Contemplating they retained a core of their Premiership-quality squads after relegation, St Johnstone and Ross County entered the season as sturdy favourites for the title and a direct return to the highest flight.
Nonetheless, County’s expertise this season has confirmed it was going to be no foregone conclusion.
Whereas Saints have marched relentlessly in the direction of the title, their Dingwall rivals have been languishing on the different finish and stay some extent behind Airdrieonians on the foot of the desk with solely two video games remaining.
Regardless of having ditched two managers – Don Cowie and Tony Docherty – and bringing again the beforehand profitable Stuart Kettlewell, County are in peril of following Hamilton Academical’s instance of the earlier season by struggling successive relegations.
St Johnstone, in distinction, look to have been rewarded for his or her loyalty to Valakari.
The previous Motherwell, Derby County and Finland midfielder had himself been introduced in as a possible saviour from relegation after Craig Levein was sacked together with his aspect sitting tenth of the 12 golf equipment simply 5 video games into final season.
Nonetheless, regardless of having vowed to “create one thing particular”, Valakari’s St Johnstone have been to complete backside, 5 factors behind County and an extra 4 adrift of Dundee.
Whereas pleasing to the attention, their supervisor’s want to “interact the followers” by insisting on “thrilling soccer” performed out from the again appeared to have been counterproductive by way of outcomes.
Regardless of that, American proprietor Adam Webb stood by the Finn, simply as he had carried out in January 2025 when asserting his personal restoration from the most cancers prognosis made simply two weeks after he accomplished his buy the earlier July.
Webb was trying to the long run, vowing to not “break the financial institution” to keep away from relegation as he appeared to maintain the membership “sustainable”.
By November, now within the Championship, he was in a position to recommend that they had been in a position to “climate the storm” of relegation with out the necessity for a money injection.
Saints followers appeared joyful to place their religion in Valakari and, by January, Webb was proclaiming the meditation-loving Finn the “UK’s most beloved coach” because the membership honoured him together with his personal beer.
