Stevie May is adamant there is no need for St Johnstone to consider following the lead of relegation rivals Dundee by changing their manager in an attempt to beat the drop.
The two sides are separated only by a point at the foot of the cinch Premiership and the Dens Park club rolled the dice by sacking boss James McPake on Wednesday and replacing him with the more experienced Mark McGhee.
May insists Saints should not be entertaining thoughts of doing likewise with their own double cup-winning boss Callum Davidson, even though the Perth side have won only one of their last 16 matches.
“St Johnstone has always been a club where managers get time,” he said. “The kind of stuff he’s done already shows his capabilities.
“Everyone’s been behind him the whole time. Teams can go on bad runs and we’ve done that before and turned it round, so there’s no reason it should be any different this time.
“The manager has done a great job here since he came in. A few of us had played with him when he was a player and he was assistant manager before he became the manager so he knows the club really well and he’s the best man for the job.”
McPake was sacked by Dundee after two consecutive wins. Asked how he thought such a decision might affect their relegation rivals, May said: “You would have to be in amongst the Dundee players to get a feel for how it might affect them.
“Things like that can go either way. They could get a boost but it could go the other way if the players weren’t happy with the sacking. That’s all speculation though because I don’t know anyone at Dundee or about their situation.
“They’ve picked up a few results recently so it was a surprise to me, but they must have an idea of what they want to do going forward. We just need to focus on ourselves.”
After a run of 11 defeats in a row, Saints have lost only one of their last five ahead of Saturday’s cinch Premiership at home to Hearts.
“I think over the last few weeks we’ve started to put together a few performances and picked up points here and there,” said May.
“We’re disappointed not to have picked up more points because a couple of other games could have gone our way but spirits are still good within the team.
“We look to have turned the corner in terms of performances and the fans are right behind us.”
‘Maybe I’ll be signed by Wrexham, who knows? English football would suit me – if an offer came, I wouldn’t think twice, I’d go immediately’ Euro 2024 cult hero reveals his UK dream
‘Managing Leeds? It was an option that appeared, but it wasn’t the right timing. I decided it wasn’t a good idea to leave the club I was at mid-season’: Premier League boss admits to turning down opportunity to replace Jesse Marsch in 2023
