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We’re very proud of Dad and he was so proud of being a Saintee, he’d appreciate the nice words of everyone today 🥰

I posted on WAP could saints send somebody up and see my wee pal who's got health issues. He's a saintee but stuck in the house, with a lot of help from that side of the pond Mr Webb heard about it and without hesitation he said I'll go. So yesterday Adam and his dad showed up at my pals house, my pals wife messaged me and told me the visit made his day. She sent me a picture of my pal wie the saints stuff Adam brought him, so thank Mr Webb for making two saintsees day

I don't want this thread to go off topic, but as your saying things which are simply untrue, I feel I need to confront them. I apologise to everyone for my rant below; So, MySpazz, Could you back up your "livelihood is threatened by cheap imported labour", and "levels of immigration are harmful"? And by backing them up I mean actual statistics, not the racist ramblings of Robinson, Farage, Braverman etc... Here is some stats to get you started though; Wage effect: Numerous reports have found no effect, or only minor effects. Even in the reports where the biggest impact of wages has been seen, the only negative effect has been on jobs in the 5th percentile, with immigration up to 2016 having an effect over 20 years of 0.5p on wages. During that same period the minimum wage was raised by £3.60, so any negative was more than offset by the increase in minimum wages. In all other job classes, the effect of immigration had the opposite effect, increasing the salary levels for local employees. https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/the-labour-market-effects-of-immigration/ Levels of immigration: Higher immigration will maket the country richer... period. Less immigration will cost every person in this country money. This fact is almost universally found in every single study undertaken https://obr.uk/box/net-migration-forecast-and-its-impact-on-the-economy/ Intergration: Don't even attempt this attack line when one of the UK's national foods comes from the sub continent... Coupled to this immigrants tend to integrate more in UK life than locals do (eg, church of england has been propped up by a surging immigrant membership for over 10 years now, as local membership falls). Its no surprise that the areas with riots are the areas with the lowest immigrant populations, whereas the areas with the highest populations of immigrants have seen zero trouble. Ah, but your argument is probably that is all "legal" migration. What about the "illegals". Well, firstly, asylum seekers are not "illegals". It is not illegal to claim asylum (despite what Farage, Braverman etc will have told you). There are some useful stats I would like you to read as they are important to know and also help give some important perspective so we are not simply propagating the wildly inaccurate nonsense the govn and right wing press put out to scapegoat those who cannot speak up for themselves. What the govn are trying to do is deflect attention from their own major mishandling of public money and so many areas in the UK such as the NHS, education and housing to name a few. Do not believe their hype. Know the facts: - Of the 745,000 net migration figure in the year ending June 2022, 45,756 arrived by boat; making up a relatively small number. Similarly, 44,460 migrants arrived by boat in the year ending June 2023. Similar to spousal migration, that is about 6% of all net migration - At the end of 2021 around 89.3 million people were forcibly displaced across the world. Of these, 27.1 million were refugees, while 53.2 million were internally displaced within their country of origin - The UK is home to approx. 1% - yes ONE %] of the 27.1 million refugees who were forcibly displaced across the world. - Developing countries – not the UK – look after most of the world's refugees. 72% of the world’s refugees are living in countries neighbouring their country of origin, often in developing countries. - 41% of displaced people across the world are children – they make up almost HALF the refugees and asylum seekers - The UK asylum system is strictly controlled and complex. It is very difficult for people seeking asylum to provide the evidence required to be granted protection. Despite these challenges, the majority of asylum claims are successful. In the year ending June 2022, 76% of initial decisions resulted in a grant of asylum or other form of protection. - The Home Office can take months or even years to make a decision on asylum case, and there is a growing backlog of cases. At the end of June 2022, there were over 117,000 people awaiting an initial decision on their asylum case. - Since 2005 most people recognised as refugees are only given permission to stay in the UK for five years. This makes it difficult for them to make decisions about their future, to find work and make definite plans for their life in the UK. - Almost all people seeking asylum are not allowed to work and are forced to rely on state support—this is as little as £6.43 a day to live on.Can you begin to imagine surviving on that? - When refugees and asylum seekers are finally able to work most will want to work and contribute to society and a better future for them and their families. As we all do I have actual lived experience of a vile immigration system that has continually scapegoated immigrants across the board, and continues to allow the spread their hate, misinformation and blame. I sat in an immigration tribunal as they told my children that they had no right to live with their mother. They could have a parental relationship over Skype. The UK government spent more than £50,000 of YOUR tax money trying to deprive my British children of the right to live with their mother. That mother, having won her right to live here, has founded three companies which employ over 100 people in Scotland at an average salary level of over £40,000/person and have brought in over £10 million of inward investment into Scotland. If we hadn't been able to spend money to fight system we would have been another statistic of a family separated by the inhuman immigration laws and 100 Scottish citizens wouldn't have a job as a result. Don’t fall for the governments PR – THEY are to blame for our woes and the destruction of our services. Not someone arriving here ‘on a boat’ desperate for a place where they can find safety in a country they believe is humane and democratic. They are humans too - never lose sight of that.

OK so here are some of the top points as I remember them from last night. Very much paraphrasing from memory, so please don't take any of these as direct quotes. Fran came across as very positive and spoke a lot about us being 'one club, one city, one community' and as such there will be new branding for the club that feeds into that. This includes a refreshed version of the badge that was shown last night and will be shared with the wider fanbase soon. It was all received positively in the room and I think people are going to like it. It's basically the same design as the current badge but with a few tweaks to make it feel a bit more modern and make it easier to print on merch. The club has never really had its own consistent branding and they're trying to address that (at last!). A new website will also be coming soon. In general a lot was said about being open, improving communication with fans, having positive, energetic people at the club and making it a happy place to work (I got the impression it wasn't before!). Several of the new board members were there and were introduced to the fans. A big part of why Simo stood out in his interview was his enthusiasm, which was in line with the new culture they want to have at the club. Recognised that there has never been much diversity on the board and steps are being taken to address that. Two women are being spoken to about joining the board - one of whom is experienced in football, and the other has a lot of knowledge of Perth & Kinross. The club are far down the line with taking on the old Visit Scotland shop on the High Street, and the plan is to turn it into a Saints museum with a small shop area. The Muirton Suite is going to be redesigned and made bigger, so that it can be open through the week. They want to bring the women's team home and have them playing on the astroturf, but to do that they need to build a stand and make other improvements. They want to change people's mindset from just "Saints are playing on Saturday", to recognise that there are two Saints teams, one playing on Saturday and one playing on Sunday. Mixed views from Simo, Fran and the board on VAR but general consensus seemed to be that it's here to stay but needs to be improved. Acknowledged that much of the frustration comes from fans seeing games on TV at the Euros, Champions League etc where it all happens much faster. Fran mentioned that in one game there was a 7-minute delay because the ref was having a disagreement with what VAR wanted to do. At the moment there is no plan to let fans buy shares. If fans want to back the club financially, one thing they could do is help with funding/sponsorship of the women's team which would grow that side of the business and help with the effort to bring their games back to McDiarmid. Old Firm ticketing was spoken about for a long time. Fran stressed that when OF fans are in the home ends, it's because home fans have bought tickets for them. The only way to deal with this is for us, as fans, to report it when we see it and make sure we're not giving them tickets. Some fans caught buying tickets for them have already had their ticket-buying privileges revoked. By not giving the OF fans as many seats as possible and trying to fill the ground, we lose £75,000 per home match against the OF. That's the equivalent of one player for a year with each of these games. The club has committed to trying to let home fans have these areas instead but it doesn't make financial sense as fans aren't filling these areas. They're going to give it two more games to see how it goes, but if it's not working it'll have to be assessed again. One fan said we should just give the OF the stands, cash in, sign better players and use it towards getting back to Europe and winning Cups. Fran said personally he saw it that way too (and personally I have to agree). One of the things being considered is a season ticket option that doesn't include OF games, as so many home fans aren't going to those games. Simo's bit ... As you'd expect, Simo was very engaging, funny and charismatic. Very likeable. (Basically I think we all got lost in his eyes.) Most importantly, enthusiastic about the club and the city. He said he loves that Perth feels like one city with one team that everyone can get behind and that makes it feel like home, whereas Motherwell felt like a bit of Glasgow (or words along those lines - I can't remember exactly how he said it). When asked where we'd finish this season, he said we'll be pushing for Top 6 and wants cup finals. After we achieve something we should always be aiming higher. Unlike previous managers he seemed very happy to state his ambitions. But he stressed we need to get the short-term stuff right first. Having a big striker is an important part of how he wants to play, so that they can hold the ball up and knock it down to fast strikers. Sounds like Uche is still a while away from being back and ready. He's impressed with how Kyle Cameron and Nicky Clark have responded to the captaincy change. It was too much pressure on Kyle's shoulders to deal with being captain at the same time as trying to impress as a loan player. He's seen a big difference in him since the change and it'll help how he plays. Also said Nicky Clark was previously a selfish player who only cared about scoring goals, but as captain he's embracing having to care about the whole team and that is showing in his performances. He's been impressed with our young players and particularly mentioned Fran Franczak. Younger players and fringe players will get their chance, but as an immediate priority he wanted to stick with a core group for his first few games. On the subject of streaming future meetings online - the club has no issue with doing that, it's up to the people running the forum to decide as it's their meeting. Sounds like they're going to try it out for the next one, but there was a concern raised that fewer people might show up in person if they do it this way. I've probably forgotten loads of bits, but that's just a brain-splurge of what I remember!

Very impressive first couple of interviews from Valakari. You can just feel the ambition, passion and determination emanating out of him. Love how much he wants to be here, and that he's happy to openly state he wants the club to get back to winning things. There's none of that "staying up is good enough for St Johnstone" attitude that has dragged us backwards and been used as an excuse for failure over the last few years. No giving a sh*t about all that "natural order" bollocks. No respect for the idea that certain clubs should expect to be doing better than us. This is not someone who's going to say Hibs etc should finish above us in the league. He's all about this club being as successful as it can be and I bloody love that. Obviously it's early days and he has to prove he can walk the walk, but he's so much easier to get behind than his predecessor was and I think that will really help him. You'll never see him joking about not knowing if we're home or away in our next game, like Levein did. Everything about him says he's going to take this seriously and cover every detail. Right now I'm very glad we've taken a chance on him rather than end up with Lynch, Leven, McCabe, Brown or Murray. None of those guys felt like the right fit to me. Instead we've gone with probably the most un-St Johnstone-like appointment imaginable, and no matter how it turns out I really like that we've done that. This is the most excited I've been about our club's future in quite some time.

So, the last few weeks have been particularly….disappointing…. for me, not the fact we got relegated, not the poor displays we saw which led to us being relegated, or even the absolutely atrocious players we’ve signed so far this season. How do I know they’re atrocious? All I have to do is read the opinions of my fellow posters to know that. However, I’m not sure I believe them, as we haven’t seen any of these “garbage” players kick a ball for us individually, never mind in a newly assembled team. My own eyes and reading tell me this. So we have 2 schools of thought – they’re all garbage, the manager is cr*p and the owner is stealing the club’s money. Evidence for that so far? Zero. Or we have the school of thought which is that these players were more than capable in their leagues last year, their fans were sorry to see them go and we haven’t seen them play as a team yet. The reason for my disappointment is the failure of either school of thought to accept the other’s opinion, because, at the end of the day, that’s all it is, an opinion. Nobody, unless they are psychics or fortune tellers, know how this is going to work out, but both sides are equally adamant that they are right. It’s a polarised debate. This seems to be becoming more prevalent in today’s society in general – you’re either one side or the other, there’s no middle ground and “victory” must be gained at all costs. I have a perspective that many won’t – my day job is performing investigations and communicating my findings in writing to the people requesting these investigations – generally THE PUBLIC. I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’ve seen a massive shift in the last 4 or 5 years in the way that the recipient reacts to the findings of an investigation. There used to be, commensurate with my position and experience, a degree of respect – both for the work that was undertaken and also for my knowledge of the subject matter. Over the last 4 or 5 years however, my colleagues and I have seen a massive swing to people refusing to accept the findings, even (especially) when backed up by facts, measurements, documentation, and other irrefutable evidence. The language used in their responses has also changed, become more aggressive, argumentative, and just downright rude. There is generally a childish tone to the argument, where they’ll try and either twist a word or phrase, misrepresent a fact, or just try and argue that black is white. I see this as a result of a couple of things – there’s a great degree of “wanting to stick it to ….” and to show how clever they are in constructing a (usually ridiculous) counter argument based on fantasy and guesswork, not facts. They’ve become Social media’d – they have forgotten there should boundaries of common decency and courtesy (Did not Mr Gekko say recently that he won’t type anything online that he wouldn’t be prepared to say over a table or desk? Thank you Sir) I deliberately don’t do Social media – no Facebook, no Twitter, no Insta, and I even refuse to register for youtube. I want to choose what I see, not what an algorithm says will make me most angry, trigger a response and keep me on their platform longer. The only Social media I participate in is WAP because there is no algorithm, the last post is the last post, they follow trails and a timeline, so can’t be manipulated, at least that’s the thought. The only manipulation that can really be introduced into forums is AI Bots or deliberate mischievous actors, both having the same net effect/goal – to disrupt and annoy the users of the forum – again, to show how clever they are, and they can boast to their invisible, online friends about “how they stuck it to the forum”. People have been made so aggressive and polarised by social media now, they don’t know what the truth is, they just know they want to win (whatever that looks like) and f*ck anyone that gets hurt in the process. I have 3 rescue dogs that behave better, I have a large fish tank and the occupants of that have learned to live together relatively peacefully. What’s gone wrong with humans that they can’t be civil to each other for 5 minutes, especially over something as intangible as what MAY happen in the future. I’m just back from picking up a free microphone stand advertised on gumtree. The guy couldn’t have been nicer and offered advice and spare parts etc – and I’d only met him face to face three minutes before. That’s the nice side of humans. I have just dropped him a message to say thanks for being so nice. I’ve come into contact with (not in person) a number of really nice people on WAP – writers, authors and other creative type people. I’ve also been lucky enough to have been in contact with many people involved with Saints at all levels – every one has been lovely despite not knowing who the Hell I am. That’s the nice side, yet, I log on to the WAP site and frequently see the ugly side. The difference (I think) being that 1:1 people retain the respect for each other. In a group, with an audience there’s an overwhelming Social media mentality of “look at how clever I am, like me, like me, give me praise, I want likes” or “look at how smart I am, I’ll construct an argument based on fantasy and guesswork and demand that everyone believe it - they must because I’m so clever”. We need to respect each other. If it’s instant gratification or reassurance of how clever you are, I’m sure you’ll get that almost immediately on Facebook or Twitter. Bear in mind, many people on WAP are more senior, which is why they use the forum format as opposed to Facebook or Twitter – how good must some of the apparent mischief makers feel that they’ve just berated, demeaned and insulted “an old man” that could be their own father or grandfather? Is that the price of victory? How would they feel if somebody treated their family in real life in the manner they treat others on the forum? I have a signature on one of my email accounts, “Not in it for the likes” – to remind myself and keep me grounded, but also to let the recipient know that they’ll get the truth, warts and all, they may not like it, but they can be assured it’s the truth. A bit of honesty, civility, tolerance and patience please, it’s not asking much, it’s what makes us human – our compassion, empathy and understanding for our fellow man. Through one of the nice people I’ve come into contact with on WAP, I’ve now learned (and have actioned) how to block some other users posts/content appearing when I view WAP. A lot of the experienced and senior posters on here have seen it all before and that if the Bot’s or mischievous actors don’t get a reaction or receive the adulation/credit/worship/reaction they think they deserve, they very quickly get bored and move on. To quote Danny Glover – “I’m too old for this sh*t” Mods – if this doesn’t belong in fitba, feel free to move it to where you feel it’s most suitable.

I think some of the comments on here are incredibly harsh and unrealistic. Far better Saints teams than this one will take wallopings from the OF (I still think back to our fantastic 98/99 team losing 7-0 to Rangers). It's just one of those things that happens and yes we had players make mistakes but let's face it: those mistakes are the reason why they play for Saints at the moment. Mistakes like those are pretty normal. In our average game you can get away with making a few mistakes and not get punished for them, and the opposition will make a similar number of mistakes to allow us to get a result, but when you're playing against a Celtic team firing on all cylinders like that is there really much you can do? Celtic had a player not even start the game whose transfer fee cost many, many times more than our entire squad. The gap between us and them is frankly laughable and it's bloody impressive that we managed to beat them a couple of weeks ago. I actually thought we were doing pretty well to hold it at 0-0 for as long as we did and to me it was looking like we might be able to build towards sneaking something out of the game - but then of course they had a 10 minute period where they were deadly and that sent us into complete disarray and they had the ruthlessness to take advantage of it. No non-OF team would have punished us like that. The Motherwell game is far more important than this one so the players just need to forget about this and move on quickly.

Maybe Question 1 in the job interview should be "Where do you see St Johnstone's place in Scottish football?" Weed out all the Natural Order twats like Murray right from the word go.

I’m not entirely sure I ever claimed to create the phrase “We Are Perth”. It was pretty common parlance when the domain name for this site was registered almost 20 years ago. It’s taken that long for anyone to complain about it too. I’m not sure I have fanboys either. The abusive posts referenced were certainly not “fictitious”. They were targeting a named individual claiming he was a “functioning alcoholic”. It was not only the person who made that allegation that had posts hidden, as stated above, but other too that referenced it/quoted it. I may be the only person on this site posting under their real name, which I do as the administrator of the site. As such, complaints about the user generated posts on this site get directed to me. We have been subject to very real threat of legal action in the past based on what anonymous users posts. The buck ultimately stops with me as the publisher of this site, and I take that seriously. The above posts are fairly pitiful, and seem to suggest I run this site to please a bunch of acolytes. I genuinely think I know maybe two current active posters in person, and quite frankly I’m not even an active poster any more because I just don’t have the time to get too far in to it. I try to keep the site ticking over and functioning as well as it can to allow an open platform for Saints talk online. If you don’t like it you have plenty of options elsewhere (X, Saints Banter Page in FB). If you can’t keep it respectful on here please take it elsewhere. I don’t particularly want to go down the route of banning users but quite honestly it’s the easiest way to stop the cavalcade of emails I’m getting just now reporting posts.

So it's been a tough few years that has no one to blame and no reason for happening other than some bad luck? Do you actually think our collapse has been unavoidable? Of course football always has highs and lows, but there are also always reasons for those highs and lows. They don't just happen by some mystical natural force that no one has any control over. I think we must have very different definitions of "well run". We used to be well run, yes, but we've been a complete shambles for quite a few years now. An absentee owner, a half-hearted chairman who didn't want to be here, an incompetent head of operations, a head of communications who was more interested in communicating about Celtic, a recruitment guy the manager didn't want, a succession of badly chosen managers. Many people saw all of this coming, not least Tommy Wright who tried to tell his bosses what needed to be done to develop the club and found himself banging his head against a brick wall each time, to the point that he'd had enough and we lost our best ever manager. These things have all had an impact but you think anyone who actually mentions them is "stupid" or "needs to take a good look at themselves"?

I really feel that, had we somehow managed to stay up at the end of last season, and then gone on to have an identical window to the one we've just had, we'd have been absolutely fine in the Premiership this season. It's not so much about the players being an upgrade on what we had - it's more that the attitude, balance and strategy of it all is just streets ahead of what we've seen for the last few years. And it's all been done sensibly, without ever looking like we're chucking silly money at the problem, and largely with a base of Scottish players too. I know we're playing against weaker teams and that can make us look better, but does anyone not think we're a significantly better team now than we were under Levein, MacLean or the latter end of Davidson?

The post you were responding to was in itself a response to you replying "And?" to someone whose point was completely obvious. Every time these threads descend into this off-topic back and forth, you seem to be the one at the heart of it, followed by other people reacting to it, followed by you complaining that you're hard done by. Some of the examples you requested: The part about him bouncing between here & P&B is 100% correct. Stay loyal tae yer ain folks and dinnae mix wi the great unwashed!!! See what I mean - the fan boys just can't help themselves - Muppets! You'll be one of the small group of fanboys then? You're deranged! Also if you could read and understand written prose you would realise that it is the reaction which is normal not the supporter. Nae luck ya dimwit or should I say ******? At last! A normal football supporters reaction. Very unusual on this website. What reputation??? And have you ever thought that you & your cronies might have become so accustomed to bland meaninless repetitive Sunday morning chit-chat so as to be the actual reason for any perceived degradation of whatever reputation you clearly think you are entitled to? Get a life! Fan boys rule here! The fanboys are all crawling out of the woodwork now. Choreographed or what! My My My! Another sensitive soul is miffed at the unpleasant truth. Stick tae yer Readers Digest Fanboy! Telt yeez - Webbed hands & plankton brains! With his webbed hands? Hope that helps clarify things for you. Accept it or don't accept it. It's up to you. But I'm going to be deleting any more of this stuff and if you carry on with it you're not going to be able to post on here any longer.

Just realised we're finally free of all Callum Davidson signings. That's got to be worth toasting in itself.

This is down to Davidson, Steve Brown, and a certain extent, Levein. Been a muirtonee since 1976 and beggars believe that some Saints fans think Davidson is some kind of hero for the cup double (Tommy's team). This current situation is so self inflicted. Feel sorry for Simo inheriting such an imbalanced squad.

Good turn-out tonight and I felt Webb and the other new guys spoke very well. Not sure all the things they're talking about doing are going to work but at least they're eager to try things and have a go, which I find incredibly refreshing. I'm sure there will be some proper minutes at some stage but I made a few notes on my phone as it went along: He thinks they've fixed the speakers in the East Stand. They're looking into getting a video screen to replace the scoreboard. It could be in place in time for the next home game after the Aberdeen game, but it depends on costs. Acknowledged the issues with ticketing for Old Firm home games and the fact that the atmosphere at these games is putting people off coming. They haven't decided yet how to handle ticketing but want to find a middle ground between keeping our own fans happy and getting as much money out of the OF as they can. They're open to suggestions from fans on how to handle this. The Muirton Suite is being increased in size for Monday night and there have been discussions about turning it into a sports bar that serves meals and isn't just open on match days. Increasing attendances is their biggest priority. Webb and co were in town today looking for possible sites for a club shop. Talked up the stadium a lot. Said Cambridge would love a replica of McDiarmid Park and have been trying to get one but it would cost them "10s of millions". Considering removing some of the seats at the bottom of the East Stand to create a standing section. They're "desperate to develop the real estate". Spoke about the possibility of a hotel as he thinks it's a good location for one, but the hotel industry is difficult at the moment. He also gave examples of an on-site McDonalds or Starbucks to help bring people on-site during the week who might also visit the merch shop. Also suggested the possibility of a hotel with a bar/restaurant that could be used as a Saints bar. It's likely the seats will gradually be made blue, and possibly done in stages with one section of seating replaced at a time. We're probably stuck with VAR, but if it ever comes to another vote fans will get to have a say. His inclination seemed to be that he'd probably want Saints to vote against it. But he stressed we're only one club of 12. He wants to improve Saints TV and have something for fans to watch pre-match, post-match and at half-time. Wants to change the team run-out music to something more inspiring, and there will be a few different options for fans to vote for. Also just to mention that Stan Harris briefly spoke about testimonials. Said Muzz's one is done, and alluded to there being financial reasons for that that he couldn't share at a public forum. Spoony's one hasn't happened because no testimonial committee was ever formed (but no suggestion of how that could/should actually happen). I think that's everything, unless anyone caught anything else! I made very quick notes so feel free to correct me on anything I've picked up wrongly.

All of us on here would have been delighted if we were told before the season started that we would be sitting at the top of the league going into December with only two defeats. There has been one or two concerns recently, but it’s not the time to panic. Arbroath are the only team that have outplayed us this season. Partick showed nothing against us on Saturday that would worry me. Both goals were self inflicted. Liam Smith should have converted his chance in the dying minutes against Thistle to earn us a draw, and we would have all come away praising the reliance in our team. Other teams in the league will now raise their game against Partick, like they have done against us, so it will be interesting to see how they handle that. Simo has only had two transfers windows to manage his squad since his arrival and has done a pretty impressive job given the absolute shambles he inherited. By all accounts, work is well underway to bring new players to the club in January and hopefully once we have Lloyd up to speed and one or two different attacking options in our squad, we will be much more clinical.

Because I think some of the comments directed towards him have gone way beyond fair criticism. People calling him a "snake oil salesman", people implying he was only still in the job because he "talks well" or is a "nice guy", one person on here making some pretty nasty comments about his personal life, and plenty of people writing off his signings before they'd even kicked a ball for us. Yes he got some things wrong last season (which he has acknowledged) and he's partly to blame for our relegation (though I'd say there are a number of other people who need to shoulder far, far bigger portions of that blame). But it's really, really obvious that what we have is a very hard-working and committed manager who is making a serious effort to change the whole ethos of the club, install a completely new culture and build us back for the long term. It might work, it might not, but I'm seeing enough positive signs to be of the opinion that he's deserving of our support while he tries to do this.

This season is already the most I've enjoyed watching Saints in a good few years. I know there's a long way to go but I think we've every right to feel very, very positive about how things are going. I'd expected a season of struggling to break teams down and stuffy 1-0 wins but the football we've played in the last couple of games has shown a completely different side to us. What a difference it makes having quality attacking midfield players who are able to pick out a pass, and move for the ball and build up a bit of tempo. We might be playing in a lower division, but so far this squad looks streets ahead of what we had at this time last year. It felt like there was a real atmosphere of positivity in the stands today, and an attitude on the pitch to match, with players who looked like they were actually enjoying themselves and working hard for each other. Simo has completely transformed the ethos and culture of this club since the horror show of last season and it just shows the value of giving people some time when they show the right qualities. I think there are a few Saints fans on the various forums who are going to owe him an apology this season.

We fans moan when they sign players such as Crawford on a stupid long contract, we have now signed players that fit our budget and the managers criteria as knowing the league on 1 year deal and still some fans are moaning. Haud yer weesht and get behind the team. Let us be the 12th man

What is it with saints fans and belittling every little thing possible at any time? For crying out loud these guys are playing international football and can't help what country they come from. Who gives a shit if we can name other players from these nations. Any chance to moan an be negative and our support jumps on it.

Depending on how the morning goes, this might be my sons first Saints game.

Honestly don't think it's hyperbole to say that first half had some of the best football I've seen Saints play in years. About 20 minutes in it seemed to me like Sven Sprangler on his own had had more possession than the whole Motherwell team put together. And we actually looked capable of carving out chances with our possession too. That formation change, plus the new signings, really made a world of difference. Curtis looks direct, hard-working, capable of providing us with a much-needed outlet out wide and willing to get stuck into a battle. Fisher seems to have really safe handling and you can already see the positive impact that's having on the defence. And Griffith may have tired a bit in the second half but what a find he looks like being. Positive on the ball, energetic, good touch, brilliant at moving into space. Big surprise to see him playing in such an advanced role, too. What an exciting player to uncover. I felt Douglas had his best game for us too, Holt looked back to his best, and who would have had Drey Wright transforming into a Beckenbauer-style sweeper on their bingo card for 2025?? I think you could tell it's physically and mentally exhausting to maintain that style of football for a full 90 minutes and the drop off in the second half really showed just how much we need to have better reinforcements from the bench. For me, Clark and Kimpioka were both disappointing when they came on and our energy levels up front really dropped with their introduction. Right now I find it hard to see what part they're going to play from this point on, along with some other recent regulars who suddenly look miles out of the picture (and that's with new signings still to come). I'm very excited to see what this team will look like if we can add Svedberg, Eremenko and (hopefully) a left winger. I don't think I'd ever have thought it possible for a fan to feel this positive about a team that is nine points adrift at the bottom of the league.

It seems pretty clear the manager and some players don't trust each other anymore, and I think it's pretty clear we need to back the manager more than those players. Some players are now on their 4th manager and are still putting in woeful displays regularly while fans scream about the manager. There's no success to be had with a club like that, so until the manager can build a squad he actually trusts then it's pointless judging anything.

Whilst he can’t be immune from criticism, we need to give him time to build his own squad. He has inherited a really poor, unbalanced squad which he will need at least two transfers windows to try and turn around and mould into a squad that is capable of playing in his style. His upbeat personality may only take him so far, but I would much rather have that than Levein and Davidson who almost talked the club down at every opportunity and seemed to think that us, the supporters, should just be thankful that Saints were even in the Premiership. Whilst I don’t think it’s beneficial to get all dewy eyed about the past all the time, our successful moments and the mentality the club had under Coyle, McInnes, Lomas and Wright was as a result of them being ambitious and refusing to believe that “plucky St Johnstone” should just be thankful for their lot. I hope our owners back Simo in the transfer window and it’s vital that the support gets behind him as well.

Well, just sent this to the ideas@perthsaints.co.uk email address. Ironically, the last time I emailed them was to let them know I wasn't going to renew the domain name "perthsaints.co.uk" and offered them the chance to register it before anyone else did 😂 ---- Hello Adam Welcome to Scotland, and I’m delighted to see someone take over from Geoff Brown who seems to share his passion for a football club to be a community leader. It is on that last point that I’d like to focus on. I started watching St.Johnstone as a young kid back in the early 90’s, shortly after the construction of McDiarmid Park. I still vividly remember my first game as Saints were played off the park by Dundee Utd, losing 4-1. Regardless, from that point on, myself and my father hardly missed a game, home or away, until the mid 2000’s when after university I left for work in the Far East. Living in Clackmannanshire, the only reason I became a Saints fan is that my father, who had grown up watching Liverpool on the Kop, and had witnessed many of the riots that plagued English football at the time, wanted to ensure I grew up watching football in a safe environment. He had lots of choices of teams to take me too, many closer than McDiarmid (Dunfermline, Falkirk, Stirling, Alloa etc), but it was ultimately Saints we ended up watching due to the strong community spirit that the Brown’s had instilled in the club. Indeed, I remember watching in sadness as my “hero” at the time, and the teams star striker, George O’Boyle was sacked for taking recreational drugs on a night out. The reasoning of the club was very clear – Saints were a family club, and while what Mr O’Boyle did was not illegal, it was not behaviour which was aligned to the clubs values. Many many years on I am a father myself. Having moved back to the UK from Asia in the late 2010’s with my wife and two kids, who were much more interested in basketball than football, I have found my visits to McDiarmid severely limited (although any excuse to drag the kids to the football have been used!). However I now have a third, a 3 year old son, who is being brought up to kick a ball and watch the football. It is fully my desire to get him “hooked” on football at a young age and enjoy the same Saturday ritual with him which I enjoyed with my dad 30 years ago. We watched both home cup games, and unfortunately only missed last night due to a combination of the kick off time not being conducive for a 3 year old and the inability to buy tickets as a non season ticket holder (something which absolutely needs sorting, but not the purpose of this email). However, I find myself in a dilemma. My wife is of Asian descent, and thus my 3 kids have mixed ethnicity. I have experienced first hand the undercurrent of racism that exists in UK society, with the police twice called based on my older son receiving explicitly racist messages via social media from other kids at his school. These threats have included messages threatening violence and destruction of property should “you not be gone by tomorrow”. I have on numerous occasions wondered what brings 14/15 year olds to write messages which are so shockingly racist, as well as threaten violence to someone based on the colour of their skin. The reality is it is not even the parents causing the issue, but the exposure these children have to social media, where they read things which their role models are posting, or promoting, and follow, quite understandably, their viewpoints. I mean, if your role model thinks coloured people should be violently removed from the country, why shouldn’t you have the same view, right? The fact is that every Saints player who takes the field is a role model – to the first team, to the youth setup, to the school kids you encouraged along last night with free tickets. The views aired by Cammy MacPherson last night on twitter, reposting a figurehead in Tommy Robinson who has done more than most to cause the division we have in UK society, is not forthcoming of a family, community club. To make the posts in the current climate, with violent protests taking place against those of mixed race across England, is simply unforgivable. Being a business owner I realise that sacking Cammy may not be compatible with UK labour laws, however I would urge you treat this, and the anger it has created amongst the Saints community, with the upmost seriousness. It will be very difficult for me to cheer on a player who views my children as second class citizens, but my real concern is the effect it will have on impressionable minds in the community and affect the reputation Saints have as a great family club. As you look to bring more local businesses who share the same values as St.Johnstone into cooperation, it would be shame if incidents like this led to the family values being diluted or lost. Kind Regards

You hit the nail on the head "Sadly football culture seems to attract idiots" If you PM me your address or a paypal account i'd like to cover the cost or send a new scarf for your laddie - many of us on this forum and 99.9% of those in the stands at home games are football folk, not the idiots who come and go .....

East Stand tickets selling very fast for a game 3 days away. Less than 200 left in the upper sections of G, H and I, with lower sections selling well. Would not surprise me if East Stand sold out for this one. Saints fans flooding back to McD, this is magic.

Sven has signed a new two year contract. Good news.

Right, I’ve hidden a few posts in this thread. It goes without saying that making allegations about individuals’ personal lives isn’t acceptable. Give it a rest. Plenty to discuss at the moment and obviously there are different points of view but try to keep it respectful please. Should add that some who have had posts hidden have had them hidden because they’re quoting/responding to the allegations rather than anything they’ve said themselves.

I heard he refused to pass back the contract...

100% this. It seriously annoyed me the way winning a relegation play-off was suddenly treated as something we should all be celebrating, instead of recognised as the massive failure that it was. We'd gone from winning two cups and matching Galatasaray on their own pitch, to relegation candidates in less than a year. Davidson should have been firmly embarrassed by that, not running around in front of the fans like he thought he was some sort of hero. To me it's one of the cringiest things I've ever witnessed in my years watching Saints. Davidson also should have looked upon that moment as his opportunity to walk away and let someone else have a go at the job, instead of clinging on and actively making us even worse (which we're still trying to recover from two years later).

Enjoy 😁

OK, so I'm reading various sources about how County are out spending us, we're recruiting middle of the table players etc. Balavage, McVicar, Treanor, Barron, Hegarty, Johnston, McGinnis, Curran, Moore, Maskrey, Grant. That was the team that beat Airdrie in our 1989/90 season. Part time remember. Hegarty, short term game signing to get us over the line. McGinnis, Curran, Moore - reserve team players at United and Hearts. The rest came from teams below or around us in Div 1 - Totten signed Clydebank's captain, Treanor (Bankies finished 3rd or 4th that season) Main, McCluskey, Weir, Davidson, Donaldson, Preston, Griffin, McQuillan, Dasovic, Sekerlioglu, Scott, O'Neil, Farquhar, Colquhoun, Grant, O'Boyle, Ferguson was the promotion squad from 1996/97. Some "exotic" players in there, and a lot from other clubs around us and from reserve teams again. Main, McLean, Anderson, Gartland, Irvine, James, McCaffrey, Rutkiewicz, Craig, Hardie, Millar, Moon, Morris, Sheerin, Swankie, Doris, Holmes, Jackson, Mcdonald, Milne, Samuel. Again, some "exotics" but a lot from home grown and clubs around us. Also take a look at the ages of these guys, a mix of senior and breakthrough players as well as steady pro's. There was a mix of guys for the league and a wee sprinkle of fairy dust to give us that special edge. Just taking a few examples of guys considered great players for us Drew Rutherford - East Fife, Maskrey - East Stirling, Liam Craig - Falkirk, McKay & Davidson - Livingston, etc etc these guys weren't stars when we signed them - chr*st, Spoony was released by Hibs (reserves!) We don't spend big or, in general, recruit big in the penultimate division - we build teams to get out of the division and strengthen if/when we are promoted. Look at what spending big/recruiting costly journeymen has done over the last few years. Our success has always been built on the blend, how much did Chris Millar learn from Jody Morris? The senior pro's helping the less experienced players. Can Svedberg and Griffith (even Sven) learn a bit from "he's 31 you know" Stanton? If they're smart they will. Mikulic and Balodis learn a few dirty tricks from Baird and Boyes - you bet. It's their division and they know it well. So, for those too young to remember our historic sojourns in the Championship (or First Division as I remember it) take some time to take a look at where and how our success came from. For those old enough, cast your mind back and remember what it was like at Cappielow on a soaking Wednesday night and you could hear the players shouting at each other, but we got the one goal win. We've had success, especially in the last 15 years, on a budget, yet we've outperformed almost every other club, because we've always been smart (or lucky!) with our recruitment and had a manager who's managed to sprinkle some fairy dust on the squad at the right time and in the right amount. Is Simo that Tinkerbelle? I don't know, I hope so. Oh, and, for all those looking for a team of stars - I give you Gretna, Dundee, Dunfermline, Livingston and Sevco or whatever their name is this season.

Well - it was a lengthy round trip for me and my lad…leaving home at 7am and getting home at midnight…but well worth it. Won’t go into the game…it was rather what we expected…except the win for which we had simply hoped, and nerve shredding which we hadn’t. But most importantly for us, and what we really took away from the day, was the spirit, family and community feeling of the support…from very young and enthusiastic proudly wearing their shirts and kit, to the older, more cynical, world weary - and the young lads banging the drum chanting and leading the support in so many ways, but all - one and all - so willing our team on. And I loved overhearing at the end of the game, a wee lad of maybe 4 or 5 in full kit, hand in hand with his dad, and despite the limitations of what we had seen, say to his dad ‘that was a great game dad..wasn’t it’ And his dad of course say ‘yes it was…’ 🥰 We would be at Tynecastle on Wednesday if we could - and won’t be able to make the Dundee game..but come what may…we’ll be back, and more often, next season. Yes…it was a ‘great’ game. COYS!

I think the Double win papered over a lot of cracks and the problems that have led us to where we are now were already pretty firmly engrained at that point. I'd actually put that 'fork in the road' moment as a lot earlier - the summer of 2014, when we'd just attracted 17,000 fans out of the woodwork for our first ever Scottish Cup final and there was a feel-good factor around the club that I'd never, ever experienced before. There were two major errors in that summer: 1. The club did absolutely nothing to try to appeal to that positive, engaged, growing fanbase. They were all allowed to simply disappear back into the woodwork. 2. The club did absolutely nothing to back Tommy Wright. At one point Tommy said during that summer that he'd been told he wouldn't be allowed to make any signings at all. And even when we got a transfer fee for Stevie May at the end of that window, Tommy wasn't allowed to spend money to replace him. The money that would later be spent on Theo Bair, John Mahon, Ali Crawford, Cammy MacPherson etc was all there at that point. The club could have given just a small amount of it to Tommy to spend, but Steve Brown refused. Given the right backing, Tommy could have gotten us into a European group stage and that would have been transformative for this club. Go back to 2014 and sort out recruitment, sort out fan engagement, back the manager, and for my money we'd still have a successful club right now, Tommy would still be here and we'd still be sitting around the Top 6 mark each season with occasional cup runs and European trips to enjoy. And we'd never have had to put people like Callum Davidson, Steven MacLean or Craig Levein in charge of our team. Allowing our greatest ever manager to grow unhappy to the point where he'd had enough and chucked it all in is the biggest mistake this club ever made.

I very much doubt he can be sacked for this. If he's violated a social media policy then at best I'd guess it's probably only worthy of a warning. But personally I don't want to see him ever play for us again. If he plays and gets booed it's going to damage the whole team, it's going to embarrass the whole club, and it's going to damage all the positive PR that has come out of the club since Adam Webb took over. As a Premiership footballer he's in a position where children and young people will look up to him, and he works in an industry that has a long history of problems with racism that a lot of bloody hard work has gone into stamping out. The club absolutely needs to show that these views are not welcome at St Johnstone, and that no one who holds them is welcome to play for us. What he's shared is absolutely vile and has had real-world consequences for people all over Britain this week. That can't just be swept under the carpet.

Hoping tonight shuts up many of the Matt Smith haters… blood, sweat and tears from the lad - not to mention composure skill and drive

There's a nice video covering Bozo's recovery on Saints TV. A nice touch from the Club to document what he's been through the past 11 months https://tv.perthstjohnstonefc.co.uk/videos/140008739 Hope the link works

Great effort from the boss

I think the minimum that needs done is stickers on season ticket seats again, not sure why that was ever stopped.

I'm surprised by the negativity. A deal struck with a local business, regardless of whether you like the product, is surely a positive. I'm not sure what's meant by the clubs past relationship with alcohol that wouldn't appeal. I thought we did well with The Famous Grouse sponsorship. A well known brand on our shirts. I'm also not sure that handing somebody a fish at the end of a match is going to catch on. The fact that a player gets something, with their name on, stating that they were the best person on the pitch, is a huge boost for their confidence. Personally, gin is not a favourite of mine. In fact, I really don't like it. I'm not keen on whisky either. But I'm glad we're engaging with local businesses who are getting involved with the club. A strange reaction to some positive news.

2,578 sold so far. Thats 51 up on kick off against Aberdeen on 5th August 2024. Its also 375 ahead of where we were on 5th July last year. 221 ahead of where we were on 13th July last year. Numbers are: East 1761 , GB 647 , Padded 170. Clearly quite a lot of new tickets sold. This is great news and unlike the SPFL most fans will turn up to all games.

Steven hit 9 goals,with 7 assists, when he played in the "second division" when he was just 19yo. Its just weird to claim hes not even lowland league standard. Like does talking down a 20yo kid make you feel clever?

This is my 5th match thread start in a row, we've won the last 4 let's make it 5in a row. Bit of a struggle today as the new players got a first taste of Scottish fitba. Hopefully they will be ready for the game at Killie, we've beaten them twice this season so fingers crossed we can do it for a third time

The media bias may actually be a good thing - look what it's doing to fans on here - for once, we're more or less united against the media. Valakari has built a TEAM and I suspect he's used the Fergie siege mentality - the media bias will only help that. The players/management at the end of the match yesterday were united in a way I've not seen in years and fair brought a lump to my throat. It's little things I notice - Sprangler last week, head to head with one of his teammates explaining tactics/movement with his hands. Yesterday, may be Watt's captain's experience, but I saw a few "captaincy" arms around shoulders or pats on the backside. When Drey went marauding up the park late in the game and they then broke back - who was in Drey's position covering? Griffiths. Oh, and it may just be me, but I can't remember Carey shouting at/berating his colleagues recently as he used to do? (may be he's fighting for a starting place, or maybe Simo's just had a word about working together). As people of a certain age will recall"I love it when a plan comes together". They are all working for each other, as an unit, and that's all down to Simo and the mentality of the players he's brought in. Almost like Tommy - picking up players with a point to prove or who want to prove themselves in this league. Whatever is happening, it appears to be working and, don't know about you, but I'd love to give the media a massive sh*t burger to eat at the end of the season.

Lucky them

I just don't think Levein gets us. He's a Hearts man, and has that mentality of placing us in the wee team category. Like we should be grateful to be here, rather than attempting to push onwards and upwards. The rest of Scottish football thinks that way about us as well. Reporters going on about how "we might be successful in staying up", as if that's the ultimate that we can expect. We've gone from being the double cup winning, European regulars, to the team circling the drain. This means our opponents have an instant advantage against us, because they genuinely believe they'll get a result. If we're to change other people's attitudes, we must change our own first. We have to believe that we not only belong, but that we can be successful in this league. The opposition used to hate playing us, but that's all gone now. We're looked down on by everybody. We've lost any fear factor we may have once had. Right now, other teams see us as the easy touch, and always expect points from us. That will continue until we change our own self image. In my opinion, Levein is not the person to do that, because he doesn't believe it himself. He also makes strange decisions during the game, leaves his subs until too late, says he's happy with the squad he's got, makes weird tactical decisions, and so on. I just can't see a path going forward now, if things stay as they are. No need to panic, because Cleland is a steady enough hand to take the controls until a new appointment is made. Better to act sooner rather than later, and I think now is the perfect time. If County can beat a decent side like Dundee, then us with no forwards, leaders or organisation have little to no chance next week. Celtic and Rangers after that, so we can forget those. If we effectively write off the next three games, that means we have until after the next international break to make an appointment. Our next potentially winnable game is on October 19th, ironically against County. Plenty of time to have a new manager in place, and no need to rush into a decision like we did last season. More importantly, time to make sure it's the right person going forward. Somebody who understands what's required to lead this club, who thinks big and gets what St. Johnstone means to all of us.

I keep seeing people say this about Tommy's time and it's just the biggest myth going. Obviously every team moved up one place thanks to Rangers being out of the league, but as for the rest of them? Why would Hibs, Hearts and Dundee United being relegated make the league easier? Those teams were all relegated because they weren't good enough. Hibs and Dundee Utd weren't even able to get out of a lower league for several seasons. Why do people think it would make a league stronger if you put teams into it who hadn't been good enough? The fact is, Tommy's Saints competed against the best teams in the country, on merit, at that time. I see nothing on a Saturday to suggest the league is any better now than it was 10 years ago. Quite a lot of the teams are actually weaker (Saints being one of them). Seriously, the high esteem a lot of Saints fans seem to hold Hibs in is something I'll never fail to be baffled by. This just isn't true. Before Tommy left he'd taken us into the Top 6, we were in very strong form, and what's more he'd put together the new generation of Saints players that would go on to finish 5th and win the Double just a year later. I've never understood why some Saints fans seem to consider Tommy's few months at Kilmarnock as more relevant than the seven years he spent here, in front of their own eyes, building the most successful era we've ever had and creating several different generations of successful Saints team. He's quite simply the best manager we've ever had, by miles, and allowing him to walk away was the biggest mistake the Browns ever made.