ST KILDA believes coach Alan Richardson is the right man to take the club forward despite a "completely unacceptable" start to 2018, says chief executive Matt Finnis.

The Saints anticipated a return to September action this season, ending a seven-year finals drought.

But they have so far won just one game over Brisbane and drawn with Greater Western Sydney.

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Finnis said he felt for long-suffering Saints supporters.

"The majority of our performances have been completely unacceptable," Finnis told The Age on Wednesday.

"They're disheartening for our supporters, and dispiriting in many ways. There's no hiding from that.

"We don't think it's going to change with the flick of a switch. Like anything it's always a combination of factors. But there's no use hiding from the reality of our performances being unacceptable and well short of our expectations to date and in sitting round and feeling sorry about that."

Luke Dunstan after the Saints' heavy loss to Hawthorn in round six. Picture: AFL Photos



Despite the lack of performance, Finnis still believes coach Alan Richardson is the man for the job.

Richardson, in his fifth year at the helm, was last year re-signed until the end of the 2020 season.

"The decision that we made (was) based on all of the skills, all of the knowledge, the experience, the relationships, the work that Richo does in our football program, and what we see as the potential for him to continue to add that as he becomes a more experienced senior coach, are all of the reasons why we extend him out," Finnis said.

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"When you do that, you know there's going to be some speed humps along the way and that the path our goal is not going to be linear.

"Did we anticipate the kind of football that we played in the first part of the year? No. Are we frustrated with that? Yes. Do we lose faith in the direction that we've taken and the people we've got?"

"No, not at all. To the contrary, I'm actually really confident that Richo will come out of this process a stronger coach. My job is to support when required, to challenge as appropriate and make sure that we’ve got an environment that he can succeed."

St Kilda, which plays Melbourne on Sunday, sits 16th on the ladder after the first six rounds of the season.