Callum Davidson knows he will never keep Liam Craig quiet but the St Johnstone boss has reminded the rest of his squad to keep their mouths shut after the veteran midfielder’s needless red card last week.
Craig was shown a second yellow card at the final whistle following Saints’ late defeat to Hibernian as he vented his fury at referee John Beaton.
He will now sit out Saturday’s visit of St Mirren to McDiarmid Park on Saturday.
At 33, Davidson admits he will struggle to get the outspoken former Hibernian and Falkirk man to change his ways.
But he does not want the rest of his team copying Craig’s bad habits in front of the match officials.
“I spoke to Liam,” said Davidson. “I know him well and he was obviously disappointed in himself. It was such a frustration as he realised how well we played, yet we didn’t pick up anything from the game.
“But it’s been dealt with internally. He knows himself (he shouldn’t have done it) and he’ll be disappointed not to be involved on Saturday.
“I wouldn’t say it was down to his temper. Let’s just say he likes to talk, that’s the polite way of putting it with Liam.
“I travelled with him in the car for two years, so I know he can talk all right.
“He’s an emotional guy and he was just really frustrated with how the game finished.
“But I’ve said from day one to the players that it’s a big part of my ethos on football, they need to keep disciplined and keep their heads.
“You do get these emotional characters, we’re all different. I’m just a wee bit disappointed that the incident occurred after the game.”
Saints have now suffered back-to-back defeats to Aberdeen and Hibs, having opened the new campaign with four points from the first three games.
But Davidson admits his side are unlikely to turn that run around if they keep stumbling out of the blocks.
The Perth boss, who welcomes back Murray Davidson this weekend after a seven-month injury lay-off, said: “It would nice to get the first goal this weekend against St Mirren.
“We haven’t managed that in the first five games this season. The starts are huge if you can get the first goal in this league, so that’s what we’ll be going out to do on Saturday.
“We’ve played quite well the last couple of games, but when we’re on top we need to make sure that when we have the chances we score.
“That last two games have shown if you don’t you can get sucker-punched at the end.
“I think for our performances, we need to get the goals early doors and give us something to hang on to.”
