Sport nationSt Johnstone Manager Simo Valakari Praises Celtic’s Intensity After 4-0 Defeat
St Johnstone’s struggles in the Scottish Premiership continued on Wednesday as they suffered a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Celtic at Parkhead. Despite the loss, St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari was full of praise for the Scottish champions, highlighting their intensity and hunger throughout the match.
Valakari, who took over as St Johnstone manager in October, acknowledged that his team faced an uphill battle against Celtic, who have been in imperious form this season. The Finnish manager conceded that his team needed to be almost perfect to get a result against Celtic, but ultimately fell short.
“We need to have almost a perfect day and the opponent needs to play below the bar,” Valakari said. “Unfortunately for us, it didn’t happen today. Yes, we have a lot of our own problems and we need to fix them, but sometimes you need to respect the football the opponent plays.”
Valakari was particularly impressed with Celtic’s relentless pressure throughout the match, which made it difficult for St Johnstone to create any meaningful scoring opportunities. The Finnish manager praised Celtic’s ability to maintain their intensity levels throughout the match, even when they were leading comfortably.
“It’s 89 minutes, it’s 4-0 and they don’t let us breathe,” Valakari said. “They just come and come and come. So if we can learn from the best, it’s very good for our process. So no disappointment or anything, all players gave something.”
The defeat has left St Johnstone three points adrift of Hearts at the bottom of the Scottish Premiership table, and Valakari acknowledged that his team’s next match against Hibernian at McDiarmid Park on Thursday is now of huge importance.
“Now we have put ourselves in this position,” Valakari said. “It’s a very big game, a very, very big game. We need to somehow, somewhere and as soon as possible to start getting these points. We can’t just think, ‘Next opportunity, next opportunity’.”
Valakari emphasized the need for his team to start picking up points at home, where they have struggled this season. The Finnish manager believes that his team’s home form will be crucial in determining their fate in the Scottish Premiership.
“You need to be strong at home and when you look at our history, we have not been strong at home,” Valakari said. “That needs to change because we have good fans. We know how to play there so no excuses. That’s our lifeline – to get points from these home matches coming up and then go on the road and do the same.”
When asked about the possibility of strengthening his squad in the January transfer window, Valakari was coy, saying only that the club is working hard to identify potential targets.
“We’ll see what happens,” Valakari said. “As always, the club, all of us, we’re working every side of the club very, very hard and it will be okay.”
As St Johnstone looks to turn their season around, Valakari’s comments suggest that the team is focused on learning from their mistakes and taking inspiration from the best teams in the league, including Celtic. With a crucial match against Hibernian looming, the Perth outfit will be hoping to put their defeat against Celtic behind them and start picking up valuable points in the Scottish Premiership.
Sport nation
Amina Umar
