Buddie Hell

Only a year ago, St. Mirren were on a high...

St. Patrick's Day 2013, nearly a year ago, will be forever etched in the memories of St. Mirren fans; it was of course the day they won the League Cup, defeating Hearts 3-2 in the final.  It was their first silverware for 26 years; that in itself is enough to make sure that the manager, Danny Lennon, goes down in the club's history.

That's just as well, really, because St. Mirren's league form under his guidance has not exactly been amazing.  June will mark the fourth anniversary of Lennon's appointment.  In his first season in charge, they finished eleventh in the SPL.  Then in 2011-12, they came eighth.  But last term the players seemed to down tools after the cup triumph.  The Buddies had enough points on the board to finish ahead of Dundee with a bit to spare, but they slumped to another eleventh place finish.

This season, eleventh place doesn't guarantee top flight survival.  It means an awkward playoff with one of the Championship sides.

At the moment, St. Mirren are not eleventh.  They are ninth, but only one point above the two sides below them, Partick Thistle and Ross County.  They haven't been higher than eighth in the table at any point since October 2012.  They have picked up just 33 points from their last 38 league matches going back to this time last year, with only eight wins.  For comparison, Dundee finished bottom last season with 30 points from that number of games...and they were grim.  St. Mirren are hardly blessed with a big budget, but neither are the likes of Inverness or Ross County, who both finished top six last time around.



...but it's been a rough season for boss Danny Lennon

BBC Scotland's Chic Young - who is, mind you, about as reliable as a car built by British Leyland - claimed at the end of last week that Lennon faced the sack if his side were beaten at home to Kilmarnock.  True or not, it was a proverbial six-pointer and his players rose to the challenge, coming up with a couple of late goals to win 2-0.  It's the second time this season that he's appeared on the brink of getting the boot; back in September he seemed to be in dire straits after picking up only two points from the opening seven games of the campaign and getting knocked out of the League Cup by Queen of the South.  Back then, the players also responded in his hour of need, registering 4 of their 7 wins this season in a five game span in October and November.

One of the major reasons that Lennon was brought to the club was his supposed ability to work on a budget, to find rough diamonds in the lower leagues and polish them.  The prime example is Darren McGregor, the former Cowdenbeath defender who impressed before two cruciate ligament injuries.  However, St. Mirren's dealings last summer were little short of a disaster, bar the return of Newcastle's Conor Newton for a second loan spell.  The most significant signing, Gary Harkins, flopped so badly that the Buddies failed to win any league game in which he started and he has been sent to Oldham Athletic for the rest of the season.  Other arrivals included David Cornell, Danny Grainger and Jake Caprice - none of whom are still at the club.  The most farcical move involved French striker Stephane Bahoken, who has been persona non grata since September and whom was shipped back to parent club Nice before the end of December...only to be sent back as he is ineligible to play on loan for another club, and Nice don't want him either.  One hopes Lennon didn't agree to pay much of his wages.

10 Terrific Danny Lennon signings...

Craig Samson

Darren McGregor

Marc McAusland

Paul McGowan

Stephen Thompson

Jeroen Tesselaar

Nigel Hasselbaink

Conor Newton

Paul Dummett

Esmael Goncalves

Their best signing of the season came between the transfer windows - Marian Kello, the ex-Hearts goalie.  In January, there was more chopping and changing.  Time will tell if Josh Magennis and Gregg Wylde will be decent signings, though both flattered to deceive this season at Aberdeen.  But moving for Eric Djemba-Djemba, the Cameroonian whose name is most often seen in lists of Manchester United's worst ever buys, already looks daft; he has been completely off the pace from the word go.

There was one other new face on loan, one that is most intriguing; Newcastle United's highly rated young forward Adam Campbell.  Lennon had wanted him back in August, and chased him hard...yet he doesn't seem to know where to play him.  St. Mirren's best attacking player is unquestionably Paul McGowan, and he is only particularly effective when playing off a lone striker.  As a result, Lennon is unkeen to play two up front, but veteran Stephen Thompson seems to still be untouchable, even though he has visibly slowed down this season and provided only a little more impact on the pitch than he has with his bland remarks on Sportscene.  And with Magennis and Wylde occupying the wide areas, Lennon's prize catch is left kicking his heels on the bench.

...and 10 Terrible Danny Lennon signings

Paul McQuade

Gareth Wardlaw

Ilias Haddad

Sam Parkin

Sander Puri

Sam Parkin

Jon Robertson

David Cornell

Danny Grainger

Gary Harkins

At least the attackers are mostly played in their preferred positions - most of the defenders and midfielders can't say otherwise.  'Round pegs in square holes' has been a recurring theme of St. Mirren's season, whether it's central defender McGregor or hard working midfielder Newton at right back, or central midfielder Kenny McLean out wide, or McGowan in the centre of midfield.  The sight of midfield anchor and bruiser Jim Goodwin in central defence has been a familiar one, even though it weakens both the defence and the midfield.

Other than Kello, success stories have been few and far between.  Two can now be found in the full-back areas, in the shape of youngsters Sean Kelly and Jason Naismith.  And midfielder John McGinn continues to develop nicely, thriving despite the dearth of quality or organization around him.

It's been, and will continue to be, a long season for St. Mirren.  There's a good chance that they'll be the unfortunate team to end up in the playoff place.  Even if they maintain their top flight status, whether by finishing a place or two higher or by winning a playoff, it will be a difficult summer - loan signings Newton, Campbell and Magennis may not stay, while it will surely be time to cut ties with Thompson and fellow geriatric Gary Teale, who has been injured for most of the season.

But, whether they finish eleventh or not, would you trust Lennon with the rebuilding exercise?

L.