4 St Johnstone talking points: Doing justice to Graham Carey genius and Celtic 3 stands verdict

St Johnstone are into their 12th cup semi-final in 19 seasons and Simo Valakari has become their fifth manager to reach the last four or further in that time.

The Perth side knocked Livingston out of the Scottish Cup with a Graham Carey goal that will go down as one of the best in the club’s history.

Celtic await them at Hampden Park next month.

Before that, the battle to stay in the Premiership resumes.

Courier Sport picks out four talking points following the 1-0 victory over Livi as a big off-field story emerged the morning after the night before.

Two halves

It wasn’t quite as one-sided as the first half the last time these teams met, when Saints produced a superb display in the West Lothian sun a year ago only to have a slender lead to show for it.

But it was close to that.

Livingston were by far the better of the two sides – better than I could remember them being for many a season when they were in the top-flight.

Well, better to a point.

Their centre-backs were dominant, and their midfield was clever and industrious.

But David Martindale’s men were wasteful. Very wasteful.

Valakari credited his team for “defending ugly” but the fact that the scoreline was goalless at half-time had more to do with Andy Fisher’s excellence and the Livi attackers’ profligacy than anything else.

There were five golden opportunities to score.

The Perth uplift was part tactical (Drey Wright got more involved further infield than Stephen Duke-Mckenna had).

However the meat of the change was vastly improved decision-making and execution.

Jason Holt and Sven Spranger in particular, started taking a good first touch and finding a team-mate with their second or third. Ahead of them, Adama Sidibeh and Makenzie Kirk became more reliable out-balls.

By the time Graham Carey was introduced midway through the half, Saints had control, and a platform was in place to go up another gear.

That Martindale swapped a defender for an attacker two minutes after Carey had come on spoke volumes.

Saints had three excellent chances to put the game to bed after Carey’s stunning goal but there wasn’t a hint of panic or chaos at the other end.

It took quite the second half display to turn a concerning first 45 into a thoroughly deserved victory that didn’t look in any doubt.

Carey’s genius

In an age of wall to wall football, few things in the sport have the power to shock and amaze.

Also, few things are so magnificent that they become hard to document in a manner that does the deed justice.

You can apply all of the above to Graham Carey’s winner.

The most fitting way to describe it is as an “I was there” moment.

It was like witnessing an Andy Murray backhand down the line past an opponent at the net who thought he had all angles covered or a Rory McIlroy drive that splits the tightest of fairways.

Balance, technique and the reward of training ground repetition. Every box was ticked.

My press box view was from the edge of the box.

Trust me, Jerome Prior wouldn’t have saved it if Carey had shot from 10 yards further out.

The stuff of genius.

What happens next?

No league points were won or lost on Friday or Monday but in the context of the relegation head to head between St Johnstone and Dundee, the Scottish Cup quarter-finals may well have had an effect on their basement battle.

Dark Blues’ supporters aren’t in the mood to accept that the bounce-back has begun on the back of their draw with Saints, given the manner in which they were defeated by Hearts in the cup, while Saints fans have shared another joyous and defiant post-match celebration with Valakari and his players.

The stand-pitch bond is loosening in one part of Tayside and tightening in the other.

Tony Docherty’s team have the power to change that by winning the Dundee derby on Sunday but not before Saints have the power to pile on the pressure.

Aberdeen are a team in reasonable form once more, however Saturday’s game is the sort of opportunity that might not present itself again.

With Hibs and Celtic to follow for Saints, they really could do with seizing it.

Three stands

There’s something fundamentally broken when it comes to St Johnstone supporters and how they view a match-day when either Rangers or Celtic come to town.

I certainly don’t claim to have the answers to fix it.

A home crowd in the region of 1,200, when your season ticket base is near 3,000, highlights the scale of the task in making these fixtures a palatable experience, never mind an attractive one.

Against that backdrop, the fact that Celtic fans will be invading Perth for a title party, and the possibility that neither of the Glasgow clubs will be league opponents next season, it’s a short-term no-brainer to have only one stand of Saints fans at the April 6, Premiership fixture.

Unlike the Rangers cup game that was understandably boycotted a couple of years ago, there has been consultation.

Nobody can accuse the club of pushing the button on a statement and then running away this time.

The policy change shouldn’t come as a shock to anybody who has been listening to Adam Webb or Fran Smith in recent months.

St Johnstone will be run as a business in the Webb era with a pretty basic philosophy – bring money in and trust the head coach to spend it wisely, with the goal of improving the first team and growing the club.

To pass up on a near six-figure payday for a game less than one in two season ticket holders want to watch would have been folly.