St Johnstone

Like a few clubs already covered in this series, St Johnstone have spent time in and out of the SPL. They’ve also had managers like Sandy Clark and John Connolly directing the players so unsurprisingly our writer had plenty to choose from. Although, which is often the case, the worst players aren’t necessarily signed by the worst managers. Owen Coyle and Derek McInnes may have move up in the world following their exit from McDiarmid Park but their name appears more than a couple of times over the course of this blog. Gregg Aitchison writes.

Goalkeeper

Mark Paston

St Johnstone have had some terrible goalkeepers in the past 15 years, however for my money Mark Paston has got to be the worst! Owen Coyle brought Mark Paston to the club after he impressed in a pre-season game against Dunfermline(after which, rumour has it Jim Leishman waited for him outside McDiarmid Park to invite him to train with the Pars. Unfortunately for Saints he got injured and their gain was very much our loss) however he went on to make only two appearances for the club, both defeats against St Mirren and Airdrie. How he even made two appearances for Saints is beyond me! Paston wasn’t seen again until surprisingly he cropped up as the keeper for New Zealand during the 2010 World Cup, where he was instrumental in helping the Kiwis achieve a 1-1 draw against defending champions Italy! It’s a strange old world!

Defence

Andy Lawrie

Another Owen Coyle signing! For all the good work that both Owen Coyle and Derek McInnes did at Saints they didn’t half sign some absolute rank rotten players! Andy Lawrie was one of them! Coyle signed Lawrie on a 3 year deal from Falkirk in 2006 and I remember the alarm bells started ringing when some of the Falkirk fans were over the moon on various fans forums that Lawrie had finally left their club!  A typical Scottish player in that he gave plenty of effort, but just wasn’t very good! Lawrie’s most memorable contribution in a Saints shirt was tripping over a pitchside advertising hoarding as he backed up to take a throw-in…. that probably went straight to the opposition!

Benito Kemble

After Jim Weir and Stuart McCluskey both received their marching orders in a friendly (!) game against St Mirren, Sandy Clark was left with a shortage of centre backs going into the season opener against Celtic at Celtic Park in 2001, so who did he turn to? The Dreaded Dutchman – Benito Kemble! Kemble became a bit of a cult hero with Saints fans, with one fanzine even giving away Kemble Wigs before one game, however his legs were gone by the time he signed for Saints. Was released in March 2002 and went on to play for giants such as, er, Syracuse FC and FC Omniworld!

Mark Connolly

Derek McInnes approached his old pal, Owen Coyle, who was then manager at Bolton Wanderers and enquired about the possibility of taking some of his more promising youngsters on loan to St Johnstone and Coyle recommended Mark Connolly who duly signed on loan until the end of the 2009/10 season. McInnes’ ex mentor and former Bolton Wanderers boss also recommended Connolly and high hopes were held by both the management and fans that the young Irish defender who had signed for Bolton from Wolves for £1 million pounds would be a success. In truth he was a total disaster! Connolly started in a away game against Hamilton Accies and was woefully out of his depth, so much so that he was hooked at half time! Further to this Connolly alienated himself from the Saints faithful by giving a media interview in which he spoke of his love for Celtic and a lure of signing had been getting the opportunity to kick Rangers players!  McInnes later remarked at a Meet the Manager evening that he was “one of the worst players he had ever seen”! Connolly is now strutting his stuff at Crawley Town.

Jordan Tait

Ask most St Johnstone fans and Jordan Tait will likely feature in their worst ever St Johnstone XI! Former playing legend, John Connolly signed Jordan Tait in July 2004. Tait listed Arbroath, Ayr United and Ross County amongst his former clubs. Tait went on to make 14 appearances for Saints which still haunt fans until this day. Thankfully sense was seen and he was released by mutual consent in March 2005.

Midfield

David Bagan

David Bagan agreed a controversial pre-contract with St Johnstone in January 2005 and was expected to not leave Queen of the South until the summer, however QOS reluctantly let Bagan move to Saints on January the 31st 2005. Bagan had a decent pedigree and was part of the Kilmarnock Scottish Cup Winning team in 1997 so much was expected of him when he joined the club, however he didnot live up to expectations and only made 4 starts for the club, before being released in August 2005 after the departure of the manager who signed him, John Connolly.

John Paul McBride

One of the laziest, most frustrating footballers I have ever watched! What made it even worse that was Saints paid Celtic £200,000 in Feburary 1999 to secure his services. Sandy Clarks first signing at the club came with a big reputation and was classed as one of the “most gifted players of his generation”. There was no doubting his talent, however his attitude and effort was non existent. John Paul McBride left Saints in May 2002 and went on to play for Derry City, Partick Thistle, Stenhousemuir, Stirling Albion and Low Waters Miners Welfare! McBride’s attitude to Saints could be summed up by the day he turned up a training proudly sporting a new, huge Celtic tattoo on his back!

Alan Mahood

When I mentioned that I was writing this blog on my twitter page and asked for suggestions, more than a few suggested Alan Mahood would be included in their Worst Ever St Johnstone XI! Mahood frustrated fans with his passing, he never seemed to be able to pass the ball forward, instead it was always backwards and sideways and usually to an opposition player! John Connolly signed him in August 2004 and he played 7 times for the club before moving back to former club Morton in November 2004.

Robert Sloan

Yet another John Connolly signing! Sloan was brought through the Hearts Youth Scheme and had a decent reputation when Connolly went on to sign him for Saints in 2005, however he was woefully out of his depth and went on to manage only 8 appearances for the club, before being released by new manager Owen Coyle in 2006. Has went on to forge a decent careers in the lower leagues with Alloa, Raith Rovers and East Fife.

Forwards

Michael Moore

Michael Moore was voted the 3rd Division Player of the Year for the 2003/4 season, after banging in 24 goals in 31 appearances for Stranraer and his arrival at St Johnstone was treated with excitement by the fans when he signed a three year deal for the club for the fee of £35,000. The excitement around Moore gathered momentum during the pre-season in 2004/05 when Moore notched several goals in friendlies, however he went on to become a major disappointment when the season eventually started. Much like Sloan he just didn’t look at ease in the 1st Division and despite plenty of effort he just didn’t live up to the hype. Saints finally agreed to let him go back to Stranraer in 2005.

Dyron Daal

Owen Coyle must have been on some heavy Class A’s when he decided to sign John Stewart and Dyron Daal to spearhead the clubs strike force in the clubs attempts to get promoted to the SPL in the 2007/8 season! Daal came through the famous Ajax Youth Scheme and came to Scotland in 2006 when he signed for Aberdeen. Things didn’t work out for Daal at Aberdeen, however he joined Dundee in a loan deal in 2007 and scored 5 goals in 6 games. Daal couldn’t be faulted for effort, however I have seen better players on public pitches than this lad! Daal seemed to spend more time in Perth’s pubs and clubs than he did on the pitch and he was punted in January 2008. Daal went on to play for North Queensland Fury, where his strike partner was Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler! Daal also had spells playing in China and Vietnam.

Manager: John Connolly

After Billy Stark was sacked, Geoff Brown caved into fan pressure and appointed former playing legend John Connolly. Connolly had a good record at Queen of the South, where he had led them to the 2nd Division title and also won the Challenge Cup. Connolly was regarded by many of the older generation of St Johnstone fans as the greatest player they had seen play for the club and he was a vital part of the Willie Ormond era at the club in the 1970’s before moving to Everton for £75,000 in 1972. Unfortunately Connolly’s status as a legend was somewhat tarnished by his spell in charge of the club as manager. Connolly was appointed manager in April 2004, however after only 39 games in charge and only winning one game in his spell in charge in 2005, which left Saints languishing at the lower reaches of the 1st Division, Connolly was sacked in April 2005.

If you’d like to read more from Gregg Aitchison then make sure to follow him on twitter.