Stephen Robinson insists St Mirren sealing European football wouldn’t be a magic money tree to boost his playing budget next season.
The Buddies are still right in the hunt for a first continental adventure since 1987 having picked up a precious point against Celtic over the weekend while rivals Hibs went down at home to Rangers.
The Paisley club travel to Pittodrie tomorrow night to face Aberdeen knowing a win could push them one point above Lee Johnson’s Leith team if they lose against the Hoops on the same evening.
That would put the Saints in pole position to finish in fifth spot heading into the final weekend of the season, when Robinson’s men take on Rangers at the SMiSA while Hibs face a difficult derby clash at Tynecastle against Hearts.
While Robinson is doing everything he can to steer St Mirren into a potential European spot, the gaffer revealed he doesn’t expect doing so would make a huge difference to his budget next season – especially given the financial issues the club have faced in the last 12 months.
When asked if qualifying for Europe would help his finances to improve the squad, Robinson told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “I don’t think it would change that much. You have to remember we still need to work within our means.
“I accepted that when I took the job, it’s certainly not a complaint from me.
“I work with the board and they give me what they can, when they can. If they can give me another £100,000 then I believe they will, if they can. But at this moment we’re working on the same budget as last year and that does make it a bit harder to recruit new players.
“We can’t allow ourselves to get back into a situation like before when we’re announcing big losses. The club can’t run like that.”
Saints boss Robinson has been working hard alongside head of recruitment Martin Foyle to identify new talents to bring to the club over the last few months. The Buddies have already been linked with moves for Morecambe defender Jacob Bedeau, Fulham prospect Kieran Bowie and battling midfielder Fuad Sule – who is now a free agent after leaving Northern Irish champions Larne.
While Robinson admits it’s been difficult to try and improve his current crop without any extra finances to play with, he’s confident St Mirren will be able to compete in Europe or the League Cup straight away after the summer break.
That belief stems from the number of key players who have already committed their future to the club in recent weeks.
Robinson said: “If we’re in the League Cup or in Europe early next season, we’ve got a team that can go and compete straight away.
“The hard bit, and Martin Foyle has probably found this the hardest, is recruiting when you’re trying to get better than what you’ve got on the same money.
“It’s difficult because we still have the same budget to try and get four or five players in that make our starting XI better.
“We usually get out-of-contract players, but now we’re having to target players in contract that clubs don’t want to release.
“It’s been difficult so far but we’re cracking on. We’ve got a list the size of my arm and the names mentioned are just a few of many we’re targeting.
“If you could see the list on my board you’d see how many we’re looking at.
“There’s players who don’t want to play in Scotland, players who are out of our league financially. We all know good players, but you have to stick within your own parameters.”
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