In his own time
Scott says new gaffer will be given scope he needs
St Mirren chairman Gordon Scott insists Oran Kearney will be given the time to turn the Saints around – even if they wind up relegated.
Kearney, appointed on Friday, narrowly missed out on the job to Alan Stubbs in the summer, but Scott revealed that he was never in any doubt that the Northern Irishman would be his first port of call after axing Stubbs after just three months in charge.
The Buddies chairman offered no excuses for not opting for Kearney’s services first time around, explaining why he plumped for Stubbs in the summer.
But he admitted that Kearney fits perfectly into his vision for the club following the success previously enjoyed under Jack Ross.
Scott said: “I would still expect us to stay in the league but even if we don’t that won’t change things.
“Jack (Ross) lost his first six games with us and we were still so many points behind the rest in February but we knew he was the guy to stick with. Similarly, we now see Oran as the future of this club.
“Oran was so close to being our man in the summer that it was a no-brainer this time.
“Tony flew to Ireland to meet him because he had come over here the last time and we decided that he was the man to take us forward. “It was a very easy decision. “If you look at the template we had with Jack, he was some one who was good at handling people. I’m not saying Alan wasn’t but we’re back to looking at a hungry young manager who’s good at dealing with players.
“We were close to going with Oran in the summer but if we had brought him in and it hadn’t worked out then we’d have been wondering, three months down the line, why we hadn’t gone with Alan Stubbs, who had the a great CV and perfect references.
“It would’ve been very hard to explain why we hadn’t given Alan the job, whereas Oran seemed like a bit of a risk.
“I don’t feel it’s as big a risk now, though.
“Everyone in football we spoke to told us Alan would be a great appointment and the fans seemed happy with him too.
“He came across really well at the interview. Everything he said seemed right to us at the time.”
Kearney looks set to work alongside assistant manager Brian Rice, who is the only member of the Stubbs’ backroom staff still at the club.
However, Scott revealed he is hopeful of bringing in someone to help Kearney get to grips with the Scottish game.
He said: “Because of what’s happened this season we’ve looked again at how we run things and we’re planning to bring in a technical director, who will be a constant presence at the club.
“When Jack went to Sunderland he left a big hole and we had a new guy coming in and signing a lot of players and relying on other people to tell him how good they were.
“However, if we have someone in here full- time, working with the manager to identify players further ahead then that should help. But we’ve learned from this.
“It’s something we’ve just started looking at and it might happen quickly or it could take time – it’s important to get Oran settled in first and then we’ll look at that more closely.”