St Mirren

Mark Jardine
Fan writer

If there was a way to distill Stephen Robinson's highest points at St Mirren into a single set of match stats, it would be a comfortable and ruthless 3-1 win over a side with 65% of possession.

Yet, in autumn 2026, it is the Buddies that have all the possession and a new Robinson side that have kept all the points.

There is little sense in picking apart a Brad Lyons stunner from distance that clips in off the bar, save to say that it would be nice for the Saints defence to have closed him down and nicer still if Lyons had banged in a couple of those while he wore black and white.

In pure performance terms, which I concede have less impact on the league table than pure points terms, this was something of a step towards the right direction once again....at times.

In large spells, Craig McLeish's side controlled what they wanted to control and showed the bravery in moving the ball around that late summer had promised.

They took the game to Aberdeen, had more of the ball, more of the ball in Aberdeen territory, won their duels, went long when they had to and so on.

However, as has been reflected on more than once in recent weeks, when you hand three goals to your opposition, you can't just look good in prolonged spells - you have to take your chances.

Long spells of looking good be damned, a two-goal collapse in the second half is tough to shift as the following morning's headline.

I would consider myself as at the more optimistic end of the spectrum, and I'm comfortable in looking at this troubling mid-October form as the formative early months in what needs to be a long-term plan.

I like that we're trying to play ambitious, front-foot football and recognise we'll only arrive at that aspired-to higher level of performance if we ride out the growing pains.

That time, though, must be bargained for in the court of public perception. After five league losses on the bounce, irrespective of context, the terms of that bargain are reasonably clear in my eyes.

Stop conceding early, stop conceding in quick succession. That's the foundation for whatever comes next, and it's mandatory.

That doesn't have to mean a compromise on principles, on building from the back, inverting the full-backs or sending third man runners.

It must mean we're ensuring our backline can protect what is left in behind while doing so. It must mean we stop giving away cheap penalties. It must mean we're willing to drop the experienced name when the younger and quicker option fits the opponent, or that we bring added experience back into the side when that is the trait which counts.

We have shown we can win, keep and use the ball. We have shown we can take the game both to the sides we should be beating and the sides who expect us to do no such thing.

If we can stop handing out head starts and free hits, we might just show we can rack up points too.

Mark Jardine can be found at Misery Hunters, external

Sportscene pundit Richard Foster says St Mirren's downturn in form stems from a lack of a clinical edge in attack and defensive frailties.

The former Premiership defender has been impressed by the Buddies' play between the boxes, but it has not been enough to prevent a five-game losing run.

Watch Sportscene highlights of the weekend's top-flight action

Watch all the highlights as Aberdeen inflicted a fifth successive defeat on St Mirren with their second Premiership victory at Pittodrie. Available to UK users only.

St Mirren fans, we asked for your views after Saturday's defeat at Aberdeen.

Here's what some of you had to say:

David: Again we make life hard for ourselves by losing an early goal. First half performance was ok but second half we failed to show up again. If we don't take at least four points from our next two games then Craig McLeish's time will be up, I think.

Michael: If last week was the end of the honeymoon period then this looks like time for a separation. Week after week we shoot ourselves in the foot gifting goals and penalties and this needs to stop. Time to refresh the team, the management and stop the rot before it is well and truly set in. Some of these players need to really look at themselves and step up or seek an alternative career.

Peter: Get younger players in defence, our established and respected defenders don't cut it anymore. The manager's comments leave me wondering if he was watching a different game from me.

John: Five straight defeats, joint lowest scorers in the league and only Killie have conceded more goals in the league. A manager that doesn't ever seem to have a plan B. Not sure how long the board can continue to kid themselves on that their plan is working.

Alan: Once again just not good enough. Yes we had plenty of the ball but that's no good if you are not scoring. Need big changes we all know that but will it happen, I have my doubts.

GS: Same issues game after game and McLeish seemingly unable to change it. Starting point for a team of our budget has to be a solid defence and we have the opposite of that. Alex Gogic needs dropped for a while and I question his captaincy on the field when he cant seem to organize his fellow defenders. Hard decisions need to be made I'm afraid.

Aberdeen ended their recent home goal drought to overcome St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership and ease some of the disquiet surrounding manager Stephen Robinson.

Read the match report.

Have your say on the game.

Image source, SNS

St Mirren manager Craig McLeish: "I feel like we beat ourselves. Aberdeen taken their chances, but a minute into the game and we're a goal down. Conceding goals at the start again and giving ourselves a mountain to climb.

"We were excellent first half after that and should probably score at least another one. But our response to going down early was excellent.

"We knew they would get a blast at half time and change a couple of things. The first 15 minutes of the second half we didn't stand up to their change in intensity and agression.

"It's a poor penalty to give away - I think that's six penalties in the last nine games. And at this level you can't give teams goals. We're gifting teams goals. Then we switch off at a free kick. Aberdeen win the game - but we beat ourselves."

Image source, SNS

Aberdeen captain Kevin Nisbet is a doubt with a hamstring issue, while Ayoub Mouloua will be assessed as he recovers from a head knock sustained last weekend. Hicham Mahou is set to miss out due to illness, while Kristers Tobers is still out.

St Mirren forward Nikolas Agrafiotis (calf) is a doubt while Keanu Baccus, Jonah Ayunga and Malik Dijksteel are out, but Richard King and Jayden Richardson are in line to return.

• Two of the top three players for true tackles attempted in the Scottish Premiership this season are St. Mirren's Ryan Carr (46) and Aberdeen's Afeez Aremu (39, level with Dylan Tait).

• St. Mirren have lost each of their last four Scottish Premiership games, last losing five in a row in the competition in October 2020 (6).

• Aberdeen have failed to score in each of their last three home league games, attempting 43 shots without finding the net. They haven't drawn a blank in four successive home league matches since September 2012 – a run of four goalless draws in a row, two of which were against St. Mirren.

• St. Mirren have won four of their last seven league visits to Aberdeen (D1 L2), after having been winless in 15 beforehand (D8 L7).

• Aberdeen have won just one of their last seven league meetings with St. Mirren (D1 L5), a 1-0 away victory in October 2025.

David Currie
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

It's one of football's greatest superstitions. The curse of the manager of the month award.

You're on top of the world - you get your wee glass trophy and maybe a bottle of something nice. The fans love you and so do the pundits.

And then... results take a nosedive, the clean sheets disappear, the goals dry up and so do the points.

Team selections and tactics are questioned and you're under pressure.

I'll let you in on a wee secret. The curse might be real. Just ask Craig McLeish.

The Buddies boss won the award for August as his charges picked up seven points in their opening three league matches.

There were wins over Falkirk and St Johnstone and a thrilling 3-3 draw with Motherwell. September started well, too, with an away win at Kilmarnock.

They haven't picked up a point since, with four league defeats in which one goal was scored and eleven conceded.

I believe statisticians call this 'regression to the mean'.

You could say the August fixtures were kind - Falkirk away, where the Buddies won twice last season, a home game against newly promoted St Johnstone, and another home game against a transitional Motherwell, coming off the back of a gruelling European campaign and coming to terms with life after Jens Berthel Askou.

The win away to Kilmarnock bucked a winless trend, right enough, and things were looking hunky-dory.

Next up, though, came Celtic and Rangers before the international break. A 2-1 defeat at home to the champions and a stoppage-time loss at Ibrox left the Buddies feeling a wee bit unfortunate not to emerge from their Old Firm double-header with a point or two, or maybe even more.

They then lost 3-0 at home to Dundee United without managing a shot on target. Then came the international break and a three-week-long domestic lay-off.

In retrospect, it looks like it didn't do the Buddies any favours, but they've not been doing themselves any either.

They were battered 5-0 away to Hearts on Saturday, registering just one goal-bound attempt in the process.

The impending return of attacking midfielder Samuel Ramos might help with creating chances, but who's going to stick them away? It looks like Niko Agrafiotis could be out for a wee while. His comeback from injury didn't survive the pre-match warm-up for the Hearts game, so that's an issue to be sorted.

There's been a heap of individual mistakes, in and out of possession, for which McLeish's side have been severely punished.

I guess the more you have the ball, the more likely you are to make a mistake, but St Mirren have also conceded more penalty kicks than any other side in the Premiership - four so far this season.

The defence has looked uncertain at times. Perhaps the return of Marcus Fraser from injury might help steady the ship.

Remember, the Buddies only just escaped relegation last term with a narrow play-off win over Partick Thistle.

Add to that the shift in tactics, approach and player profile under McLeish from the Stephen Robinson era, and it was never going to be an easy ride this season.

McLeish will most likely stick to his possession-based, attack-minded guns as the season unfolds - but his team will need to rediscover their scoring touch and cut down on the error count for the risk to be worth the reward.

Their next test is away to his predecessor's Aberdeen this weekend.

Buckle up, Buddies. It could be a bumpy ride, but it won't be boring.

Mark Jardine
Fan writer

Every cloud may have a silver lining, but 5-0 tankings on the road rarely do. Two penalties conceded, plenty of errors made and a meagre single shot on target tell, sadly, the full story.

When two bad weeks are made to feel like five thanks to an extended international sojourn, the strength of feeling is only ever going to intensify and so it has come to pass.

The underlying details of a mid-table position, sitting one win and one point better off than at this point last season, are almost trivial in the wake of a weekend like this - and that is something to be weathered, not argued with.

St Mirren give the impression of a side that have not yet shown their true level.

Good intention is there, increased goal threat, more comfortable defence at times, a squad that feels like it has been assembled at the beginning of their respective journeys and not in the hope of a second or third act redemption arc - but these qualities are those of potential, not current standing.

Even in this season's better performances and results, the possibility has hung there like Dionysus' sword over the heid of Damocles that the floodgates may open and opponents can rack up two, three or four goals before we're back on our feet and fighting back.

Some of this, the unpredictability at least, is surely to be expected of a rebuilt squad comprising of mostly youthful potential and acting at the orders of a similarly fresh-faced manager.

The philosophy being that committing fully to this kind of change at this early stage for both squad and manager, gives the Saints access and claim to a level of talent in the long-term that we might not otherwise afford or attract.

For a side, based on last season's toils, that most predicted would reside exclusively at the bottom of the league all season, the early promise has done enough to mitigate the more recent struggles and have us sitting slightly ahead of that feared fate.

While calls for immediate action are emotional and incredibly premature - there is no sustainable platform for learning weekly lessons in top-flight football at the expense of points and substantial goal difference.

Craig McLeish is charged with understanding where his selections and tactical choices create problems, where personnel make errors beyond his control, and holding the wisdom to know the difference. In either case, it is his responsibility to reduce these downsides and to bring more out of the possession and attacking commitment that has shown such promise in flashes in these early months of his permanent reign.

Based on his early interviews, this reality would certainly not appear to be lost on him and that challenge is seen as part of the attraction in taking on the real thing.

We are still three games from having a full round of fixtures under our belt, and probably longer from understanding what this season may have in store.

Angry, confused, passionately defensive or otherwise; all of us want this to work and all of us will need to show some patience in order for us to get there.

Mark Jardine can be found at Misery Hunters, external

Watch the Sportscene panel discuss how St Mirren can recover their early season form following a 5-0 defeat to Hearts at the weekend. Available to UK users only.

Hearts make an emphatic return from the international break with a 5-0 hammering of St Mirren at Tynecastle. (Available to UK users only)

We asked for your views on St Mirren's 5-0 trouncing by Hearts at Tynecastle.

Here are some of your comments:

Douglas: Absolutely shambolic from Saints. After our main striker was injured in the warm-up, we didn't play a striker for the first half. Baffling to say the least. So many players out of touch. They looked as if they had just come back from three weeks holiday. We must stop this stupidity of playing out from the back. The players can't do it. A much better performance in Aberdeen next week is required or else we will slide down to the bottom.

David: Feared this type of result before the game and at 2-0 many of us agreed it had 5-0 written all over it. That is how predictable St Mirren currently are. Only Declan John got pass marks. The rest were truly awful.

Michael: The honeymoon is finally over for Craig McLeish! Serious questions need asking, like why when a striker gets injured in the warm-up is he replaced by a midfielder when there were two strikers on bench? Also, Alex Gogic is a liability with the number of penalties he is conceding. Time for a change so bring in Louis Jackson. Needs to improve very quickly.

Stu G: Those defensive frailties are showing every week. Our defence is a shambles. And we now have the worst defensive record only second-bottom Kilmarnock. That long, hard season is starting to loom ominously.

Pedro: Very poor Saints team. One shot on target the whole game. No fight, not a team performance. Sorry Craig but think you need to go back to junior fitba.

William: A coach who plays Killian Phillips up top is not going to last long. The bubble hasn't burst, it's been destroyed. Outplayed by Dundee United then blown away by Hearts, and the coach says it was just individual errors. Sorry to say the board have made a massive mistake appointing him and are probably too stubborn to replace him. Championship football next year.

Rampant Hearts coasted to a thumping Scottish Premiership victory over St Mirren, firing five past their visitors as they ran riot in Gorgie.

Read the full match report here.

Have your say on the game via this link.

Image source, SNS

St Mirren manager Craig McLeish: "A really sore one, a self-inflicted one. We didn't look anything like we wanted to.

"We lost Niko [Agrafiotis] in the warm-up, changed what we had to do - but that's not an excuse for the performance we put on. I feel for the fans who have travelled. It's not good enough. It's up to us now, we have to rectify that.

"We had plaudits in the early part of the season, now we're going through a difficult patch. We have to stick together and keep fighting, keep believing in what we're doing.

"There was a spell in the first half where we looked like we lacked belief. I get that, we're here with a young squad, seven or eight of the starting line-up haven't ever played here before.

"Two penalties and three individual errors on our part, we kill ourselves. You can't give yourself a foothold in the game if you do those sort of things.

"Niko is a big part of [how we play]. He gives us the platform to put crosses into the box, but we have to have solutions to that as well. It's disappointing that we've not created too much.

"We're not sure on his injury yet, he'll need a scan."

Image source, SNS

Hearts defender Malachi Fagan-Walcott is back in contention and Oisin McEntee is also in the frame to return.

James Wilson is a slight doubt while Finlay Pollock is set to remain sidelined along with Craig Halkett (Achilles), Blair Spittal (shin) and Tom Renaud (ankle).

St Mirren captain Marcus Fraser, Nikolas Agrafiotis and Samuel Ramos are all available after recovering from injuries.

Keanu Baccus, Jonah Ayunga and Malik Dijksteel remain out for the longer term while consideration will also be given to defenders Richard King and Jayden Richardson who have travelled back from international duty.

Image source, SNS

Luke Douglas will be a "massive player" for St Mirren, says manager Craig McLeish, after the 17-year-old signed a new contract until summer 2029.

Striker Douglas made his debut at age 16 in May and has featured eight times for the Paisley side.

He is set to return to training in the next week after being out since August with a knee injury.

"I'm delighted for Luke," said McLeish.

"It gives him a little bit of security as well and it shows how highly we think of him.

"We know that because of the age he is, and what he's done already in the minutes he's played in the first team, that he'll attract interest.

"We love Luke to bits and he's going to be a massive player for us in the years to come. We also have to make sure that we protect assets within the club too, so I'm delighted that the club have moved on it and got things sorted."

Meanwhile, Peter Urminsky has joined Albion Rovers on loan until January, with fellow goalkeeper Grant Tamosevicius returning from his co-operative loan with the Lowland League side.

David Currie
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Image source, SNS

They don't call him "Young Fraser Taylor" much at St Mirren these days, just "Fraz".

The 23-year-old has become a regular fixture in the Buddies midfield this season under Craig McLeish, whose predecessor Stephen Robinson would often refer to "young" Fraser Taylor when he was making his breakthrough into the team.

"It's just Fraz now," says Taylor. "There's a few younger boys than me in the team."

Local boy and youth academy graduate Taylor has been at the club more than a decade.

Robinson gave him his debut four years ago and his Buddies career was then peppered with loan spells, which paid off with a two-year contract extension in the summer and subsequent regular game-time under the new regime in Paisley.

"I didn't go out on loan until maybe 18, 19, but if you're at 17, 18 and there's an opportunity to go and play instead of playing maybe under-18 football or under-19s, I would always say go and do it," said Taylor.

"You learn loads of stuff compared to playing at 19s. It's different because 19s football is obviously a good standard, but you don't get that horribleness and wee changing rooms and all that kind of stuff that makes you appreciate being at a place like St Mirren."

Taylor is enjoying his football more than ever now that he's a regular.

"Probably because I'm playing more, I'm involved more," he added.

"We've got loads of good players in that midfield position, so you need to be performing every week to try and stay in because someone can take your place and it's going to be hard to get back in. But no, I've been enjoying it. I've thought I've done quite well."

David Currie
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Image source, SNS

Craig McLeish has been speaking to the media as St Mirren prepare to face Hearts at Tynecastle in the Premiership on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Here are the main lines from the Buddies manager:

• With Saints fifth in the table as they emerge from the international break, McLeish admits it is a position "the majority of people would have bitten your hand off for", but adds: "We're probably frustrated with it and believe it could have been better."

• He is seeking from "consistency of performance" from his side and says: "This league's ruthless. If you're not at your best, you'll get found out and even if you are at your best, you're still in for tough games."

• The international break was "a wee bit strange" as the whole squad wasn't back together until Thursday and he is having to "cram in quite a lot of preparation into just two days".

• McLeish wants his team to be "unpredictable" to play against so they can hurt teams in different ways.

• He adds: "If you set off us, then we can threaten you in behind and we can put you under pressure with shots and crosses. If you come and press us, we can play through you and we can hurt you that way. It's us being better at all aspects of our game."

• The "absolute chaos" of a family holiday to Disneyland Paris helped take his mind off the 3-0 defeat by Dundee United before the international break.

• Saints are "well equipped" for their Tynecastle test: "The atmosphere there is always noisy. Fans are always behind them. They're right on top of you as well. The games feel a little bit tighter and more chaotic there."

• Striker Nikolas Agrofiotis, midfielder Samuel Ramos and defender Marcus Fraser are all back in training and available for Saturday's game.

• Claudio Braga has had 26% of Hearts' shots in the Scottish Premiership this season (30/116), the highest total and ratio of any player for a club in 2026-27.

• After avoiding defeat in their first four Premiership games this season (W3 D1), St Mirren have lost their past three, the joint-longest ongoing losing run in the division (Motherwell also three).

• Hearts have won their past 10 home league games. The last side to win more in a row on home soil in the Premiership were Celtic from May 2022 to April 2023 (18).

• Hearts have won 16 of their past 19 home games against St Mirren in the top flight (D1 L2), including their current run of four in a row all by a 2+ goal margin since a 2-0 reverse in April 2023.

• Of the last 14 goals in Scottish Premiership matches between Hearts and St Mirren, 11 have come in the second half of games, including the last five in a row.

Nick McPheat
BBC Sport Scotland

Are underlying numbers from the start of the Scottish Premiership season suggesting a refreshed approach could be taking hold across the league?

Well, the success stories at Motherwell and Falkirk last season seem to have had an influence.

Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin was humble enough to reveal that Jens Berthel Askou - now head coach at Toulouse in Ligue 1 - has inspired him to change his ways after more than 15 years as a player and manager in Scotland.

Goodwin's side are one of a number of Premiership teams to have undergone a stylistic shift this term, and that is reflected in the league's overall numbers, albeit the sample size remains small after just seven matches for each club.

Compared with the previous five Scottish top-flight seasons, passes per game have soared to 886. That is an increase of 58 on last term. Five years ago, the average was 795.

Passing accuracy is also at a high of 81%, which is quite a remarkable increase on the 73% recorded in 2023-24.

That is down to more short passing. The percentage of long passes across the league (13%) is now at its lowest level of the past five years. Perhaps surprisingly, Hearts and Rangers go long more than any other teams.

Goodwin's United, meanwhile, have gone from average possession of 42% last term to 50% this season. Their accurate passes per match have rocketed from 219 to 320.

It is a similar story for St Mirren under Craig McLeish and Neil McCann's Kilmarnock, while league leaders Celtic and Alfred Johansson's Motherwell are locked at the top of the possession chart on 61%.

The promotion of St Johnstone back into the league, replacing Livingston, has added another side who aim to play a more expansive brand.

The recent appointment of Dutch head coach Marink Reedijk at Hibernian will only enhance that.

Read more: Why early-season data points to Premiership style shift

Image source, SNS

BBC Sport Scotland has been taking a look at away ticket pricing in Scottish football.

It is an issue which has been tackled at the highest level south of the border, with a £30 away ticket cap having been in operation in the Premier League for a decade.

Is anything similar on the agenda north of the border?

While it doesn't appear to be at the moment, we have been canvassing the thoughts of fans across the Premiership.

An adult away fan going to a league game at St Mirren will pay £29 for games that don't involve either of the Old Firm. That price jumps to £37 for Celtic and Rangers encounters.

Concessions are from £7 to £27, depending on the match.

St Mirren fan Mark Jardine, of The Misery Hunters Podcast, says: "St Mirren mostly make our money from people coming through the door, so I understand why prices go up. But I think it will get to a point where you are putting people off. I do find myself siding more probably with the Twenty's Plenty, £25 cap side of things.

"It does feel like we are getting into the prohibitively expensive territory and I think the clubs benefit more than just financially from the full house, the tension between a full away stand and hopefully fullish home stand, so I do think there probably could be a decision to lower it slightly with a more holistic view.

"There has to be some sort of consensus between clubs, no one is ever going to volunteer to be the one that makes less money.

"St Mirren really did lead well and got the response they hoped for when they reversed the two away stand policy and protected our family stand for being your season ticket has all fixtures in it.

Read more: Are SPFL away tickets too expensive?