St Johnstone players always made life tough for Simo Valakari – now he wants that identity back

It’s nearly 25 years since Simo Valakari last stepped on to the McDiarmid Park pitch but the memories of facing Paul Sturrock’s and Sandy Clark’s St Johnstone teams are still strong.

The fact the new Perth boss failed to win in Perth as a Motherwell player tells its own story about the quality and character in those Saints sides.

Valakari recalls how tough life was made for him by the likes of Nick Dasovic, Attila Sekerlioglu and Paul Kane as a young player in the early stages of his professional career.

And he wants the team he’s about to take charge of to make it equally as hard for opponents to take points off them in 2024.

“It’s as I remember,” said Valakari. “A big field.

“It was never ever easy to come here when I was a player.

“It was always a good match against St Johnstone.

“Those players, you know, they always kept you on your toes.

“They would put their shoulder into you, that sort of thing. They made it horrible to play against.

“Players are different now. Football is different.

“But that’s what we should have in our team.

“We play against Rangers next and they should know that they are in for a hell of a game from a St Johnstone team.

“We won’t always win and it won’t always be as beautiful as we want it. But we can always make sure we are difficult to play against.”

Short and long-term aspirations

Valakari believes his extensive experience as a head coach will equip him well for the short-term task of improving results and the long-term goal of creating a club with an identity supporters can be proud of.

“In Norway, I went to Tromso,” he recalled. “It was halfway through the season, so less games left, and we survived.

“That was the first thing we needed to do.

“I was head coach at a Finnish club for years.

“The owner was very ambitious. We started the in second division, and our goal was to take the team to Europe, win the championship.

“We did first year promotion, second year runner-up and third year championship. Then the fourth year we won the cup.

“So I have helped build a club and been in a position where it’s ‘now we need to get the results’.

“The key is to get the players believing that we can do it, get the players believing that we are a team and clarifying, simplifying some things, what we do on the field.

“When I say simplifying I don’t mean booting the ball up the pitch. It’s about knowing where our players are when we have a ball, what are the triggers when we start pressing and defending.

“Roles have to be clear.”

He added: “In football, people have a short memory. So it doesn’t matter how we feel now. We need to feel the same after a number of games.

“Yes, we have a plan where we want to take the club.

“But the best way to stick fuel in the processes is to win football matches.

“One of the reasons I love the Scottish fans is that they let you know if things aren’t going well. There are no excuses not to win football matches.”

Owner, Adam Webb had plenty of questions for Valakari during their talks after Craig Levein was sacked, as you would expect.

But the 51-year-old also sought answers.

“The biggest question I asked was: ‘Are they here for long term and building the club?’

“The owners want to make this club better, and that’s very important for me.

“I could have stayed where I was or taken other jobs. But there was not the spark that I felt with this one.

“I can come here and change things, build the club up, leave my own mark.

“We have a history, and we are not ground zero but it is a fresh start under new owners.

“We have a chance to say: ‘These are our values of the club, this is our culture’, things like that.”