St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari has praised his team's start to the season but insists there is significant room for improvement. The Saints sit seventh in the Scottish Premiership with seven points from their opening six matches ahead of hosting Falkirk this Saturday.
Valakari, now in his second year at the McDiarmid Park helm, is not surprised by the team's solid foundation. "Am I surprised where we are? No, because I have seen these players now for one year," he said. The Finnish coach is happy with the squad assembled over the summer but acknowledges performances have been inconsistent.
While some displays have felt complete, Valakari pointed out that in other games the team let themselves down and took no points. The recent run of form illustrates his point, with one win, one draw and three defeats in the last five outings. A 2-1 victory over Hibernian was followed by a narrow 1-0 home loss to champions Celtic last time out. You can review the full sequence of results on our fixtures page.
"There is a lot of room for improvement as well," Valakari stated, underlining his demand for higher standards. The team has scored eight goals but conceded nine, leaving them with a negative goal difference after six games.
Valakari is braced for a tough challenge against a Falkirk side fresh from their first league win, a 2-1 success over Hearts. He is very impressed with John McGlynn's team, noting their high energy and ability to compress opponents. "They have legs to put teams under pressure and they can play nice football with rotations and technical players," Valakari observed. He believes that result against Hearts tells you everything about the threat Falkirk, currently 10th, now pose.
The manager's focus is on ensuring his own team is ready to meet that challenge and start converting performances into points more consistently. St Johnstone's next opportunity comes at McDiarmid Park on Saturday, 19 September, against Falkirk. The current league standings show an 11-point gap to leaders Celtic that Valakari's men will aim to close.
Further reading: bbc.com
