St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson received messages of congratulations from top managers after his side’s Premier Sports Cup triumph – with the pick of the bunch being from Sir Alex Ferguson.
A 3-1 victory over Celtic at Hampden gave the Paisley side their first major trophy since 2013, with Robinson masterminding another achievement at the club following top-six finishes and European qualification in the past few seasons.
The golden moment at the national stadium was the highlight of Robinson’s time in charge so far, and drew attention from far and wide. That brought recognition from other managers, some from the very top of the game.
One message stood out from the others with Manchester United and Aberdeen legend, and former St Mirren boss, Sir Alex Ferguson sending his congratulations.
“My biggest, and I thought someone was winding me up, was Sir Alex Ferguson sent me a message, which I couldn’t believe,” Robinson revealed.
“My son was in the next room, and I was shouting to him, saying, ‘Are you sending me messages and messing me about?’.
“Sir Alex sent me a brilliant message, and from a legend in the game like that, I was extremely humbled.
“Somebody that’s got that stature of the game and done what Sir Alex has done, and I’m just a wee guy from Northern Ireland that’s doing the job to the best of his ability, to get recognised by people like that is amazing.
“There were also messages from Eddie Howe and Brendan Rodgers, to name just a few.
“It was fantastic, and as I said, I was humbled when you got that level of manager texting you a ‘Well done’. That was nice.
“That’s all for the history books now, though, and we need to win football matches and get points on the board.”
That challenge begins on Saturday with a home match against Livingston, and Robinson said that before the team can look up the table and eye another top-six finish, they have to get the points needed to stay in the division.
“I can look back on that (cup win), and we can all be very proud of that achievement,” he said. “But I’m one that moves on quickly and the club and staff are focused on how we beat Livingston.”
The manager said that club captain Mark O’Hara has trained all week as he aims to make a return to the team, but that there was a significant blow with news of a long-term injury to another midfielder.
“We’ve had really bad news on Keanu Baccus,” Robinson said. “He’s got a hamstring tendon injury and could be out for the guts of three months, and at least for eight to ten weeks.
“That’s a real blow for us. I thought he was fantastic for us.
“He’ll see the specialist today, and hopefully it won’t require surgery.”
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