Defining day of destiny awaits St Mirren & Celtic at Hampden

It’s a game which means so much to so many, and for so many reasons.

For St Mirren, the objective is a straightforward one. Win the Scottish League Cup for only the second time in the club’s history. Be heroes. Legends. Deities of Paisley who will never have to buy a beer again.

In the other half, it’s about another trophy to add to the cabinet. But, it’s also about arresting a run of two straight defeats for new Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy with the deafening din of fan unrest bellowing towards the club’s board.

Whatever happens at Hampden on Sunday, it promises to be a defining day for both sides.

St Mirren arrive at the national stadium with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Any team who faces either half of the Old Firm in a cup final will know they are up against a huge task. Vastly higher amounts of resources, money, fans and quality set the bar high.

Yet, Stephen Robinson’s team will emerge from the Hampden tunnel on Sunday with a steely-eyed determination and a swagger of self belief.

It’s founded on both their own ethos and also the fortunes of their opponents.

St Mirren faced in-form Motherwell in last month’s semi-final, a game many tipped the Lanarkshire team to win given their heralded brand of intricate football. Instead, they were outfought, out-thought and outplayed by Saints on the way to a deserved 4-1 victory.

It was a tactical lesson from Robinson who masterminded the perfect game plan to nullify his old club.

During his time at Fir Park, he guided them to a final at Hampden twice in the one season. On both occasions, they came up short against Celtic.

This time, he’ll surely feel that it can be third-time lucky.

St Mirren and Celtic have played each other twice on league duty this season, and Saints have been desperately unlucky to lose both by a late goal.

The cause for concern for the 13,000 or so Saints fans going to Hampden will come from their form since beating Motherwell in that semi-final.

Five games have been and gone with just one win, albeit that came in their last game with a 2-0 victory over Dundee United.

St Mirren sit ninth in the league – although with two games in hand over some of their rivals – but Robinson is famous for his team being well drilled and hard to play against.

They are tags which Saints took umbrage with in the wake of that Hampden win last month. While many presumed they would just try to stifle Motherwell, the Paisley side were ruthless, clinical, and played with a desire which blew away Jens Berthel Askou’s team.

Group D winners

St Mirren’s journey to Hampden began all the way back in July, in the group stages. After a goalless draw in their opener against Arbroath, who snatched the bonus point with a shootout victory, the Buddies beat Forfar 2-1 then skelped Annan 8-2, helped by a hat-trick from Mikael Mandron.

A 2-1 closing victory over Ayr, thanks to Killian Phillips’ double, earned top spot with 10 points from 12.

Second round: St Mirren 1-1 Hearts (5-4 on pens)

The Paisley side had their work cut out against high-flying Premiership leaders Hearts in round two.

Alex Gogic put Saints ahead before half-time, only for Oisin McEntee to level with just over 10 minutes to play. The tie went the distance and Shamal George’s save from Claudio Braga’s penalty in the shootout proved decisive as the Buddies squeezed through.

Quarter-final: Kilmarnock 2-2 St Mirren (3-5 on pens)

Yet again St Mirren had to progress on spot-kicks. Mandron and Jayden Richardson struck either side of Robbie Deas’ equaliser but a late penalty from Bruce Anderson took the tie to a shootout.

Malik Dijksteel capitalised on Kyle Magennis’ miss for the hosts to set up a semi-final against Motherwell.

Semi-final: Motherwell 1-4 St Mirren

The Buddies had no reason to fear as they cruised past Jens Berthel Askou’s highly-praised Steelmen and were two to the good at half-time thanks to Mandron and Dan Nlundulu.

Callum Hendry pulled one back late on but it wasn’t enough to mount a comeback as Robinson’s side found another two goals courtesy of Richard King and Mandron.

Nancy’s introduction to life in Glasgow as Celtic manager has been a challenging one, to say the least.

The former Columbus Crew head coach has two games and two defeats under his belt in what is a pivotal week for the defending Scottish champions.

Following the sudden resignation of Brendan Rodgers, Martin O’Neill was sworn in to take temporary charge.

Amid amusing anecdotes in press conferences, leaping about on the touchline and chat about stealing tracksuits as a souvenir of his second spell at Parkhead, a ship that was heading for trouble was steadied.

Rangers were defeated in the League Cup semi-final, a heroic showing in Rotterdam stunned Feyenoord, and the gap to league leaders Hearts was narrowed to three points before their visit to Glasgow last Sunday.

It proved to be Nancy’s first game, and one in which the Edinburgh club surged to a 2-1 victory as howls of ire around Celtic Park were swapped for swathes of empty seats before full-time.

Next was Thursday’s 3-0 Europa League loss to Roma, with the margin of defeat not reflective of the large gulf between the two teams on the night.

Discussion of whether Nancy should have been excused from taking charge across this hat-trick of games before beginning his era has raged across the air waves, column inches and social media pages.

Fan dissatisfaction at the club’s board also doesn’t help the backdrop to this one.

Already there is pressure on Nancy, there always is in this part of town. But what has gone in the last week, and even before he even set foot in Glasgow, has raised the tension level.

Winning the club’s 23rd League Cup will not cure Celtic of all its problems. Months of supporter frustration at league placing, a failed transfer window and a botched attempt at Champions League progression will take some undoing.

However, victory over St Mirren would provide a firm foothold for the Frenchman to dig into. It’s the chance for a first win on the board, an incredibly early shot at a first trophy at the club, and a platform on which to stabilise and build.

If they don’t win, the level of fury from fans could be off the scale.

Second round: Celtic 4-1 Falkirk

Celtic kicked off their trophy defence under Brendan Rodgers back in August, beating Falkirk 4-1 at home with Daizen Maeda, Alistair Johnston and Dane Murray on target along with a Liam Henderson own goal.

Quarter-final: Partick Thistle 0-4 Celtic

They followed that up by swatting aside Partick Thistle 4-0 in the quarter-final at Firhill. Sebastian Tounekti scored his first goal for the club and Yang Hyun-jun, Liam Scales and substitute Luke McCowan also netted.

Semi-final: Celtic 3-1 Rangers AET

By the time of the semi-final against Rangers, Rodgers had resigned and former manager Martin O’Neill was back in charge as a stop-gap measure.

Questions were raised about the 73-year-old’s return but O’Neill kept the momentum going as Celtic sailed to a 3-1 win after extra time over their fierce rivals.

Goals from Jonny Kenny, captain Callum McGregor and Callum Osmand secured their passage to the final.

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: “There will be a nervous energy, of course. We aren’t Celtic who get to every cup final or every other cup final.

“So we have to embrace the day and enjoy the day but most of all what I coin it with is have faith over fear. Really believe in the system, in each other, in the staff, and the stuff we’ve put on in preparation.

“We see all the photographs of the teams that have been very, very successful here and won trophies and they’re held in such high regard. What I try and do is to tell the players ‘We want your names there, we want your pictures there’.

“They’ve got their pictures up for the European achievements, for the top-six achievements, now we want them up [for winning the cup]. We want them to be remembered, we want them to be recognised everywhere they go for the rest of their life.”

St Mirren defender Marcus Fraser: “In 10, 20 years, people will probably still be talking about it [a win] and you can obviously write your own chapter in the club’s history.

“So I think that’s one of the key aspects that we want to do, really grab the opportunity with two hands and if we can get up on that wall, then in a few years’ time, when you walk by it, that would be a great feeling.”

Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy: “Yes, I would like to win the trophy. I’m pretty sure that, if we don’t win it, it’s going to be difficult, because when we lose, this is painful.

“But, again, I am optimistic as a person. So hopefully we’re going to do it. And also if it’s going to validate what we are doing. But, if not, I don’t want to think about this because, for the moment, I want to stay positive and this is the way I think.

“I’m going to have many, many other times to show, to do my stuff and to convince the fans that I am the right guy.”

Celtic midfielder Luke McCowan: “We’re disappointed as a team with the last two results and we need to get on top of it.

“We have to [stick by Nancy], there’s no way around it. He’s the manager, he’s got his staff with him, we’re players at this club. He’s the one that’s going to lead us into victories with whatever style and whatever management the way he wants.

“Once it clicks then we’re hopefully thinking that’s going to propel us into the performances we need and winning games most importantly.”