SNS GroupSt Mirren chairman John Needham has praised manager Stephen Robinson for his efforts after the club’s Premier Sports Cup triumph, and says the achievement can help drive more success.
The Paisley side upset the odds to defeat Celtic 3-1 in Sunday’s showpiece final at Hampden, delivering a first major trophy since the League Cup win of 2013.
That sparked joyous celebrations at the national stadium and then in Paisley when the staff and team took acclaim from fans at the Town Hall.
Robinson took his applause after giving a speech crediting the players for their hard work, but Needham said that the Northern Irishman was a driving force behind repeated success in his time at the club.
“He’s relentless,” Needham said. “He can be a pain in the bum at times as well, but he is absolutely relentless, seeking improvement all the time.
“Little margins all the time, and that’s what it’s about.
“He’s certainly put himself right up there (among St Mirren’s best managers). I’ve followed the team for over 50 years as a fan, and he is up there amongst the best.
“Stephen has done remarkably well with limited resources, and given us a team to be proud of.”
Robinson has taken the team to three successive top-half Premiership finishes, overseen a return to European competition, and now delivered a trophy. That has seen the former Motherwell and Morecambe boss’ stock rise rapidly, and Needham admits that could see his become a target for richer clubs. The chairman said everything would be done to keep the manager in that scenario but that he would understand moving on to a bigger job.
“We’ll do our utmost,” he said. “I think Stephen’s built a real affinity with the club and the fans and the team round about him.
“It’s a tribute to us if people move on to bigger things. We’ve got to accept that he’s delivered tremendous results.
“We’ll do our absolute utmost to keep him. Who would begrudge him or maybe one of the players moving on elsewhere and furthering their career at a higher level?
“That allows us to attract replacements for these people in due course. It’s just part of the game. It’s relentless.”
Needham looked at the bigger picture and what the success delivers for the town, as well as a major step in what has been a concerted effort to help fan-owned Saints be seen as Scotland’s best ‘community club’.
“It’s tremendous,” he said. “For a club our size to win a major trophy is just fantastic. And to do it in a bit of style as well, I thought we fully deserved it.
“As a Paisley boy, it brings a tear to my eye, to be honest, to see such a fantastic turnout and see everyone’s big smiles on their faces. It’s fabulous, fabulous.
“Well, it allows us to maintain the momentum that we’ve got just now. That’s the key, because really, over the last five years, we’ve steadily improved. We need to keep that going. It allows us to keep firing that through and keep that momentum going, for sure.
“There’s no doubt we’ve got a really talented team right across the whole operation, behind the scenes as well, Keith Lasley leads the team really well in the background. We’ve got a really strong board also.
“We’ve worked really hard to keep improving the quality of people in the building. These are the moments that you get the reward, hopefully.
“That is our strategy, to become the best community development club in Scotland. We’re getting there, I think that’s for sure. It’s just brilliant.
“We’ve got so many great youngsters coming through as well. From top to bottom, this is a massive reward for all the hard work by the staff.”
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