Stephen Robinson believes everyone’s a winner after Saints coach Diarmuid O’Carroll began his new role with Northern Ireland.
St Mirren manager Robinson knows O’Carroll better than most, having houseshared with the 36-year-old at previous clubs including Motherwell and Morecambe as the duo worked closely together in the dugout.
O’Carroll has this week started his new job as part of Michael O’Neill’s backroom team, with Northern Ireland kicking off their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign last night with a 2-0 win against San Marino.
And far from detracting from his role in Paisley, Robinson believes O’Carroll’s involvement with the national team will have huge benefits which will see him return to the club a better coach.
Robinson told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “He’s stayed with me in every house I’ve lived in, and I’ve had about 10 since I came up here.
“We’re friends, of course, but I’m quite a private person. I don’t socialise with anyone other than my partner and my dog.
“We don’t go out drinking together, but he’s a fantastic boy. I’ve nothing but love and respect for him and I’m absolutely delighted he’s going in the right direction.
“More importantly, it benefits St Mirren massively because he’s working with a top coach in Michael O’Neill.
“I did the exact same role that he’s doing when I was at Motherwell with Mark McGhee. It’s brilliant because you get more contacts which benefits St Mirren, you train and work at top levels and there are tactical things you bring back.
“Diarmuid’s a fantastic coach and fantastic person. It’s nice to see good guys do well in football.
“I recommended him extremely highly to Michael and that’s not me doing someone a favour, that’s because I genuinely think he has the potential to coach at the top level.
“You employ good people in the knowledge they’ll move on to bigger and better and I’d love to see that happen with Diarmuid. Just not yet!
“He’s very loyal, he’s got an opportunity and this doesn’t affect anything with St Mirren. Half the club aren’t here, we’ll train with eight or nine people during international breaks.
“It’s fantastic for him to go and bring that wealth of experience back. It can only be good for all three parties - Diarmuid, Northern Ireland and St Mirren.”
Robinson insists he brought O’Carroll to St Mirren because he’s seen his “talent and enthusiasm” in action first hand, with the Buddies boss adamant he never hands out jobs just because of past relationships.
And he feels the Saints are lucky to have the former Celtic and Ross County forward thanks to his incredible work ethic.
Robinson said: “I first knew him vaguely from the IFA. He worked in different departments from me. We’d played in the Irish League and he was a bit of a legend there from his time at Crusaders and Cliftonville.
“He got the Under-18 job at Motherwell through an interview. There was no real friendship there, I don’t do ‘jobs for the boys’. I hire people I think are very good. He struck me straight away with his talent and enthusiasm.
“I took him to Morecambe with me and he’s gone from strength to strength.
“I don’t think people realise how much he does at the club in the background in terms of analysis. We’re producing the amount of information we would if we’d twenty staff.
“He’s doing the work of three or four different people. He’s an incredible person.”
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