When a team is in relegation trouble, it is quite often journalists who will use emotive language in press conferences to describe their plight, while managers will attempt to downplay their perilous situation. Not Simo Valakari.
Their position was ‘catastrophic’, said the St Johnstone manager, as he sat wearily at the top table in the Ibrox press room on Sunday. The Scottish Cup tie against Motherwell this Saturday would be a welcome relief from the ‘misery’ of league duty, he said, much to the delight of the assembled media.
Given he is almost writing the headlines himself, then, it may be natural for someone in my line of work to rally to his defence. But the Finn’s expansive playing style with a team that is nine points adrift at the bottom of the table has also inspired a predictable reaction from many pundits.
Namely, that he should abandon his principles and shut up shop, lest he risk not only St Johnstone’s Premiership status, but his job too.
It’s a sort of Poundland (or Temu, these days, I suppose) version of the debate that swirls around Ange Postecoglou, where his detractors see little of the extenuating circumstances around any poor performances or defeats, and lay the blame squarely at the door of his idealism.
It wasn’t the system that fell asleep at a quick throw-in for the Rangers opener, it was Aaron Essel. And it wasn’t Valakari’s supposed naivety that led to Jack Sanders inexplicably heading the ball straight to Mohamed Diomande for the Ibrox side’s third either.
The second goal is the only one you could perhaps say was partly down to the set-up, with Benjamin Kimpioka losing a tackle to Robin Propper and one pass from Danilo being enough to slice the Saints open. But even then, being caught on the transition by better players is hardly a phenomenon exclusive to St Johnstone.
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As it was, after a bit of a half time re-jig in personnel, Saints regrouped after the break and actually won the second 45, as Sanders atoned somewhat for his earlier spot of brain flatulence by heading home a consolation goal.
The Saints showed in that second half and in the recent hard-fought draw against Hibs with 10 men that Valakari does have more than one string to his bow, and his team can defend within the system when the players fully commit to it and cut out the ridiculous errors that have been the hallmark of their season.
The underlying issues with this St Johnstone team have been years in the making, but even when assessing just this term alone, it is clear that Valakari has so far been operating with one hand tied behind his back.
For instance, how many points would Dimitar Mitov have been worth to the club this year? It could be argued the keeper was the main reason St Johnstone stayed up last season, and with the greatest of respect to both Josh Rae and Ross Sinclair, the downgrade between the sticks has been severe.
Perhaps not since Mark Birighitti was helping to drag Dundee United down to The Championship has a Premiership side looked so inadequately covered in the goalkeeping department, and Valakari has recognised this by recruiting Andy Fisher on loan from Swansea City.
All over the pitch, for me, the main issue for Saints has been with their recruitment. It may well be that they are too far gone to salvage their situation this season in this January window, particularly with the financial restraints they are working under and the difficulty in attracting players to a side who look odds-on to go down, but that is all the more reason to stick with Valakari come what may.
When Saints had their remarkable period of success under Tommy Wright, it was in large part a product of their stability. If their board believed enough in Valakari to give him his opportunity in Scotland, then they should allow him the time and as much resource as they can spare to build a team in his own image.
Yes, they may have to take a step back in the short term, but with the brand of football he is trying to implement, they may well take two steps forward in the future. Who knows, they may even capture the imagination of the wider Perth public if he can put an attractive team on the pitch, and nudge attendances up a little.
Ironically, their opponents at the weekend, Motherwell, are reaping the rewards of sticking by their own manager after he went through a terrible spell last season, albeit there are grumbles over the manner in which they are playing, even as they sit comparatively pretty in fifth place.
Towards the end of his post-Rangers briefing, Valakari said that he can feel the worm is starting to turn. In typically colourful style, he motioned that he could smell it.
You can often detect a whiff of something, alright, when managers say such things, but not in this case. Even if the worm turns too late to save St Johnstone this season, they should stick to their guns, and stand by their manager.
