Spoony is out the door


pezza70
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THE Football Club can announce we will not be offering new contracts to Michael O'Halloran, Eetu Vertainen, David Wotherspoon, Jamie Murphy,  Charlie Gilmour, Bobby Dailly, Spencer Moreland and William Sandford.

Murray Davidson has confirmed his decision to retire from football.


Remi Matthews, Alex Mitchell, Adam Montgomery, Zak Rudden and Connor McLennan have all returned to their parent clubs after being on loan at Saints.


Theo Bair has been made available for transfer.


Steven MacLean said: "I've had conversations with all of the lads who were out of contract and one or two of the decisions were hard ones to break to the players involved.
"Jamie is a model professional and gave his all for Saints in his year here. Michael has been part of the Cup successes. I wish them both well.
"David is a St Johnstone legend and I have total respect for him as a professional footballer and as a person.
"He's played a huge role in all of our successes in the past decade.
"I've had a chat with him to explain the reasons behind my decision. I feel I have made the right choice for the Football Club as we move forward.
"I'd like to wish David the very best in whatever comes next for him in his career."


Club CEO, Stan Harris, added: "David has made a significant contribution to St Johnstone over a decade and fully deserves his status as a club legend.
"On and off the park, he has served us wonderfully well. 
"He goes with the best wishes of myself and everyone else on the Board.
"Also, on behalf of the Board, we wish Murray Davidson the very best as he retires from football.
"Murray has been at Saints for 14 years and his overall contribution has been outstanding."


David Wotherspoon will be given a Testimonial year by the club and details will be announced in due course. 

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2 minutes ago, pezza70 said:

Can’t believe he won’t be offered a new one year deal.

He will be getting a testimonial year by the club.

My happy vibe over the last fortnight is now shattered 

Perhaps he was offered a one year deal but wanted longer, which is understandable at his age and given what was being handed out last year to players.

Rather he went than just being a bit player and keeps his legend status intact.

Hopefully he will get a good deal somewhere else..........Canada or Tannadice will be looking for players!!!

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Sorry to see him go - I'd have thought he was worth a year's deal. But I can also see the club's POV. Given the players tied down on longer deals from the previous regime some sacrifices will need to be made so that Macca can start to reshape the team the way he wants. And for all that we love Spoony the last few games when he's made appearances from the bench he's looked a bit slower as though age is catching up. 

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27 minutes ago, garydavidson said:

The club is getting rightly panned on twitter: 

 

Football contract arguments aside, two club legends being shuffled out the door via a Tuesday article is a shocking state of affairs. 

 

Last match Sunday , probably day off Monday instead of Sunday. 

So first day back Tuesday and dealt with - do not see a problem with timing however Halberg out of contract and no mention of punting him so assume in discussions despite his lack of performances this season

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19 minutes ago, Templar Saint said:

Last match Sunday , probably day off Monday instead of Sunday. 

So first day back Tuesday and dealt with - do not see a problem with timing however Halberg out of contract and no mention of punting him so assume in discussions despite his lack of performances this season

Most seemed to have wanted to show appreciation at the last game to departing legends of the clubs most successful period.

Edited by garydavidson
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Let’s get a statue outside McDiarmid Park of the Spoony chop, the local boy who became a Saintees legend and played at a World Cup and one of the most decorated medal winners outside of Celtic players in the last 10 years or so 

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1 hour ago, pezza70 said:

THE Football Club can announce we will not be offering new contracts to Michael O'Halloran, Eetu Vertainen, David Wotherspoon, Jamie Murphy,  Charlie Gilmour, Bobby Dailly, Spencer Moreland and William Sandford.

Murray Davidson has confirmed his decision to retire from football.


Remi Matthews, Alex Mitchell, Adam Montgomery, Zak Rudden and Connor McLennan have all returned to their parent clubs after being on loan at Saints.


Theo Bair has been made available for transfer.


Steven MacLean said: "I've had conversations with all of the lads who were out of contract and one or two of the decisions were hard ones to break to the players involved.
"Jamie is a model professional and gave his all for Saints in his year here. Michael has been part of the Cup successes. I wish them both well.
"David is a St Johnstone legend and I have total respect for him as a professional footballer and as a person.
"He's played a huge role in all of our successes in the past decade.
"I've had a chat with him to explain the reasons behind my decision. I feel I have made the right choice for the Football Club as we move forward.
"I'd like to wish David the very best in whatever comes next for him in his career."


Club CEO, Stan Harris, added: "David has made a significant contribution to St Johnstone over a decade and fully deserves his status as a club legend.
"On and off the park, he has served us wonderfully well. 
"He goes with the best wishes of myself and everyone else on the Board.
"Also, on behalf of the Board, we wish Murray Davidson the very best as he retires from football.
"Murray has been at Saints for 14 years and his overall contribution has been outstanding."


David Wotherspoon will be given a Testimonial year by the club and details will be announced in due course. 

Nothing unexpected there. Hope it means Kane and Brown will be offered contracts.

Moreland a wee bit of a surprise as he has been in a few squads this season but haven't seen him play so have to trust Macca.

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Understand releasing Spoony but really I think a bit more thought could have been given to how it was announced. For one thing, it would have been nice to tell the fans before Sunday's game so he could get a proper send-off. I also think he should have had his own separate announcement, which made a big deal about the fact he's getting a testimonial, rather than just including his name on a list of players and then mentioning the testimonial as a footnote at the bottom.

Will be interesting to see what he does next. Wouldn't be surprised if both Dundee clubs would fancy him.

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9 minutes ago, garydavidson said:

Most seemed to have wanted to show appreciation at the last game to departing legends of the clubs most successful period.

As Spoony is to get a testimonial then there will be an opportunity for the fans to thank him for his excellent contribution.

To me MOH is a different category in that when he came on this season he appeared to be totally disinterested.  I believe his performance at Cove backs this up.

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4 minutes ago, blueheaven said:

Understand releasing Spoony but really I think a bit more thought could have been given to how it was announced. For one thing, it would have been nice to tell the fans before Sunday's game so he could get a proper send-off. I also think he should have had his own separate announcement, which made a big deal about the fact he's getting a testimonial, rather than just including his name on a list of players and then mentioning the testimonial as a footnote at the bottom.

Will be interesting to see what he does next. Wouldn't be surprised if both Dundee clubs would fancy him.

If he’s getting a testimonial then everyone will get the chance to thank him . 

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36 minutes ago, rik2304 said:

I'd be picking Spoony over Hallberg and Carey everytime.

And we're stuck with most of Davidson's shite for another year. 

I have great affection for Spoony too but you have to think Macca knows the players and what they can bring to a game in the premier. Macca will also know that he will stand or fall by making decisions like this and he's bound to be a wee bit strapped for spending after the dross we paid out for and who have never contributed.

Spoony will get a two year deal somewhere either top end of the Chamionship - utd would make sense or prem teams who can use him sparingly and pay him accordingly.

Spoony- St.Johnstone legend. David, thanks for the memories.

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14 minutes ago, Cleveland-Saint said:

I understand the trusting in Macca etc but we have a club legend, smart as a whip who is playing in the world cup this summer and yet we can't offer a deal.....this instintively feels like a miss

You can thank Callum and Flaherty for dishing out lengthy contracts to dross. 

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Good to see Macca deal quickly and decisively with situation.

Can understand Spoony not being offered a new deal"we don't know if there were any negotiation"and wouldn't have a problem if he had been given a year but would be upset if he was replaced by Pawlett.

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2 minutes ago, Cagey said:

Good to see Macca deal quickly and decisively with situation.

Can understand Spoony not being offered a new deal"we don't know if there were any negotiation"and wouldn't have a problem if he had been given a year but would be upset if he was replaced by Pawlett.

No offer was made to him. I understand the decision and I’m accepting of it, although a little gutted. The way it’s been handled is rancid. 

Edited by PSJ.84
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I'm disappointed to see him go as he was always able to add excitement to the game. But, on the other hand I'm glad that we've got grown-ups making strong decisions, rather than keeping players for sentimental reasons. Keeping him as an icon and forcing a role for him, rather than having a gap he fits, would be the worst outcome.

Hopefully he'll get a good contract somewhere.

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