Scottish Communities League Cup: St Mirren pass masters aiming to pass muster against Hearts

By Roddy Forsyth

10:30PM GMT 15 Mar 2013

That was the day the Buddies beat the odds and Celtic at Hampden Park to guarantee their place in Sunday’s Scottish Communities League Cup final, also at Hampden.

The impressive resolve and performance Danny Lennon’s team displayed on that occasion has not been seen consistently during the intervening period. In fact, Saints’ record since then has read – played nine, won three, drawn two and lost four.

Lennon declared that he had acquired knowledge as a manager since the semi-finals but when quizzed on the substance of his education, he hesitated before replying: “I’ve learned that you’ve got to remain focused. That you’ve got to manage a group of players when perhaps this is the only game that’s entering their heads. Has it had an impact on us not reaching the top six in the league? In my opinion – certainly.

“And it hurts me to say that, but it’s part and parcel of football and sometimes things like that are outwith your control – but if there was anybody holding anything back then I’m certainly looking forward to what they’ve saved being given back to us on Sunday.”

Still, having minds distracted by the possibility of silverware is one thing. It was another matter when St Mirren lost six times in succession in the league from early October until late November, an experiences which Lennon believes forged a certain steel in his character.

“It was a bit of a crisis for me at the time but I was under no pressure from the group of directors and a chairman who are a pleasure to work with – the pressure all came from myself,” said the manager. “I always believe that what we’re doing is the right way but the way we want to win football games is the hardest way. That’s only my opinion and I’m not saying it’s right or wrong.

“I believe it’s not rocket science that if you have most of the ball it gives you a better opportunity to score goals but at that given time you’re trying to pick spirits up, you’re trying to make sure you’re getting your players to the maximum. If you’ve got a belief in going forward you must stick to that.

“If you’re going through hell, keep going and you’ll certainly come out the other side of it. And we did, thankfully. That’s because we believe in the group of players we have – and we have a fantastic team behind the team in my staff.

“More importantly we have good people who own the football club and run it fantastically well. We’ve got a very proud 135-year history at this football club.

“We were one of the original members of the Scottish Football League, we’ve won the Scottish Cup three times, and we’re now into our second League Cup final in the space of three years.

“It would mean the world to me, my staff, the players and the directors if we manage to bring this cup home to our wonderful supporters in Paisley. They are the most important people at any football club.”

Lennon is known for his commitment to the passing game and, having had a look at the Hampden Park surface – which is probably the best in the country at the moment – he was enthused by the prospect of sending his players on to the manicured turf. “It’s in great nick,” said Lennon.

“It’s better than we had at the end of January, which maybe coincided with the poor weather that we had. Whoever is in control of it has done a terrific job in getting the pitch up to the level that he national stadium should be and it’s looking absolutely terrific.”

Lennon has decent options. The Paisley captain, Jim Goodwin, declared himself free of a troublesome calf strain and Lee Mair appears to have overcome injury ahead of schedule.

A new reinforcement is the 24-year-old Estonian winger, Sander Puri – capped 48 times by his contract –who was out of contract and trained with the squad this week.

It would be a surprise if Puri were to start, but he is likely to be on the bench, perhaps alongside Graham Carey, whose dead ball skills will be valuable if St Mirren have to go to penalty kicks for the third time in this tournament.

Lennon, though, expects every man – playing or not – to do his duty. “I expect that from one to 20 – even the players who are unstripped – to have a major contribution, to become supporters, and the subs ready to acquire knowledge and step in at any given time.

“More importantly, the 11 who are going to start know their own jobs and responsibilities.

“Against Celtic our key strengths were work rate and belief. They’re the two key ingredients that we have to make sure we bring on Sunday and if we do that for 90 minutes that’s paramount to giving us every opportunity to pick up that special cup.”

Taken from telegraph.co.uk