Van Zanten expects Buddies exodus

Miroslav Djukic will step down as coach of Real Valladolid at the end of the season, the club have confirmed.

The Serbian will take charge of his final game when Valladolid travel to Real Mallorca on Saturday.

Djukic, who took over at Valladolid in 2011 when they were in the second division, said: "It's time to find another challenge."

The 47-year-old helped the team win promotion to the Primera Division last season and they are guaranteed to finish no lower than 14th this term.

The Paisley side beat Hearts 3-2 at Hampden on March 17 to claim their first major trophy in 26 years.

But as many as nine players named in the 16-man squad that day could be set to depart.

Danny Lennon has already waved goodbye to keeper Craig Samson after he knocked back a new deal to move to Kilmarnock, while loan trio Conor Newton, Paul Dummett - both sent north by Newcastle - and Rio Ave striker Esmael Goncalves have all returned to their parent clubs.

Sam Parkin and Graham Carey have been released - as has Dougie Imrie, who was not stripped for the final - while Grant Adam and Lee Mair have been told to find new clubs.

And Paul McGowan - who struck a second-half penalty in between goals from Goncalves and Newton as Saints clinched victory - is also out of contract and on the verge of moving to England.

Now van Zanten admits the club will have to build again from scratch.

The Irish right-back said: "It looks like there is going to be quite a big turnover at the club. I'm just glad I've got another year on my deal and that the manager has said that I'm part of his plans.

"We had a cup-winning team but it looks like that is getting broken up now and there will be big changes over the summer. But we are looking forward to the new players coming in and the added competition they will bring."

Saints were 15 points clear of bottom side Dundee when John Brown replaced Barry Smith in February.

But they found themselves sucked towards an SPL relegation fight as the new Dens boss inspired a Dark Blues revival.

St Mirren survived in the end but van Zanten, 31, says the club's alarming league slump has forced Lennon into a rethink.

He said: "We got a little bit of a fright at the end with Dundee closing the gap and the manager has looked at things and decided we need to improve.

"That's what he is doing now. We all want to improve our league position, we want to get in that top six.

"We felt this year we could have done that but let ourselves down. We gained a lot from the cup win but it probably had a bit to do with our slump.

"You saw Swansea down south have a pretty bad run after their cup run and the same happened to us. It was more of a mental thing than anything else.

"The cup win was fantastic but everyone is a little bit disappointed with the league form. But when you consider we have brought a trophy home, no one can say our season hasn't been a success."

The potential loss of talisman McGowan could yet be the biggest blow to Saints but reports today suggest Lennon may look to replace him with Dundee's out-of-contract playmaker Gary Harkins.

Van Zanten is just hoping whoever lines up next term will be able to move the team forward.

"Paul has been a fantastic player for us but I'm still not too sure what is happening to him," he admitted.

"If we lose him, it will be a big loss. But I'm sure the manager will have plans to replace him.

"Every summer is a gamble when you make signings. You never know if they are going to work out or not. All we are hoping is that we can bring in some quality players and push on next season."

Van Zanten was talking at Snow Factor Braehead as he helped launch Scotland's tallest ice-climbing wall.