Temple Of Saints - Latest News From the Oracle
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May
May 8th - Little in the papers
today. It's not been officially confirmed by Saints but it looks like
we're set for a home friendly against Burnley on Wednesday
July 23rd as part of Owen Coyle's
sides Scottish tour.
There are some ex-players on the move. Bobby
Barr looks set to line up a club quickly with Brechin and Dumbarton
after his signature, while Mark Ferry
has quit Queen's Park to move to Raith Rovers on a 2-yr deal.
May
6th - Paul Sheerin(right) is in
the Courier today talking about his new Saints deal. And while coaching
the u-17s will be a big part, the midfielder aims to keep playing as long
as possible. "The coaching thing is something I enjoy, something
I’m quite passionate about. I’ve enjoyed helping the under-19’s
and look forward to taking the under 17’s. But while the opportunity
to develop my coaching was a big factor in the decision to re-sign,
playing remains my number one priority. Once my career is over I want to
get into coaching but I feel I’ve another two or three years left in
me. I was never the quickest player so it’s not as if I’ve pace
to lose. There’s going to be a lot of competition for places in the
middle of the park next season but that can only be healthy for the club.
And I’ve never shied away from competition. I’ve found myself
having to battle for a place a couple of times before at St Johnstone and
managed to keep myself in the team. Making 167 starts in four seasons is
not a bad record and I hope to continue that. I’m also on 99 career
goals so the aim is to reach the century next season. And it would be nice
to hit that mark with a goal from open play. I scored all those pens this
season but it’s almost an entire season since I got one from open
play. "
"There’s always doubt about whether you are going to get
offered a new deal until it actually happens. When a new manager comes in
with new ideas and you are that bid older you can’t be sure at all.
However things have worked out as I’d hoped and the aim now is to
take that next step with Saints. Next season will be my fifth at St
Johnstone. When I came here I fully expected to play in the SPL with them.
It’s disappointing still to be waiting to fulfil that ambition. As a
group of players I feel we are equipped to deal with the Premier League.
It’s just managing to get out of the first division that we’re
finding difficult. But if we can show that bit better consistency next
season then it could be our year. ". And he couldn't help having
a dig at the fans and cynics of the new manager. "When
Derek McInnes was appointed manager
there were cynics amongst the supporters who questioned the appointment
saying St Johnstone had taken the cheap option. But then there was a
cynicism over him as a player as well which I found hard to believe. The
chairman went for the gaffer because of his experience in the game and his
thorough professionalism. Derek McInnes
has picked up a lot of points, football and lifestyle wise, from the clubs
he has been at is implementing them here to good effect. "
Meanwhile there are still plenty of signing rumours going on.
Jody Morris is still in with a chance
of signing a new deal with Saints and it's believed that the manager is
chasing a striker's signature this week - believed to be ex-Hibs and
Scumdee loan Mickael Antoine-Curier.
One departee who could line up against us next year is
Allan McManus who its believed is
being courted by Scumdee.
5pm-
So much for the rumour mill. Saints did sign a striker today but the
surprise move (or perhaps not so) saw us sign former Falkirk and Arabs
striker Collin Samuel on a 2-year
contract. The 26-yr old has been out in Canada plying his trade with
Toronto FC but recently had a spell training with Saints. Del is happy
with his new signing though and told the Official Site, "Colin
has been enjoying his time in Toronto but his wife and family have been
back here in Scotland and that has not been ideal and he has been keen to
return to them. When I found that out, I spoke with Mo Johnston who is the
Director of Soccer at Toronto and moved quickly to bring him to Saints.".
Of course he trained here earlier in the season during the winter and the
manager went on, "I had six weeks to look at
Collin and I think he is a more
complete player than he was earlier in his career. I was keen to keep him
here but he was contracted to the MLS and had to go back but he has since
indicated to them that he wanted to come back to Scotland to be with his
family. He knows me, he knows Tony Docherty, he knows a lot of the players
from his time training here and he knows the First Division - I think that
will make him a great acquisition and he is still at the age where he can
kick on and play at the level I think he can reach." The gaffer
wants to avoid comparisons with Jason
Scotland though. "They are different types of players.
Sammy has pace and works hard and although nobody could argue with Jason's
scoring rate, he didn't necessarily have the same attributes."
That won't be the end of the signings though with the manager still
looking for another striker with a bit more physical presence. And there
is still a goalkeeping and left-back vacancy to fill. As for the
Jody Morris soap opera, nothing more is
expected on that before the end of the week.
May 3rd - With the season now
over for a week and the boys all away enjoying their well-earned summer
holidays, it's time to reflect on the last year and send in your
nominations for the 2008 TOSSAs. Voting can be done by theonline
form or if you want, you can just e-mail this text
file with your answers to
tossa@grange.demon.co.uk.
Results will be announced when I can be bothered - probably in about 6
weeks or so.
May
2nd - Chris Millar(right) has
spoken of the last-ditch attempt to try and keep him at Morton. The
Cappielow side offered him a new deal believed to be around double what
he's getting at Saints but the midfielder told the Courier, "The
offer Morton came in with at the last minute was fantastic and I had to
think about it. But I had decided to come here for football reasons and,
while the extra money would have been nice, I’m about trying to
better my career, which in joining St Johnstone I think I’m going to
do. Emotionally it was difficult to leave Morton and with my having a
ten-month-old daughter and getting married this summer the financial
aspect was a consideration. But I think St Johnstone are going to go win
promotion to the SPL next season and that’s why I’ve come here.
It’s been a strange last few months. I was out of the Morton team for
ten games after they found out I’d signed a pre- contract with St
Johnstone. And I thought I would end up at McDiarmid Park during the
window when the clubs were negotiating to do a deal then. But it didn’t
happen and, looking back, the whole thing turned into a bit of a saga. I
read that the last player to break a pre-contract was Luis Figo. And I was
thinking, ‘Me and Figo in the same breath—unbelievable.’
The last couple of days have been tough especially as I’d people in
my family telling me to take the money at Morton. But this is a club going
places and the way Derek McInnes and
Tony Docherty have dealt with me
tells me I’ve made the right choice. Derek was really understanding
of the situation I was in. He’s been different class from start to
finish.’ "
Gavin Swankie was just as positive and
told the paper, "Everything you hear at St Johnstone from the
manager and staff is positive. And I’m really looking forward to
working under Derek McInnes. He seems
a manager who gives people a lot of encouragement, and that’s how you
get the best out of players. St Johnstone approached me about a month ago
but it wasn’t until this week that everything was agreed. I got
offered a new deal at Dundee but wanted a change. This is a big club which
hopefully will be fighting for promotion next year and I’m excited to
be here. I heard on the grapevine that Morton were also interested in
signing me but heard nothing directly and anyway this is where I wanted to
be. I had talks with Owen Coyle about coming here three years ago, just
before I signed for Dundee. I don’t think I made the wrong decision
then. But times change and hopefully this is the right decision again. I’ve
scored a few goals against Saints. Hopefully I’ll now score a few for
them. And it’ll be good to be on the same team as
Martin Hardie instead of having him
kicking me "
We're still in talks with Jody Morris
but the manager said "I’m looking to bring in another three
players."
May
1st - Good news first of all with Andy
Jackson(right) leaving hospitaly yesterday after recovering from
what has been described as a stomach virus. The player is at home
recuperating but should be fine for pre-season. All the players have been
called into McD today by Del for a
final meeting before the close season. It's expected the club will
announce which players are being released.
There's added confusion over the pre-contract agreement with Morton's
Chris Millar. The midfielder is supposed to be signing for Saints
on June 1st but is said to be having a change of heart and wants to remain
in Greenock (surely a case for diminished responsibility there). Morton,
who kept on bumping up the price in order to hold onto the player in
January are reported to be offering the player a big wage hike to break
the deal with Saints. While pre-contract deals aren't written in stone,
there haven't been any cases of players backing down in recent seasons and
this could set a nasty precedent. Either way, it's believed the manager
has set a deadline of today for the player to commit to Saints.
11am - Right the list of changes has been announced on the
Official Site. Chris Millar andGavin
Swankie have both joined (despite Davie Irons attempts to keep on
and sign the other). They've been awarded 2yr deals. Elsewhere and
Paul Sheerin has signed a new 1yr
contract which will also see him take charge of the Saints U-17 side as he
gets his coaching badges. And Stephen Doris
- currently on loan at Montrose - has been offered a 1yr contract.
In terms of departures there are no major surprises.
Goran Stanic,
Jamie McCluskey and
Allan McManus we already knew about.
They've been joined byAndy Lawrie who
hardly made an appearance this season and long-serving keeper
Kevin Cuthbert. Also on the way out
are youngster Bobby Barr (which is a bit
of a surprise) and Daniel McBreen who
has been deemed not worthy of a permanent deal.
6pm - More players released today with some of the youth players
all told they can leave the club. So it's farewell to
Gordon O'Brien,
Adam Monaghan,
Johnathon Fairbairn and
Darren Wilcox.
Stephen Doris has signed his 1yr
contract though and Stephen Kerr has
signed a 6-month contract.
As for his new signings, Del told the
Official Site, "I am delighted to get both players tied up so
soon after the end of the season. I know there has been speculation about
both players coming here stretching out over a number of weeks and it is
good to have it done and dusted. They are both talented players who are at
a good age and want to see them maximise their potential at this club. I’ll
have a squad of 18 or 19 here next season and I want them all to be
expecting to be playing. Gavin will
give us natural width which is something I think we have struggled with
this season and in Chris Millar I have
signed a player I know plenty about. He is a fit, driven, energetic
individual whose attitude is exactly what I want around here. Although we
had him on a pre-contract, Morton made him a fantastic offer to stay which
is their right and I think it speaks volumes for him that despite the fact
that Cappielow is only five minutes from his home and that he has a lot of
ties with Morton, that he thinks that St Johnstone is the right club for
him to develop further at. I really feel that the confidence that each
party has put in each other will be repaid – I firmly believe that
these players will enhance our promotion chances and that they will become
better players as a result of being at this club."
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