St Mirren

Craig Devine
Fan writer

In the aftermath of Saturday's 1-0 defeat to St Johnstone, the St Mirren hierarchy released a rare entry into the SPFL statement league.

It decried the VAR team's decision not to send referee Dan MacFarlane over to the monitor after Drey Wright brought down Elvis Bwomono with what looked clear trip on the Saints wing-back.

To be honest, it's hard not to feel somewhat hard done by this season, with regular refereeing oversights feeling like they are now starting to stack up.

That last sentence is one which could apply to most, if not all, clubs in the top flight this campaign, though, with most weekends resulting in at least one big talking point on the officiating front.

However, controversy aside, no amount of asterisks next to dropped points can quite cover up the fact that St Mirren have struggled to achieve any real consistency this season.

Victories against Rangers and Aberdeen offset by defeats to St Johnstone, Ross County and Motherwell have led to the Buddies occupying eighth place in a league where any one of six or seven sides could just as easily finish in a European spot as a relegation play-off.

By no means whatsoever are we close to panic stations for the season overall. This one wouldn't even get an honourable mention on a top 10 list of bad ones in recent memory if the league were to end today.

On the transfer window front, Saints opted to bring in defensive reinforcement with a late loan move for Ryan Alebiosu, the KV Kortrijk man being somewhat familiar to the Paisley faithful from his spell at Kilmarnock.

Numerous thirsty fans will have spent the final minutes of the window refreshing St Mirren's X feed waiting for any further new faces, with the side still feeling one or two bodies light leading into the final third of the campaign.

Still, in Stephen Robinson we trust, and if the man who has steered the club to consecutive top-six finishes believes in the current squad now being deep enough to get us across the line, who are we to doubt him?

Craig Devine can be found at Misery Hunters, external

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St Mirren missed out on the loan signing of Celtic forward Johnny Kenny, 21, on transfer deadline day. (Sun), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish gossip

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St Mirren have signed right-back Ryan Alebiosu on loan from Belgian side K.V. Kortrijk until the end of the season.

The 23-year-old began his career with Arsenal and turned professional with the Gunners back in 2020 before a loan spell with Crewe Alexandra in the 2021/22 season.

Alebisou also has experience of Scottish football having spent the 2022/23 season on loan at Kilmarnock where he made 29 appearances across all competitions.

"It's important that we got someone in at the right-side of the pitch," manager Stephen Robinson said.

"We tried to get him previously when he was at Arsenal. It's a chance for him to put himself in the shop window and for us to benefit from a different type of right-sided player in certain games.

"He has experienced the league before. It was important to get someone who knows the league. It can be a shock to people's system sometimes and it can surprise people. Ryan has experienced it before with Kilmarnock and he went abroad for a different experience."

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

St Mirren would like to add one or two new signings on deadline day, but no deals are imminent in Paisley. If any business does take place, it will be late in the day.

They are likely to be shopping in the loan market, and any incomings are not reliant on any players leaving the club.

Frustrated St Mirren are to lead the call for a total revamp of VAR in the Premiership and want to see it taken out of the hands of the Scottish FA and run by an independent body. (Daily Record)

Read the rest of Monday's gossip.

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Coleraine have announced the signing of defender Charles Dunne pending international clearance.

The 31-year-old joins the Irish Premiership club from St Mirren, where he made almost 100 appearances for the Paisley-based outfit.

A London native, Dunne started his career at Wycombe Wanderers and after a loan spell at Staines Town, joined Blackpool on a permanent basis in 2013.

Dunne had further spells on loan at Wycombe Wanderers and Crawley Town before joining Oldham Athletic, for who he played 18 times.

The former Republic of Ireland Under-21 international then moved to Motherwell, playing in the 2017 Scottish League Cup and 2018 Scottish Cup finals.

After a four-year stay at Fir Park, Dunne went on to play for St Mirren.

Speaking about the signing of Dunne, Coleraine head coach Dean Shiels said: "Centre back is a position we have been looking to add experience to help the younger players.

"Charles is a commanding centre-back who has played at a really high level this season in the Scottish Premiership. He also possesses the experience to organise and communicate.

"He is good in possession and is very quick, which are great qualities to have."

The signing of Dunne comes hot on the heels of the arrival of striker Declan McManus from Welsh side TNS on Friday.

The Bannsiders have also added Levi Ives, Paddy Burns and Ronan Doherty to their ranks during the transfer window.

Watch the Sportscene panel discuss Greg Kiltie's disallowed goal in St Mirren's 1-0 defeat to St Johnstone.

St Mirren have contacted the SFA's Referee Department to "seek clarity" on the decision not to award a penalty for a foul on Elvis Bwomono in the 1-0 defeat to St Johnstone.

The sides were level at 0-0 when Bwomono went down inside the St Johnstone penalty area under the challenge of Drey Wright but referee Dan McFarlane was happy to let play continue and VAR saw no clear and obvious error to overturn the decision, or instruct the official to review the incident.

The Buddies went on to lose the game 1-0 and confirmed that they have asked for clarification on the decision.

In a statement on X, the club wrote: "St Mirren FC is disappointed with the decision not to award a penalty in the first-half of yesterday's match against St Johnstone following a foul on Elvis Bwomono.

"A VAR review cleared this decision without requiring the referee to look at the incident on the pitchside monitor. The club has spoken to Scottish Football Association's Referee Department today seeking clarity on this and other decisions in yesterday's match.

"Clearly, we are all humans and mistakes will happen. However, there has now been an accumulation of errors made against St Mirren.

"This is hugely disappointing for the club and our supporters, and we will continue to engage with the Scottish FA to improve standards of officiating."

Watch highlights of St Mirren's 1-0 loss against St Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership.

We asked for your views on St Mirren's 1-0 defeat against St Johnstone.

Here's what some of you said:

Alistair: Beaten by Tayside in our last three home games, we need to find a way through teams that sit back and defend which St Johnstone did well. Special shout out to our fans who kept the noise going for the full 90-plus minutes.

Bobby: I think our last five home games clearly show our shortfalls this season. Only one home win in this period, against Rangers. St Mirren are fundamentally a counter-attacking team and when teams sit a bit deeper we struggle to break them down. Aberdeen last week was a typical counter-attack performance which highlights the difference.

Douglas: Total lack of creativity, with virtually no pressure applied to the St Johnstone keeper throughout the game. It is a worrying aspect of our side, as typified by our ability to alter tactics from the ball over the top one week, to finding a way to break down a different form of defence. If we play anything like that against Hearts, I fear the worst.

Stephen: We struggled to break down a stuffy St Johnstone side, but I believe we should have been awarded a first half penalty and that would have completely changed the game and Simo Valakari's tactics. How the referee or VAR missed the clear trip on Elvis Bwomono, I'll never know. Fine margins in this league, but we've had a few costly decisions go against us this season.

Dan: The elusive 20-goals-a-season striker haunts St Mirren and has done so for a number of years. Stephen Robinson is correct that he is a realist and needs to strive to keep them in the Premiership but survival looking more and more precarious given the upcoming fixtures.

Dougie: Another set piece blunder. Not good enough. Robinson blames himself again. It's happening too often, saying he put out the wrong team. Would love to know who he would have played and who would he have dropped from last week.

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• St Johnstone have scored in their last five games in the Premiership, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of six games from 19 October 2024 to 23 November 2024.

• St Mirren have failed to score in 10 of their 25 games, more often than any other team in the Premiership this season.

• St Johnstone have scored in each of their last five games in the Premiership, scoring six goals in that run.

St Johnstone pulled off an unexpected victory against St Mirren thanks to Bozo Mikulic's bundled strike - and boosted their hopes of Scottish Premiership survival.

Simo Valakari's bottom side had won their previous league game and move to within four points of Kilmarnock, who host Dundee United later.

What did you make of that, St Mirren fans? Did you deserve more from that game?

Where did it go wrong?

Let us know your thoughts here, external.

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St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson told BBC Scotland: "First half, we totally dominated the game. St Johnstone got into our half once. But we didn't have enough creativity.

"We should draw that game, and the games we should be drawing, we're losing. That's why we are where we are at the moment, in limbo. We've not cemented anything in the top six and we're still looking over our shoulder. The reason for that is huge inconsistency from one week to the next.

"I didn't think we had enough invention and I take ultimate responsibility for that. We've got to force the game and make something happen and we haven't been able to do that. I've obviously picked the wrong team.

"It's hard, after you win 3-0 with such a convincing performance at Aberdeen, to make changes. But that's what's needed in certain games so, that's totally my fault."

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

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"We've conceded way too many set plays and too many individual errors," the St Mirren boss said pre-match. It was like he knew.

The only chances St Johnstone had up until that point had been a long-range strike from Graham Carey, that was immediately followed by Makenzie Kirk's header.

St Mirren's defending had all come from the front as Mikael Mandron and Toyosi Olusanya pressed and pressed, and while they did force chances and looked dangerous on the counter, the final ball was desperately lacking.

That's now three home games on the spin that have ended in defeat - to Dundee, Dundee United, and now St Johnstone.

With the league this tight, they need to address their home form quickly or else they'll keep sliding down the way.

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St Mirren defender Alex Iacovitti (hamstring) and Conor McMenamin (calf) remain out.

St Johnstone could include new signings Jonathan Svedberg, Daniels Balodis and Elliot Watt but Benji Kimpioka will not feature after being the subject of a bid.

Cammy MacPherson (hip) is working his way back but Uche Ikpeazu (knee) and Sam McClelland (Achilles) remain sidelined.

David Currie
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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St Mirren assistant manager Brian Kerr has hailed the collective abilities of striking duo Mikael Mandron and Toyosi Olusanya, saying they would strike fear into any opposition manager.

Mandron scored twice in the Buddies' 3-0 win at Pittodrie last time out, while Olusanya has 11 goals in all competitions this season.

"I think they have everything," Kerr said. "When you put both of them together you get height and physicality, hold-up play and pace in behind.

"In terms of the two of them playing together, you have everything with that front two. A very dangerous pair to deal with.

"I wouldn't like playing against both of them when they're in that kind of form. Mika gives you a real platform to build off. And Toyosi's pace is incredible. That would put fear into any manager."

Olusanya's contract is due to expire at the end of this season, and while Kerr accepts there is likely to be interest in the striker's services, he insists he will remain at St Mirren beyond the January transfer window.

"Toy will attract attention," Kerr said. "Like I said, any team that watches him, how aggressive he is, his pace. He's obviously scored a number of goals for us this year as well.

"So he's got to attract interest. But at the minute we've got no intention of letting Toy go anywhere until the summer when it's ultimately his decision."

David Currie
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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St Mirren assistant manager Brian Kerr has been talking to the media before the Buddies' Scottish Premiership match against St Johnstone on Saturday.

Here are the best bits from his press conference:

• St Mirren are trying to bring in a couple of players before transfer window closes, but Kerr insists the emphasis is on "quality rather than quantity" as they aim to "enhance" the existing squad.

• Kerr stressed that no players will leave unless there are new arrivals first.

• Top-scorer Toyosi Olusanya will inevitably attract interest, but St Mirren have no intention of selling him in this window. Kerr accepts that come the summer the decision is in Olusanya's hands when his deal expires.

• Kerr says that Mikael Mandron and Olusanya have "everything" you could want from a striking duo, adding they "would put fear into any manager".

• Kerr wants St Mirren to capitalise on last week's win over Aberdeen given the tight nature of the Premiership table.

• Dismissed the idea that St Johnstone are cut adrift at the bottom of the Premiership table, saying it would only take a couple of wins for Simo Valakari's team to put them on "the coattails of a number of teams".

Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

Toyosi Olusanya is enjoying the most fruitful season of his career. And St Mirren fans should enjoy the striker while they can as a summer exit looks likely.

The 27-year-old has resisted the club's attempts to extend his contract and manager Stephen Robinson admitted in November he was fighting a losing battle to keep him.

Olusanya was on the money for St Mirren again last weekend, scoring the opener in a 3-0 victory at Aberdeen to take his season's goal tally in all competitions to 11. He is the club's top marksman by a distance - Oisin Smyth is next most prolific on four goals.

Olusanya's electric pace and strength are a key weapon for Robinson's side, but his Saints career has been a slow burner.

He joined in summer 2022, only to suffer a catalogue of injury problems before being farmed out on loan to Arbroath.

Last term - his his first full season with the Saints - the Englishman grew more impactful, netting seven goals in 42 games.

This season, he has blossomed, coming up with big goals in Conference League qualifying, the Premiership and Scottish Cup.

His seven goals put him at the top end of the scorer charts in the league - outside of the Old Firm, only Sam Dalby, Bruce Anderson and Simon Murray have netted more.

Olusanya's shot conversion rate in the Premiership has also taken a leap from 15.4% last season to 17.1%, putting him among the top 12 players. Plus he's in the top 10 for touches in the opposition box and only two non-Old Firm players (Lawrence Shankland and Dalby) have had more.

Olusanya has had 15 big chances in the league so far this term and scored seven of them. By way of comparison, recently departed Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi only scored nine from 26 chances while Daizen Maeda has five from 17.

Since the Paisley club's return to the top flight in 2018, no St Mirren player has scored more than Jamie McGrath's 17-goal haul in season 2020-21. With nearly four months of the campaign remaining, might Olusanya top that feat?

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• St Mirren have won their past three league meetings with St Johnstone, as many as their previous 10 beforehand (W3 D4 L3).

• St Johnstone are winless in 10 league visits to St Mirren (D4 L6), losing their past three in a row.

• After only losing three of their opening 10 home league games this season (W5 D2), St Mirren have since lost their past two in Paisley.

• St Johnstone have lost five of their past six away league outings (D1), including their last three in a row. The Saints last suffered four successive away league defeats in January 2022.

• St Mirren's Toyosi Olusanya has scored seven goals in the Scottish Premiership this season, surpassing his tally for the whole of last term (6). However, only against Celtic (6 games) has Olusanya played more games in the competition without scoring than his five against St Johnstone.

Billy Hogg
Fan writer

After winning at Pittodrie just once in 37 league meetings between 1987 and 2022, last Saturday's excellent 3-0 victory marked St Mirren's third victory there in three seasons and further cements their status as a real bogey team for the Dons.

An opener from Toyosi Olusanya was followed up by a double from Mikael Mandron, who tripled his goal tally for the season in the space of 90 minutes, and piled the misery on Jimmy Thelin's side.

This was a trademark, textbook Stephen Robinson performance, and a much-needed one coming off the back of four straight league defeats.

Despite having just 26% possession the Saints never looked in much danger of losing this one, and picked their moments perfectly – albeit aided by some slapstick defending at times.

However, as comical as Olusanya's opener was, Mandron's game-sealing goal was a moment of sheer class, striking first-time into the far corner to send three points back to Paisley and thousands of Aberdeen fans home.

And having dealt with train cancellations, red weather warnings and some of the worst weather the country has seen in years, it would prove (once again) to be a worthwhile trip for the travelling Buddies.

As we all know, this has been a messy Scottish Premiership season, with most of the middle of the table struggling to find any form or consistency. St Mirren are no exception, but up next is a home game against basement team St Johnstone and a real opportunity to start looking up the table rather than down.

The Paisley Saints have defeated their Perth namesakes twice this season, but came from behind in both, and required a 99th-minute Roland Idowu penalty in Perth in December to secure a dramatic victory.

Saturday is the Saints' first of three successive home games, as they welcome both sides of Edinburgh to Renfrewshire in back-to-back weekends.

This run of games really looks like a hinge point of the season as Robinson's men aim to move upwards in the league and progress in the Scottish Cup.

Only time will tell, but Saturday's performance was a great example of this St Mirren team at their best: hard to break down and clinical on the break. A few more performances like that and we can dream of more European adventures next season.

Billy Hogg can be found at Misery Hunters, external

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

Zach Hemming: Praised by his manager for playing his part in a watertight defensive display at Aberdeen as the Buddies sealed all 3 points.

Richard Taylor: An assist plus big blocks and interceptions at the back to keep Aberdeen at bay.

Toyusi Olusanya:11 goals for the season now. A huge asset for the Saints and Aberdeen couldn't deal with him.

Michael Mandron: Toyusi Olusanya and the Aberdeen defence helped him on his way to two goals away from home.

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Kieran Offord has left Scottish Premiership club St Mirren to join Irish Premiership side Linfield for an undisclosed fee.

The league leaders have reportedly seen off the challenge of big Belfast rivals Glentoran in securing the signature of the 20-year-old Scot.

Offord had just been recalled by his parent club midway through a season-long loan spell with Crusaders.

The striker scored 10 goals in 21 Premiership appearances for the north Belfast club, netting a further four goals in five outings in knockout cup competitions.

"We are thrilled to welcome Kieran to Linfield - he is a player we have been tracking for a number of months, and we believe he has the ability to add more quality to the squad in this crucial period," Blues boss David Healy told the club website.

"His time at Crusaders has shown that he has what it takes to be a top player in this league, he has a good goal scoring record at this level and we're looking forward to working with him to develop further.

"I'd like to thank the club for their persistence in getting this done and also thank you to our Head of Recruitment Willie McKeown for his hard work in getting this signing over the line."

Prior to his Crusaders loan spell Offord made 14 senior appearances for St Mirren and spent time on loan at other Scottish clubs including Stirling Albion, Alloa Athletic and Edinburgh City.

"Once we spoke to Willie McKeown and David Healy, we felt this was the club for Kieran to take the next step in his career," said Offord's agent Phil Korklin.