Here’s to you, Stephen Robinson. A refrain that would have rung out loud and proud around Paisley on Saturday evening after the St Mirren manager had steered his side into the top six for the third consecutive season.
With all the talk about league reconstruction lately, what the scenes at the SMiSA reminded us of was the benefit of the drama – however manufactured - created by the split. The jubilation at the final whistle among the Buddies in the stands and on the pitch was great to see, and spelled out just exactly what the achievement meant to the Saints.
Ok, it wasn’t a cup win. And inevitably, a squadron of Rev. I.M. Jolly types were soon out in force sniping about the wild celebrations, and accusing the St Mirren fans of overegging it. What a load of tosh. God knows the life of a football fan, particularly one of a so-called provincial club, can be a slog at times.
If you can’t see why sneaking in on the right side of that dividing line means to a club of St Mirren’s stature, particularly with the safe haven it offers from the bloodbath about to ensue in the bottom six to stay away from the relegation play-off spot, then you’re either ignorant, or possibly a Morton fan.
Only three teams have made the top six consecutively in the last three seasons – Celtic, Rangers and St Mirren. When Saints legend Tony Fitzpatrick said that his beloved club should be aiming to become staples of the top six a few years back, it provoked some derision, never mind a raised eyebrow or two. But it is he who is laughing last and longest.
Read more:
- Barcelona and Spain great reveals real reason he signed for St Mirren
- Motherwell 0 Hearts 0: Both sides miss out on top six
- St Mirren 3 Ross County 2: Idowu strike seals top six spot
It is a fantastic achievement from everyone at the club, and it really is a collective accomplishment, from Robinson in the dugout to Keith Lasley in the CEO office and so many others in between. Though, the success of those two former Motherwell employees will no doubt have some among the Fir Park faithful casting envious eyes in the direction of Renfrewshire.
What I witnessed in Lanarkshire at the weekend in fact was quite the contrast, albeit the indignation as both Motherwell and Hearts were consigned to a bottom six finish by the Saints was mostly confined to the large away support.
When one of our city teams are struggling, it inevitably exacerbates the pain of their followers if their great rivals are simultaneously flying. It was hard then not to feel at least the faintest pang of sympathy for the thousands of Hearts fans who witnessed their team’s meek attempt at salvaging their season on Saturday.
I had been working at the early kick-off at Celtic Park, but got to Fir Park in time to catch the last half hour or so of a game that had been billed as a top six winner takes all shootout. As it turned out, St Mirren’s late winner against Ross County meant that Motherwell wouldn’t have made it with a win in any case, which may go some way to explaining why they seemed quite happy with their point in the end.
It doesn’t explain though why an insipid, uninspiring Hearts team also seemed content to let the match fizzle out into a goalless draw, when a win would have seen them safely into the top half at St Mirren’s expense.
Having expected to walk into a raucous, fiercely contested battle, it instead felt like sauntering into a pre-season friendly with nothing on the line. It was, frankly, a little bizarre, and it is little wonder that the Hearts support let their team know all about it as they rather sheepishly shuffled over to take their medicine at the end of the game.
For all the factors that have resulted in this season to forget for the Jambos – poor recruitment being chief among them – the most alarming thing that has crept in is malaise. It seemed on Saturday that the only ones who really cared were crammed into the huge away stand behind the goal, but I doubt that Tynecastle will be packed to the rafters for the bottom six fixtures as their campaign drifts to its sorry end.
The contrast with the scenes at Easter Road on Sunday as a rampant Hibs side demolished Dundee to cement their resurgent rise to third place could hardly have been starker, and will have piled on the agony for the Hearts fans all the more.
But it is the contrasting scenes in Paisley on Saturday evening that arguably should be grabbing the attention of those running the Tynecastle club. Had they tried to prise Robinson away from Paisley instead of appointing Neil Critchley back in October, would they have been any worse off?
Whatever the reasons, it seems our ‘big’ clubs like Hearts see Robinson as beneath them in some way, despite a track record at both Motherwell and St Mirren that suggests he knows what it takes to succeed in the Scottish game. And while the football may be direct, you can’t tell me it’s boring to watch.
Can he transfer that blueprint to a bigger club? Who knows. But he would seem a safer bet than some who have been handed the opportunity.
The St Mirren fans will of course hope that the bigger fish in their pond continue to turn their noses up at their manager, who has signed well on a budget, rebuilt when he has needed to, took them to Europe, delivered consistent top six finishes and - perhaps most importantly - built a connection between them and a team they can identify with.
So, again, here’s to you, Stephen Robinson. A better manager than some of our bigger clubs, it seems, will ever know.
