Month: February 2023

Kieran Offord

/ cairterscorner1877 / Leave a comment

Name: Kieran Offord
Date of Birth: 28th March 2004
Place of Birth: Wishaw, Scotland
Nationality: Scottish
Position: Forward
Height: 5ft 7in
Weight:10st
Signed: 7th April 2020
Departed:
Debut: 22nd December 2021 v Celtic (0-0)
Final Match:
Apps: 8
Goals: 0
Honours:

Young forward Offord graduated from the club Youth Academy in 2020 and has managed a handful of appearances for the club, showing great promise particularly with his keen dribbling and movement when given the opportunity.

After a prolific spell in 2021/22 on loan with East Stirlingshire where he scored 12 times in 15 matches, Offord was loaned to League One Alloa at the start of the 2022/23 season and managed a credible 4 goals in 13 matches, however he only started 5 of those matches and was averaging a goal every 142 minutes on the park at the Clackmannanshire club.

Offord returned to Saints in January 2023 and has gone straight into the first team squad.

Toysoi Olusanya

/ cairterscorner1877 / Leave a comment

Name: Toysoi Olusanya
Date of Birth: 14th October 1997
Place of Birth: London, England
Nationality: English
Position: Forward
Height: 5ft 9in
Weight: 10.7st
Signed: 17th June 2022 from Middlesbrough (Freedom of Contract)
Departed:
Debut: 9th July 2022 v Arbroath (0-1)
Final Match:
Apps: 5
Goals: 0
Honours:

Signed from Middlesbrough in June 2022 where he had made 3 league appearances in just over a year at the English Championship club, the nomadic forward had spent almost all of his career to this date in the lower reaches of the football pyramid down south; appearing for Walton Casuals, Fleet Town and Gosport Borough after breaking through as a youngster at AFC Wimbledon.


Known for his great speed, Olusanya was loaned to Championship strugglers Arbroath in January 2023 to gain experience and held him adapt to Scottish football.

Alex Greive

/ cairterscorner1877 / Leave a comment

Name: Alex Greive
Date of Birth: 13th May 1999
Place of Birth: Auckland, New Zealand
Nationality: Kiwi
Position: Forward
Height: 5ft 10in
Weight: 11.5st
Signed: 7th January 2022
Departed: 23rd May 2024
Debut: 18th January 2022 v Dundee Utd (2-1)
Final Match: 2nd January 2024 v Celtic (0-3)
Apps: 78
Goals: 9
Honours: 11 New Zealand Caps/2 goals.

Jim Goodwin brought attacker Greive to Paisley from New Zealand feeder club Birkenhead United in January 2022, and following a short trial period, signed the front man who had after scored 19 times in as many games for the Top Tier club in 2021, consequently winning him the Golden Boot in his country.

Initially signed on a short term deal, Greive managed a couple of goals early in his Saints career prompting new boss Stephen Robinson to offer the young Kiwi an extension to the summer of 2024, and although he never held down a consistent starting place in Saints XI, the forward proved to be a more than useful substitute during his time at the club, scoring a goal on average every 300 minutes on the park in the Premiership for the club.

Greive managed to score a number of crucial winners coming off the bench, most notably against Livingston when Saints were down to 10 men in October 2022, but probably his most memorable goal was the late winner at Easter Road on the opening day of the the 2023/24 season.

The forward would score his last goal for the club on the 27th August 2023, which should have been the winner against Aberdeen, however the failure of VAR to disallow the Don’s equalising goal in the 100th minute of play denied him this.

Greive would also be denied 2 further perfectly good goals before the end of September 2023 by VAR, which may have changed the outcome of his career, but in early January Stephen Robinson decided to loan him to Championship side Dundee Utd until the end of the season, effectively ending the popular Kiwi’s time at Paisley.

On the 23rd of May 2024, both Greive and the club announced he would be moving on as his contract had ended, with the international striker describing his time at Saints as the “best 2 years of my life”. He leaves Paisley however as the joint top goalscorer of international goals, tied with Bobby Rankin who had held the record solely since 1929.

SQUAD
NO		SEASONDIVSIONLGEGLSLCPGLSSCPGLSTOTAL APPTOTAL GLS
212023/24PRM1826000242
212022/23PRM2844020344
212021/22PRM172 0 031203
   TOTALS63810051789

Curtis Main

/ cairterscorner1877 / Leave a comment

Name: Curtis Main
Date of Birth: 20th June 1992
Place of Birth: South Shields, England
Nationality: English
Position: Forward
Height: 6ft 1in
Weight: 10.5st
Signed: 7th June 2021 from Aberdeen (Freedom of Contract)
Departed: 31st May 2023
Debut:13th July 2021 v Dunfermline (1-0)
Final Match: 27th May 2023 v Rangers (0-3)
Apps: 73
Goals: 13
Honours: None

Signed by Jim Goodwin in the summer of 2021 from Aberdeen, Main already had a reputation in Scotland as a hard-working and physical striker following his success with Motherwell under Stephen Robinson a few years beforehand.

After scoring on his Saints debut against Dunfermline with a fine header in July 2021 and again in the following League Cup fixture against Stenhousemuir, Main struggled to find the net again with the winner against Aberdeen in October 2021 at first credited to him before Marcus Fraser was given the nod when replays confirmed the Englishman didn’t touch the ball.

This lack of goals seemed to have a considerable effect on Main’s confidence, and it looked like he would return to England in January 2022 as he dropped out of the first team picture under Goodwin, however the Englishman remained at the club and as fate would have it, old mentor Stephen Robinson took over the team the following month and a turnaround in fortunes for a player arguably never seen before at the club occurred, as Main confounded his multiple critics with a string of displays that eventually put him firmly in the ‘fans favourite’ category.

2022/23 was a personal success for Main and although never really a prolific scorer throughout his career due to the unselfish nature of his style, he chipped in with 10 league goals and 9 assists, a decent return by any standards, but such was the quality of some of his displays, particularly during the wins at Tannadice, Pittodrie and Tynecastle where he was genuinely “unplayable”, the prospect of Saints keeping such an effective striker was diminishing almost by the match.

By the time Main had almost single handedly destroyed champions Celtic at Parkhead in May 2023 where he scored twice, hit the post and was close with another 2 headers, there was an inevitably that the Englishman would be leaving the club when his contract finished at the end of that month, and following the defeat to Rangers a week later in Paisley, Main had sadly played his last match for the club, but his transformation from unwanted squad player to essential first team hero was complete.

SEASONDIVISIONLGEGLSLCPGLSSCPGLSAPPGLS
2021/22Premiership3113200343
2022/23Premiership371000203910
  TOTALS681133207313

Eamonn Brophy

/ cairterscorner1877 / Leave a comment

Name: Eamonn Brophy
Date of Birth: 10th March 1996
Place of Birth: Glasgow, Scotland
Nationality: Scottish
Position: Forward
Height: 5ft 9in
Weight: 10.7st
Signed: 6th January 2020
Departed:
Debut: 9th January 2020 v Motherwell
Final Match:
Apps: 50
Goals: 8
Honours:

Saints fought off competition from Aberdeen and Hibs to sign Scottish International Brophy in 2020, a key signing for Jim Goodwin’s ultimately unsuccessful attempt to propel the club into the top 6 and win a trophy.

Brophy was an integral part of Stevie Clarke’s incredible Kilmarnock rise to third best team in Scotland a few seasons beforehand, but he has found goals slightly harder to come by in Paisley, in fact all his 8 St Mirren goals have come away from home, and under Stephen Robinson the Glaswegian found himself down the pecking order resulting in a loan move to relegation threatened Ross County in January 2023.

Jonah Ayunga

/ cairterscorner1877 / Leave a comment

Name: Jonah Ayunga
Date of Birth: 24th May 1997
Place of Birth: Beaminster, England
Nationality: Kenyan
Position: Forward
Height: 6ft 1in
Weight: 12.6st
Signed: 1st June 2022 from Morecambe (undisclosed fee)
Departed:
Debut: 9th July 2022 v Arbroath
Final Match:
Apps: 24
Goals: 7
Honours:

A powerful and mobile forward, Ayunga re-joined Stephen Robinson at Saints in the summer of 2022 after the two had worked together at Morecambe the previous season.

Although born in England, Ayunga pledged his international career to Kenya in 2015, however the African nation are currently banned from playing matches by FIFA due to “governmental interference”.

Ayunga has had an impressive debut season for Saints, forming a very effective partnership with Curtis Main, where he has notched 7 goals before his campaign came to a premature end in January when he suffered a serious injury against Motherwell keeping him out for at least 6 months.

Fraser Taylor

/ cairterscorner1877 / Leave a comment

Name: Fraser Taylor
Date of Birth: 17th January 2004
Place of Birth: Paisley, Scotland
Nationality: Scottish
Position: Midfield
Height: 5ft 5in
Weight: 8.5st
Signed: 21st December 2021 from Youth Academy
Departed:
Debut: 23rd July 2022 v FC Edinburgh (3-1)
Final Match:
Apps: 2
Goals: 0
Honours:

A diminutive playmaker, young Taylor broke into the first team squad at the outset of the 2022/23 season and despite being a regular feature on the bench, has so far made only 2 appearances despite impressing massively on his debut against FC Edinburgh in July 2022.

Taylor is a local lad and Saints supporter, having stood with the NB17 section during his younger years and has a massive future at the club

Keanu Baccus

/ cairterscorner1877 / Leave a comment

Name: Keanu Baccus
Date of Birth: 7th June 1998
Place of Birth: Durban, South Africa
Nationality: Australian
Position: Midfield
Height: 5ft 10in
Weight: 10.5st
Signed: 30th June 2022 from Sydney Wanderers (Freedom of Contract)
Departed: 22nd May 2024 to Mansfield Town (Freedom of Contract)
Debut: 23rd July 2022 v FC Edinburgh (3-1)
Final Match: 18th May 2024 v Celtic (2-3)
Apps: 72
Goals: 4
Honours: 18 Australia Caps/1 goal. First Saints player to appear at International Final competitions; the 2022 World Cup Finals and also the 2024 Asia Cup, both held in Qatar.

Australian midfielder Baccus was signed by Stephen Robinson in the summer of 2022 and made an immediate impact with a string of brilliant performances that propelled the previously uncapped Aussie into the Socceroos World Cup squad in the Autumn of that year, when he made history as the first ever Saints player to appear at the finals.

In total, Baccus appeared in all four 2022 World Cup final matches for Australia including the last 16 tie against Argentina where he was chosen to play in direct opposition to Lionel Messi. After returning to Saints in December, his form unsurprisingly dropped slightly as speculation about his future was widespread throughout World Football, however the energetic midfielder returned back to his best when the 2023 transfer window closed in late January and he made a strong finish to the campaign as Saints made the top 6 for the first time since the split was introduced in 1998.

Speculation about Baccus moving to England in the summer of 2023 prevailed throughout the pre-season, and Saints accepted an offer from Bolton Wanderers in June of that year, which the Australian subsequently rejected and began the season with Saints, putting in a fine performance during the opening league day victory at Easter Road.

Although the Australian didn’t command a regular place in the starting XI throughout the successful campaign where Saints qualified for Europe, he was called up to the Australian squad for the Asian Cup played in early 2024, (European Championship equivalent in Asia) where he appeared in all 5 of the Socceroos matches, starting 4 of them, including the Quarter Final defeat to South Korea where they were seconds away from reaching the semi finals.

On his return to Scotland, Baccus found starting opportunities limited even further with the arrival of South Korean midfielder Kwon from Celtic, but played a commendable role mainly from the bench as Saints qualified for Europe for the first time since 1987. On the 22nd May 2024 it was announced that Baccus had made the surprising choice to sign for English League One side Mansfield Town after 72 appearances for Saints.

SQUAD NOSEASONPRMGLSASSLCPGLS ASSSCPGLSASSTOTAL APPTOTAL GLSTOTAL ASS
172022/2333211002003621
172023/2431114111003622
 TOTALS 64325113007243

GOALS

27th August 2022 v Hibernian

1st October 2022 v Livingston

27th September 2023 v Hibernian

28th October 2023 v St. Johnstone

INTERNATIONAL CAPS

CAP DATEOPPOSITIONVCOMPSCOREOINFO
125/09/2022 NEW ZEALANDAFRIENDLY2-0W ON
222/11/2022 FRANCE  NWORLD CUP GROUP1-4L ON
326/11/2022 TUNISIA  NWORLD CUP GROUP1-0W ON
430/11/2022 DENMARK  NWORLD CUP GROUP1-0W ON
503/12/2022 ARGENTINANWORLD CUP R-161-2L OFF
624/03/2023 ECUADORHFRIENDLY3-1W OFF
715/06/2023 ARGENTINANFRIENDLY0-2L
810/09/2023 MEXICONFRIENDLY2-2D OFF
913/10/2023 ENGLANDAFRIENDLY0-1L
1017/10/2023 NEW ZEALANDNFRIENDLY2-0W
1116/11/2023 BANGLADESHHWC QUALIFYING GROUP7-0W OFF
1221/11/2023 PALESTINENWC QUALIFYING GROUP1-0W OFF
1313/01/2024 INDIA NASIAN CUP GROUP2-0W OFF
1418/01/2024 SYRIA  NASIAN CUP GROUP1-0W ON
1523/01/2024 UZBEKISTAN NASIAN CUP GROUP1-1D OFF
1628/01/2024 INDONESIA NASIAN CUP R-164-0W OFF
1702/02/2024 SOUTH KOREA NASIAN CUP QF1-2L OFF
1821/03/2024 LEBANON HWC QUALIFYING GROUP2-0W OFF

Dylan Reid

/ cairterscorner1877 / Leave a comment

Name: Dylan Reid
Date of Birth: 1st March 2005
Place of Birth: Kilbirnie, Scotland
Nationality: Scottish
Position: Midfield
Height: 5ft 10in
Weight: 10.7st
Signed: 30th May 2020 from Youth Academy
Departed:
Debut: 7th March 2021 v Rangers
Final Match:
Apps: 8
Goals: 0
Honours:

Another successful graduate of Saints prolific Youth Academy, Reid became the youngest player in the history of the club when he came off the bench at Ibrox on the 7th March 2021, just six days after turning 16 years of age.

Having rejected the advances of Bayern Munich to sign for Saints, a big future is predicted of the young midfielder who also turned down a move to Celtic in 2022. It was rumoured in early 2023 that Reid had signed a pre-contract with English Premier League club Crystal Palace.

Alex Gogic

/ cairterscorner1877 / Leave a comment

Name: Alex Gogic
Date of Birth: 13th April 1994
Place of Birth: Nicosia, Cyprus
Nationality: Cypriot
Position: Centre Back/Midfield
Height: 6ft 1in
Weight: 13st
Signed: 22nd August 2022
Departed:
Debut: 1st February 2022 v Motherwell
Final Match:
Apps: 37
Goals: 2
Honours:

Cypriot international Gogic initially signed for the club in January 2022 on loan from Hibernian as Jim Goodwin finally got the former Hamilton Accies man to Paisley after multiple failed efforts in the previous seasons.

After scoring on his debut against Motherwell on the 1st February 2022, Gogic switched between midfield and defence as Stephen Robinson took over, and was a consistent and influential member of the team which initially struggled following the change of manager before finishing the season strongly with Gogic at the heart of this resurgence.

The Cypriot then returned to Hibs who freed the 28 year old in the summer of 2022, but with multiple clubs fighting for the signature of the versatile midfielder it looked like his time at Saints would be brief, however after taking most of the summer to decide his future, Gogic signed permanently for the club in August and has been a regular in the side ever since, providing great drive from either defence or midfield.