How Robinson went from abuse to adulation at St Mirren

Life as St Mirren manager is an oasis of peace and serenity for Stephen Robinson.

Three consecutive top-six finishes in the Scottish Premiership, European football, memorable goals and wins domestically and continentally and a regularly sold-out stadium, this is a club that's no longer looking over its shoulder, but looking to scale the heights.

But, it didn't start out that way when Robinson replaced Aberdeen-bound Jim Goodwin in February 2022, losing eight of his first nine games in charge.

"It's funny, I only looked at the league table up the way, I didn't realise how close we were to the bottom," Robinson told BBC Scotland as he looked back at those difficult early months.

"It certainly wasn't the way I wanted to start at the football club.

"I remember a cup game against Airdrie and I got absolutely abused. We got beat against Motherwell and it was the Covid times when you got changed behind the stand.

"I had all the Motherwell boys wanting me to clap them from my previous time there and I had the St Mirren fans wanting to kill me, and I had to walk up through the middle of them.

"So, I didn't acknowledge anybody. That was tough, you do question your decision, you know, what have I done here?

"But I always had a lot of faith in my own ability and the staff that I surround myself with. We had a belief in what we had in the staff that if we got the players in that we wanted we would do well."

And in St Mirren's case, they have done.

The legendary Tony Fitzpatrick was lampooned in some quarters for his assertion that they were a top-six club during his time as chief executive.

Not only has Robinson delivered on that score across three successive campaigns, but he has been beating points tallies and win records that Fitzpatrick himself was setting in the 1980s during his time as player and manager.

"Tony's brilliant, by the way," Robinson said. "He's been so supportive of me, even when we had testing times early on when I first came to the club. He's very much a glass half full guy.

"We're not a top-six side in terms of our infrastructure. We don't have the staffing and fanbases that other clubs have.

"But, in terms of playing and recruitment, that has to be our achievement. We've managed to achieve it and it's about putting it in place so that we can do it more often."

Robinson, who was capped seven times for Northern Ireland during his playing days at Bournemouth, Preston and Luton, has been linked with several clubs as he continues to impress and, while he remains focused on his job, he admits he continues to harbour certain ambitions.

"I want to manage at the top, top level of the game, I'd be lying if I said I didn't," he said.

"If we can do that at St Mirren, if we can keep being a top-six side, fantastic.

"I'd love to manage my country one day. You want to be the best you can be and St Mirren have been fantastic to me and will continue to be.

"The fans now expects to be a top-six side and that's based on having the same resources to work with. The board increase it every year because we have to to stay on par with the other clubs and that's a real challenge.

"St Mirren warrant my full dedication and concentration, so my mind's 100% here. I can't control what other people write or say, it certainly doesn't come from me."

So can there be a silver-lining to the Robinson-era in Paisley? The 50-year-old hopes to use Aberdeen's Scottish Cup success and the celebrations that followed as inspiration as he eyes up similar scenes in Paisley next season.

"When you're in Scotland, you probably have to accept that you're not going to win the league, if you're realistic" Robinson said.

"But, you can always win a cup. You need a bit of luck, you need a good draw, or get a good run and I've not managed that at St Mirren.

"[Aberdeen winning the Scottish Cup] is good for Scottish football. It was good to see.

"I've been to finals twice with Motherwell and I saw what it did to the town, the togetherness it brought, so that is certainly a driving force.

"My head of recruitment Martin Foyle said 'you could do with a cup run' and I'm like 'thanks Martin, I know that and we're trying'.

"It's something that will drive us forward and it is one of our aims."