Simo Valakari Praises St Mirren's Strong Start to the Season

St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari believes St Mirren are quietly putting together a season that demands attention, even if few outside Paisley have truly noticed.

Craig McLeish’s side opened their Premiership campaign with a statement: a 2-0 win over last season’s surprise package Falkirk. It followed an eye-catching League Cup group stage in which they won three of their four matches, rattled in 12 goals and marched into the next round as defending champions with the kind of authority that suggests last year was no one-off.

Valakari has been watching. Closely.

“I've been very impressed,” he said, and it didn’t sound like a throwaway line.

St Johnstone, back in the Premiership at the first time of asking after relegation, know exactly how unforgiving the top flight can be. That is why the Finn’s assessment of St Mirren carries weight.

He sees a club that has come through the fire.

“How I see the situation, they had a very difficult last season. They survived through the play-offs. They have been able to work on their game. I can see what they try to do.”

Survival, then evolution. St Mirren have added quality, but not at the cost of their edge.

“They brought in good footballers but they still have this, how would you call it, the old DNA of St Mirren, that they are very, very tough. They really want to bully you.”

That blend is what unsettles opponents: footballers who can play, wrapped inside a team that refuses to be pushed around. There is Premiership experience all over the pitch, but Valakari thinks the real power lies in perception.

“They have Premiership experience there, but the biggest thing is, no one expected anything from them and that's why they're going a little bit under the radar.”

If others have been slow to catch on, he hasn’t. Pre-season, friendlies, early competitive fixtures – he has tracked it all.

“I have been watching them all the time. I've seen what they're doing in the pre-season games, there's a clear identity what they want to do and good example was the first [league] game.”

That first league game at Falkirk told its own story. It is not an easy venue: artificial surface, tight surroundings, a home side buoyed by last season’s exploits. St Mirren went there and handled it with the composure of a team that knows exactly who it is.

“They went to Falkirk, not an easy place to go, the surface, the stadium, no away matches in this league are easy.

“They went there and they played a very solid game. They were able to, in the right moments, hold the ball, in the right moments they were very vertical with dangerous running behind.”

Control when needed. Direct and ruthless when the space opened up. It is not flashy, but it is effective. It is also the kind of football that can build momentum quickly in a league where small margins dictate everything.

St Mirren feel that surge now.

“That's what I expected from them and they see this opportunity now as, 'we won the first match, now we play home' so they are building up the momentum there,” Valakari said.

For St Johnstone, that makes the upcoming meeting something more than just another early-season fixture. It becomes a test of their own readiness back in the top flight, against a side that has already shaken off last season’s nerves and is starting to look upward rather than over its shoulder.

“That's why I said it's a tough challenge for us, but it's an exciting challenge for us.”

Under the radar? For some, maybe. For Valakari and St Johnstone, there is no such luxury now.