I can understand why people are saying Callum Davidson should have been the manager of the year instead of Steven Gerrard, particularly if he does go on today and adds the Scottish Cup to the League Cup, but that’s the nature of these awards given when the votes are cast.
What I would say though is that it was a real job that Steven Gerrard and his staff did too, because there was huge pressure on them to stop 10 in-a-row. That’s huge, that’s incredible pressure, and I think that was a terrific achievement.
It was probably a little bit easier than they thought it would be, that’s for sure, but they handled the pressure. They also put pressure on other people, and nobody could respond to that.
So, I have no difficulty whatsoever in saying that Steven Gerrard deserves his manager of the year award, but for Callum even to be in contention given the magnitude of Gerrard’s achievement, shows just how well he has done.
There is no doubt about it that it would be the best thing that has ever happened to St Johnstone were he to get a trophy double, and he would be iconic at the club for doing that.
I spoke to Callum on Thursday with the most unusual request before a cup final. Normally, when you talk to a manager just before a cup final, you’re after something. And I was, in fairness.
I said to him ‘I know you’re very good at tennis, I’m after six tennis rackets and some baws’, because I’m holidaying in that area with my family.
Once I had my rackets and tennis baws I was quite happy, and we eventually got round to talking about the cup final.
I worked with Callum for a year with Scotland and it was excellent fun. He really added to the team. We were so lucky to have great coaches working with us, and he was excellent.
He always kept us thinking, which was good. You always want a coach who can make you think.
To be fair, like Mark McGhee, he got used to it too when he made a suggestion that maybe wasn’t so good, the other two of us would just make a face at him as if he was daft and he picked up on that right away. We all got used to that with one another, when two of our faces went into weird positions, we knew that it maybe wasn’t the best idea we had come away with.
It was good, and he remained balanced all the way through. No matter what happens, there is a nice balance to him, and it seems to be the same when I watch him at games in charge of St Johnstone.
He only really shows real emotion at the end of the game. We taught him not to celebrate too early, a lot can change.
We’ve obviously kept in touch since then, which has been great.
The Scotland thing came about through word of mouth really. I spoke to other people in the game and his name came up as someone who was well thought of.
He’s done his bit as an assistant and then thought ‘ok, I’ll have a bash at this’. There’s not many who have his type of success right away.
If you ask anyone, the football Gods can really give you some body blows, but he seems to have stepped up and everything has gone right for him.
So, he just needs to be ready when the blows come, because they will come somewhere. You don’t know when and where they are coming, but they always do.
But he has that balance to him, and that’s why he’s been able to handle situations like the Covid outbreak so well. He doesn’t give much away, which is good, but I don’t think that’s a persona with him or put on. That’s what he’s like.
When you play golf with him nothing bothers him, he makes a bad shot and he just carries on, whereas me and Mark will be feeling sorry for ourselves for five holes. He just puts it aside and carries on.
He’s meant to be good at every sport, so I hear, that’s why I phoned him about the tennis rackets. I think I could have given him a call about a canoe and he would have had one.
You’re so delighted when you see players you’ve worked with or coaches you’ve worked with doing well, it’s fantastic.
Jack Ross has done a fantastic job as well at Hibs. His team play entertaining football, there is a fluidity to them and they have two strikers who can score goals and who have adapted to help the team in midfield too.
Years ago, pundits used to say that 4-4-2 and variations thereof were old-fashioned, Really? It’s great to watch.
Jack has had a knock at Sunderland, but he has come back from that strongly and that will stand him in good stead.
There is more variation of play with Hibs, but St Johnstone are a huge danger at set-pieces. They have a great way of knowing what the other team is going to do, and cancelling that out.
It must be hard work to play against them. Teams know when they come up against St Johnstone, it’s going to be a hard day, that’s for sure. And the St Johnstone players know that too, that’s why they keep going.
It’s set up to be a cracker and I can’t really lose. I have a good friend involved on one side and the team I supported as a boy on the other. So bring it on!
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel