ST MIRREN chief executive Tony Fitzpatrick is convinced that the club has appointed a manager in Alan Stubbs that can turn them into a top-six side in the Premiership.

Former Hibernian manager Stubbs signed a three-year deal to succeed Jack Ross at the Paisley club yesterday, and Fitzpatrick was over the moon to have landed such a huge name in the game.

And he believes that Stubbs has the quality and the credentials to not only keep St Mirren in the top-flight next season, but to then go on and build a team that can even challenge for European qualification.

“I’m so happy that we have managed to appoint Alan,” Fitzpatrick said.

“We have ambition at this club, but we’re not daft either. If I’m being honest, we maybe didn’t expect to be in the Premiership so soon, but Jack came in and blew us all away.

“We have jumped right ahead here, but it’s important that we have long-term plans in place to make ourselves a top four or a top six side. We have to have the things in place to get us there, and we have the manager now. Alan Stubbs has all the credentials not only to keep us in the league, but then use that as the springboard to move the club on even further.

“We are doing all we can to support that ambition, and I think Alan is the man to take us there.

“We need to have stability at the club too, and I think the three-year deal shows that. It’s a good starting point, and we’d like to think that further down the line, because he will do well, that we can progress from there.”

Fitzpatrick was hugely impressed by the standard of manager attracted to the vacancy at the Paisley 2021 Stadium, with the final shortlist containing the likes of Gary Caldwell, Jim McIntyre and Coleraine manager Oran Kearney.

But Stubbs had certain qualities that gave him the edge in Fitzpatrick’s view.

“There was a really high calibre of applicant, and it just shows you how far St Mirren have come in the last few years,” he said.

“There were a few things that set Alan apart. The club has got a great philosophy from the boardroom to the stands in that there is a style of football that we like to see, and Alan plays an attractive style. His Hibs team was really exciting to watch, and that was a big plus.

“An even bigger plus was that he prioritises youth development and giving young players a chance, which fits in so well with our ethos. That was important.

“He was ticking all these boxes. He knows the Scottish game, has had great success up here and has great contacts all around the world.

“And over and above all that he is a real good human being. You can see the way he handles himself and the sort of character he has, so he was a great fit for us and there are exciting times ahead.

“He is a leader of men, having been captain of Celtic for so long and captain of Everton as well, so it is a coup for us. I’d like to think though, and Alan said this in his interview himself, that this job had real appeal.

“He had spoken to people within the game up here who told him that it was a great club to be at, an up and coming club, where we are all in it together.”

Another important factor for Fitzpatrick was that Stubbs is a manager very much in the mould of his predecessor Jack Ross, as St Mirren try to ride their upward curve into the new Premiership season.

“He’s in that same sort of bracket as Jack was, a young manager with a point to prove,” he said. “He is hungry and wants to do well in the game.

“Sitting now after the process and contemplating how it all went, I can only say that I think we have made a great appointment and that Alan will be great for the club.”