\n<\/p>\n
It was far from a convincing performance against Thistle, hardly surprising given what was at stake, and the relief from fans and players alike was obvious after the game.<\/p>\n
“We wanted to make sure the players were remembered as legends at this club after winning the League Cup,” McLeish said.<\/p>\n
“We didn’t want that black mark against our name.<\/p>\n
“First half was nervy, cagey and full of mistakes. It wasn’t really tactical, just us controlling our emotions. We did that better in the second half.”<\/p>\n
McLeish won three of his nine league matches after Robinson left, but he was unable to keep St Mirren out of the play-off spot as Kilmarnock shone after the split.<\/p>\n
A change of approach initially yielded an upturn in performances, but results started to slide and a run of four defeats without scoring cost them.<\/p>\n
The 36-year-old stand-in boss was unable to completely solve the goalscoring issues that plagued their season.<\/p>\n
Key defender Alex Gogic says McLeish could do more with greater time, though, and would be happy for him to stay on.<\/p>\n
“Yeah, of course, whatever the club chooses,” Gogic said.<\/p>\n
“If he has a pre-season, it will probably be better than what it is. If the club decide to go his way, we’ll all be behind that.”<\/p>\n
Former Dundee United and Partick Thistle boss Ian McCall says McLeish has done his chances no harm by steering St Mirren to safety.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think he had any chance of getting the job if St Mirren were relegated,” McCall said.<\/p>\n
“What he has done is conducted himself really well and given himself a real chance of the job.<\/p>\n
“The power-that-be here took a real chance appointing a young lad like that. But he has come through it really well. He has talked really well.<\/p>\n
“He came through one dodgy moment when Kilmarnock won here 3-0. But he’s come back from that really strongly.<\/p>\n
“It didn’t just plummet when Craig McLeish took over. It was a bad run of results when Stephen Robinson was there after the cup final which brought this on. He certainly has a chance.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n