St Johnstone: Why do they find themselves in a Premiership Perth pickle?

Overly nearly four decades, St Johnstone were transformed under the ownership of Geoff Brown.

Davidson says the businessman and son Steve, who succeeded his father as chairman, “were unbelievable for me and for St Johnstone”.

He suggests “there was a core of 13, 14, 15 players” and that they only needed to add three or four each season to ensure continuity.

“They weren’t the biggest-paying club, and we weren’t going to get the ball and play 30 passes, but everybody bought in to what was successful and what it meant to people,” Davidson said.

“Towards the end of my career, that wasn’t happening. You were going in, there were two or three of us left, there were people coming in who didn’t know the league, didn’t know what the club was about.”

Having announced in December 2022 that he was selling the club, it was not until summer 2024 that American businessman Adam Webb took over from Geoff Brown.

There will inevitably have been a period of uncertainty in the intervening 18 months – and uncertainty rarely creates an environment conducive to success.

“The last eight, nine, 10 windows, they have had to panic buy,” Davidson adds.

Now a St Johnstone fan looking in, the club legend hopes they can return to the stability and success of the not too distant past.

With relatively new owners at the helm, and with a manager who wants to try to play the right way, the future could still be bright for the McDiarmid Park club.

However, a lot of that may depend on whether Valakari and his players can produce a Houdini-style Premiership survival act over the coming weeks.