St Mirren look to add to unforgettable season live on BBC

Scottish Cup: St Mirren v Heart of Midlothian

Venue: SMISA Stadium, Paisley Date: Monday, 10 February Kick-off: 19: 45 GMT.

It’s possible that St. Mirren will have a memorable season. The Buddies are still in the Scottish Cup, and a third successive top-six Premiership title is still a possibility.

With their first European campaign since 1987 and visits to Iceland and Norway, it had a promising beginning.

However, that campaign was already over by the time the three summer signings, including striker Kevin van Veen and defender Shaun Rooney and Jaden Brown, had left the team as a result of three unrelated court cases.

Robinson’s approach to that?

‘ ‘ It’s not something they teach you on the Uefa pro-licence course, “he said”. The most difficult off-field season has undoubtedly been one.

“All the boys I bring in, I have a bond with them. It’s not pleasant to see people lose their jobs because you try to get to know them as much as you can.

‘ ‘ I think the Uefa courses give you the bare minimum. Given the reality of the issues they face, how they handle them, whether they are successful or unsuccessful, and how you might react differently, I believe managers should contribute.

‘ ‘ But, with a little bit more experience, you do learn to deal with it, you learn to just compartmentalise it a little bit, and deal with what you can in front of you.

You have to be there to support other people at the same time, which is extremely difficult in terms of dealing with both the impact it has on the rest of the squad and trying to lift them once more, and I think the players have been fantastic. ‘

The European campaign, joyous but short-lived, put its strains on players and staff alike.

‘ ‘ It was always a challenge for a club of our size to reach Europe, to compete in Europe, to build a squad for Europe so quickly”, Robinson explained.

There is a lot of pressure on the football club’s staff, both football and non-football staff, because the facility’s infrastructure is not designed to be in Europe.

To be two points off the top of what we were last season in the league at this point is a clear testament to the character of the squad and the entire football team.

The Buddies are currently in the fifth round of the cup against one of those bigger clubs, Hearts, in Paisley on Monday, but they are only halfway there.

‘ ‘ All you ask for in a cup game is to get a home tie, “Robinson said”. We’ve actually been better on the road this season, but we’ve got a home tie.

“It’ll be a full house. It’s something we want to embrace. We are aware that Hearts has put a lot of money into creating a truly, really talented squad.

“They have a very good manager in Neil Critchley, and he’s starting to put his stamp on Hearts right away.”

Robinson thinks that Brighton &amp, Hove Albion owner Tony Bloom’s and his data analytics business, a model the Northern Irishman envious, are already having an impact on Hearts’ new recruitment strategy.

‘ ‘ We’d love Tony to come in and stick 10 million pounds into the club – and that would be fantastic, “he said.

” So, if Tony’s reading this, St Mirren would be happy to take your analytics for a few years anyway!

‘ ‘ We can’t afford that. Martin Foyle, the one scout in the world, does an incredible job with his connections and the number of people he hires for us.

I can’t praise Martin enough because we receive so much value for our money from him. ‘

The visitors will be regarded as favorites to advance to the quarter-finals despite the teams’ level in the league and even on the head-to-head count this year with a win at home.

‘ ‘ They should be expected to win”, Robinson added. “And they’ll come out and play and play in an open style. In recent video games, they have become a little bit more direct.

Playing teams that have played a little bit deeper this year has been what we’ve had trouble with. Away from home, you’re able to play on the counter-attack, which suits the personnel that we have.