St Mirren

Mark Jardine
Fan writer

In the Saturday sun, the Saints were in no mood to show up and simply participate in the trophy day festivities. Any notion of that was eradicated by the right boot of Mark O’Hara after a mere seven minutes.

The St Mirren captain has made something of a habit in scoring against Glaswegian opposition, and he doubled down on that tendency before the end of the first half.

Celtic eventually clawed this all back and ensured Santa walked out on to Celtic Park with three points as well as the league trophy. I don’t think that’ll live long in the memory of many Buddies - it’ll be beach balls, unexpected leads and fond farewells that come to mind.

Charles Dunne, Ryan Strain and Keanu Baccus all made their final bows in St Mirren colours. The trio have been incredibly popular in their time in Paisley.

Dunne was an integral piece in establishing that mobile back three which has defined this more organised and resolute era in Paisley. We’ll always have that suit in that training ground court case, Chilli D.

Baccus and Strain arrived in the same summer, two vital early signings as Stephen Robinson planned for his first full season in Paisley. The Australian duo, both capped multiple times during their time in black and white, were tangible evidence of the improvement in structure and recruitment that has delivered back-to-back top-half finishes.

Their ambition to move on expected but painful nonetheless. In the case of Baccus, Paisley waited 92 years to have one of its own take the field at a World Cup. Hopefully the wait for the next World Cup Buddie will be far shorter.

Lastly, and as of yet unconfirmed, Saturday had the feeling of a farewell to Ryan Flynn. Arriving at a key period of transition for the Saints, Flynn applied himself over several years in a manner which ensures he’ll be written in to club history.

Mark Jardine can be found at Misery Hunters, external

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Alex Gogic says it's "very special" to be named St Mirren's player of the year after helping the Paisley side to European football.

The 30-year-old, who signed a new three-year deal recently, picked up two prizes at the club's awards dinner, including players' player of the year.

"It's very special," Gogic said. "What the players think of you, that's the biggest judgement.

"For them to give me this trophy, it's one that will stay with me forever. It's one big family, a special group.

"Going into Europe, the gaffer knew what we could achieve and he kept repeating it. Knowing we're coming back to play in European qualifiers is something amazing.

"On a personal note, I always try my best and it's good that the highs and the lows pay off in the end. I love it here. All the fans show me."

Gogic also gave a nod to manager Stephen Robinson, who moved the Cypriot from midfield to defence in an inspired move.

"They can see things that you can't," he adds.

"A special mention to him because without him, I'm probably not getting these awards."

The Sportscene team reflect on St Mirren scaring Celtic despite succumbing to a 3-2 defeat away to the champions.

Available to UK users only.

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

On his day Mark O'Hara is capable of being hugely impressive at the heart of the St Mirren midfield. He almost delivered a show-stopping performance at Celtic Park.

We asked for your thoughts after St Mirren fell to a 3-2 defeat at Celtic Park - despite leading twice in the first half.

Here's what some of you said:

Douglas: A good performance from Saints but baffled that the game finished on 89 minutes and 56 seconds. How? 10 subs used and Hart's two minutes salute to the Celtic fans.

Eddie: Three poor defensive mistakes led to the goals, however we played a lot of good football. Celtic are the best team in the country for a reason as soon as we made mistakes their good players know how to punish teams. I want to thank every player who played for us this season. I wish good luck to the ones who move on.

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "It's another really good performance against Celtic, arguably the best we've played, the longest period we've played well. The second goal's a really poor goal to concede. The third goal's really poor. We just switched off.

"It just shows how far we've come that perhaps we're disappointed not to get a point. They were very, very good as a team. As a collective this season, I'm very proud of them."

Celtic ended their successful Scottish Premiership defence with an enthralling win against feisty St Mirren before being presented with the league trophy in the Glasgow sunshine.

Matt O'Riley cancelled out Mark O'Hara's opener for St Mirren but O'Hara scored again from the penalty spot after Stephen Welsh had fouled Toyosi Olusanya.

Kyogo Furuhashi struck Celtic level before the break and Luis Palma forced in their late winner.

Brendan Rodgers' side end their league season with 93 points and an eight-point advantage at the top.

St Mirren, in fifth, post a points return of 47 in their second successive season finishing in the top half.

Were you at St Mirren's 3-2 defeat by Celtic or following the match from home? Either way, we want your views on the game – have your say here.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers made six changes to his starting line-up and it's unlikely next Saturday's Scottish Cup final line-up against Rangers will resemble this one.

The manager has relied largely on predecessor Ange Postecoglou's team to get Celtic over the line in the league title race and a similar approach at Hampden would not be a surprise.

St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson spoke pre-match about the need to score during periods of ascendancy and Mark O'Hara delivered on that front with two goals.

Defensively, they were put under enormous pressure in the second half and almost held out.

All in all, the entertainment on show was a fitting end to the Scottish Premiership season for both the champions and Europe-bound St Mirren.

Champions Celtic make six changes to the starting line-up for their final Scottish Premiership fixture of the season.

Kyogo Furuhashi, Nicolas Kuhn, Maik Nawrocki, Luis Palma, Anthony Ralston and Stephen Welsh start with Cameron Carter-Vickers, James Forrest, Adam Idah, Alastair Johnston, Daizen Maeda and Liam Scales dropping to the bench.

St Mirren make four changes to their line-up. Elvis Bwomono Caolin Boyd-Munce, Marcus Fraser and Toyosi Olusanya replace James Brown, Jaden Brown, Mickael Mandron and James Scott, who are all on the bench.

Celtic: Hart, Ralston, Welsh, Nawrocki, Taylor, O'Riley, McGregor, Hatate, Kuhn, Furuhashi, Palma.

Substitutes: Johnston, Scales, Idah, Carter-Vickers, Iwata, Bernardo, Bain, Maeda, Forrest.

St Mirren: Hemming, Fraser, Gogic, Taylor, Bwomono, Baccus, O'Hara, Boyd-Munce, Tanser, McMenamin, Olusanya.

Substitutes: Bolton, Flynn, Mandron, Scott, Dunne, Brown, Strain, Jamieson, Urminsky.

Celtic have a full squad for their title party while St Mirren will assess several players who are nursing niggles but hope to have an unchanged pool for their final league game of the season.

The Buddies are still without Greg Kiltie, Jonah Ayunga and Kwon Hyeok-kyu.

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

St Mirren's performances against the Old Firm have merited points on the board, says assistant manager Diarmuid O'Carroll.

The Buddies have enjoyed a successful season - qualifying for European football for the first time in 37 years - but have endured a rotten record against Celtic and Rangers.

Having lost seven out of seven meetings with the Glasgow outfits this term, O'Carroll is eyeing an eye-catching result when they travel to the champions on trophy day.

“We are trying to finish on a high,” he said.

“We are due a result from our performances against the Old Firm. We are yet to do it so we would love to do it on Saturday.

“We got five points off Celtic and Rangers last season. Obviously that doesn’t sound that many out of 24 but when you consider the gulf between the size of clubs, five points can be massive. Last year it was about a ninth of our total tally.

“We haven’t managed to do it this year. We have had lots of positive praise from the managers, lots of positive praise from players for how we play and how we set up.

“We will stick with our plan, we are preparing the exact same way and it would be fantastic to be able to go there and win.”

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• Celtic have won seven of their last eight meetings with St Mirren in all competitions (D1) since a 2-0 defeat in September 2022. Indeed, the Hoops have already beaten the Buddies four times this season; only in 1990-91 (5) have they ever won more against them in a single campaign.

• St Mirren have won just one of their last 35 visits to Celtic in all competitions (D3 L31), a 2-1 victory in January 2021 under Jim Goodwin.

• Celtic have only lost their final league game (incl. curtailed 2019-20 season) in one of their last 16 seasons (W13 D2), going down 1-0 to Aberdeen in 2017-18. They have also won in each of the last four occasions that their last league match of a campaign was against St Mirren.

• St Mirren are winless and goalless in the final match of their last three league seasons (D2 L1), losing their final game 3-0 to Rangers last term.

• Celtic have been crowned 2023-24 Scottish Premiership champions, meaning they have won the league title in 12 of the last 13 seasons – including all four in which Brendan Rodgers has been in charge (including 2018-19 when he left mid-season).

• Celtic’s Matt O’Riley has been directly involved in 30 Scottish Premiership goals this season (17 goals, 13 assists), the most by a player in a single campaign since Leigh Griffiths in 2015-16 (36 – 31 goals, 5 assists).

Could St Mirren spoil Celtic's trophy day party?

That'll be the aim for Stephen Robinson's men, who come off the back of a 2-2 draw with Hearts in their final home game of the season.

With European football already secured, is this a chance to see some unfamiliar faces?

Put yourself in the manager's shoes and pick your St Mirren XI here.

Sportscene pundits Neil McCann and Charlie Mulgrew discuss Europe-bound St Mirren's memorable season and the impact of manager Stephen Robinson. (Available to UK users only)

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We asked for your views after St Mirren's 1-1 draw with Hearts on Wednesday night.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Douglas: We probably should have shaded it. I said after the first 15 minutes that we would rue the missed chances, and that's how it turned out. Hearts took their chances when they came and the equalising goal was the act of a natural goalscorer, difficult to fault your defence when that goes in! Not a bad advert for an end-of-season game.

Gordon: I didn't think it was particularly scrappy, in fact it was a very entertaining match. St Mirren played well and were unlucky not to win. Class finish from Lawrence Shankland I have to admit.

Malcolm: Great atmosphere at the SMISA last night created by both sets of supporters. St Mirren probably deserved to win the match, but seem to have an issue with taking their chances. However, the goal from Shankland was absolutely phenomenal. Probably the best goal I have ever seen live.

Watch the best of the action of St Mirren and Hearts share four goals in Paisley. (Available to UK users only)

Lawrence Shankland grabbed his 30th Hearts goal of the season in stunning style to rescue a draw against St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership.

The Hearts captain came on as a second-half substitute to shake up a heavily rotated side, and typically came up with a vital moment of brilliance.

After Alex Cochrane's corner was flicked on, Shankland hooked a shot back over his shoulder while facing away from goal, and the ball dropped over St Mirren goalkeeper Zach Hemming.

It was the highlight of a scrappy end-of-season game with nothing at stake, with Hearts having wrapped up third and St Mirren securing fifth and a Europa Conference League spot.

Stephen Robinson's side were the better team for most of the game, starting quickly and getting themselves in front when James Scott hooked in his first for the club.

When Hearts levelled through Kyosuke Tagawa it was against the run of play, and St Mirren were perhaps ruing some of their missed opportunities.

That was until Caolan Boyd-Munce whipped in a brilliant cross from the left for James Bolton, who nodded the home side back in front.

But it was fitting that Shankland, having had such a dream season, got to number 30 in such style, emphasising his importance to Hearts.

Were you at SMiSA Stadium or following the match from home? Either way, we want your views on the game – have your say here.