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Of all the players that signed for St. Johnstone in recent history, surely David Irons must rank as one of the unluckiest.
Just a quarter of the way into his competitive debut for the club, and down he goes. Just a knock? No, the midfielder/ defender has suffered the most serious injury of his career, and misses out for the rest of the season.
Although he made a successful comeback from the injury, this time coincided with some of the clubs stormiest years.
Now player/manager at East League Annan Athletic, Irons is serving his managerial apprenticeship.
Kenneth Johnston caught up with David at his current full-time job at Dumfries and Galloway College...
How did your move to St. Johnstone come about?
It was basically as a result of a pay dispute I was having with Partick Thistle. I had just completed what I believed was my best season as a professional in terms of recognition and performances. Ray Farningham and myself signed for Thistle a few season before in a joint deal from Dunfermline. Part of that agreement was that if we got promoted we would get a financial bonus, but when we did go up, Thistle did not come up with the goods. The summer before the move to Saints, Thistle offered me a new contract on the promise that we would drop the court action. We were not prepared to do that.
It was at this point that Saints moved in for you. Had you ever considered a move to Perth?
I had always been impressed with McDiarmid Park, who couldn't be. When John McClelland phoned me, I thought the team was going places and that there were good players at the club. He impressed me and it felt a good move.
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Davie in Saints colours
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So were you injured when you signed for Saints?
I had been pre-season training and I felt a wee twinge and I thought I had better tell the club. But I played in the tour of the North East of England. I felt it was not right before the game against Carlisle United, so I was left out. When we got home, we were preparing for the first game away at Raith Rovers, but I was suspended for the first two games. I then played in the game against Dundee United for 20 minutes. I had ruptured an Achilles. Initially it was diagnosed as just being swollen. Even then, looking back, I knew it was more serious than that. The club tried everything to get it right again, but then I was told that it was slightly torn, and I needed an operation. At that point we thought that I would be back by January, but then I reactivated the injury in the gym, and we had to repeat the whole process.
In the meantime, the club had a disastrous start to the season and John McClelland left. Paul Sturrock was brought in, what changes did he make?
Being injured, I was not totally aware there was a new manager. I felt sorry for John McClelland. He put faith in me, and I had not really played a game for him. Looking back, he did not have the backing of the players and if you are looking at results, then yes, he probably deserved to go. As for Paul Sturrock, everybody knew he had been coaching at Dundee United under Jim McLean, and everybody assumed he would learn good things from him. As when all new managers come in, you get a reaction from the players. They are playing for their futures. As for me, the club continued to be great as far as the treatment of the injury was concerned. They could not do enough for me. I was sent to Lillieshall and they were trying to keep me involved in things. I think if I had been at a lesser club, I would not have got the treatment I got.
When the new manager came in did you ever consider leaving?
Never. I had not kicked a ball for Saints. I wanted to prove that I had been worth signing. Never did I think of leaving.
Despite the best efforts of everyone, Saints were still relegated to Division One. Did you think the club were geared to go straight back up again?
We had a reasonable side that season, but when you are regarded as automatic promotion favourites, everyone wants to beat you. We did play well in some games. We drew Hearts in the Coca-Cola Cup at Tynecastle and we tore them to shreds. We were so up and down that season. It is easy to be critical of Sturrock as he was learning his trade as a manager, but he tried to be a Jim McLean and it did not work. He was changing things a lot.
In general it was a bad season that year, but what was the worst point?
We lost 4-0 to Stenhousemuir in the Cup, which was probably my most embarrassing night. We actually started the game quite well, but they caught us with a couple of break-away goals. Sturrock had a few words with us after that game, but in the weeks
after that we actually went on a good run. We went on to finish about fourth, but being in the First Division, that was not good enough.
The following season you left Saints, but it was a traumatic time wasn't it?
It was. One of my last games was at Tannadice against Dundee United, the game in which Sturrock had his heart problem. I said to the referee that he had better stop the game because something was seriously wrong, although we did not know who with at that stage, as there were so many people around the dug-out. When the game was stopped, we very quickly realised what had happened.
What was playing the rest of that game like?
When we got in again at half-time, John Blackley tried to calm us all down. Whether we liked Sturrock or not, we were all concerned. We just wanted to know how he was. Blackley tried to keep everything as normal as he could. It was a difficult second half and we lost 2-1. That was one of my last games for Saints. Soon after, John Blackley called me in and told me that I would never play for Saints again while Sturrock was in hospital. After that Sturrock said that he would take things easier and delegate a lot more. But instead of taking training, all he would do was stand at the giant window at the entrance to the ground and watch us train. Obviously he could not switch off.
What did you think of Sturrock as a manager?
When he became his own man, I never questioned his knowledge of the game. Having played at the level he did and representing Scotland, you are going to pick skills up. But he tried to be somebody he was not. I got on all right with him, but some of his personal skills were poor. Before a league game we were told that if we won, the same side would be picked for a cup-tie against Hearts the following week. We won the game, but for some reason, I was dropped from the cup tie. I was not given any reason why, and I lost a lot of respect for Sturrock then. He had this routine that we were told to come in to do some set pieces before games. If you were involved in this, then you would be playing, if you were not involved, then you would be dropped. Sturrock never told players that they were being dropped. He left that for John Blackley to do.
What did you make of his style of play?
To be honest, I thought he was a bit too negative. I suppose, maybe, we just have different styles of management, but he did not allow the players to express themselves to the extent I felt he should. He had a real desire for perfection and did not like things going wrong. He used to slaughter George O'Boyle for not working hard enough for the team.
Were you sad to eventually leave St. Johnstone for Clydebank?
It was in a way quite sad. I suppose I knew it was the beginning of the end of my career and I was sad because I had not achieved what I wanted to achieve. But I knew when Attila Sekerlioglu was signed that my days were numbered. I did not really rate him personally. Like a lot of foreign players, I felt that he flattered to deceive. Fans in general get conned by players like him. I have seen it so many times before. I knew I was leaving. I had a year left on my contract, but you know if your face fits or not. It was obvious I was not needed. I remember clearly the day I left. I was driving down to Clydebank when I heard on the radio about the Dunblane shootings.
Do you ever think you will return to McDiarmid Park as a manager?
I still look out for the St. Johnstone scores on a Saturday, as I do for all the teams I played for. I would love to get the opportunity to manage a full-time club, but I do not imagine sides will look beyond senior clubs when picking their managers. There are a lot of former players and managers better than me that are not currently in jobs. I would certainly consider returning to St. Johnstone as manager, but I do not see it happening.
Interview: Kenneth Johnston
Interview originally appeared: Issue 6 (August 2001)
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