Robinson seeks answers as he admits to 'relegation battle'

Highlights: Dundee v St Mirren

29/11/2025

Plaudits for performances. A Premier Sports Cup final banked against Celtic in a fortnight. Yet St Mirren, and their manager, Stephen Robinson, are searching for answers.

"I've made it very, very clear to them - unless something changes, we're in a relegation battle," Robinson told BBC Scotland after the 3-1 Scottish Premiership defeat by Dundee.

"It's not good enough. It's not acceptable. The results since we got to the final haven't been acceptable."

Defeat at Dens Park leaves the perennial top-six finishers 11th in the Premiership table, with Dundee's win lifting them above the Paisley side.

Just two wins from their opening 13 league fixtures is a desperate return for a club who, under Robinson, have continually punched above their weight.

A single point from their latest seven league outings. No league wins since defeating Steven Pressley's side at home in September. Yet, impressively, they will face Celtic in the League Cup showpiece.

In league terms, it is still early days, but trouble is looming, as Robinson acknowledges, if they do not find solutions to get points on the board.

Often managers are asked how they fix a bad run, or what the problems are.

Often, you do not hear much insight, or referee decisions, bad luck or fine margins feature in their response. All of those are applicable to St Mirren on occasion but do not account for this wretched run in full.

Robinson could not be clearer on what the issues are. He said so in the build up to this fixture and again come full-time.

"It's the same old story, unfortunately," he explained. "18-18 [yard boxes], very good. We had 18 shots and only three on target.

"They have eight shots, four on target and scored three goals. So that's the difference in games.

"I can keep saying the performances are decent, but they're decent from 18-18. The bits that matter are in both boxes and we've not done either well enough."

Put simply, they are not taking their chances and are conceding when they shouldn't. Both elements were on full display at Dens Park.

Most people recognise, in what is usually a congested mid-section of Scotland's top flight, that a couple of wins can make a dramatic difference. Focus then normally switches to another club or manager.

In his midweek media conference before the trip to Dundee, Robinson said, "we had a similar period this time last year and we managed to finish in the top six", citing the fact his team were third bottom with two wins from the opening 10 matches of last term.

They normally find a run of form, but the fact that the Northern Irishman has referenced relegation after this defeat is significant. Perhaps he is trying to force a reaction. Or perhaps he is genuinely concerned that this trend is in danger of becoming habitual.

"If you look at the table now, it has to resonate with them [his players]," he continued.

"I've made that very clear. I've tiptoed around them a little bit. We live in a society where you can't tell people the truth sometimes now and you can't shout at them. So you have to do it differently.

"I've always said our first and foremost goal is to stay in this division and we've certainly got players to do that.

"But, at the minute, I'm counting on three or four every single week to run the team and other people have to step up."

The festive fixture list is always demanding in terms of schedule and intensity.

On a run like this, for all of Aberdeen's ups and, more frequent, downs this season, the upcoming midweek trip to Pittodrie would not be on Robinson's wishlist right now.

Perhaps crucially, it is then three Premiership fixtures against Dundee United, Livingston and Kilmarnock, with that cup final against Celtic within that run.

Those home matches offer points opportunities that St Mirren would ordinarily relish. Right now, they seem vital as poor outcomes could leave them in a dangerous position.

"I've been here before," Robinson insisted. "I've got boys in the dressing room that I trust and will push. And there's some that need to do more."

BBC Scotland pundit Allan Preston was covering St Mirren's defeat by Dundee and summed up the current situation succinctly and bluntly.

"St Mirren, two weeks away from a cup final, are in a really bad place," he said.

Rory Loy, who had two loan spells at St Mirren in his playing career, added: "Stephen Robinson has been through a similar period in his St Mirren career maybe once before, but I'm not sure it was as poor as this.

"If credit in the bank means anything, Robinson is worth a fortune. I think he's more than capable of finishing the league strongly."