St Johnstone manager goes for a bit of culture

Apr 29 2008

STUART McCAFFREY yesterday signed a two year deal at Perth and set his sights on repaying manager Derek McInnes for showing faith in him.

The defender was brought to McDiarmid in the January transfer window but a freak foot injury wrecked his season.

He made an immediate impact with a debut goal against Partick Thistle but pulled up in his next outing.

But now his move from Inverness Caley Thistle has been made permanent and McInnes is adamant that Perth fans are getting a cultured defender for next season's promotion push.

The Perth manager will talk with several out of contract players this week and thrash out who is staying and who is going, although several key performers have already pledged their futures to St Johnstone.

Short term signing Jody Morris and Dundee winger Gavin Swankie are still top of the wish list and McCaffrey joined home grown midfielder Kevin Moon by penning a new contract.

Midfielder Paul Sheerin has been offered a new contract and is mulling it over. But the body language of keeper Kevin Cuthbert and Goran Stanic at the final whistle in a 5-2 win over Livingston looked like farewell bows. The Macedonian defender is being linked with East Fife.

Reacting to the McCaffrey deal, McInnes said: "It has been a frustrating time for Stuart and for me. He was brought in to play with Kevin James injured and Kevin Rutkiewicz coming and going with his fitness at that point. Just by bringing him here we got a great reaction from other players. From that point of view his loan signing worked and he scored on his debut.

"He has had his troubles but he's back running now and he'll be a real asset for next season. Stuart is a good defender and uses the ball very well."

McCaffrey said: "It's great to get my long-term future sorted out. It has been an unusual injury, with a tear on the sole of my foot requiring rest.

“It has been disappointing to miss out on so many big games for Saints. Ironically I didn't miss a day's training for two years at Inverness.

"It's a very uncommon injury but now I have a programme to keep me busy over the summer. It happened in my second game. It was an irritation in the warm-up but caused real problems against Raith.

"I went from a real high after scoring on my debut to a major downer. It has been a difficult few months.

“The Thistle game seems a million years ago. It has been a horrendous time and I haven't been much fun to live with. I've been going stir crazy.

"But I'll be ready to perform next season. It's not about making up for lost time. It's about doing what the gaffer brought me here to do. And I want to repay him by helping this club win the title."

Moon (20), a Saints fan before pulling on the jersey, marked his new 12-month deal with a goal against Livi and yesterday he said: "I'm just delighted to get it sorted out. It has always been good here and with experienced guys around me it is a great place to learn.

“Hopefully Jody will be around next season.

"I didn't expect to play much this season so I've been happy with my progress. And looking ahead there's a lot of ambition at the club. And there is real competition for places."