St Mirren's Ambitious Pursuit of Top Six Under Craig McLeish

St Mirren manager Craig McLeish has drawn a hard line in the Paisley sand: if his side want to chase the top six, they will do it from a position of defensive strength, not reckless ambition.

The Buddies survived last season by the narrowest of margins, dragged through the play-offs after McLeish stepped in to replace Stephen Robinson, the man who had previously turned top-half finishes and a League Cup triumph into something close to a new normal for the club. That backdrop matters. St Mirren are no longer content just to cling on.

"If you just aim at surviving in this league and you fall short of that, you're in trouble," McLeish said, making his stance clear. The target is unapologetically bold: "We have to aim as high as we possibly can and top six and European qualification is what we're going to strive to achieve."

The early signs of a more adventurous approach have already surfaced. St Mirren hit 12 goals in the Premier Sports Cup group stage, a sharp uptick in attacking output that reflects a tweak in system and personnel.

"The way we're playing with an extra attacker, with some of the bodies we've brought in, hopefully that's the bit that we can solve this season as well," McLeish explained. He knows, though, that any stylistic evolution cannot come at the expense of the club’s identity. "We also can't get away from what's made St Mirren successful over the years."

That identity is rooted in resistance. Being awkward. Being horrible to play against.

"We have to be hard to play against. We have to enjoy keeping clean sheets. We have to love defending and being aggressive in everything we do," he said. "It's keeping those core bits and then adding the attacking side to it as well."

So the blueprint is clear: the grit stays, the goals must follow. McLeish wants his team to be more than just stubborn survivors.

"We want it to be exciting. We want it to be good to watch, fun for the players to play in. I want it to be enjoyable for the supporters," he said. "We will be hard working, we'll be high energy and we have to be tough to beat first and foremost."

The squad is still under construction. St Mirren have moved to add 20-year-old Rangers midfielder Paul Nsio on loan, a signing McLeish believes gives him a different physical profile in the middle of the pitch.

"Paul brings us a kind of level of physicality and athleticism that we can't source," he said. "He can cover a number of different positions."

Not every deal has landed. A move for Ghanaian midfielder Abdul Hakim Sulemana has collapsed, a reminder of the realities of building a squad outside Scotland’s financial elite.

McLeish, though, sounds anything but deflated. The message is consistent: be harder, run more, defend as if the season depends on every duel, then let the new attacking pieces tilt tight games their way. If St Mirren can marry those instincts, the conversation around Paisley this year might be about Europe, not escape routes.