Stephen Robinson, preparing his St Mirren team to welcome Rangers to Paisley on Boxing Day, was determined not to be overawed by the talent at Philippe Clement’s disposal.
Yes, Rangers were playing their best football of the Scottish Premiership campaign with four wins in a row.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Christmas Eve, the St Mirren boss highlighted Danilo and Ianis Hagi – back in the Rangers side after injury issues and a contract dispute respectively – as proof of the kind of depth all but one other manager in this division can only dream of.
Captain James Tavernier was in outstanding form too, the evergreen right-back proving that rumours of his demise had indeed been greatly exaggerated. Clement highlighted left-sider Jefte as a ‘really good example’, meanwhile, of the sort of bargain deals that can be achieved when casting your net a little wider in the transfer market.
Yet, Robinson was keen to portray Rangers’ two rampaging full-backs not as something to fear, but as an opportunity for his St Mirren players to grasp with both hands.
St Mirren exposed Rangers duo James Tavernier and Jefte
“Toyi [Olusanya, the St Mirren striker] gives us an incredible outlet. With pace, your passes don’t need to be too accurate at times,” Robinson explains following their first home win over the Glasgow giants in four years.
“We know Rangers place their full-backs really high. So, if we can buy two or three passes, you’re in on goal with one pass. Toyi caused them a lot of problems. A couple of times he maybe could have got his head up and released somebody.
“But yeah, that was the game plan.”
St Mirren’s blueprint is best reflected in the build up to the opening goal. With Jefte in attacking mode, a long ball downfield caught Rangers out. The onrushing Jack Butland clattered into Greg Kiltie, Oisin Smyth stepping up to convert from the spot.
And as Coalan Boyd-Munce lashed home a fearsome 93rd minute decider, Dujon Sterling caught in possession inside his own half, Tavernier was nowhere to be seen; Rangers’ most creative talent pulling the strings up the other end in pursuit of a late winner of his own.
Stephen Robinson explains St Mirren changes after Danilo strike
Philippe Clement felt St Mirren bullied Rangers, winning the individual duels and playing with far more aggression than their often passive visitors.
This was a victory not only for The Buddies plucky players, meanwhile, but also their impressive head coach. Robinson admits that he shifted things a little following Danilo’s leveller in an attempt to keep Rangers’ increasingly-influential widemen quiet.
“Second-half, we sat too deep. And then, you don’t get the chance to counter because you’re not high enough up the pitch. So first-half, excellent, and the last 20 minutes, the same,” former Motherwell boss Robinson adds.
“We have to credit the resilience of the players. We moved the ball really well first half, we pressed them really high. When you have a right go and move the ball quickly, you’ll create chances and we responded to a setback. That’s the bigger thing for me.
“We were [playing in a] 3-4-3 with the two number tens, and they were getting bypassed by [Rangers’] two full-backs. We just felt that the number eights coming from deeper to press out wide meant that we were engaged higher up the pitch.
“It was too easy for them in the first 15 minutes of the second-half, to get into our half with one or two passes. The change worked well, obviously the players carried it out, so they deserve a lot of credit.”
