PREDICTED LEAGUE POSITION: Eighth
LAST SEASON: Eighth, 46pts
NOTABLE INS: Matty Kennedy (Cardiff City), Tony Watt (unattached), Drey Wright (Colchester United), Conor Mitchell (Burnley, loan)
NOTABLE OUTS: Steven Maclean (Heart of Midlothian), Alan Mannus (Shamrock Rovers), Chris Millar (Greenock Morton), Keith Watson (Ross County), Denny Johnstone (Colchester United, end of loan), Matty Willock (Manchester United, end of loan), George Williams (Fulham, end of loan)
LAST SEASON'S BEST XI (Departed players crossed out):
Last season was the first since 2011 that St. Johnstone hadn't made it into the top six. And it was a slog. A team renowned for their solidity and workrate often looked ragged and bereft of confidence. Manager Tommy Wright, not normally a man to bemoan the cards he has been dealt, never seemed to stop complaining, whether it was about his players, his chairman, his opponents or just about everything else. It reached the point that it seemed more likely than not that the Northern Irishman's successful tenure at McDiarmid Park was coming to an end.
Not so now. To an extent the club were due a campaign like that, with the last remnants of the great side that won the 2014 Scottish Cup ageing or having left. A rebuild of sorts was necessary; having come to terms with this, Wright now sounds energized by the prospect of forming a new squad in his image.
Plenty of experience has been lost this summer - 750 appearances worth in the shape of goalkeeper Alan Mannus, midfielder Chris Millar and striker Steven MacLean. But Millar was the youngest of the trio, at the sprightly age of 35. It's hard to argue that it wasn't time to move on.
Only Mannus is easy enough to replace, as Zander Clark is more than capable between the sticks. The problem with Millar is that he hasn't been a regular for the last two seasons, yet the Perth Saints haven't found anyone who can do that holding midfield job as effectively. The current solution seems to be to use Murray Davidson deeper, but this remains an obvious weakness. Wright himself has said he is still looking for another central midfielder.
Another option might be a switch to a back three but this seems unlikely given that they have strengthened in the wide areas by bringing in Matty Kennedy and Drey Wright. Kennedy is a particularly intriguing signing who never made the breakthrough at Everton or Cardiff but has impressed in loan spells in England's lower divisions. Wright will add a bit of speed on the opposite side.
The knock-on effect will hopefully be to allow Stefan Scougall to play through the centre rather than being stuck out wide. Scougall had an underwhelming first season at the club but is a real talent. Blair Alston could also do a job in that role, and there are plans to deploy David Wotherspoon in this area more often too. It's certainly not unreasonable to expect the manager will find a combination that works.
There should be decent service, then, for whoever fills MacLean's boots up front. David McMillan had an injury-hit start after arriving in January but hopes are high for the Irishman. However, the main focus will be on Tony Watt, who has, to say the least, not hit the heights expected of him when he emerged as a youngster at Celtic. Still only 24, he was out of the game for the first half of 2018 and has made all the right noises about how he can't afford to fail at McDiarmid.
If anyone can connect with Watt and get the best out of him, it is surely Wright. And if he does so, then goals will flow. If not, he'll need to rely on McMillan and the rather erratic Chris Kane to hit the net.
The other big concern is at the back. Traditionally a strength in previous years, the defence were horrendously error-prone last year with Steven Anderson particularly struggling; handing back the captain's armband was supposed to improve his form but that was not really the case. Ricky Foster also had a down year.
Brian Easton's long-term injury has not helped matters at all, though Scott Tanser came on as the season progressed. A bigger problem was having to deploy Joe Shaughnessy on the right when he would be better in the centre. The big positive was the emergence of Jason Kerr who quietly excelled and is still only 21.
It's hard to see St. Johnstone sliding further down the table. But it's also hard to see them returning to the top six, if only because they can't get near the resources available to the Premiership's five biggest clubs and so there is likely to be only one spot available for them, Kilmarnock, Motherwell and the rest. Can they do it? Yes. Will they? We'll see.
But at least Tommy Wright should be a bit more chipper and a bit less chippy...
THE SQUAD (players born after 1 January 1997 in italics)
Goalkeepers: Zander Clark, Mark Hurst, Conor Mitchell
Defenders: Steven Anderson, Aaron Comrie, Brian Easton, Richard Foster, Liam Gordon, Jason Kerr, Joe Shaughnessy, Scott Tanser
Midfielders: Blair Alston, Liam Craig, Murray Davidson, Matty Kennedy, Ali McCann, Kyle McClean, John Robertson, Stefan Scougall, David Wotherspoon, Drey Wright
Forwards: Callum Hendry, Greg Hurst, Chris Kane, David McMillan, Tony Watt
THE BEST XI?
Lawrie Spence (LS) has ranted and spouted his ill-informed opinions on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007. He has a life outside this blog. Honestly.
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