'Players made me look stupid', fumes St Mirren boss Robinson

Hearts v St Mirren highlights

15/01/26

Almost a month to the day since a "once in a lifetime" League Cup final victory over holders Celtic, St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson has accused his players of making him "look stupid" as they toil at the wrong end of the Scottish Premiership.

Yes, the Northern Irishman's side were facing leaders Hearts at a packed Tynecastle on Wednesday. But it was the manner of their 2-0 defeat that led the 51-year-old to blow his top.

The hosts had to play for 75 minutes down to 10 men after midfielder Beni Baningime was sent off for a reckless challenge.

It leaves St Mirren third bottom, only four clear of Kilmarnock in the play-off spot, albeit with a game in hand.

So what's gone wrong in Paisley?

That 3-1 win at Hampden went a long way to making sure Wilfried Nancy's tenure as Celtic boss only lasted eight games.

And Robinson must now be concerned that the hangover from St Mirren's celebration is putting his own four-year tenure in peril.

A win over bottom side Livingston followed their cup triumph, then a draw with Kilmarnock, but thereafter their results - and performances - have fallen off a cliff.

Before suffering at Tynecastle what was a fourth straight defeat, Robinson had lamented what he described as the worst injury crisis he had experienced.

However, he was taking no prisoners afterwards.

"Are they starting to believe the hype and the publicity after the cup win, thinking they're possibly a little bit better than they are and they don't need to work as hard? Perhaps," Robinson told BBC Scotland.

"How you train is how you play and some people haven't trained properly. Some people have moped about a little bit because they weren't in the team, have come in and played like that.

"I thought Roland Idowu was brilliant tonight - he was our only real threat," he said. "Alex Gogic, Killian Phillips, Declan John - I can rely on those boys. Other boys need to step up. We're 100% in a relegation battle."

Robinson again railed against those who suggest he relies on physicality in his squads, especially after they were bullied by Hearts' 10 men.

"I hear big and physical about us all the time, which is laughable," he said. "We're big, really big. But physical? No, Hearts are physical. That's a compliment, certainly not a criticism."

"I've been very, very gentle on them because we're so limited in numbers and you're asking boys to go again. But there was home truths tonight and I'm expecting a reaction."

However, suggesting his side "stopped doing basics", Robinson added: "Sometimes players make you look stupid and certainly they made me look stupid tonight."

Next chance for redemption is at Livingston on Saturday in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup. But that could be viewed as a mere warm up to their return to Almondvale three days later in the league.

"It's a tough moment," Robinson said. "We've had plenty of plaudits and people like plaudits. Now that they get criticism and they have to stand up."

Former Hearts player Allan Preston was equally as scathing, suggesting St Mirren "deserved nothing" from their performance at Tynecastle.

"They have switched off since winning the League Cup," he said. "Players are not playing the passes that are going to penetrate teams and that shows they are lacking confidence.

"It is not the St Mirren we know and certainly not the one that lifted the League Cup."

Kilmarnock have appointed a new management team in Neil McCann and Billy Dodds, while Livingston's new owner appears prepared to spend a bit more than normal for the West Lothian club in the January transfer market.

"Neil and Billy will give Kilmarnock a lift and, if Livingston start picking up points, St Mirren might be in a real battle to stay in this league," Preston warned.

Stuart: St Mirren have been awful since we won the cup. That's three games where we have lost 2-0 and we haven't even threatened the opposing team's goal. If Robbo is as good as we all think, he has one hell of a task trying to get a tune out of this lot - no confidence and playing awful, a terrible combination.

John: What a shambles. St Mirren absolutely played off the park against 10 men.

Trevor: Worst performance of the season so far... wait a minute, that was last week... No, wait, that was the week before - and the week before that. We are rotten, no doubt about it. Playing like a Championship team. Keep playing like that and that's where we will be.

Chris: Brutally honest from Robbo. Since the final, the performances haven't been there. Tonight and Falkirk was shocking. I think we were terribly unlucky before the final and our points tally didn't match the performances.

Players seem to have given up and next match is a must win. We need a spark and I'm not sure where it's going to come from. It's clear the staff are giving their all, but only a small number of players are too. Without naming names, some of the lads need to hang their head in shame.