While a lot of managers will often be welcome of big changes to their playing squad during the summer months, as it will naturally allow them to do the work required to improve, St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson is potentially not in the same boat as the raft of players leaving in the coming weeks is set to decimate the group in a big way.
St Mirren have undoubtedly enjoyed a great season in 2023/24. At the time of writing, they’re on the verge of qualifying for Europe, which the club hasn’t done since the 1987/88 campaign. They’re fifth in the Scottish Premiership, and anyone taking part in football betting online knows they’ve often been favourites to win when playing this term, which says a lot about the work of Robinson and his players. But, after a stellar season, the situation with contracts and loanees could prove difficult to navigate.
At present, up to sixteen players could depart the club this summer, with the majority of them out of contract. Robinson only has eight players in the first-team group that he knows will definitely be playing for the club next season, and while you could say this gives him a great chance to rebuild and take St Mirren to the next level, it also means key players could leave, the ones responsible for helping get into a position to qualify for Europe. As Robinson also pointed out, “It makes it very hard to create assets” when players are allowed to run their contracts down and walk away as free agents.
The likelihood is that the players St Mirren have on loan will be heading back to their parent clubs, which is something that will have been planned for. At this stage, it’s unclear whether a move will be made to bring any of them back for a further loan spell as it was only Middlesbrough loanee Zach Hemming who made a serious impact and was a regular starter for the club, being the first choice goalkeeper throughout.
It's a different story where the out-of-contract players are concerned, as Robinson will be keen to keep many of them and then add to that group to strengthen the playing squad further. And all hope is not lost on that front, as Robinson has confirmed that talks are underway with the players who have deals expiring in the hope of agreeing to extensions so that they remain with the club, at least in the short term.
It now remains to be seen who will stay put and who will move on. St Mirren will be able to offer European football next season and a chance to keep moving up the Scottish Premiership. However, other clubs will also have taken note of how well some of the out-of-contract players have performed under Robinson this season, and they’ll be keen to acquire them for free if the chance to do so arises soon. So, for St Mirren and Robinson, it’s very much a waiting game.