Derek Riordan

[ictbob]

Heard hes on trial at saint Johnstone.wish we could tempt players of his class north.

[Sorted]

.....is a bawbag who should be kept as far away from TCS as possible. Thankfully, we don't have the money to squander on him!

[kencar]

Riordan would be an asset to most SPL teams on the pitch but he does come with a large amount baggage.

Something that struck me however, is how a club like St Johnstone can manage/afford to attract & sign players like him, Sheridan, Sandaza, etc? They have the lowest average attendance in the SPL and yet seem to be outcompeting other so called 'big fish' and considering we are a club of very similar demographics, far outstripping us on the pitch. The only real advantage I can think of is there geographical location relative to ours, is it as simple as that?

Edited March 23, 2012 by kencar

[Yngwie]

Something that struck me however, is how a club like St Johnstone can manage/afford to attract & sign players like him, Sheridan, Sandaza, etc?

I was wondering that too. There's no doubt at all that geography gives them a big advantage over us in attracting players, but they still need the money for wages that are likely to be bigger than the amounts we pay our top players.

They run a very tight ship financially and stay out of debt. They've had some help with that over the years - the stadium was given to them, with no rent to pay, and they got a £1.75m windfall for selling Callum Davidson. More recently I'd imagine they got a tidy sum when McInnes left.

Both ourselves and them had big clearouts in the summer but theirs worked out better.

[Alex MacLeod]

They also run a thriving catering facility. There restuarant is full every day for lunches and they have fairly busy conferencing, wedding, funeral receptions etc throughout the year. Their lottery is promoted in almost every pub in town and they have some very good sponsorship deals with the bigger local business's. They may be short on fans but they are very good at other aspects of the income business.

[Scarlet Pimple]

Does ICT have a lottery, Alex?

There must be other money coming in to their club from somewhere--a wealthy investor?

On the park, this team looks well-trained, hard working and has ability. They also look like they have an upbeat spirit which usually emanates from harmony, and not stress-related problems, within the club. So players of ability will feel that they are playing for a good team, even if it is small, and will feel good coming to work every day.

You can understand a foreign player who is past his best wanting to ease out of football by coming to what is regarded as a league that is inferior to English or Spanish top flight ones but still wants a decent wage and/or signing on fee.Yet ( the likes of )Sandaza does not look as if he is on the verge of collapse and appears to still be passionate about his game. So he must be really quite happy there.

The whole set-up seems odd doesn't it? But there must be money somewhere because I feel that he is probably being well-rewarded.

Come to think of it how does ICT survive and keep their players happy too?

[caley100]

Aye, its called the centenary club.

Alex's post reiterates what i wrote in the post 'Muirfield mills' we just dont get our act together as a community club and get investment in as much as Saints.

Until we have a change at the top and alter our amateur set-up nothing is going to happen.

[Alex MacLeod]

The difference between the Centenary club and the Super J's lottery is that ours has fixed prizes whereas there's has a roll-over element that can go over twenty grand. As the prize fund climbs more people enter it so more cash comes in.

[Libero]

He has signed for St Johnstone, he may well be a player with quite a lot of baggage but i think he will be a good signing for them

No confirmation on how long the deal is but the Saints have a pretty formidable frontline at the moment with Sandaza, Sheridan and Riordan. Given our striking problems of late i am pretty envious of their striking options at the moment

[bdu98196]

Agreed, although I can only assume any deal will be short term - helps them into top 6 and gets him in the 'shop window'. St J probably wont be paying what he was on at HIbs before where he was highest earner, would expect him to move to England in the summer for more cash.

Player with a lot of ability and I think on his day he can excel on the pitch and be the best player if he wants but often he doesnt perform. Not a player we could realistically afford.

[ICTPaisley]

Current deal is till the end of the season.