Tommy Wright
“He knows how to link it up, and probably doesn’t get enough goals because of the unselfish work he does outside of the box”, said St. Johnstone manager, Tommy Wright, of Steven MacLean after his winning goal on Saturday. The former Dons forward had earlier struck the post before he netted the winner against his former club. Despite this, and his memorable goal in last season’s Scottish Cup final, it is without doubt his intelligence outside the box that is his greatest contribution to the team.
As well as dropping deep to link midfield with attack, MacLean assisted in bringing about the prolific form of Stevie May last season. There is no doubt the sale of the under-21 international to Sheffield Wednesday has left the Perth side a little lightweight in attack, but to expect MacLean to fill the void vacated by May – as some have suggested - would be to confuse his role in the side.
Granted, for Saturday’s winner, he may have started the move outside the area before finding space within to finish, however, what is required is a strike partner to share the goals with him, rather than him becoming the twenty-goals-a-season striker himself. This is not to say that he shouldn’t be adding to his goals from last season, more that he requires someone with complimentary attributes to work alongside.
When questioned about any recruitment in this area, Wright joked that “Shaun Goater’s gone. It’ll not be him”, while telling of a supporter stopping him in the street to enquire about the alleged new signing. “Are you for real? 43[-years-old] and two stone heavier than me!”, continued Wright before confirming that they were no further forward with any targets.
Derek Adams
“We started really well and Dundee United score against the run of the play…” assessed Derek Adams after their 2-1 weekend defeat to Dundee United. A similar defence of dominating the game for thirty-five minutes and individual errors costing the team was peddled after the defeat to Kilmarnock. Fair enough, but that still leaves the majority of the match where you failed to dominate. At home.
This time around, Ross County travelled to Tannadice and, to be fair to Adams, his side were in control when guilty duo Yoann Arquin and Jake Jervis passed up enticing chances with the score poised at 1-1. “Performance-wise, we were excellent today…”, added Adams. Forgive me, but aren’t defensive mistakes and horrendous finishing part of the performance?
There did appear – although there is only so much you can decipher from criminally short highlights that fail to convey the ebbs and flows of a match – to be some sort of team forming. He has a left-sided full-back in Uros Celcer that seems willing and able to push forward. Just ahead of him is Joe Carlde, known for cutting inside on to his right foot, which allowed the duo to double up on United full-back Keith Watson.
This can make make for a perfect blend when pulled off correctly and, added to this, as we saw on Saturday, is Graham Carey bursting from central midfield, instinctively drifting towards his more natural left side. The goal, as well as the two missed sitters, came from combination play between two of these three and if Adams can foster similarly strong partnerships across his line-up, his team will surely start to pick up wins.
Starting slowly in the top flight is becoming a familiar story for the Staggies though, and much of this is a consequence of the Vladimir Romanov-esque signing policy favoured by Adams. Including loans, no fewer than eleven players have arrived in Dingwall this summer, taking Adams’s total to an incredible forty in the last five transfer windows.
The previous two campaigns have followed similar patters: finding themselves bottom - save for a club in crisis - at the turn of the year before recruiting even more players in January and finishing the season more than comfortably out of the reach of the relegation and play-off spots. Though he managed some continuity in the starting line up during their opening SPL campaign, last season saw Adams struggle to find his best line-up for the first few months before another overhaul of the squad in January.
Managers often bemoan the notoriously difficult January transfer window but it is there that Adams seems to do his best work and whether or not the same happens this time, time will tell. What is apparent is that Derek Adams is still unsure of his starting eleven and that if Ross County don’t begin to pick up results soon, they are headed for another bleak start to their winter.
Ronny Deila
This quote was not taken from the weekend’s post-match interviews but is worthy of inclusion all the same. On Celtic’s upcoming second-leg Champions League qualifier, Ronny Deila started off by, rightly, talking up the occasion. "This is the most important night of this season. The biggest. I can't wait. It's been a long 10 weeks of hard work, ups and downs, and now we're here at the final moment, the moment of decision. We have to go out and attack the game”. He then seemed to completely forget Celtic’s much-publicised and fiercely-debated route to this stage. “If we go through, we will have shown that we belong in the Champions League because we've been good enough to qualify. That is the main thing."
Really?
Showing posts with label Tommy Wright. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tommy Wright. Show all posts
Wednesday, 27 August 2014
Sunday, 28 July 2013
Tough Acts to Follow
*This article initially appeared on The Terrace Scottish Football Podcast's website. Check out their podcast (as well as lots of other great content) which starts tomorrow.
St. Johnstone Chairman Steve Brown’s first managerial appointment of his tenure was slightly against the grain to those of his predecessor and father. Whereas Geoff Brown, more often than not, gambled on inexperienced coaches, giving over half of his choices their first taste as the sole man charge of a professional football club, Chairman Brown Jr. decided to promote from within, replacing the departing Steve Lomas with his slightly more experienced assistant, Tommy Wright. Despite this also being the former Northern Ireland international’s first managerial role of a professional club (he managed at semi-professional level in his native land, as well gaining several years of experience as a goalkeeping coach in England and Ireland), Wright is older than all but one of Geoff Brown’s nine appointments and has at least ten years on each of the last three Saints managers - all at the time of their respective appointments, of course.
If the current chairman estimates that his father is going to be a tough act to follow, he should spare a thought for the new manager who is expected to do what the three most recent St. Johnstone managers have achieved, and that is build upon the good work of their respective forbearer. Owen Coyle was able to stabalise the club after a turbulent few years and may have achieved promotion in 2007 were it not for the lavish spending of Gretna, not to mention a last-minute goal from James Grady. After departing for Burnley, Coyle was replaced by Derek McInnes who secured promotion during his second season in charge, before going on to establish St. Johnstone as SPL regulars once more.
The curse of a successful management team struck once again when English clubs began to take an interest in McInnes. He eventually left for Bristol City and was replaced at McDiarmid by another first-timer, Steve Lomas. Coincidently, the day Geoff Brown announced Lomas as manager was the day he signalled his intention to step down as chairman of the club and pass his stewardship on to his son. Lomas led St. Johnstone to the top six in consecutive seasons, including their most recent third place finish in May, earning them a shot at the preliminary stages of the Europa League. Predictably, this feat led to yet another English side turning to St. Johnstone for their next manager, making Lomas the third head coach to leave McDiarmid for the English Championship in less than six years.
Shortly after his promotion, Tommy Wright’s task was made all the more difficult when Murray Davidson (though the central midfielder has since rejoined), Gregory Tade, Rowan Vine and Liam Craig, all key components of last season’s success, left the club under freedom of contract. The quartet was amongst the club’s six top scorers last season, with a combined total of 29 goals - including 27 of the side’s 45 league goals. Furthermore, what remained of the team was rewarded for last season’s achievements by having their holiday ended prematurely in order to prepare for an extremely difficult tie against a side with the European pedigree of Rosenborg.
Any supporter of the Scottish game could be forgiven for being a pessimist regarding Saints’ chances, but Wright and his side proved those doubters wrong by shocking the Norwegians into a 1-0 home defeat, before coming from behind to earn a 1-1 draw at McDiarmid Park. They did so by employing similar principles to that of Lomas and McInnes before him: a strong, organised defensive unit, first and foremost, with some decent ball players in the middle of the park, along with a few creative outlets in advanced areas.
It was one of those outlets, in the form of new recruit David Wotherspoon, who provided the assists that ensured St. Johnstone would be lining up against Belarusian side Dinamo Minsk next week. The attacking midfielder flattered to deceive at Easter Road for a number of years before finally moving on this summer. It was his corner in the first leg, and clever first-time ball in the second, that allowed Frazer Wright and Stevie May to score the goals that clinched progression to the next round. The hope now is that Wotherspoon can build upon his impressive start and become the player he has promised to be for so long.
The Hibernian graduate isn’t the only decent signing to arrive in Perth this summer. Brian Easton has proved a top performer in the two stints he’s had at SPL/Premiership/What-are-the English-calling-it-now-so-we-can-copy, whereas Gary McDonald brings a wealth of experience from stints both north and south of the border. Gwion Edwards, who impressed during a loan spell at McDiarmid last season, returns to and seems a promising acquisition. Added to these are Steve Banks and Rory Fallon, the former of which has been brought in to provide back up, while Fallon must improve on his Pittodrie performances if he is to avoid a similar fate.
It is, of course, too early in the day to declare any of these signings, or the recent managerial appointment, a success, despite the heroics of the last two Thursdays. Though if those two matches are anything to go by, it would appear that shrewd managerial appointments runs in the Brown family, and that Wright will be every it a success as those who have come before him. It is at least safe to say that, on a night where Pat Fenlon was forced to apologise for a Scottish club’s worst ever showing over two legs in Europe, Tommy Wright’s St. Johnstone were the talk of the nation’s football contingent with a result that will go down as one of Scotland’s finest: A 2-1 aggregate victory over a side with an annual budget eighteen times the size of theirs, and who were recently a regular in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.
St. Johnstone Chairman Steve Brown’s first managerial appointment of his tenure was slightly against the grain to those of his predecessor and father. Whereas Geoff Brown, more often than not, gambled on inexperienced coaches, giving over half of his choices their first taste as the sole man charge of a professional football club, Chairman Brown Jr. decided to promote from within, replacing the departing Steve Lomas with his slightly more experienced assistant, Tommy Wright. Despite this also being the former Northern Ireland international’s first managerial role of a professional club (he managed at semi-professional level in his native land, as well gaining several years of experience as a goalkeeping coach in England and Ireland), Wright is older than all but one of Geoff Brown’s nine appointments and has at least ten years on each of the last three Saints managers - all at the time of their respective appointments, of course.
If the current chairman estimates that his father is going to be a tough act to follow, he should spare a thought for the new manager who is expected to do what the three most recent St. Johnstone managers have achieved, and that is build upon the good work of their respective forbearer. Owen Coyle was able to stabalise the club after a turbulent few years and may have achieved promotion in 2007 were it not for the lavish spending of Gretna, not to mention a last-minute goal from James Grady. After departing for Burnley, Coyle was replaced by Derek McInnes who secured promotion during his second season in charge, before going on to establish St. Johnstone as SPL regulars once more.
The curse of a successful management team struck once again when English clubs began to take an interest in McInnes. He eventually left for Bristol City and was replaced at McDiarmid by another first-timer, Steve Lomas. Coincidently, the day Geoff Brown announced Lomas as manager was the day he signalled his intention to step down as chairman of the club and pass his stewardship on to his son. Lomas led St. Johnstone to the top six in consecutive seasons, including their most recent third place finish in May, earning them a shot at the preliminary stages of the Europa League. Predictably, this feat led to yet another English side turning to St. Johnstone for their next manager, making Lomas the third head coach to leave McDiarmid for the English Championship in less than six years.
Shortly after his promotion, Tommy Wright’s task was made all the more difficult when Murray Davidson (though the central midfielder has since rejoined), Gregory Tade, Rowan Vine and Liam Craig, all key components of last season’s success, left the club under freedom of contract. The quartet was amongst the club’s six top scorers last season, with a combined total of 29 goals - including 27 of the side’s 45 league goals. Furthermore, what remained of the team was rewarded for last season’s achievements by having their holiday ended prematurely in order to prepare for an extremely difficult tie against a side with the European pedigree of Rosenborg.
Any supporter of the Scottish game could be forgiven for being a pessimist regarding Saints’ chances, but Wright and his side proved those doubters wrong by shocking the Norwegians into a 1-0 home defeat, before coming from behind to earn a 1-1 draw at McDiarmid Park. They did so by employing similar principles to that of Lomas and McInnes before him: a strong, organised defensive unit, first and foremost, with some decent ball players in the middle of the park, along with a few creative outlets in advanced areas.
It was one of those outlets, in the form of new recruit David Wotherspoon, who provided the assists that ensured St. Johnstone would be lining up against Belarusian side Dinamo Minsk next week. The attacking midfielder flattered to deceive at Easter Road for a number of years before finally moving on this summer. It was his corner in the first leg, and clever first-time ball in the second, that allowed Frazer Wright and Stevie May to score the goals that clinched progression to the next round. The hope now is that Wotherspoon can build upon his impressive start and become the player he has promised to be for so long.
The Hibernian graduate isn’t the only decent signing to arrive in Perth this summer. Brian Easton has proved a top performer in the two stints he’s had at SPL/Premiership/What-are-the English-calling-it-now-so-we-can-copy, whereas Gary McDonald brings a wealth of experience from stints both north and south of the border. Gwion Edwards, who impressed during a loan spell at McDiarmid last season, returns to and seems a promising acquisition. Added to these are Steve Banks and Rory Fallon, the former of which has been brought in to provide back up, while Fallon must improve on his Pittodrie performances if he is to avoid a similar fate.
It is, of course, too early in the day to declare any of these signings, or the recent managerial appointment, a success, despite the heroics of the last two Thursdays. Though if those two matches are anything to go by, it would appear that shrewd managerial appointments runs in the Brown family, and that Wright will be every it a success as those who have come before him. It is at least safe to say that, on a night where Pat Fenlon was forced to apologise for a Scottish club’s worst ever showing over two legs in Europe, Tommy Wright’s St. Johnstone were the talk of the nation’s football contingent with a result that will go down as one of Scotland’s finest: A 2-1 aggregate victory over a side with an annual budget eighteen times the size of theirs, and who were recently a regular in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.
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