ST KILDA became "knee-jerky" as it strove to work its way out of the mire it found itself in last season and coach Alan Richardson wants to be a more consistent leader in 2019.

The Saints' 2018 quickly became a disaster. After beating Brisbane in round one, they waited almost another three months before recording another victory.

Ultimately, the campaign yielded just four wins and a draw with Greater Western Sydney.

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A review led by football manager Simon Lethlean enacted change, and Richardson himself received plenty of feedback.

"I needed to be a leader that made sure our program was more consistent," Richardson told Melbourne radio station SEN.

"At the time, you thought it was right to change, when things aren't going well. It's that old saying, it's a bit silly to keep doing the same thing and just trying harder, but there's a balance in that.

"There were some things that were a little bit knee-jerky. 

"My focus is to be much more consistent with the way that I oversee and lead the program."

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Long-time football administrator Graeme Allan was brought in last month to help the list management team.

Allan was Collingwood's football boss when Richardson played there and he has provided another sounding board for the coach to work off.

"He's saddled up alongside me at training and just had a chat and asked questions about why we do that," Richardson said.

"He sits in meetings and says 'Yeah, that's good' and 'Have you thought about that?'. He's going to be really good for all of us."

Richardson will head to New York on December 8 for a leadership course at Columbia University.