Why St Mirren are making small steps, but Buddies must wait for true new manager impact

St Mirren assistant manager Diarmuid O'Carroll believes it will be next season before Stephen Robinson fully puts his stamp on the team.

Stephen Robinson (L) and Diarmuid O'Carroll are making moves at St Mirren but the biggest changes will come pre-season, the Buddies assistant has suggested. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

But he and the manager are working on small changes that they hope can kick-start their reign.

Saints have lost 2-0 to Hearts and Celtic since the pair moved to Paisley in the wake of Jim Goodwin's departure.

Ahead of Saturday's trip to face Ross County, O'Carroll said: "We are conscious that our style is different to Jim's, how we build play, how we press the opposition.

"We have to make small tweaks in the short term, enough that we can get results and also put our stamp on it.

"I think you will start to see a Stephen Robinson team come pre-season. For now, it's trying to be as good as we can in the short term and get the results that will get us in the top six.

"It's been a bit of a whirlwind with the way we left Morecambe and the timeline with the games, and fling in a bit of snow as well.

"But it's been brilliant, I've been impressed with the facilities and the ambition of the club. We've had a lot of productive meetings with the staff.

"We would obviously like a couple of results now to back it up but everything so far we are excited about."

Robinson’s first two games in charge have been tough – at home to third-placed Hearts and then a trip to cinch Premiership leaders Celtic. Both ended in 2-0 defeats but Robinson insists his team can learn from the midweek defeat and build upon elements this weekend in the Highlands."I thought defensively we were excellent, really, really well organised," he said. “I take a lot of heart from the defensive performance.

"We can be braver on the ball and that's the big thing I have learned out of the last two games and something we have to be better at.

"It’s given me a good look at the players, and their attitudes and discipline – in a shape [at Celtic] they were very disciplined.

"We are frustrated but I think there are things to take out of the game.”

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