SAYS STRIKE STAR SUTTY
JOHN SUTTON has paid tribute to St Mirren’s long-suffering support for sticking by their team throughout their season of woe.
Each follower of the Paisley side must have walked under a street of ladders while smashing mirrors as a platoon of black cats marched past such has been the heartache of their recent endeavours.
Relegated from the Premiership two years ago, a troop of managers have come and gone as St Mirren have struggled to find their feet in Scotland’s second tier. So much so that when Jack Ross, their latest managerial recruit arrived back in September, he inherited a side already fixed to the foot of the Championship.
Nine points adrift at one stage, those who faithfully shuffle towards the Paisley 2021 Stadium have finally been rewarded with a beacon of hope from Ross and his team. A promising run of results culminated in Tuesday’s 4-1 rout of hapless rivals Morton at Cappielow propelled the buoyant Buddies out of the relegation drop zone with just four games left to play.
Sutton got goal No.3 for St Mirren in dreich Greenock to send over a thousand visiting fans wild in the stands on what was a fitting way to mark his 100th start for the club. And, as he reflected on the night’s events, was delighted to put a smile back on the faces of those have endured happier times.
“The one thing I will say is that the fans have been very good,” he said. “I can’t remember a time when they have given us pelters. They’ve always turned up in their numbers, they’ve always got behind us.
“They’ve made it a good club to be at and that’s really important. They are expecting some sort of promotion or play-off push this year and that didn’t happen. It’s the total opposite but they stuck with us and made it a good place to play.
“The manager stuck with it, the players stuck with it, the fans stuck with it. Hopefully we are reaping the rewards of that.”
The transformation in St Mirren is quite spectacular considering how perilous a state they were in less than two months ago. On February 25 they travelled to Somerset Park knowing defeat to Ayr United would see the chasm between them and their hosts widen to 11 points. Sutton scored to help secure a 2-0 win to squeeze that gap down to five. “That’s the thing with the league, you always have a chance because you play the other teams so many times. There are six pointers,” explained Sutton.
“Certainly we beat Ayr quite convincingly at home but we beat them away. We could have gone double figures behind if we had lost so it was a big win. We’ve kicked on from there.
“It’s important now that, even though there is a lot of confidence, we need to be realistic. The other teams are looking at us and now we are the target.
“No one has ever put the tools down or given up. Hopefully this is the start of things to come for us.
“We don’t want to start talking too soon. There’s a long way to go.”
FOR all the optimism – and quite rightly so – Sutton is correct to cool talk of a successful escape mission. St Mirren are not out of the woods just yet.
Only a point above a relegation play-off place and three above bottom, Ross will take his team away to Falkirk, Dundee United and Hibs with only the visit of Raith Rovers to offer any home comforts.
Sutton added: “Every game is tough in this league.
“You can look at it and say we are playing teams in the top then we have a six-pointer against Raith, but there are no easy games.
“I think we could have played better against Morton but if we show the steel we are showing defensively we won’t be far away from keeping St Mirren in the league.” KEITH LASLEY hopes Motherwell can silence former Lanarkshire loud mouth Richie Foran when the Irishman brings Inverness to Fir Park on Saturday.
The Dubliner spent three years in claret and amber from 2004 and 2007 where he became a fan favourite under Terry Butcher. It was back then that Lasley first got to know the forward as a talented player but also an outspoken member of the Motherwell side.
Foran is still held in high regard by many of the Motherwell supporters but, with Inverness sitting bottom of the Premiership just five points behind the Fir Park side, his old team-mate knows the importance of keeping the under-fire 36-year-old and his team quiet.
“Richie was a team-mate and a good player for Motherwell, wholehearted and great goal record,” said Lasley of Foran, who grabbed 35 goals for the Lanarkshire club. “I know the fans have a good affinity with him, but that won’t be the case for 90 minutes on Saturday.
“He’s well thought of at Fir Park and rightly so. But he wants the best for Inverness now and we want the best for Motherwell. He’ll have his team up for it because he’ll see this as a chance for them to get back in it.
“You could see in his character he had leadership qualities. He had very strong opinions and you need that if you’re going to be a manager. You can never say for sure someone will be a manager but he displayed some of the things needed.
“As a player he was blunt – I was on the end of some of those opinions at half-time! You could see it the way he played the game, he was very aggressive in his approach but in the right way and that’s how he is managing.
“I’m not saying he was ranting and raving every half-time, but when he had an opinion to give he gave it. That was one of his biggest attributes. He was very assertive but I just hope we can curtail his team.
“You need to be very resilient as a manager and be able to make decisions and he can do that. Players respect that honesty. There are times you need to hold back the truth in certain situations but more often than not honesty is the way forward and Richie played with real honesty.”
Motherwell know the value of getting three points in this weekend ahead of a nail-biting finale after the split.
Only two seasons ago the Steelmen stayed up with a play-off win over Rangers after finishing second bottom, a berth they currently occupy, albeit on goal difference with Hamilton Accies.
Lasley added: “I’ve seen a lot at this club and more ups than downs which is great for a club of this size. There have been testing times and that is the case the moment with a five-way fight to keep our status but we’re up for the fight.
“We’ve got relatively recent experience of being involved in this so hopefully that can drive us on.”