Tuesday 25 October 2016 17:01, UK
St Johnstone chairman Steve Brown believes it's only a matter of time before manager Tommy Wright is taken by a club in England.
The Perth-based businessman says he is realistic about the chances of keeping the Northern Irishman in charge for the long term given the success he has brought to the club.
Wright has guided St Johnstone to three consecutive top-six Premiership finishes and won the Scottish Cup since taking over as manager in the summer of 2013.
Brown said: "His record speaks for itself, Tommy has done a terrific job. At some point unfortunately he will probably get taken down south or somewhere else but that's something that comes with success."
Asked if a move for Wright was imminent, Brown responded: "Not that I am aware of but I think in the English season when you get to November and December a few managers lose their jobs, probably because the transfer window is in January, so that will be the time we'll be on alert.
"It's very much a compliment. He's doing excellent with St Johnstone on the park. It's not just the results, it's the way we have been playing as well. We picked up the Scottish Cup a couple of years ago which is the pinnacle of the club's football history."
Wright was appointed to the managerial position having been the assistant to Steve Lomas, who left for Millwall in the English Championship, at the end of the 2012/13 campaign.
And despite winning the club winning the Scottish Cup for the first time in its history since then, Saints chairman Brown has been left exasperated by the lack of impact their success has had on attendances.
"It's been fantastic over the last five or six years," he said. "How we replicate that is very, very difficult. But all aspects of the club are improving. We'd like to get more people to our games but we know the population of Perth is only 40-odd thousand so we've got to be realistic with that percentage.
"Over the last five or six years the success we have had has been unbelievable, but unfortunately that hasn't been shown in an increase in attendance and that's really frustrating."
One way in which St Johnstone are branching out to new supporters is through their newly-formed club Trust.
Since being granted charity status in April, The St Johnstone Community Trust has been involved in a number of projects across Perth and Kinross from kids' coaching sessions to providing support to people with Alzheimer's by reminiscing about old matches and stories.
From our point of view and for our club’s size I think it’s essential we engage with the community because if you don’t then there’s no point in being here.
And Brown hopes this type of involvement not only helps the numbers at McDiarmid Park, but the wider society as a whole.
He said: "I think that (improving attendances) will be a slow process, we are going to be honest about it. We'd like to think that anybody that comes here, young or old, that they have an affinity with the club. The point of the Trust is to help the community and to look at the health and well-being in our society, especially in kids.
"The Trust ultimately engages the community and although we are playing in the Premiership, we are a community club. It's vitally important that we engage with all aspects of the community.
"From our point of view and for our club's size I think it's essential we engage with the community because if you don't then there's no point in being here.
"We want to broaden across as many activities as we can and engage as many people as we possibly can."
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