Nick Dasovic looks back on time in Perth

Sunday 19th February

In the run up to the club's 132nd birthday this Friday as well as our #SaintsDay home match with Kilmarnock, this week we'll be speaking to Saints players past and present to talk about their highpoints in Perth and on what they think makes the club special. First up is Nick Drummond-Hay's interview with Nick Dasovic...

In his six years at St Johnstone, Canadian midfielder Nick Dasovic scored in the 1998 Scottish League Cup final, helped Saints finish third in the league and scored against French giants Monaco in the UEFA Cup. From his home in Vancouver he spoke to the club website about his fond memories at McDiarmid Park.

“I enjoyed my time at Saints, it was a good club and I tell people it was a situation where the club was good for me and I think I was good for the club, it was a really mutual feeling there. I never thought of going somewhere else, I was happy there and my wife was happy. One of my kids was born there so we have always got that Scottish blood running through our family.

“First of all learning the Scottish language was the first challenge, and trying to figure out what Roddy Grant was telling me! We had a really close knit group of guys, a lot of guys living in the Perth area so after training sessions we would go for coffees or lunches, we always stuck together.

“The dressing room was just a comedy fest, guys like Paul Kane, Roddy Grant and Alan Preston just would non-stop be telling jokes and I was pretty much the brunt of a lot of them. It was a really fun dressing room and I enjoyed going to work every day”.

When asked about who he thought was the best player he played with during his time at Saints, Nick struggled to come up with just one answer, praising the quality and commitment of all the teams he was part of.

“The best goal keeper was Alan Main, he was a terrific goalkeeper. One of my closest friends in Scotland when I lived there and we still keep in touch. He could have been a Scotland goalkeeper, and he was, but I think he could have got a few more games, I think he deserved it.

“The best finisher we ever had, for me, was Roddy Grant.

“One guy that played beside me for a few years when we really had that success was Paul Kane. Paul Kane was terrific, he really was. He was so simple as a player, there was no flash. Simple passer of the ball but effective, hard worker and he was hard as nails. I remember we were playing Aberdeen once and this player from Aberdeen took out Paul, nastily took him out and Paul just got up slowly and looked at him and said ‘I’ll see you in five minutes’ and five minutes later this same lad was on the ground!”

Since retiring, Nick has coached in the MLS and managed Canada under 23’s and under 20’s. He was linked with the St Johnstone job in 2011 when Derek McInnes left for Bristol City.

“I actually put my name in the hat a long time ago when Steve Lomas got the job. It’s funny because in no way do I feel I am any kind of legend at St Johnstone but I just feel that people think fondly of me and I think fondly of them. I always say that if I went back and managed them and had an absolute stinker, how would that affect everything. I want to get back into management for sure, but managing a team that you had a really successful time with as a player is a really dangerous notion to take up. I think I will wait to see if they call me but I think I will be waiting for a while though.

“It’s funny, you go through life as a footballer and I played nineteen years and you go ‘which were your clubs?’ and for me, my favourite club would have to be St Johnstone”.

Nick currently resides in Vancouver and started up a coaching school with fellow Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame inductee, Andrea Neil.

“This is kind of family time for me, so I’m coaching one of my kids teams and I’m doing some TV and radio. We started a program where we are mentoring coaches and also trying to augment individual training sessions for individuals that are keen on going to Europe, It keeps us busy and keeps me out of trouble”.

PHOTO: Nick Dasovic attending a match at McDiarmid Park in 2012.