History is our team talk

Job done, we have had a week of celebration and back slapping.  Meanwhile, in Perth, a squad are playing for their livelihoods, playing to make mortgage payments and ensure they have a wage come July.

St Johnstone may be second bottom of the league, but their last defeat was four games ago, narrowly to Newco, they have beaten Hearts, and taken draws at Pittodrie and Easter Road in the last two months.  The gap to St Mirren and safety has narrowed to six points; tomorrow we face a side with momentum.

One of football’s endearing lessons to me arrived in April 2005.  We went to Ibrox and won 1-2, the mood was similar to what it is right now, as we thought we had done the difficult work.  A home game against Tony Mowbray’s Hibs was up next.

There were all sorts of rumours of what went wrong that day, but the upshot is that a poor Hibs side left Glasgow with a 1-3 win.  Celtic lost the title by a a single point three weeks later.  No one saw that outcome after the win at Ibrox.

If you think tomorrow is all about celebrating what happened on Sunday, let me dissuade you.  If we beat St Johnstone, we will have to show even greater appetite than we know they will have.  For this one, history is our team talk.

I’ve been out this morning and not had a chance to catch up with Dermot Desmond’s subtle musings. Maybe next week.