St Johnstone

Former midfielder Murray Davidson believes poor recruitment and "panic buying" in recent years is a key factor in St Johnstone's current plight at the bottom of the Premiership.

Read more: Why is 16-year top-flight stay at risk?

North Texas SC, MLS club FC Dallas' development team, have an option to make St Johnstone midfielder Aaron Essel's loan permanent at the end of their season in December, but the Scottish Premiership club have the right to recall the 19-year-old. (The Courier), external

Read Thursday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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St Johnstone owner Adam Webb says an expanded Scottish Premiership is the best way forward.

The SPFL's working group will consider options for increasing or decreasing the number of clubs in the four leagues, but Webb believes returning to a 10-team top flight would be a "huge mistake" as he looked to move from 12 to 14 teams and growing to 16 in the future.

Webb, whose side are five points adrift at the bottom of the table, told Sky Sports: "I think the bar for good or bad when it comes to football, UK football and world football, is the English Premier League.

"They've got 20 clubs and while we're not the same size as England, obviously, and we're not going to have 20 clubs in our Premiership - what you want to do is edge closer to that.

"It is a more familiar system that is more geared towards success on the world stage and on the UK stage.

"From looking at the quality in the Championship this season, I can tell you we have two, three, four clubs for sure that would do just fine in the Premiership, and that's where we should be headed. We should be growing the Premiership.

"We should be going to a 14-team league very soon, and then five years later - as long as the quality in the Championship is sufficient - projecting to go to a 16-team league, and if you keep growing it on a gradual, very deliberate way, we can make sure that the quality is there.

"We absolutely need to have quality with every team in the Premiership, but that's the direction we should be going because it's better for Scotland, it's better for Scottish football."

Any change would require the backing of 11 of the 12 Premiership clubs, eight out of 10 Championship teams and 15 of the 20 teams in Leagues One and Two.

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Simo Valakari has called on his St Johnstone side to believe they can stun Celtic and push towards Scottish Premiership survival.

The match at McDiarmid Park will be a top-versus-bottom encounter as Brendan Rodgers' runway leaders close in on the title.

Saints, meanwhile, are five points behind second-bottom Dundee and 52 behind Celtic.

"Crazy things happen in football," Valakari told Sky Sports. "Games are getting fewer and fewer and every game is more and more important.

"But we have put ourselves in this position and we need to get our ourselves out of this position.

"Basically, for us now, we need to get something out of these next two games before the split, to hang in there, to give us chance for those remaining five games.

"Crazy things happen in football and we need to keep believing in ourselves."

Meanwhile, midfielder Aaron Essel has left St Johnstone to join North Texas SC on loan until the end of the MLS Next Pro season.

The versatile 19-year-old has played 18 games for Saints this term but has struggled for game time in recent weeks.

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Is the Scottish Premiership in need of a shake-up? If so, how do you go about it?

News emerged on Tuesday that the SPFL is considering changing Scotland's top flight to a 10, 14 or 16-team division in an attempt to help reduce fixture congestion.

In its current 12-team form, the clubs split into a top and bottom six after 33 rounds of matches, with 38 rounds played altogether.

That format has been in place since 2000-01 and retaining that model is also an option, but reports have also suggested the split could be scrapped.

For any fresh structure to pass, it needs the backing of 11 of the 12 Premiership clubs, and eight out of 10 from the Championship plus 75% of League One and League Two combined.

And judging by the fan reaction to the mere thought of reducing the league to a 10-team division, you would have to assume that idea is already unlikely.

Speaking on the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast, former Premiership players Cammy Bell and Cillian Sheridan provided their views on a potential restructure.

Expansion is the only option for former Rangers and Kilmarnock goalkeeper Bell, while ex-Celtic striker Sheridan would like to see the split retained.

"I think we need a little bit of freshness about our game," Bell said. "So, if we can expand that league, then absolutely do it. We've got big enough clubs now that can generate good crowds.

"We're at a time just now where we've got the potential of trying to change it and certainly for me it's got to be expansion."

"The split works now," Sheridan added. "When I first came over and saw the whole split thing, I just never really got it. But in the past few years it has been quite interesting.

"If the league is wrapped up, if relegation is wrapped up, it does add a little bit of excitement to things in terms of teams getting into the top six and having to get European football."

Dare Olufunwa is set for a move to Finland after St Johnstone agreed to release the 23-year-old defender. (The Courier), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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Dare Olufunwa has left St Johnstone with immediate effect after his contract was "mutually terminated" by the club.

The 23-year-old defender arrived at McDiarmid Park in summer 2023 but struggled for game time under managers Steven MacLean, Craig Levein and now Simo Valakari and hasn't played for the club in over a year.

Olufunwa, who spent the first half of this season on loan at Hamilton, departs Perth having made 11 Saints appearances.

Watch all the highlights from Hibs' 3-0 victory over St Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership.

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Simo Valakari insisted "nothing changes" for St Johnstone in their fight for survival, despite their 3-0 loss to Hibernian on Saturday.

Although the Saints have won five of their last 10 in all competitions, they still trail Dundee by five points and looked far from the resilient side of the last few weeks as they succumbed to a heavy defeat at Easter Road.

"Nothing changes," Valakari said. "We have been in this situation before many times.

"I take responsibility, we need to own this performance, we don't have any other option, as we haven't had in the last three months [since slipping to the bottom of the league]. We need to go again."

The Finn has won plaudits in the last few months, with draws against Aberdeen and Dundee helped by wins over Ross County, St Mirren and Motherwell.

"If we start feeling sorry for ourselves, if we start feeling frustrated, disappointed, angry, making excuses, then it's over, finito.

"That's why, boom, we go. I know my players will shake this off. They feel it, they hurt, of course, because they are good boys, they wanted to show in a nice stadium, in front of a lot of fans, how good they are, and we couldn't do it.

"We shake it off and we need to go again."

St Johnstone fans, we asked for your views on Saturday's 3-0 defeat to Hibs.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Saintee: Possession great but zero shots on goal. We are in a huge transitional period with new owners, manager, style of play and players themselves. It takes time to rebuild with the new vision. We couldn't lay a glove on Hibs.

Gordy: No future with Simo Valakari and certainly no way out of the Championship next season. Relegation is now a near certainty. His rigidity in tactics and player selection, particularly at the end of last year, was lamentable and nothing has changed.

Ian: That was as bad as it has been this season, it looks like we're going down with a whimper unless there is a dramatic turnaround. There was no purpose to our possession and passing, always going sideways and backwards from good positions. Passes don't win games, goals do. We need to remember that.

Greg: It wasn't a game we expected to win but the performance was nothing short of shocking. Tensions ran high at the end, with harsh words exchanged between fans and the manager. At this point, relegation feels almost inevitable.

Ally: Poor display from the team on the park. I don't think these players have the stomach for the fight, add to this the poor tactics and team selection by the manager and Championship football looks a certainty for next season.

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• Hibernian are undefeated in their last 15 games in the Premiership, their longest unbeaten streak in the competition (since at least 2013/2014).

• David Gray's side have scored in each of their last five games in the Premiership, scoring 11 goals in that run.

• Mykola Kuharevich attempted six shots in this game, the highest total for a Hibernian player in the Premiership this season.

• Martin Boyle has scored 10 goals in the Premiership this season (one in this game), more than any other Hibernian player, as well as scoring in his last three games.

• Hibernian have won eight penalties in the Premiership this season, no team has won more.

• They have scored 12 goals via substitutes in the Premiership this season, only Celtic (19) have scored more.

• The Easter Road club are unbeaten in their last 24 Premiership matches when leading at half-time (W17, D7) dating back to 18 March 2023 against Celtic (L1-3).

• St. Johnstone have conceded 11 goals to opposition substitutes in the Premiership this season, only Dundee (13) have conceded more.

• St. Johnstone have failed to score a first-half goal in 23 of their 31 games, no team has failed to do so more often in the Premiership this season.

• The Saints did not attempt a single shot in the first half.

Saints fans, did you make the trip to the capital or were you following the action from home? What did you make of your team's performance? How are you feeling about your Premiership survival hopes.

Send us your thoughts on St Johnstone

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St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari: "I have no complaints [about the result] we did not play well enough to get anything out of the match.

"We didn't play at our best level today and we didn't get the result. We need to own this defeat and learn from it. We came here to win and to test ourselves and we weren't at a good enough level today. There's no point in feeling frustrated or angry because we didn't play well enough.

"We did not ask enough questions from the opponent. When we play like we played it was almost impossible today. We made the right decisions but maybe the execution was not there.

"Yes I'm frustrated for the players because they want to show they are good players and I know they are good players.

"We have a big, big fight ahead of us."

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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For St Johnstone they have seven cup finals between now and the end of the season but they simply cannot afford to give away the type of goals they lost to Hibernian.

Performances like the one today will simply not be good enough and on this evidence it will be a really tough end of the campaign for Saints fans.

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Hibernian are still without Nicky Cadden (hamstring) and Joe Newell (pelvis).

Long-term injury victims Uche Ikpeazu, Bozo Mikulic (both knee) and Sam McClelland (Achilles) are missing for St Johnstone.

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Skipper Sven Sprangler's "love" for St Johnstone is fuelling his drive to keep them in the Premiership.

The Austrian midfielder has let Saints get under his skin since joining in September 2023.

"Since day one, I love to be part of the club, I love to be part of the city," Sprangler, 29, said.

"The training, the lads, the people around the club, everyone, I love them. Now it's like a family here, it's my second family.

"Everyone I know from the changing room is passionate about it. If we lose, everyone is disappointed, but if we win, it's so much better.

"Everyone loves to be here. Everyone gives everything for the gaffer, for the club, for the city."

Despite Saints sitting five points adrift at the bottom with eight games remaining, Sprangler insists the squad are full of belief as they target victory at Hibs on Saturday.

"Everyone is positive. Everyone believes, and a lot of that comes from our training staff," he said.

"The gaffer brings so much energy to us and on every training session we give everything and we put every effort in to improve as players and as a team.

"We have the quality in our dressing room, and if we are doing the right things I still believe that everything is possible.

"I know what the lads are capable of, and everyone is still positive in the changing room.You see in every game the support from the fans, it's massive. Now we keep fighting until the end."

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Simo Valakari says he has "never, ever thought about" St Johnstone being relegated this season despite their perilous position at the bottom of the Premiership.

After a dismal run of mid-season form that saw them take just two points from a possible 27 through December and early 2025, the Perth side have picked up and suffered just two defeats in 10 games across all competitions.

That gap at the bottom - which stood at nine points in January - is now down to five and Saints also have a Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic looming next month.

Asked if there was ever a point he feared his side were heading for the drop, Valakari, whose side visit Hibs on Saturday, said: "No. I can say, bottom of my heart, never, ever thought about it, because that time when we were there [nine points adrift], there were still so many games.

"And you think about three wins, three points, get them a couple in a row, it changes everything in this league, because you almost always play against your direct opponent.

"You win, you take the points out of them, you add these three points [to your tally] so, no, no, no. And still it is so many games left that anything can happen."

Valakari says he was always confident the squad would be able to turn their form around, but knows the job is far from complete.

He added: "It is hard to explain it [the upturn in form] here, because you didn't see the results during December, but I saw the players all the time in training, and I saw how much attitude, energy, they had to turn things around.

"Of course, it is not easy when you are not getting the results, going the next day again, again, again. But our players, they did it. They kept doing, doing, doing. And then, for me, it was just a matter of time before we started getting these results, and it happened.

"I was so happy for the players and the fans that we started to get these results and seeing a little bit of smile in everybody's face. But we are still far away from where we want to be, and that's why we have to keep pushing."

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• Hibs are joint top of the Scottish Premiership this season for both points gained from losing positions (13, level with Kilmarnock) and points dropped from winning positions (20, level with Dundee).

• Hibs have alternated between winning (3 times) and losing (2) in their last five home league games against St Johnstone, winning 2-0 most recently in September.

• St Johnstone are winless in their past three league meetings with Hibs (D1 L2), and have only kept one clean sheet in 10 league games versus the Easter Road side (1-0 win in December 2023).

• Hibs have won their past four home league games, their longest run in the Scottish Premiership since winning seven on the bounce from January to April 2018 under Neil Lennon.

• St Johnstone have only won one of their past nine away league outings (D2 L6), a 1-0 victory at St Mirren in February.

Nick McPheat
BBC Sport Scotland

What if the Scottish Premiership was decided on overperforming your expected goals (xG) rating?

You're rolling your eyes, aren't you? Fair enough, but the above graphic still paints an interesting picture.

In the second column you will see each team's current xG tally after 30 games, but the table is sorted based on the third column, which shows how much each side has overperformed or underperformed by.

For example, the chances leaders Celtic have created throughout the season suggests they should have scored around 77 goals, but Brendan Rodgers' side have surpassed that tally with an overperformance of almost 12 goals.

Remarkably, Dundee have overperformed their xG total of 34 by 11 goals. If Tony Docherty's side could sort out their defensive issues, it's safe to assume they wouldn't be fighting for survival.

It's the opposite for Kilmarnock, with their underperformance of 5.5 showing they have struggled to take their chances. Addressing that is key if Derek McInnes wants to pull his side away from the bottom.

Other underperformers include Hibernian, Dundee United and Ross County, while the remainder of the teams in the division appear to be fairly steady.

Manager Simo Valakari believes St Johnstone will benefit from defender Daniel Balodis' appearances for Latvia, including Monday's loss to England at Wembley. (Courier - subscription required), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish gossip

Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

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St Johnstone are facing a battle at the bottom as they look to secure their Premiership status for next season.

They are currently rock bottom of the top-flight table, five points behind Dundee in 11th.

We have taken a look at some of their stats in comparison to the rest of the teams in the league this season to work out what's going wrong.

In front of goal, the numbers don't look good. They have scored the second fewest goals this season - an average of 1.1 goals per game - while conceding the second most at 1.8 per match.

Their expected goals tally is the lowest in the division, as is their shots on target per match, and in terms of big chances only Ross County have created fewer.

Simo Valakari's side have also had the second fewest touches in the opposition box.

On a more positive note, they are in the top half for average possession (53.4%) - only Celtic, Rangers, Hearts and Aberdeen have more - plus they are third for accurate passes per match, with only Celtic and Rangers completing more.

However, positive possession and passing stats will count for little if they cannot address the issues they are facing in both boxes.