. But he will have a fight on his hands to be a regular starter rather than a versatile squad player. Last summer should have been the time for MacPherson to leave the club. He couldn't be relied upon to stay fit, and it was no surprise that Valakari deemed him surplus to requirements when he replaced Levein. MacPherson didn't play once for the Finn before he left for Tampa Bay Rowdies on loan (where he has been out with an injury again). There have been a couple of significant form dips (notably before Christmas) but in the main, Holt has been a decent recruit. He never hides and what he lacks in athleticism and physicality he often makes up for with positional sense and technical ability. Holt is exactly the type of player who should thrive against Championship opponents on artificial surfaces with a powerful Martin Hardie or Simon Mensing-type beside him. What a disappointment this has been. When Saints were good post-managerial change, Smith, who I believe is a more talented midfielder than his partner the year before, Dan Phillips, was at the heart of the form uplift. By all accounts, he shone in training even when he wasn't playing well on a Saturday but as autumn turned to winter, the Welsh international looked lost. An anonymous display in the infamous defeat to Dundee was the end game. Like Raymond, he was taken off after half-an-hour. Valakari would have let Smith leave in January, but a deal couldn't be agreed, with Bristol Rovers one of the moves that fell through. It would have been such a feelgood story had the Ukraine under-21 international fulfilled his promise. But once you saw he wasn't getting regular game-time under his mentors, Levein and Andy Kirk, it was clear that wasn't going to happen under Valakari. Unfortunately, the pitch just looked to be too big for Kucheriavyi. He's another technically sound player who you can visualise shining in small-sided training games but doesn't have an obvious position in Premiership football. Kucheriavyi needs to find his level. Quite what that is, I'm not sure. There's an element of circumstances conspiring against him when you see that the Perthshire teenager featured in less Premiership games this season than he did the one before. Franczak didn't have serious injuries, but they were (twice) long enough lay-offs to enable others to get ahead of him and stay in the team. The most impactive one was a calf problem which prevented Franczak from keeping his place after impressing against Celtic and Hibs at the turn of the year. That being said, I do still believe he was underused. In a team too often lacking dynamism, that's the one thing you know you'll get from Franczak, whether it's at wing-back or in midfield (where I would have liked to see him get a proper run). It was no coincidence that the tempo of Saints' football in the second last game of the season rose when he came on as a substitute. I made a point of watching him closely that night at Tynecastle and on several occasions, Franczak made intelligent runs only to be left exasperated by a team-mate failing to spot him. He's still only 17 and is one of the players whose career trajectory is likely to benefit from the club's drop down a division. Had Roman Eremenko been granted a work permit Watt wouldn't have been brought to Perth on loan from Burton Albion late in the January transfer window. But this still looked a potentially transformational signing. Watt, a former Scotland under-21 international, had the pedigree to elevate the team with the quality and range of his passing. Unfortunately, it transpired that he needed to work on his fitness. That Watt knuckled down, became a slave to the gym, lost a stone in weight and came up with two goals and an assist on his return to the team after eight games without appearing is a credit to his dedication – even more so given he was a loan player. He'll have Valakari to thank if the second half of his career takes off but, even though he was OK in the Saints' midfield, he certainly wasn't transformational. You could make a case that the Swedish midfielder had the most solid credentials of all Valakari's January signings. This is a guy who has played well over 200 games in the Swedish top-flight and, at 26, should be approaching the peak of his career. That he contributed so little to the cause is a significant factor in the relegation story. Injuries and illness, combined with the fact he arrived in Scotland off the back of BK Halmstads' season having ended in November, hampered any chance of Saints supporters seeing the best of him. There is, of course, a chance that Svedberg's style of play might not have been a good fit for the Premiership and a relegation battle, even if he had been fully fit. In his short run of starts he struggled. But there was no opportunity to build up rhythm. If he's the player Valakari thinks he is, Svedberg should shine in the Championship. I would certainly like to see him after a pre-season but there's a big decision to be made by Svedberg and his manager. The Panama international also picked up an injury but hasn't been hampered to the same extent as Svedberg. He didn't look at home as a number 10-type player and underwhelmed when given the opportunity to expand his game in a more orthodox central midfield role. The lack of bite in the tackle has been a disappointment. If Valakari doesn't think Griffith can bring that to his team in the Championship, he'll need to find someone who does. Games have passed him by and that can't continue. He made 40-plus appearances and scored the goal of the season. A 35-year-old Carey has been exactly the player logic would tell you he was going to be – the most talented creator in the squad with the sweetest left foot Saints fans have seen in a long time but susceptible to spells when the pace of Premiership football means he struggles to stay involved. The temptation must have been strong for Valakari to give him another year. There wouldn't be an impact player like him in the Championship. But if you're building a younger, stronger and more athletic team, as will be the case at McDiarmid Park this summer, a 36-year-old Carey could be a luxury 'moments' player Saints can't afford. Talk about seizing your opportunity. There's a reason Valakari is the fourth St Johnstone manager to be enchanted by Steven's attitude to professional football. He believes in himself and is undaunted by the challenge a young player coming through the academy faces to establish himself in the first team. To perform consistently well at left-back and left wing-back in a relegation-threatened team without established centre-halves beside him, as Steven did, was seriously impressive. He scored a crucial goal against Motherwell (in probably his best position, at the right of a front three) and hasn't looked back. Steven's decision-making and positional awareness have caught my eye above other qualities needed in a footballer. At just 20, there's plenty of improvement left in him and he'll be a valuable squad member for next season's promotion push. As with Steven, McPake's end of season performances put a few others to shame. Valakari highlighting that the right-hand side of his team needed to be more like the Steven-McPake axis on the left spoke volumes. If there's been a bigger transformation from a player at the start of a season to the one at the end at St Johnstone in recent years, I can't recall who it was. When McPake featured in the League Cup group games, he had little to no impact going forward and didn't look equipped to aid the team defensively. It was an eye-opener to see him come off the bench, score and generally perform much better in the calamitous defeat to Dundee. But he still wasn't deemed worthy of a starting place. It's a credit to McPake and Valakari that the 'one trick pony' was transformed on the training ground into Saints' most potent wide attacking threat, their most prolific assister of goals and one of the first names on the team sheet. There was a time when it looked like McPake would be the emblem of the mess Levein made of the summer transfer window. Not now. Valakari was right to pinpoint the difference between one side of the pitch and the other. If the right had matched the left after the split, Saints would have stayed in the Premiership. Up to and including the win over Celtic, Duke-McKenna had done more good than bad. But he struggled in the semi-final and then at Motherwell. The Liverpudlian was signed to be an X-factor presence in the final third but if you end your loan spell with no goals, no assists and out of the team, the jury will return an unfavourable verdict. When Adam Webb and his fellow investors bought St Johnstone, their first major challenge was dealing with what was fast becoming a Sidibeh transfer saga. There was a lot of noise surrounding a player who finished the previous domestic campaign superbly and then scored for his country just after it concluded. He didn't help matters with an interview on a Gambian podcast, which heightened rather than dampened a perception that he was open to the idea of moving on. The number of clubs linked with buying Sidibeh became laughable and was clearly agent-driven but it must have messed with the young man's head – a young man who was playing seventh-tier football just a few months earlier and was a late starter to professional football. The release clause was (still is) £500,000 and to persuade a club to meet it would have needed an eye-catching end to August. Scoring twice at Rugby Park was a good start but fluffing his lines in a live TV game against Rangers, combined with his double red card at Tannadice, ensured that he was going nowhere. Valakari has since given Sidibeh plenty of opportunities. His work-rate has never looked questionable but his first touch, composure in the box and football nous all have. Pace is the single most potent weapon a centre-forward can have in the Championship. Sidibeh certainly hasn't lost that. Without any of the distractions that affected him last summer, he needs to start scoring goals quickly otherwise the fear that the shortcomings in his repertoire will continue to dull his effectiveness, even in the lower leagues, will be all too real. How on earth to you do justice to Benji Kimpioka's 2024/25 story in a few paragraphs? What a truly depressing one it is. OK, there was a fair bit of League Cup group stage padding to his goal-scoring record, but this was a striker who hit double figures by the end of October. Unfortunately, it was the game that took him to 10, St Mirren away, that best summed up Kimpioka. Scored a goal, had another disallowed, cost his team one, was lucky not to cost them another, does a lot of throwing his arms up in the air, gets subbed. It all went downhill from there. There was one more goal, in mid-December, but Valakari became increasingly reluctant to use Kimpioka as the forward's agent went about the business of trying to secure a January exit. There were serious offers that would have made Saints a tidy profit on their investment and bolstered the manager's transfer kitty, while making Kimpioka a wealthy young man, but he didn't find Belgium nor the Netherlands to his liking. Valakari gave him the occasional appearance off the bench but there was no hint of a goal or anything close to it and he didn't start a single game in the last four months of the season. One of the final pictures taken of him as a St Johnstone player was when the Swede arrived for the Kilmarnock match dressed in his own clothes rather than club gear. It's an image that captures a deeply unsatisfactory last few months of his Perth career. Whoever signs him next will be getting a soloist, not a team player. We've seen this story plenty of times before – the ageing striker who drops deeper and deeper to try and squeeze the last drops out of a Premiership career. It's no criticism of Clark to say that he doesn't have the legs to do the things that made him such an important player when he was signed. The qualities Valakari needed in a number nine in this team (possibly because of those around him) weren't there and he often looked lost as a number 10. Clark's two free-kicks in Dingwall were a highlight of the season, and it was a travesty that the Saints defence couldn't do their job to allow him to bask in the glory of that stunning set-piece double. The injury-time winner at Dens Park was another memorable moment. Valakari would have let Clark leave in January and the fact he didn't even make the bench for the last game of the season spoke to the inevitability of the end of the road having been reached. The overwhelming feeling in the Perth fanbase when Kirk, son of coach, Andy Kirk, was signed from Hearts was one of: 'Do we really need him?' There was a suspicion that he was brought in to replace Sidibeh, should the latter be sold. It's to Kirk's great credit that, even though all the other strikers stayed, he still managed to finish the season as the top scorer. Given it was his first as a senior pro – at any level – this is a success story. Kirk is quick, usually calm when he shoots, comfortable finishing with both feet and his head, and has improved his out-field work. In short, he should be a 15 to 20-goal man in the Championship. A young, proven goal-scorer with a year left on his contract could well be the subject of transfer interest, however. There's no guarantee he will still be a St Johnstone player next season. Through no fault of the man himself, Ikpeazu became synonymous with Levein's ill-judged summer transfer window. The first signing (on big wages), he was injured before even getting the chance to pull on training gear, never mind match kit. Again, through no fault of his own, it wasn't until April that Ikpeazu was fit to take the field. He did his best to make an impact off the bench and on two occasions as a starter, but it wasn't realistic to think he could provide the unlikeliest of plot twists at the end of a season like this. The 30-year-old did better, and lasted longer, than I expected but we saw rustiness and/or his lack of predatory instincts with a couple of glaring misses (against Kilmarnock and Ross County). Whatever you think about Ikpeazu's style of football, he has operated at a far higher level than the Scottish Championship so it's not far-fetched to think he could be extremely effective in that division. The million-dollar question in Ikpeazu's case is – will he want to stay? Everything flows from the answer he gives his manager. Saints fans would have felt both wistful and proud in the wake of seeing a 16-year-old academy player coming on for a late cameo in the final game of the season. It was hard not to dwell on the fact that Hamill showed the sort of tenacity and quality against Dundee that had been lacking in others much older and more experienced over the course of a dreadful season (and in this derby fixture). It was nice that he left for Arsenal having ticked the senior debut box as a St Johnstone player. And he came very close to taking Vic Robertson's record as the club's youngest-ever goal-scorer. It would also be nice to think he'll will go on to fulfil his talent in London and earn Saints some serious 'add-on' money in doing so. In the here and now, Hamill's fleeting appearance in the first team should serve as a reminder (and inspiration) that when one story ends, another begins.
The Courier
20-05-2025
- Sport
- The Courier
Raith Rovers eye up return move for Josh Rae after goalkeeper made available for transfer by St Johnstone
Raith Rovers could make a move for Josh Rae after the goalkeeper was made available for transfer by St Johnstone. Rae spent the second half of the season with Raith after a difficult start to the campaign with Saints. He struggled to settle into life at McDiarmid Park following his switch from Airdrie 12 months ago. A number of high-profile errors early on saw him lose his place to Ross Sinclair. And when Saints signed Andy Fisher on loan from Swansea City in January he was allowed to leave for Rovers on loan. The 24-year-old was thrown straight into the starting line-up for a difficult debut in the 5-0 Scottish Cup hammering away to Celtic. But he went on to rack up an impressive seven clean sheets in his 14 Championship matches for Barry Robson's side. The former Queen of the South and Airdrie goalie's shut-out ratio of 50 per cent was bettered in the division by only Harry Stone, who managed eight in 15 games at Ayr United. With the expiry of Rae's loan, Raith are on the hunt for a new number one this summer after also announcing the departure of cult hero Kevin Dabrowski. It is understood the Kirkcaldy outfit are keen on a return to Stark's Park for Rae after the impact he made following his loan capture in early February. They had vowed to monitor his circumstances at Saints and are expected to make enquiries now that the custodian, along with ex-Dunfermline loanee Andre Raymond, has been made 'available for transfer' by his Perth employers. Much will now depend on how easy Saints are to deal with, in terms of seeking a fee and their desire to get Rae off their books, as manager Simo Valakari rebuilds following relegation to the Championship. For his part, Rae has spoken previously of being open to a return to Rovers if he was deemed surplus to requirements at McDiarmid Park.
