St Mirren search for new assistant with Diarmuid O’Carroll linked to Newcastle

St Mirren are looking for a new assistant manager as Diarmuid O’Carroll finalises his departure from the club.

The 37-year-old Irishman worked as a coach under Stephen Robinson at both Motherwell and Morecambe and has been his number two in Paisley since February 2022.

However, O’Carroll was absent from the technical area as Saints defeated Hearts 2-1 on Saturday and is reportedly set for a new role with Newcastle’s Under-21s.

“He is speaking to someone else at an Under-21 position,” said Robinson. “Obviously, we’ve shown today that we’ve got that staff in place to step up if that should happen

“(First-team coach) Brian (Kerr) has come in and done great for me. Him and Jamie Langfield were a big part of the set-play. Credit to both of them, they’ve worked on the set-plays all week.”

Saints ended a run of seven games without a win when Toyosi Olusanya struck the decisive goal in the 34th minute after Hearts defender Craig Halkett had cancelled out an early opener for the hosts which came off the heads of both Saints centre-back Richard Taylor and Jambos full-back Gerald Taylor.

It was Olusanya’s sixth goal of the season and his third in successive games.

“I don’t know what the stats are but everything he touches at the minute has gone in,” said Robinson. “He should have more to be honest with you. He’s a handful and a completely different player than what he was (when he arrived).

“But credit to him. The staff have worked really, really hard on him hitting the target and his timing and his runs. We’re starting to see the fruition of that. He’s been a real talisman for us, he’s been excellent. There’s real competition for places in that area now.”

The win over Hearts elevated Saints into the top six after a difficult start to the campaign in which they had to contend with the demands of Europa Conference League involvement.

“We don’t have any divine right as a football club to be there,” said Robinson. “We’re one of the smaller football clubs in the division. We’re trying to change that.

“We’re trying to make top six more regular by putting processes in place that allows that to happen, but there’s a long way to go and a lot of hard work ahead.”