St Mirren

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Jalmaro Calvin has left St Mirren by mutual consent, the club have confirmed.

The forward penned a two-year deal last summer which was due to expire in the summer of 2027 with the club holding an option to extend by a further 12 months.

The 23-year-old joined the Buddies from Jamaican outfit Cavalier FC last summer and went on to make 11 appearances for the Paisley club, scoring one goal.

Three of those appearances came this term in the League Cup, as did his goal, but the winger hasn't been part of the squad for any Premiership game this season.

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St Mirren manager Craig McLeish wants to see a homegrown player quota introduced to Scottish football.

The suggestion comes as the Scottish Football Association prepare to host discussions in St Andrews, which all 42 league clubs have been invited to attend, aimed at improving the prospects for homegrown talent in Scotland.

McLeish, who worked in St Mirren's academy and with the SFA as a development coach before taking on his role as Buddies boss, insists more youth involvement at club level will help the national team and improve the Scottish game overall.

"We have to put a quota in place for young players being involved in match day squads," McLeish said.

"Everything else they talk about might be good ideas, might need to rely on other people to make decisions on it. The only thing that's going to change is if we put the quotas in place.

"I've got the benefit in that I've come through the academy system here, worked with the youth national teams.

"I'm fed up of coaches, youth coaches, getting battered in this country, academies getting battered, youth national teams getting a bad rep.

"I've been part of it. We went away to Spain and beat them at under-16s, the under-17s have played against the likes of Italy and Portugal and competed against them. There's a lot of good work going on in this country.

"There is a lot of talented coaches, a lot of talented players but until we change the rules then it's always going to hit a brick wall at some point.

"You can go really extreme with it like Norway have. In Norway, I think 16 have to be homegrown, locally-trained, you can only have nine non-homegrown players in your matchday squad.

"I would go extreme with it. The argument will be that then it harms our clubs competing in Europe.

"But you only need to look at like Bodo/Glimt and progressing to like latter stages of the Champions League. They are able to do that with the restrictions that they've got in place.

"It's not going to happen overnight, it will take a bit of time and there might be a little bit of short-term pain, but you even see that we've got clubs going out of Europe right now with no restrictions in place.

"I think we all should strive to develop Scottish football as a whole and part of that is developing the national team and it's the only way I see any sort of difference being made."

St Mirren fans, we asked for your views after Wednesday night's win at Kilmarnock made it 10 points from four games for the Buddies.

Here's what some of you said:

Kieran: Saints were very comfortable in the first half and gritted it out for the win, just need to put games to bed to early and save the blood pressure of fans. Saints are a great watch just now and hopefully can just get better with confidence growing. It's good to see a decent squad depth for a change

Paul: Picking up 10 points in our opening four games is tremendous but without goalkeeper Jacob Chapman's two penalty saves it would be seven points so big shout out,

John: That first half performance was simply outstanding, a joy to watch. Second half a different game but we defended well and kept Killie at bay. Not a failure in the team, well done Saints.

Andy: A real good solid performance. First half we played some great possession football and should have been further ahead at half time. The second half we showed that we can defend but once we made the substitutions the shape of the team changed and we gave up possession too easily. Overall a great performance, hopefully we can keep it going.

Pauline: We are a team gelling, really happy with the way things are going and especially for Craig McLeish as he had his doubters when given the position, but I think he is quietly surprising everyone.

Douglas: A superb first half performance but the second half was poor. Never tested the Kilmarnock keeper once and only desperate defending kept Killie out. Show that second half display against Celtic and we will get taken apart. Show the first half display for 90 minutes and a win is on the cards.

Watch all the highlights as St Mirren continued their strong start to the season with a narrow victory against a struggling Kilmarnock side still searing for their first Premiership point. Available to UK users only.

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St Mirren manager Craig McLeish: "Second half, our discipline and shape defensively... they didn't create clear cut chances that hurt us.

"But I want to play the way we did in the first half for 90 minutes. I know that's probably not realistic. There'll be times we have to suffer without the ball. We had to do that in the second half but we were solid defensively.

"The first half was great. It's what we want it to look like, played with real quality but disappointed we didn't get a goal to follow the first one.

"Someone just told me it's our first win here in over 10 years. Just delighted to get another three points.

"The boys are setting the standard and raising the bar every week, and we have to keep building on it. I want the second half performance to mirror the first half, but I have to accept sometimes we have to see games out.

"It's our third clean sheet of the season, delighted for Jacob Chapman and the back line."

Neil McCann was again left to rue Kilmarnock's defensive frailties as a home defeat by St Mirren left them without a point from their opening four Scottish Premiership matches of the campaign.

Read the full match report here.

Let us know your thoughts here.

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Kilmarnock defender Robbie Deas will have some scans after coming off injured in the first half against Dundee United on Saturday.

But attacker Ieuan Owen and midfielders Aaron Tshibola and Erik Ring are back in contention for St Mirren's Scottish Premiership visit on Wednesday.

St Mirren are without midfielder Liam Donnelly and winger Malik Dijksteel.

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• When the two sides last met in Premiership action, Kilmarnock came out on top 3-0 in Paisley last season. Findlay Curtis scored in the 46th and 68th minute with an own goal by the Buddies' Miguel Freckleton.

• Kilmarnock are unbeaten in the past four Premiership matches between the two sides. A win for St Mirren would be their first against Kilmarnock in the league since March 2025. Killie during that period have outscored the Buddies with nine goals for and three against.

• Hosts Kilmarnock have lost each of their two previous Premiership contests at Rugby Park this season. St Mirren were victorious in their only prior league contest away from home this season.

• In three league matches this season, Kilmarnock have three losses. St Mirren, meanwhile, have two wins and one draw.

Mark Jardine
Fan writer

Declan John, marauding from his role in defence, perhaps offers more of an insight into the changing face of St Mirren football than would be expected. A chasm of drastically altered tactical intent is bridged by John, linking a heroic late sprint at Hampden to a goal on Sunday that channelled Carlos Alberto in the Azteca.

The popular Welshman arrived in Paisley as emergency cover for Scott Tanser before quickly establishing himself as first choice on his preferred left flank, extending his short-term stay into a two-year deal with reasonable haste.

While Tanser deserves plenty plaudits for his career in black and white, John carries the impression of being straight out of central casting for a Stephen Robinson side. Strong in the tackle, boundless endurance and a full-blooded willingness to commit forward and get the ball into the box.

In December last year, as Robinson's reign in Paisley reached its undisputed high point with national silverware, hindsight will tell you this was also the beginning of the end. A fabulous period of sustained Buddies joy began to peter towards an inevitable conclusion - change in the dugout and on the pitch.

This zenith can be neatly represented by John's lung-busting surge forward in the latter stages of the second half. When many were running on empty, John summoned all that he had available to outstrip the fresh legs of Celtic's Colby Donovan over 80 yards, somehow retaining the composure to then feed Jonah Ayunga and send the Saints into ecstasy with a 3-1 League Cup final win.

All with any affection for the Buddies in Hampden celebrated in a moment that seemed to last a lifetime, save for the exhausted left-back who collapsed in a heap where he had stood. His race was run and he made way for Tanser as the din still rang in the ears of all left at the national stadium.

This was Robbo-ball at its most devastating. Extracting every last ounce of effort and commitment from a united dressing room, punishing a toiling opponent with absolute ruthlessness. John, you would assume, was of this era.

Fast-forward a mere nine months and change is in the air, as demonstrated in Sunday's 3-3 draw against Motherwell. St Mirren hold the early confidence of a side entrusted by their new manager, Craig McLeish, to play out from the back in front of, pound for pound, the angriest stand in Scottish football. Down early and looking bruised by last season's aesthetic standard bearers Motherwell, the Saints clawed one back through Paul Nsio before John had his say.

Winning the ball back in his own half, John swivelled and found a team-mate yet continued his run. The selfless drive of Hampden made way, hurtling towards the Motherwell box in perfect stride as silky one-touch passing from his colleagues delivered the ball back on a plate. Where convention would have seen the ball rolled across the box for an onrushing attacker, the left foot of our left-back instead found a gap at the near post of Alex Paulsen's goal frame.

Two St Mirren sides, diametrically opposed in their approach, both characterised in the big moments by their left-back who has already renewed through to 2028 in Paisley.

Bring on Rugby Park.

Mark Jardine can be found at Misery Hunters, external

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

Jack Walton (Dundee United): Five saves and a clean sheet - job done.

Felix Passlack (Hibernian): An assist from the consistently impressive German.

Bert Esselink (Dundee United): Powerful performance and an away clean sheet.

Grant Hanley (Hibernian): Was it intentional? Who cares. Great assist for Martin Boyle.

Will Ferry (Dundee United): Glorious strike with his less favoured right foot as United put Kilmarnock to the sword.

Callum Wright (Hibernian): Another goal for the English midfielder just gives him the nod here over new addition Jacob Devaney, who was also very good.

Emmanuel Agyei (Dundee United): Two key passes and a goal from the Ghana international.

Alex Lowry (Motherwell): Five key passes and always looking to get Motherwell on the front foot.

Samuel Ramos (St Mirren): A goal and two assists from the Spaniard.

Camilo Duran (Celtic): The difference maker against Falkirk with two goals.

Mehdi Merghem (Dundee United): The Algerian more than played his part in an outstanding away display with two assists.

We asked for your views after St Mirren played out a thrilling six-goal Scottish Premiership draw with Motherwell.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Douglas: If this is how the season is going to unfold, then the team are going to take us to the highs and lows of excitement! There is a lot to like about this team and, given Motherwell have been given lots of plaudits for their style and fluency, I think we matched them extremely well.

Stuart: My pre-season nerves have been dispelled. Craig McLeish has a vision and the players are fully buying into it. We will be entertaining to watch and will have no relegation fears. Recruitment has been good.

John: In the second half, I thought the Buddies were excellent. They played Motherwell at their own game, playing with pace, but just lacking the finish to seal the three points. Two points dropped? A point gained? No idea, but it was brilliant entertainment.

Andy: Unlucky not to win the game, but overall a great performance by St Mirren. New signings look like they will bring a different dynamic to the team from last season and overall I'm a happy Saints supporter. Good start to the season.

Ian: One of the most entertaining football matches I have been to and a significantly better performance than the 0-5 defeat to Motherwell last season.

St Mirren striker Jake Young is set for a move to Australia to join Perth Glory. (Scottish Sun)

Read the rest of Monday's gossip.

Debutant Jardell Kanga's incredible last-minute goal rescued a Scottish Premiership point for Motherwell in a six-goal thriller against St Mirren.

Read the full match report here

Have your say on the game via this link

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St Mirren manager Craig McLeish: "It's a sore one because Motherwell scored so late but I think it shows how far we've come as a group that we're disappointed with that in the end and the way Motherwell celebrated a draw here shows how far we've come, how good we've been.

"We didn't help ourselves early on when we were two goals down. We got punished with top quality finishes but I thought throughout the game we did some really good stuff. We're creating chances, we're playing with bravery and aggression. The players are running themselves into the ground, leaving everything out there. Disappointed with a point is probably a good place to be in our journey.

"At 2-0 down I felt like we were playing well enough, I never felt the game had got away from us. I thought we disrupted what Motherwell were trying to do. They're going to cut you open at times but I thought we coped with it well and took the game to them.

"I think if we play like that, and show that level of quality and energy throughout the season we can go and achieve something as a group.

"We're not here to survive, we're not here to make up the numbers, we're here to finish as high up the table as we can. We know what we've got in that changing room, we've got the belief within ourselves and we have to just keep building on it."

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Defender Louis Jackson has joined St Mirren from Manchester United on a two-year deal, with the option of another year.

The 20-year-old was born in Oldham but, through family, has represented Scotland at age-grade level, most recently for the under-19s.

At senior club level, he featured eight times on loan at Solihull Moors last season, scoring once.

And Jackson has been listed on the bench for St Mirren's Sunday Scottish Premiership match at home to Hibernian (15:00).

"After I spoke to the manager, he told me about his philosophy and the direction that the club's going now in terms of trying to develop young players and giving us the opportunities, which I've seen him do since the start of the season," Jackson said of St Mirren boss Craig McLeish. "Hopefully I can be next.

"I'm buzzing to get going. Can't wait to see all the fans at the weekend and yeah, hopefully we can get a good run going.

"I just feel like now is the perfect time for me to move on permanently, for me to kick on with my career. I hope I can show people what I can do."

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St Mirren have signed striker Nikolas Agrafiotis from German third-tier club Wehen Wiesbaden for an undisclosed fee, saying he adds an aerial threat and physical presence to their squad.

And the 26-year-old, who has signed a three-year contract, could make his debut against Motherwell on Sunday in the Scottish Premiership.

St Mirren manager Craig McLeish told his club website: "We've done a lot of work over the summer on adding another striker.

"We've taken our time with it, we've been patient with it. He gives us a different type of profile at the top end than what we've got."

Born in the Netherlands, Agrafiotis came through the youth ranks with Vitesse, and represented Serbia at youth level, before making his senior debut with Dordrecht.

He moved on to Excelsior, with whom he suffered relegation from the Dutch top flight but then helped them win promotion back to the Eredivisie before joining Wehen Wiesbaden in January 2024.

Agrafiotis made 12 appearances in his first half season, including their two relegation play-off matches, but was unable to prevent them dropping out of Germany's second tier.

He scored 10 goals in 39 appearances last season, 22 as a substitute, as his side finished ninth in the 3.Liga.

"He gives us an aerial threat as well and a physical profile," McLeish explained. "He comes with a lot of experience having played top tier in Holland and played in the second tier in Germany at a really good level.

"He's still at a really good age as well where he can go and progress his career to a higher level again and we're hoping to help him do that."

Wehen Wiesbaden sporting director Uwe Stover wished Agrafiotis success in Scotland after his 18 goals and three assists in his 86 appearances for his club.

"He made a particularly important contribution to our success in the Hesse Cup with crucial goals," he told his club website. "His four goals in this competition were instrumental in our two Hesse Cup wins and our qualification for the DFB Cup on both occasions."

St Mirren have struck a deal to sign striker Niko Agrafiotis from German third-tier outfit Wehen Wiesbaden and the 26-year-old is set to make his debut against Motherwell on Sunday after passing a medical. (Scottish Sun, external)

Read Sunday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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Calvin Ramsay comes into contention after signing for St Mirren on loan from Liverpool. Liam Donnelly had a scan on an abductor injury which will probably keep him out until the international break, while Malik Dijksteel (hamstring) had a setback. On-loan Rangers midfielder Paul Nsio returns after missing the defeat at Ibrox.

Motherwell have Eythor Bjorgolfsson, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, Dylan Williams and Tom Sparrow back which leaves Paul McGinn, Callum Hendry (both knee) and Jordan McGhee (hamstring) on the injury list.

• St Mirren are winless in eight Scottish Premiership games against Motherwell (losing four of them) since a 1-0 victory in September 2023.

• Motherwell have won their past two league meetings with St Mirren, last winning three in a row against the Buddies in April 2015.

• St Mirren have won both of their two Premiership games in 2026-27 but have not won three in a row at any stage in the division since December 2024.

• Motherwell have won their past two away league outings, including their first this season 2-1 against Hibernian. The Steelmen last won three in a row on the road in April 2024.

• Midfielder Killian Phillips has scored in three successive Premiership appearances (four goals), including three goals in two games so far this season. The last St Mirren player to score in four consecutive top-flight appearances was Andy Dorman in April 2009.

Nottingham Forest are set to bid for 16-year-old St Mirren forward Luke Douglas. (Daily Record, external)

Read Saturday's Scottish Gossip in full.