St Mirren

Liam McLeod
BBC Sport Scotland Commentator

The imminent appointment of Stephen Robinson as Aberdeen manager will surprise many.

Not so much the appointment itself given what Robinson has achieved at St Mirren with a tiny budget compared to the riches handed to predecessor Jimmy Thelin at Pittodrie.

The timing and the process that has ultimately led to it is what has left heads being scratched.

Robinson led Saints to three top six finishes in a row, European football for the first time since 1987 and of course, the League Cup in December, just a fortnight before Thelin was sacked.

If this had happened in January few would have been taken aback, but St Mirren are now on the same trajectory as the rudderless Dons with one win in 13 Premiership games. So, why not make the move two months ago if he is the right man?

Dons sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel has been leading the recruitment process and names like Uwe Rosler, Eirik Horneland and Sandro Schwarz were all linked with the job as the club's search dragged on amid the backdrop of dire results culminating in their Scottish Cup exit in Dunfermline.

How many of Pfannenstiel's targets have looked under the bonnet and thought better of it?

Chairman Dave Cormack has been a fan of Robinson for some time and has made the move to land his man but it feels panicky with interim Peter Leven looking like he had seen a ghost after full-time on Saturday.

Robinson has earned his move personally but the Pittodrie board appears to have many questions to answer about the journey they have undertaken to come up with this solution.

Aberdeen have been given permission to enter formal talks with St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson.

The Dons, currently led by caretaker boss Peter Leven, are still searching for a permanent manager after Jimmy Thelin was sacked at the start of January.

Robinson, 51, has been at St Mirren since 2022 and has guided the club to three successive top-six finishes as well as this season's League Cup success.

Buddies fans, how do you feel about Robinson's potential exit? And if he goes, who should replace him?

Have your say via this link

Andrew Christie
Fan writer

Sunday at the SMiSA had the feel of a real capital C capital T Cup Tie.

Partick Thistle were decent - second in the Championship, a sold-out away end, genuine belief they could come to Paisley and make the most of their big day.

They made us work. Ben Stanway's sharp volley after 61 minutes gave us a nervier last half hour than we needed.

But Dan Nlundulu's first-half penalty, Jake Young's finish right before the break, and a backline that stood firm when the pressure came got us through relatively comfortably in the end.

Eleven cup games this season. Never been behind once. At some point, you have to stop comparing the St Mirren of the league (boo) to the St Mirren of the cup (yass) and start accepting it as kind of just what we do. I've stopped trying to figure us out.

St Mirren are in the Scottish Cup semi-finals. We face Celtic - the same Celtic we beat 3-1 in December to lift the League Cup.

This squad, which has beaten Hearts, Kilmarnock, Motherwell and Celtic already in cup football this season, will show up. It has a habit of doing that.

Whatever Celtic bring - and they'll bring plenty, because nobody wants to lose to us twice in a national cup final in the same season - this group has shown repeatedly that the bigger the occasion, the more settled they look.

Third Hampden appearance of the season for the Paisley Good Guys. There are supporters of clubs with far greater resources who haven't seen their side at a national stadium that many times this decade, and we're getting "the usual?"-d in the pubs of Mount Florida.

A strange, brilliant, maddening club to support. Good fun, isn't it?

Andrew Christie can be found at Misery Hunters, external

Image source, SNS

New St Mirren striker Jake Young is determined to kick on after his goal beat Partick Thistle and sent the Buddies to Hampden for the third time this season.

The 24-year-old arrived from Stevenage in the winter window and had a tricky start to life in Paisley, being sent off in his first start, but has bounced back to win the trust of his new gaffer and score in his past two games.

"I needed [those goals]," he told BBC Scotland. "It's great to get the goals and it builds the confidence. I've still got a way to go to show my best, but it feels good to get a couple. Hopefully I can kick on and get a couple."

The Buddies will face Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-final, with Dunfermline meeting Falkirk on the other side of the tie.

"We're going to have to play Celtic at some point," Young added. "Just excited about tonight, happy to get to Hampden and looking forward to the challenge ahead."

His performance against Thistle was also praised by both his manager, Stephen Robinson, and his striker partner Dan Nlundulu, who set up Young's goal.

"[For Jake's goal] I was thinking of shooting!" Nlundulu admitted. "But then Jake started screaming. I put him quite wide, and it's a better finish than my pass.

"In training, Jake does that all the time so I trusted him."

Speaking after the match, Robinson said: "I've watched Jake [Young] for a couple of years. We got the opportunity to get him up and we knew it would take time for him to hit the ground.

"But he's the most natural goalscorer we have. And for a club like St Mirren that's difficult to find.

"He scores out of nothing, two great finishes, and when you're not on top of your game, good strikers win games for you."

We asked for your thoughts after St Mirren beat Partick Thistle 2-1 to reach the Scottish Cup semi-finals.

Here's what you had to say:

Gus: If you have a slight winger and a midfielder up front and you're stupid enough to hit high balls towards them, don't moan at them when it doesn't work, especially if you're Mark O'Hara and don't ever act like a captain.

Ian: We managed to beat Thistle without the spark that we needed to win the League Cup and beat Hearts a few weeks ago. If we do not get that spark back for the cup semi-final against Celtic, we are in trouble. Here's hoping.

Anon: An enjoyable evening of football. Thistle supporters filled the away stand which resulted in a good atmosphere and nothing more.

Stuart: Another abysmal performance. In total control first half, then collapsed when they pulled one back. As usual, desperate substitutions just made things worse. And why was Killian Phillips wandering about moaning?

St Mirren are through to their second knock-out semi-final of the season after edging out visitors Partick Thistle 2-1 in the Scottish Cup.

It means they will face Celtic in a rematch of December's League Cup final.

Read the match report.

Let us know your thoughts.

Image source, SNS

St Mirren were handed a rematch with Celtic, who they beat in December's League Cup final, after beating Partick Thistle 2-1 to reach the Scottish Cup semi-finals.

And manager Stephen Robinson tells BBC Scotland: "If you're going to win a cup, you have to beat Celtic or Rangers at some stage - so why not?

"There's a belief that we can do it. We need to be the best version of ourselves - that we haven't been in recent weeks.

"We found a way to win tonight. We have an opportunity to go to Hampden, which for this football club is incredible.

"We've got injuries galore. Marcus Fraser is out for eight weeks, Mika Mandron is out for six or eight weeks and Kion Etete got injured in the warm-up - so we had no strikers to bring on. But we found a way."

Striker Jake Young stepped up with his second goal in two games with what proved to be the winner.

"I've watched Jake for a couple of years," Robinson says of the 24-year-old signed from Stevenage in January. "We got the opportunity to get him up and we knew it would take time for him to hit the ground.

"But he's the most natural goalscorer we have. And, for a club like St Mirren, that's difficult to find.

"He scores out of nothing, two great finishes and, when you're not on top of your game, good strikers win games for you."

Image source, SNS

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson is looking to secure his side's spot in the Scottish Cup semi-final and see off a Partick Thistle side helped on by the man who first brought him to Scottish football.

Ian Baraclough is Thistle's director of football and the pair will face off on Sunday night, 11 years on from when they first worked together.

Baraclough brought Robinson to Motherwell as his assistant where he stayed on to work under Mark McGhee.

The 51-year-old has been in Scottish football for most of the time since then, outwith spells in England with Oldham and Morecambe.

"He will be a massive person to speak to for Mark [Wilson] and Mark will be bouncing things off him all the time, I would imagine," the Northern Irishman said.

"Ian's been there and done it, he's managed at international level as well.

"He gave me my first opportunity in Scottish football when he brought me in as assistant of Motherwell so I have a lot of time and respect for him.

"He hasn't spoken to me for a few weeks, to be fair, so he's gone very quiet. We'll see what he's got to say for himself on Sunday night."

Image source, SNS

St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson has urged the club's fans to get out in numbers on Sunday and back the struggling team as they aim to reach Hampden again.

The Paisley side enjoyed success this season with their Premier Sports Cup triumph but are deep in a Premiership relegation battle and without a win in five games prior to their home Scottish Cup quarter-final against Partick Thistle - live on BBC Scotland.

The ambitious Championship club have already sold out their 1,600 ticket allocation and St Mirren have warned Thistle supporters that any who attempt to infiltrate the home stands will be ejected. Robinson wants the visitors outnumbered and outsung.

He said: "Partick will fill the away end. We need our fans to fill the ground.

"They can be an extra man for us. They've been an incredible support to me and the players throughout the four years. This is when we need them.

"This is when you really, really need your fans. This is when it's harder because you're not winning games. It's easy to be a fan when you get to the cup finals.

"The expectation is massive now. Not met by the resources, but it's been met by the players. We'll try and meet that again. We'll try and work our way through that.

"The group of players have given the fan base something they've not had in a generation, and consistently over four years.

"Now is the time for the fans, and the vast majority of them have been absolutely brilliant with us, to really get behind this group of players and try and drive us into the semi-final."

And the manager is looking for encouragement and positive backing to help reverse the current run of form.

"In any job, getting told you're not very good doesn't really inspire you and that's difficult," he said.

"Everybody's got their right to an opinion, of course, but we have to remember what this group of players have given us. Consistently, not a one-off.

"The fans have given exactly the same back to us and, when everyone comes together and supports through thick and thin, then we can defy the odds."

David Currie
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

I don't wish to alarm you, but I've started looking at how many points teams generally need to avoid finishing second bottom of the Premiership.

Maybe you've done this too.

Forty points pretty much ensures there's no play-off required. Thirty seven is usually good enough. Thirty five? Possibly. Thirty four maybe?

Any lower and things look decidedly dodgy.

St Mirren have 24, three more than Kilmarnock. The way things are going there's a clear and present danger the Buddies could end up scrapping for survival against whichever Championship side prevails in the promotion play-off semi-final.

One win in 13 is relegation form with a capital R. So is five wins in 29. Drilling deeper into the stats is even more depressing.

Eight goals in Paisley, half the total of the next lowest scorers at home (Dundee United). One away win with 30 goals conceded on the road. It makes grim reading so I won't go on.

Pundits who were saying a few weeks ago St Mirren would be fine are now thinking otherwise. Little wonder, when it seems whatever can go wrong, does go wrong.

The trip to Tannadice is a prime example.

Two goals conceded; an own goal (and not just a deflection) and a penalty awarded when the ball struck Alex Gogic's arm as he was appealing for an offside. What are the chances?

The there's the injuries. Stephen Robinson says this season has been the worst in his managerial career for them. For example, just as mainstays Mark O'Hara and Keanu Baccus return, Mikael Mandron is ruled out for the next six weeks at least.

Whatever the causes, they are where they are. The table doesn't lie.

And as Robinson said after the defeat at Tannadice, it is "time to stand up and be counted".

Like they did in the League Cup run perhaps, when Hearts, Kilmarnock, Motherwell and Celtic were put to the sword.

There's a doctoral essay to be written on the reasons for the decline in form since then. Did they peak too early? What impact did the cup run have physically and mentally?

The more important question now is can the Buddies channel that cup spirit and determination in the battle for survival?

Whatever happens in the Scottish Cup quarter final against Partick Thistle and in any subsequent semi-final, if you allow me there are nine 'cup finals' ahead - all of them in the Premiership.

If things don't go to plan then it's 10, including the play off-final. Maybe even 11 if you include the Scottish Cup final. It's been that sort of season.

Perhaps the Buddies will rediscover their missing mojo in Sunday's cup tie at home to the Jags. It's a great opportunity to look for it at least.

Buckle up, it's going to be a heck of an interesting ride.

St Mirren fans, we asked for your views on Tuesday night's 2-1 defeat at Dundee United.

Here's what some of you said:

Douglas: Everyone knew it would be an untidy game due to the moon-like surface of the pitch, but it will go down in the records as a very ugly win for United where neither team deserved a victory, never mind a defeat. Both teams were as bad as each other. We have lost the knack of pressing the opposition into mistakes and maybe teams have now learned how to counter us.

John: I hate saying this but in any other season the manager could be going into a cup tie on Sunday against a Championship side knowing a loss would see him out of a job. The League Cup win is keeping him in the post, but with only five league wins in the season, sad to say the clock is ticking. We continually look disjointed, always seem to shoot ourselves in the foot, and the football is absolutely terrible.

Frank: Worried. I can't see we're a win is going to come from.

Alan: Just when you think things can't get any worse we go ahead and mess up even more. Marcus Fraser I'm sorry to say needs time on the bench. What Alex Gogic was thinking claiming for offside as the ball is punted into the box is criminal. We will be lucky to get anything from our next four league games.

Chris: Last night was an opportunity to put breathing space between us and Killie but as expected, we couldn't take it. I believe Killie are too strong now to finish in the play-off spot, and while Livingston are 10 points behind us, I wouldn't rule them out in catching us. We have Rangers, Falkirk, Aberdeen and Celtic next, and I'm struggling to see where we pick up any points. We have no style or system in place, and that's even more worrying than the results. Something has to change, the fans are losing patience in the squad and even Robinson.

Watch all the highlights as Dundee United piled more pressure on struggling St Mirren with a 2-1 win at Tannadice. Available to UK users only.

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St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson tells BBC Sportsound: "It's a poor game of football because of the pitch.

"We knew what we were coming into and they played it better than us at the start of the game. We told the players, but they kept trying to pass the ball on a pitch you just can't pass on.

"The two goals are the story of our season. We score an own goal and then we're appealing for offside and it hits Gogic's hand.

"It rounds off our league season. I think anything that could go wrong has gone wrong. We score a great goal to get back into the game, but we're conceding ridiculous goals we shouldn't be conceding.

"We think there's a red card in there as well and that probably just rounds it off. We aren't getting decisions and, when you need things to go your way and aren't playing well, it's certainly deserted us.

"When you're under pressure, do the simple things well. Don't concede silly goals.

"Of course there's pressure to stay in the league, there's pressure to climb away from it and the penny needs to drop.

"People need to stand up and be counted. Jake Young stood up tonight and showed he has loads of ability. We need more of that from him.

"We need it from everybody and as a collective."

Marcus Fraser's own goal and Amar Fatah's emphatic penalty gave Dundee United a vital three points from a hard-fought Scottish Premiership encounter with St Mirren.

Read the match report here.

Let us know your thoughts here.

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St Mirren fan and Pie and Bovril supremo Div McDonald believes his side have suffered from key injuries this season but that opposition teams have also figured out the Paisley side.

The Buddies have a busy week, with a rescheduled Premiership match at Tannadice tonight that could see them take a step away from relegation worries, and a home Scottish Cup quarter-final against Partick Thistle as the Premier Sports Cup winners chase more silverware.

Stephen Robinson's side have not been in good form in the league, with the highs of the cup final looking a long time ago now.

McDonald told the Scottish Football Podcast: "Even by St Mirren standards, it's been a bonkers season.

"To be fair, our league form has been poor all season, even in the lead-up to the final. But I felt we kind of took our eye off the ball a little bit straight after the final.

"We did actually win our first league game straight after it, when we beat Livingston. We've only won once since then, so that was December.

"Of course the only team we've beaten since then is Hearts, who barely nobody else has beaten all season.

"It's been tough, but we have had a few injuries. We've got a really small squad. We lost pretty much two of our best three midfielders in Keanu Baccus and Mark O'Hara in the lead-up and straight after the final and that really hurt us. We lost Jonah Ayunga, which has hurt us.

"For me it feels like teams have just cottoned on to the way we play. We play a particular way, I think everybody knows that.

"I don't think it's as agricultural as people would have you believe. We do play some good football at times but we are rigid with our shape, with how we play and we don't really want the ball. We're happy to give the opposition the ball.

"At the end of the day, our Achilles heel is that we are the lowest scorers in the league and we just don't score goals. And away from home, we've not kept a clean sheet all season, so that's a big problem. We've had one league win away from home all season and that was in September.

"So our away form has been bad, lack of goals has killed us and we've been predictable. But we do what we do, and we're cup specialists."

Andrew Christie
Fan writer

Saturday's 1-1 draw with Livingston at the Home of the Set Fare Arena (I looked that up and still don't believe it) did little to change the temperature of the season, but it did at least stop it rising further.

For an hour we were organised, competitive and purposeful. Keanu Baccus and Mark O'Hara restored a midfield platform, Dan Nlundulu attacked his goal like a centre forward who enjoys the confrontation, and the structure without the ball was, for the most part, coherent.

Then we loosened our grip. The line dropped, the aggression dulled, and a single high ball into the box cost us. A reminder that in tight games, the margins are so often self-inflicted. An opportunity missed.

Now on to Dundee United.

Tannadice, in its current state, is not a venue for ideals. Watch Aberdeen's visit there last midweek, and through the blood filling your eyeholes like a James Bond intro, observe a surface that creates contests of trajectory and second contact rather than pattern and flow.

The pitch grabs at the ball, kills short combinations and rewards teams who accept chaos early. It will not be a night for 20-pass sequences.

United are wobbling. Their own supporters are questioning intensity and direction. On that surface, they will want a scrap dressed up as football. Fine.

There's a lazy narrative around St Mirren - that we are this blunt instrument. See "organised", "physical", and various other compliments so backhanded Paisley has knuckle dents on it.

This portrayal ignores the detail in our pressing and the work we do to create overloads wide. But if the conditions strip the game back to first contacts, second balls and defensive duels, then let's stop arguing with the caricature and start weaponising it.

They want a monster? Let's give them one.

Go long with intention. Squeeze the pitch. Dominate restarts. Make every clearance a contest, every throw-in a fight. Let our strikers occupy, let our midfield hunt.

On a surface that punishes finesse, physical clarity is not primitive - it's intelligent. Tonight won't be about beauty. It will be about who imposes themselves first and longest.

Andrew Christie can be found at Misery Hunters, external

• Since he left St Mirren in 2022, United manager Jim Goodwin has won five of his 10 Premiership games against the Buddies (losing three), his joint-most wins over any opponent in the competition in this time along with St Johnstone.

• St Mirren are winless in 13 away midweek games in the Premiership (losing 10 of them) since a 3-1 victory over Aberdeen in February 2023.

• United are unbeaten in three home games but have only won one of them and could draw three in a row in the Premiership for the first time since April 2022.

• After their 3-1 win in October, United could defeat St Mirren twice at home in a single Premiership season for the first time since 2013-14.

• St Mirren have won two of their past three games against United after losing three in a row against them without scoring beforehand.

Image source, SNS

Craig Sibbald (hamstring), Isaac Pappoe (knee) and Bert Esselink remain sidelined for Dundee United.

St Mirren's Mikael Mandron is likely to miss out after sustaining a shoulder injury against Livingston. Declan John (illness) and Conor McMenamin (groin) missed the trip to West Lothian.

Jonah Ayunga (calf) returns to training this week, while Malik Dijksteel (groin) is out long term.

Image source, SNS

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson admits he's not expecting free-flowing football when his side travel to play Dundee United on Scottish Premiership duty on Tuesday.

The re-arranged fixture was originally postponed when persistent rainfall in Dundee forced a series of call-offs at Tannadice and the playing surface has shown the effects since the return to action.

"I went to watch the game against Aberdeen [at Tannadice] last week, pitch is dreadful," Robinson told St Mirren's official X account.

"It will be a horrible football match and it's who makes the least mistakes. You have to play in their half of the pitch. You have to land in second balls.

"You have to not take chances. It's not going to be a pretty game.

"I met Jim Goodwin actually in the hotel beforehand and he agreed. So it's roll-your-sleeves-up time."

St Mirren's 1-1 draw at Livingston on Saturday was their fourth game without a win and the Paisley side are looking to get the results that can move them away from relegation fear.

Robinson says he would be happy to win ugly in difficult conditions.

"Doesn't matter about the performance, come away with three points because it's a tricky, tricky pitch, as you'll see," he said.

"But whatever way, we try not to lose the game. Again, we came in with that attitude on Saturday, don't lose the game.

"We've managed that and if you do that, eventually you start winning games, confidence grows and we have to try to do that again Tuesday night."