There is something quietly refreshing about St Mirren's decision to hand Craig McLeish the manager's job on a permanent basis. In an age when clubs at every level tend to reach for the safest, most recognisable name available, the Buddies have looked at a 36-year-old who had never managed a first-team fixture before stepping in as interim, liked what they saw, and backed their judgement with a three-year deal.

McLeish won four and drew three of his 12 games in temporary charge — a decent return in the context of a squad that clearly needed settling — and chief operating officer Keith Lasley was forthright about the club's ambitions. "We want to be the best development football club in Scotland," Lasley said, and in a man whose background is steeped in the club's academy structure, they evidently believe they have found the right person to pursue that goal.

At the time of writing, McLeish is the youngest permanent manager or head coach in the Premiership, though that may change depending on who fills the vacancy at Motherwell. Rangers' Danny Rohl is 37, David Gray at Hibernian is 38, and the rest of the division's coaching staff drift steadily towards middle age and beyond — with Celtic set to continue under 74-year-old Martin O'Neill. In that company, McLeish is something of an outlier.

A mixed record for young coaches in Scotland

The honest assessment of how younger coaches have fared in the Premiership is, as the evidence suggests, complicated. Ian Cathro arrived at Hearts in 2017 aged just 30, having worked under coaches of serious pedigree, but managed only eight wins in 30 games before being relieved of his duties. He has since rebuilt his reputation at Estoril in Portugal, winning roughly a third of 71 matches across three seasons there.

Shaun Maloney followed a similar trajectory at Easter Road. The former Scotland midfielder brought genuine tactical intelligence from his time assisting Roberto Martinez with Belgium, yet six wins, six draws and seven defeats — culminating in a Scottish Cup semi-final loss to Hearts — brought his tenure to an end. He spent over two years at Wigan Athletic with a better win rate before returning to Celtic as part of the coaching staff that helped deliver a league and cup double this season.

The more encouraging precedents are Gray and, above all, Steven Gerrard. Gray took the Hibs job in stages — eight games across three caretaker spells before becoming permanent — and has now accumulated a 40% win ratio across 105 fixtures, with last season's third-placed finish and a European qualifying spot standing as his peak achievement so far. Rohl replicated that third-place finish with Rangers in his debut season at Ibrox, though four defeats in five post-split fixtures will have tempered the optimism somewhat; he has won 22, drawn eight and lost 10 of his matches in Glasgow overall.

Gerrard, of course, remains the benchmark. He walked through the front door at Ibrox aged 38 with no senior managerial experience and endured two trophy-less seasons before delivering the league title that ended a decade of hurt in 2021, leaving with a win percentage approaching 65%. That story took patience — from the club and from its supporters — and it is worth noting that the rewards only came after several years of sustained work.

The Brighton and Brentford template

In making the case for McLeish, Lasley pointed specifically to Fabian Hurzeler at Brighton and Keith Andrews at Brentford as models for the kind of club St Mirren want to become. Hurzeler, still only 33, guided Brighton to eighth in the Premier League this season and into the Conference League play-offs. Andrews, somewhat older at 45 but a first-time head coach in his own right, finished level on points with Brighton, separated only by goal difference. Neither appointment was considered orthodox at the time; both have, at least for now, been vindicated.

The inference from Paisley is clear: St Mirren are willing to accept the risk that comes with youth and inexperience if the alternative is a safer appointment that merely treads water. Lasley was honest that McLeish is "still very early" in his career, which is precisely the kind of candour that tends to get forgotten when results turn.

McLeish inherits a Paisley squad that will need intelligent management of limited resources. The academy pipeline gives the role its natural shape. Whether he can develop it into something that matters at Premiership level remains, for now, an open question — but St Mirren have at least asked it with conviction.

Frequently asked

Who is Craig McLeish and why has he been appointed St Mirren manager?
Craig McLeish is a 36-year-old coach who had been working with St Mirren's academy before stepping in as interim manager for the final 12 games of the 2025-26 season. He won four and drew three of those matches, and the club subsequently offered him a permanent three-year deal, describing him as the outstanding candidate for the role.
Who are the youngest managers in the Scottish Premiership right now?
Craig McLeish at St Mirren is currently the youngest at 36, followed by Danny Rohl at Rangers who is 37, and David Gray at Hibernian who is 38. Most other Premiership managers are in their 40s or 50s.
Have young managers succeeded in the Scottish Premiership before?
Results are mixed. Steven Gerrard is the standout success story, winning the league title with Rangers in 2021 after joining aged 38, while David Gray has achieved a solid 40% win ratio at Hibs including a European qualifying finish. Others like Ian Cathro and Shaun Maloney struggled and were eventually moved on.