Jonah Ayunga’s Coach on How He Turned Booing Fans into Believers

Stephen Robinson, Jonah Ayunga’s coach, overcame fan abuse to lead St Mirren to success, stability, and top-six finishes.

Often, football managers are judged by results alone, but for Stephen Robinson—the man guiding Kenyan striker Jonah Ayunga at St Mirren—his journey in Paisley has been about resilience, belief, and rewriting the club’s identity from the ground up.

When Robinson took over in February 2022, following Jim Goodwin’s departure to Aberdeen, he inherited a club teetering on the edge.

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Eight defeats in his first nine games painted a bleak picture. Fans were furious, results were poor, and confidence was at rock bottom.

Yet, just over two years later, Robinson stands tall—delivering three consecutive top-six finishes in the Scottish Premiership, European qualification, and a reinvigorated team featuring one of Kenya’s brightest football talents.

"It's funny, I only looked at the league table up the way, I didn't realise how close we were to the bottom," Robinson recalled as per BBC.

"It certainly wasn't the way I wanted to start at the football club."

The pressure was immense from the beginning. A loss to Airdrie in the Scottish Cup brought abuse. A defeat to former club Motherwell during the Covid-era added to the discomfort, as Robinson had to walk past furious home fans in silence.

From Chaos to Stability—with Ayunga in Attack

Robinson's fortunes began to change not just through tactical adjustments, but through his faith in new signings—including Kenyan striker Jonah Ayunga.

Arriving from Morecambe, Ayunga was among the fresh faces trusted to help reshape the team.

"I had all the Motherwell boys wanting me to clap them from my previous time there and I had the St Mirren fans wanting to kill me, and I had to walk up through the middle of them," Robinson said.

"That was tough, you do question your decision, you know, what have I done here?"

But Ayunga, with his strength, work ethic and eye for goal, soon became an asset in attack, bringing both directness and determination to the side. His rise mirrored that of his manager—both written off early but now central to the club’s resurgence.

A Club Reborn and a Manager Reinvigorated

Once mocked for dreaming big, former chief executive Tony Fitzpatrick's ambition to make St Mirren a top-six club now seems prophetic.

Robinson has not only delivered that target for three straight seasons, but he’s broken records set during Fitzpatrick’s playing and managerial era in the 1980s.

"Tony's brilliant, by the way," Robinson said.

"He's been so supportive of me, even when we had testing times early on... We’re not a top-six side in terms of our infrastructure. But, in terms of playing and recruitment, that has to be our achievement."

While Robinson has been linked with other jobs, his focus remains firmly on St Mirren. He acknowledges the ambition to one day manage Northern Ireland, but he's quick to stress his commitment to the Paisley club.

"St Mirren warrant my full dedication and concentration, so my mind's 100% here," he said.

"I can't control what other people write or say, it certainly doesn't come from me."

Still, there is unfinished business. A Scottish Cup run eludes Robinson, though it remains high on his list of ambitions as he seeks to give the fans a trophy to match their belief.

"You can always win a cup... you need a bit of luck, you need a good draw," he added.

"My head of recruitment Martin Foyle said 'you could do with a cup run' and I'm like 'thanks Martin, I know that and we're trying'."