St Johnstone

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• St Johnstone are unbeaten in four league meetings with Ross County (W2 D2), winning as many of those four (2) as their previous 15 against the Staggies beforehand (W2 D8 L5).

• Ross County have only lost one of their last five league trips to St Johnstone (W2 D2), going down 1-0 in November 2023.

• St Johnstone have lost all three of their home league games this season, the only side in the Scottish Premiership in 2024-25 yet to pick up a home point. Since the Scottish Premiership re-brand in 2013, only three sides have lost each of their first four home matches of a campaign in the division: St Mirren (2014-15), Dundee (2018-19), and Dundee United (2022-23).

• Ross County are winless in 20 away league games (D8 L12) since beating Kilmarnock 1-0 in September 2023. Home and away, the Staggies have just one win in their last 11 Scottish Premiership fixtures (D6 L4).

• This will be Simo Valakari’s first game in charge of St Johnstone, the first Finnish manager to take charge of a side in the Scottish Premiership since Mixu Paatelainen with Dundee United in 2015-16. Not since Billy Stark in October 2001 has a St Johnstone boss lost his first top-flight match in charge of the club.

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Scottish FA head of referees Willie Collum says it was the "wrong decision" not to award Rangers a penalty against St Johnstone for a shirt pull on Cyriel Dessers.

It was announced earlier this week by the SFA's key match incident review panel that Saints defender Aaron Essel should have been penalised for a tug on the Rangers striker.

"We expect a penalty kick here and we expect the referee to be brought to the monitor to review the decision," Collum said.

"You hear the referee saying he saw a 'small hold but it has no impact'... but is what the refereeing saying actually what happened? We don’t regard this as a 'small hold' and as having 'no impact'.

"We believe if this holding offence doesn't happen, the attacker has the chance to challenge for the ball. It's excessive holding."

The previous weekend, defender John Souttar was penalised for handball in the box following a VAR review against Hibernian.

Mykola Kuharevich's spot-kick was saved and the hosts maintained their 1-0 lead until full-time.

"It's the correct decision for us," Collum said of the Souttar incident.

“We think the Rangers defender throws himself to save the shot, block the shot at all costs. Unfortunately for him he's made his body bigger, for us it’s not natural.

"There’s a slight arm movement, although it’s not deliberate, but it’s certainly a punishable handball.

"There is every opportunity the goalkeeper could save the shot. So we would not support a red card, it isn't an obvious goalscoring opportunity."

The position of goalkeeper Jack Butland's feet in relation to the goal line was also discussed and Collum was "content" there was no need for a re-take.

We asked for your views on what you want to see from the Saints.

Here's what some of you said:

Daniel: The strength now lies in the attack with strikers who'll take chances, but Craig Levein just never seemed to get the players or fans believing enough for things to work. Simo Valakari's message is likely to be bought into more and likely be more fearless too. Could still be a surprise outfit.

Willie: We have good players, we need confidence and good shape, we need a coach who can make substitutions when they are needed. Give the fans belief and the fans will give their all. Most important of all make McDiarmid Park a fortress.

Ian: It's pretty simple for me, we need to shore up the leaky defence, make the most of our front men and get points on the board. Flowing football would be nice but we need a base to build from.

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Croatian defender Bozo Mikulic has become the first St Johnstone signing of the Simo Valakari era.

The centre-half started his career with RNK Split before earning a move to Sampdoria in Italy.

He would return to his homeland to join Hajduk Split and more recently played for Auda in Latvia under Valakari.

"I expect this to be a very difficult league physically," said the 27-year-old, whose most recent club was Albanian side FK Partizani.

"It is a great step in my career, I'm happy to be here and hopefully we have a good season ahead of us.

"It means a lot to sign for St Johnstone. I've been through several different countries and cultures and that has made me a lot stronger as a player and as a person.

"Simo was my coach two years ago and now being able to sign here is something amazing for me. I look forward to playing in front of our fans."

With domestic football making its return this weekend, we want to know what you're looking for from your side.

The Simo Valakari reign will start for real when St Johnstone host Ross County on Saturday.

After a seven-game winless run, what does the new boss need to improve between now and November's international break?

Give us your thoughts here, external.

Croatian centre-back Bozo Mikulic, 27, could become Simo Valakari's first St Johnstone signing after the free agent impressed during a behind-closed-doors friendly against Hibernian. (Courier - subscription), external

Read Monday's Scottish gossip

BBC Scotland chief sportswriter Tom English has been answering your questions.

David asked: In your honest opinion where do you feel Saints will finish this season?

Tom answered: Rejoice in the fact that I think St Johnstone are in serious danger of relegation. Why? Because I'm never right when it comes to this stuff, so you can relax. The good times are on their way.

From what I’ve seen so far, it looks like it's St Johnstone and Ross County who are in the most danger and I think Saints are, just about, in the most perilous state of all because their defence looks that little bit worse.

Take out the eight goals both clubs conceded in their matches against the Old Firm, St Johnstone still shipped 11 in their other six games. Ross County conceded six in six.

All of this might flip on its head as we go along, but right now, I see County in 11th and Saints in 12th.

Ronan Hale looks like he'll go on to score a fair amount of goals and he could prove the difference. But, remember, you’re talking about the Mr Magoo of the tipping world here.

New St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari has handed a trial to Bozo Mikulic, the 27-year-old Croatian defender with whom he worked at Auda in Latvia and who is a free agent after leaving Albanian club Partizani Tirana. (Daily Record), external

St Johnstone will receive £25,000 in training compensation following Trinidad & Tobago midfielder Dan Phillips' summer move to Stevenage. (The Courier), external

Read Friday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

What would you like to ask Tom English about St Johnstone?

Our chief sportswriter is in the hotseat ready to answer your questions and offer his insight and opinion on your club.

Who has been the top performer so far? Can the new manager revitalise the club?

Put your questions to Tom here, external.

Sportscene pundits Niall McGinn and Cammy Bell assess St Johnstone's opportunities in the 2-0 defeat against Rangers.

(Available to UK users only)

Former St Johnstone manager Owen Coyle has backed his old Motherwell teammate Simo Valakari to "elevate the club" following his appointment in Perth. (The Courier - subscription required, external)

Read the rest of Wednesday's Scottish gossip.

Sam Miller
Fan writer

Optimism. An emotion that hasn't seen the light of day in Saints fans since we were all wearing face masks and deciding what family members you wanted to spend Christmas with.

But optimism is absolutely oozing from a particular 80s rockstar throwback from Finland and it is spreading.

Simo Valakari is saying all the right things and is a breath of fresh air.

With the new owners suggesting "just staying up" isn't the standard that should be set, it really is unchartered territory for us fans and something to relish going forward.

I think Simo will be brilliant for Scottish football in general.

With the "Sacked in the morning" headlines now in the past, I hope we don't see "He's Finnish? He's only 51!" any time soon.

Sam Miller can be found at Dogger Saints, external

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Simo Valakari will "be a breath of fresh air" for St Johnstone, says goalkeeper Ross Sinclair.

The 23-year-old is relishing the international break as a chance to reset and work with the new manager.

Having been appointed as Craig Levein's successor last week, work permit issues meant Valakari watched Saints' 2-0 defeat against Rangers from the directors' box at Ibrox as Alec Cleland and Andy Kirk continued in the dugout.

"Really good, really excited,” said Sinclair.

"I've only been introduced to him so I don't know much about him, but I've seen stuff online and he really looks like he's got a positive vibe and really positive to be fair. That's what we need and can't wait to work with him.

"I think the international break comes at a good time because it does give the boys, who are not away, obviously, that time to work on the training pitch with the gaffer as soon as he comes in.

"I'm sure he'll be a breath of fresh air for us.

"We played better on Sunday, obviously the score wasn't great, but we played better.

"We have to use it [as a reset] because there's a long season and we need to start putting results together before Christmas."

St Johnstone fans, we asked for your thoughts following Sunday's defeat to Rangers.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Laurie: No matter how well we play, we're not going to get good results with this back line. Bringing in some experienced free agents is an absolute must for Simo Valakari.

Gordon: Our new boss Valakari has work to do. He has a blank canvas which is not in the worst shape. He also has some quality paint and some third-rate paint. He needs to get the good stuff on the canvas and the rubbish in the bin. It doesn't have to be the Mona Lisa but it has to be better than what hangs on the wall right now.

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• Rangers have won their last three games in the Premiership, their last longer winning streak was from 2 January 2024 to 28 February 2024, a run of nine games.

• St. Johnstone have failed to win in their last six games in the Premiership, their last longer winless streak was from 5 August 2023 to 28 October 2023, a run of nine games.

• Rangers have kept a clean sheet in five of their seven games, only Celtic (six) have done this more often in the Premiership this season.

• St. Johnstone have failed to score in four of their eight games, more often than any other team in the Premiership this season.

• Rangers have kept a clean sheet in each of their last three games in the Premiership, their last longer run of games without conceding a goal in the competition was a run of six games from 1 December 2021 to 26 December 2021.

Watch highlights as Rangers beat St Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership.

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Rangers secured a third consecutive Scottish Premiership win, with Vaclav Cerny's exquisite double effectively sealing the points against St Johnstone before Ianis Hagi's late red card.

The Czech scored either side of the interval to ensure the Ibrox side end the weekend still five points back from Celtic and Aberdeen.

Hagi, introduced at half-time to make his first appearance since last August following a contractual issue, assisted the second goal.

However, the Romanian's night ended badly, his high challenge on Adama Sidibeh's shin being upgraded from a yellow card after a VAR check.

Were you at the game or see it on television? Either way, give us your thoughts here., external

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Interim St Johnstone manager Andy Kirk thinks his side have shown incoming head coach Simo Valakari that he has a good base to build on despite their 2-0 defeat by Rangers at Ibrox.

"The result was poor obviously, but there's things on the pitch the new manager will have seen that we can improve on," he told BBC Scotland.

"We made some mistakes and got punished - that tends to happen against the better teams, but there's a lot to work with.

"We will look to improve on those things and hopefully things will turn for us.

"We tried something different with the front players, getting them wider, and in the second half we were a bit more composed on the ball, changed the shape and showed the manager what he's got to work with."

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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This was night and day from the 6-0 Celtic horror show in St Johnstone's previous outing.

The visitors showed enough to suggest positive days may come once new manager Simo Valakari has time to impose his approach on this team.

They demonstrated intent to hit Rangers on the break and did create a number of moments that may have brought more.

They stood firm for the most part and defended very well at times, something that will be of use if they can deliver that consistently.

A moment of real quality unlocked them and fine margins cost them a route back into the game.

Their next fixture at home to Ross County will be key as they look to kick-start a revival and fresh start.

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Rangers midfielder Tom Lawrence picked up a hamstring injury against Lyon on Thursday and is likely to miss out.

Left-back Ridvan Yilmaz is training again after recovering from a muscle injury and attacker Ianis Hagi is available after a contract issue was resolved. Danilo, Oscar Cortes and Rabbi Matondo remain on the sidelines.

Saints forwards Benjamin Kimpioka and Adama Sidibeh return after suspension but Uche Ikpeazu (knee) and Sam McClelland (Achilles) are still absent.