The news broke last weekend, Tommy Wright has left St. Johnstone after 7 years at the club and he will go down as the greatest manager in the club's history. There was always one thing he seemed to do better at than any other manager, and that was the split.
The Northern Irishman has helped the Perth side punch well above their weight, securing four top six finishes, and it seems like he has guided them to a fifth after the SPFL voted to end the 2019/20 season for the three lower tiers.
The split is a very niche concept, but one that keeps games competitive right to the end of the season. After 33 games, the league splits into two, a bottom six and a top six. Each club plays the five other teams to make up the 38 game schedule. The only stipulation is that if a team in the bottom six earns more points than a team in the top six, they will stay in seventh, unable to jump up to sixth.
His managerial stats improve in all basic categories when it comes down to the split. The win percentage goes up from 37.4% to 46.7%. Points per game jumps from 1.35 to 1.73. Goals scored per game increases from 1.12 up to 1.47. Goals conceded per game falls from 1.29 down to 1.03. Wright's teams are famous for ebbing and flowing throughout the season, being the definition of feast or famine at times, however when it comes down to the business end of the season, Wright always has his teams playing on top form, beating the best of the best.
There is one notable post-split campaign in particular that I want to focus on. The 2015/16 season. Saints sneaked into the top six, finishing in fifth, but only two points clear of eighth place Partick Thistle. However, this time around, with the Scottish Cup Final being an all championship affair and Hearts in third all ready being mathematically out of reach, there wasn't a Europa League spot to play for, just pride, which is more than enough motivation for Tommy Wright.
The first game of the split saw Aberdeen make the trip down to Perth for a Friday night clash. The home side dominated a Dons side that was still mathematically alive in the title race. Joe Shaughnessy rattled the bar with a header that looked easier to score. However that would only delay the inevitable. David Wotherspoon would open the scoring just 14 minutes in when he found the bottom corner from a 25 yard free-kick. Saints had the ball in the net again just after the half hour mark, however, referee Craig Thomson waived the goal away after Scott Brown in the Aberdeen goal went down like a sack of potatoes despite being surrounded by his own players. The second goal would come minutes later, when a long ball was knocked down by Steven Anderson, Brown was left flapping at mid-air as Steven MacLean got a slight touch to double the host's lead. The rout continued in the second half when Mark Reynolds gifted the ball to Graham Cummins who found an open Liam Craig to calmly finish. Aberdeen barely mustered a shot until Barry Robson had a free-kick well saved, but by that point the game was over. It could've been five or six in the end, but that didn't matter a statement had been made, and a title challenge had been killed.
Onto the the next game which saw them travel up to Dingwall to League Cup winners Ross County at Victoria Park. County came into the game riding the high of their draw at Parkhead the week prior. This game would prove to be a tougher test than that of the previous week, goalscoring options would be hard to come by.The first would fall to the visitors, Danny Swanson found Graham Cummins in space, however, Paul Quinn did enough to block his shot. David Wotherspoon thought he had his tenth goal of the season and a second free-kick goal in two weeks until Scott Fox got his fingertips to the dipping effort. The hosts would threaten first in the second half through a Liam Boyce header, however the visitors drew first blood. In the 56th minute a Danny Swanson corner was met by Joe Shaughnessy, who's downward header was turned over the goal-line by Steven MacLean. They would never relinquish this lead despite the Staggies best efforts. The result saw St. Johnstone leapfrog Motherwell into fourth place. The two sides would meet the next weekend, a win for the Perth team would all but secure fourth.
Fir Park would be the battleground for this clash. Motherwell came off a 4-1 thumping to Aberdeen the previous week and came out the gates with something to prove. They would get their rewards only 4 minutes into the game when Scott McDonald pounced on a defensive mistake to give Motherwell the lead. A well rehearsed free-kick routine couldn't bring the visitors level as Liam Craig hit the post with his strike. Motherwell pushed for a second goal when Marvin Johnson burst forward from left back to provide a good cutback to McDonald, but the Australian lacked the composure to find the net. Brian Easton would have better luck with his cross as Steven MacLean peeled away at the back post and finished into the side netting. Saints would then take the lead before halftime when David Wotherspoon would find a wide open Danny Swanson in the box, one touch to control, one to set himself and another touch to finish. The second half lacked the excitement of the first with Motherwell controlling the ball but being unable to create real scoring opportunities. The win was a massive three points, moving St. Johnstone five points clear in fourth.
The run of three straight wins would surely come to an end against newly crowned champions Celtic when they visited McDiarmid Park on a Wednesday night. Ronny Deila made seven changes to his side coming into the game thinking they could cruise to the end of the season against a bare-bones St. Johnstone side. However, there is no such thing as an easy game against a Tommy Wright side. The first half lacked real clear cut chances, however the game would kick into life in the second. Leigh Griffiths opened the scoring with his 40th goal of the season after working himself some space in the Saints box. The hosts drew level when Stefan Johansen was caught in possession by Steven MacLean who subsequently dinked the ball over the onrushing Logan Bailly. The comeback would be complete when Joe Shaughnessy's cross created panic in the Celtic defence. Efe Ambrose and Bailly both went for the ball, it dropped right in front of Graham Cummins who accepted the gift and tapped home to give Saints the lead. They would make it four wins from four in the split and become the last team to beat Celtic who embarked on a 69 game unbeaten streak domestically which lasted 585 days.
Saints had the chance to run the table and sweep the split when they travelled to Tynecastle four days later. These sides had already played twice in Gorgie this season combining for 10 goals in these games, so on paper it seemed we were in for an entertaining clash. The action would begin almost immediatley as 8 minutes in Graham Cummmins was bundled over in the box. Liam Craig stepped up and dispatched the penalty. The lead would be doubled shortly after when Cummins would poke the ball home following a corner. Hearts halved the deficit when Arnold Djoum's header found the back of the net from 12 yards out. They would go onto level the score in the 20th minute when Prince Buaben's cross deflected off Joe Shaughnessy and beyond Zander Clark in the Saints' goal. The goals would dry up and the game finished 2-2, with the visitors wasting many opportunities to continue their 100% split record.
Tommy Wright guided his side to 4 wins and 1 draw. While other sides might have gotten 5 wins, they probably didn't do it with the small budget Wright had to work with or the fact they had nothing to play for, except pride that is. Before this season was postponed Saints were building momentum to drag themselves off the bottom and shockingly into a race for European football. Despite them being long shots at climbing into fourth sitting nine points off with a game in hand and 10 left to play, I reckon the could have done it and pulled off the impossible because that is just what Tommy Wright was known for.
Comments