Rangers plaudits no good to Stephen Robinson as he sets St Mirren demands

Stephen Robinson admits he is fed-up of pats on the back for performances and believes St Mirren should have beaten Rangers yesterday.

The Buddies boss was in no mood to entertain any hard-luck stories after James Bolton’s own goal and a Cyriel Dessers header earned the Light Blues a 2-1 win at the SMiSA Stadium.

Strike star Mikael Mandron had levelled for Saints before half-time and there were plenty of chances which could have nudged them in front.

However, it was Gers who sneaked off with the points in the Paisley sunshine to sentence the Buddies to an eighth straight loss against the Old Firm this season.

Robbo’s men stay both fifth and two points clear of Dundee in the Premiership table after Tony Docherty’s men lost 2-1 to leaders Celtic at Dens Park.

That will have been of scant consolation to boss Robbo, however, as he mulled over what might have been. “Frustration,” when asked how he felt at time up.

“Ultimately, I’ve had a lot of ‘well dones’ this season from top class managers. Philippe [Clement] was very complimentary about how good we are, the style of play we have, and Brendan [Rodgers, Celtic manager] was the same a couple of weeks ago – but ultimately we’ve come out with no points from both games.

“We created enough chances to win the game, never mind draw it. Their keeper [Jack Butland] made some terrific saves. The two goals we conceded are very much avoidable.

“The first one was a lack of communication which is something we crave from the boys. Society doesn’t speak a lot to each other now so we try to demand that from them – but we didn’t do it there and we were punished.

“The second one, as much as it’s a very good cross, if we defended that 100 times we would win it, when it’s one v three in the box. The goals were frustrating ones to lose. We have to be better than that and we demand better than that. All the ‘well dones’ in the world don’t get you points unfortunately.

“Every game we’ve played, we’ve caused them [the Old Firm] problems. We’ve had a lot of compliments without taking points.

“We’ve taken points off Aberdeen, Hibs, the other big, big teams in the league, where we’ve been clinical with chances. We weren’t clinical and we had enough chances. Sometimes that’s the difference. Dessers had one chance, great movement, goal.”

Robbo continued: “Previously at the football club, we’d have said we were unlucky.

“We weren’t unlucky – we should have defended better. If we want to be a sustainable top-six club, which I believe we have the quality to be, we have to be better than that.

“We have to take our chances and I’ll demand that. The boys know I’ll demand that.

“It’s not, ‘oh we got beat by Rangers and that’s okay’. We want more. I demand more and I believe we will get more with the quality that we have.”

Saints’ performance was summed up by Alex Gogic who capped a sterling effort with an 80-yard dash to clear a Tom Lawrence shot off the line when Rangers mounted a last-gasp counter attack.

“It typifies the spirit, the class and the quality of the boys we’ve got,” Robbo said. “I expect nothing less. We’ve got such a good group of boys – too nice at times – but I want more from them, I demand more from them, because I believe a lot of them can go and play higher and I believe the club can stay as a top-six club.”

Meanwhile, Robbo saluted the contribution of goalscorer Mandron who has established himself as the club’s No 9.

“I thought Mika was outstanding,” he added. “That’s why we play him. He holds the ball up, he’s physically a really good presence and he took his goal fantastically well. He’s a big part of what we do.”

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