‘I studied’ – Simo Valakari names the Premiership side that helped St Johnstone beat Celtic

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First of all, credit to Simo Valakari and his St Johnstone side for a much-deserved win against Celtic.

Yes, on paper, this is embarrassing for Celtic, because you are losing to a team bottom of the table and heading towards relegation from the Premiership.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	CelticCeltic	32	25	3	4	92	21	71	78
2	RangersRangers	32	20	5	7	66	33	33	65
3	HibernianHibernian	32	13	11	8	50	41	9	50
4	AberdeenAberdeen	32	14	7	11	43	47	-4	49
5	Dundee UtdDundee Utd	32	13	8	11	40	40	0	47
6	Heart Of MidlothianHeart Of Midlothian	32	11	6	15	43	44	-1	39
7	St MirrenSt Mirren	32	11	5	16	42	52	-10	38
8	MotherwellMotherwell	32	11	5	16	37	56	-19	38
9	KilmarnockKilmarnock	32	9	8	15	37	53	-16	35
10	Ross CountyRoss County	32	9	8	15	31	53	-22	35
11	DundeeDundee	32	9	7	16	50	67	-17	34
12	St JohnstoneSt Johnstone	32	8	5	19	33	57	-24	29

But it was a deserved loss, and despite Celtic fans filling up three stands, they couldn’t do enough to push their team over the line.

After that early goal from St Johnstone, they kept the champions-elect as quiet as they could during the opening 45, and then Brendan Rodgers rang the changes.

The likes of Nicolas Kuhn were hauled off at the break, and whilst it worked because the performance was far better, at the end of the day, Celtic left Perth empty-handed and without even scoring.

• READ MORE: James McFadden speaks the truth about James Forrest after Celtic’s defeat to St Johnstone

Simo Valakari on studying Celtic’s draw against Dundee United before St Johnstone

Back in December, when Celtic were still unbeaten, seriously flying, and at their best, they rocked up at Tannadice, dropped points and also failed to score.

That was the first time during the domestic campaign that the Treble-chasers hadn’t put the ball into the back of the net, and it seems as though Simo Valakari ‘studied’ that match to help his St Johnstone side beat Celtic.

Valakari explained how Dundee United’s set-up for that match provided him with the inspiration to change his tactics, as he told Sky Sports.

“As we were talking before the game, we need the points and the win,” said Valakari. “We knew it. We needed to go out there. Put our heart and soul for the performances.

“First of all, I want to say, we were very badly hurt, by our pride, from last weekend and our performance. We aren’t that bad a team, as we showed, so it was just a matter to go out there.

“Then the boys, they played, enjoyed and worked hard. We need some heroics. Andy Fisher, great saves, our defenders, how they do it and, our strikers, how they defended, then you give yourself a chance.

“There has been a lot of talking about how we want to play. But, sometimes, I studied a lot of Celtic. How they are playing, and there have been games, that teams have gone to press them very hard, and then if you don’t take your chance, they pick you up.

“Dundee United played a 4-4-2 a couple of months ago. Back home. Nice and solid. Winning the moments, then I was thinking, if I remember right, that is the only game Celtic haven’t scored, so let’s try this. We trained a full week to do that, then, of course, you need to take your chances, as we did.”

Valakari’s ‘comfortable’ claim is worrying for Celtic

Yes, Rodgers has called out the players’ mentality, and he thinks it’s easy for some players to produce the goods when they are underdogs.

But this is a bottom table club. For large parts, whilst St Johnstone have tried to play the pretty stuff, they have struggled, and there is a reason they could head down.

Yet, their manager comes out and says it was ‘comfortable’ for his side, and that should be very worrying and concerning if you are of a Celtic persuasion, because that simply shouldn’t be happening.

“Yes, we knew it and that we needed to make these saves, and defend well,” added Valakari. “But, I felt, pretty okay and comfortable.

“I was hoping we would score (again). We had a couple of chances to score more goals.”