Aberdeen given permission to talk to St Mirren boss Robinson

Aberdeen have made an approach to Scottish Premiership rivals St Mirren for manager Stephen Robinson.

The Paisley outfit have revealed that the Pittodrie club "have met a contractual clause in Stephen's contract, so the club has granted them permission to speak to him regarding the vacancy".

They "hope for a swift resolution to this matter", with Aberdeen stating they are entering "formal talks" with the 51-year-old Northern Irishman.

Peter Leven has been in caretaker charge since Aberdeen sacked Jimmy Thelin in early January.

But they suffered a bruising 3-0 defeat by second-tier Dunfermline Athletic in Saturday's Scottish Cup quarter-final and have won just once in eight outings, losing the latest three.

The imminent appointment of Robinson will surprise many.

Not so much the appointment itself, given what he has achieved at St Mirren with a tiny budget compared to the riches handed to Thelin at Pittodrie.

The timing and the process that has ultimately led to it is what has left heads being scratched.

Robinson led the Paisley club to three top-six finishes in a row, European football for the first time since 1987 and, of course, the League Cup in December, just a fortnight before Thelin was sacked.

If this had happened in January, few would have been taken aback, but St Mirren are now on the same trajectory as the rudderless Dons with one win in 13 Premiership games. So why not make the move two months ago if he is the right man?

Sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel has been leading the recruitment process and names such as Uwe Rosler, Eirik Horneland and Sandro Schwarz were all linked as the club's search dragged on amid the backdrop of dire results culminating in their Scottish Cup exit in Dunfermline.

How many of Pfannenstiel's targets have looked under the bonnet and thought better of it?

Chairman Dave Cormack has been a fan of Robinson for some time and has made the move to land his man, but it feels panicky with Leven looking like he had seen a ghost after full-time on Saturday.

Robinson has earned his move personally, but the Pittodrie board appears to have many questions to answer about the journey they have undertaken to come up with this solution.

Robinson led St Mirren to their second cup semi-final of the season on Sunday as the Paisley side defeated Partick Thistle having already gone on to lift the League Cup with a victory over league champions Celtic in November.

He led the Buddies to top-six finishes in his previous three seasons, although they currently sit 10th, one place and five points below Aberdeen, just three ahead of Kilmarnock in the relegation play-off spot.

The news of Aberdeen's approach comes just over a week after chairman Dave Cormack confirmed that former Mainz, Hertha Berlin and Dinamo Moscow head coach Sandro Schwarz, who recently left New York Red Bulls, was in the city for talks about the vacancy.

However, Cormack stressed that the German was only one of "about four" candidates and that one of them presented "a personal challenge, family-wise, that we have to respect".

Last month, Eirik Horneland had also emerged as a leading candidate after his departure from French Ligue 2 club Saint-Etienne.

However, the former Brann and Rosenborg head coach was subsequently quoted as saying he would not be taking up another post until at least the end of the season.

Former Northern Ireland midfielder Robinson began his managerial career with his country's national youth set-up before spells in charge of Oldham Athletic, Motherwell and Morecambe.

He has tasted more success in Scotland than in England and has a 33.5% win rate with St Mirren, although that is less than the 42% he achieved with Motherwell, who he led to both cup finals in 2017-18, when they lost to Celtic both times.