Jimmy’s the inside man
Irishman will bolster Saints’backroom staff
Oran Kearney insists Jimmy Nicholl will act as his inside man in the St Mirren dressing room as he moves to bolster his back room staff.
Kearney believes the vastly experienced North Irishman is the perfect man to lift spirits in a squad bereft of confidence.
The 61-year-old, who left Rangers five months ago, will join the set-up – which already includes Brian Rice and Gus McPherson – when he fully recovers from hip surgery.
And as boss Kearney prepares his side to take on Motherwell tonight, he admits he has had his eye on the Northern Ireland No. 2 since he took the reigns at the Simple Digital Arena.
He said: “My thinking from the word go was I felt there was need for that type of person.
“The qualities that he has are qualities that I thought would add and help with the group.
“I didn’t want to jump in and make rash decisions very quickly. I think I’ve done that throughout the club, I’ve watched more than anything for the first four or five weeks.
“And in the last week there have been a raft of changes around roles of staff members and routines.
“Jimmy will be part of that transition.
He added: “I know from how he deals at international level he is fantastic in the relationships he builds with the players. He is very good in terms of confidence.
“He can be an ear for players who are not in the team and those who are.
“Michael (O’Neil) and anybody that’s dealt with him says he is a brilliant inside man in the relationships he builds with players. It’s those qualities that I think in the scenario we are in can be worth their weight in gold.”
With Saints desperate for points tonight, the gaffer says he has moved to lay down some ground rules for his players in a bid to raise expectations.
He added: “It’s not a dictatorship by any stretch of the imagination. It was very much an open conversation about how we raise the bar and raise the standards, about saying what is acceptable and what is not acceptable.
“It’s the players’ rules more than my rules.
“It’s not about punishing players or hitting players in the pocket or making them feel bad, it’s about having a standard.”
Kearney added Anton Ferdinand could be in contention to start after training twice this week.