St Mirren officially revealed Jack Ross as their new manager today and the former St Mirren player believes the potential at the club matches his ambitions to succeed. He said:
“It’s very exciting. I’m familiar with the club from my time as a player and very much enjoyed my spell here as a player. I know all about the potential of the club, where it should probably be within the realms of Scottish football so I’m really looking forward to it and getting started and tremendously excited about it.
“I think I’ve always had an ambition to manage and naturally you want to try and manage at the highest level that you can. I think it was a position that was attractive because of that, but more than that I think it is the potential of the club, it is exciting for the club with the new ownership and from speaking with the Chairman and the Board I know that they are determined to try and build the club properly so that was a really exciting part of the attraction as well so once I knew that there was potential and opportunity for me to come here it became even more appealing.
“I think you have an affinity with all the clubs that you play for especially if you enjoyed a successful time on the pitch and I felt as if I did that as we had a decent team at the time, and I think individually I enjoyed probably one of my best seasons in football here, the first season I was here certainly. I said earlier that I was ambitious, I also know that in football you have to make the right decisions at times so I don’t think I would have ever jumped at full-time football just for the sake of it. I think it had to be something that I felt was a good fit for me and the club that I was going to, and this certainly feels like it for all the reasons already mentioned in terms of the infrastructure. I would add to that the potential fanbase and also the new ownership because this is an exciting time for the club. It won’t happen overnight but certainly there is a long-term plan that will hopefully help this club get back to its rightful place in Scottish football.”
Jack was at Hearts when the Foundation of Hearts started their moves towards fan ownership. He believes that fan ownership is a move that could work well for St Mirren. He said:
“I understand how it works, I understand the reasoning behind it, I understand the end result if you like from it so I was fortunate to be in at that at the ground level when it first happened at Hearts when the whole new structure was put in place. I’ve seen the support that it can galvanise behind the club, at Hearts what happened alongside that was obviously a successful period on the pitch so I understand that my job is to make sure that happens. So I have to get performances first and foremost and then results correct on the park to help galvanise that feel-good factor that will be around the club. If I can do that then absolutely the new ownership structure will work because fans will feel engaged with the club. I know the work that the club is doing already to do that and improve relations with the supporters, I will do my utmost to continue that as well. Again, I talk about potential all the time, the new ownership model has massive potential but ultimately my responsibility is to make sure that things on the park marry in with that.”
Jack’s admits that his aims at the club are pretty straight-forward.
“I think it sounds very simple but in job terms is to start on matches. I’m not the only person to be surprised by the start to the season as there is undoubted quality within the squad. I said this in a similar fashion when I took the job at Alloa, my challenge as a manager is to get the best out of the players I have at my disposal, and that is what I feel I’m good at and that is what I’m looking forward to doing when I start to work with the players. There will be demands on them but hopefully in a positive and enjoyable way, and if we meet that short term target of winning matches then you can start to adjust your ambitions as that goes on. In the first instance we have to start doing that as that will undoubtedly create a confidence and a belief within the playing group and also within the stands as well.”
The new Saints gaffer also sees a lot of quality and potential in the squad he has inherited.
“Prior to speaking to the club I was familiar with the squad anyway as I have an interest in Scottish football and I’m working within it, but you start to look more closely at it and there is a number of very good players here. Some who have established careers in the game and have really good pedigrees and several others who are exciting young players so that mix on paper is very good, it is then getting it right on the pitch.
“Until as a manager you work up close with players you don’t quite appreciate how good they are or the attributes they have or the type of characters they are so that will be the case for me over the next period is to get to know them. I’ll spend a lot of time doing that as I like to work closely with my players so I’m very excited about that as there is a lot of them that I know but not as well as I would like to but I’m looking forward to doing that.”
When talking about long term targets Jack said:
“I think we’ll set them within the dressing room. I like to have targets and aims within that dressing room environment, we’ll keep them in-house and work towards them and if we reach them then we’ll be successful. But I like my players to have aims and ambitions, I think you have got to as otherwise we will drift. That will be made clear from day one that there’s targets and ambitions there, they’ll not be daft, they’ll understand the size of this club. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out what they may be but certainly we’ll do that in-house and we’ll strive towards them.”
Jack was also pleased to hear the thoughts of the Board’s vision moving forward.
“I wouldn’t say that I was surprised by them but I really enjoyed them. I think when you go into that environment, in an interview structure, you are unsure as to the people you are going to speak to, because Gordon was here when I was a player but I didn’t really come across him too much and Tony I had just known through football circles and the rest of the Board I was meeting for the first time. I was excited by their plans for the club but I think more importantly than that I believed that they are a group of people that I can work with and I know they will comment on that as a Board but equally for a manager he has to feel that, and undoubtedly the plans they have and the way they want to try and do things at the club I think tie in with my approach as a manager. I’m absolutely willing to take part in all aspects of this club and help drive it forward and help to improve all areas of it, but you need a Board that believe in that as well and that has certainly been the case and I’m looking forward to a positive relationship over the coming years.”
Jack will oversee Alloa for the last time this weekend and take over the reigns at the Paisley 2021 Stadium next Monday when he starts to prepare for the visit of Dundee United.
“I think every manager has their own way of preparing for matches and I have my own style. I will use footage that is available of both the opposition and our own performances because naturally being involved with another team this season I haven’t seen the team very often apart from on television so I need to come up to speed with that as well. I do a lot of preparation for games in general and I have done that in my time at Hearts and Alloa so I’m well used to it. I’ve a system of working yes I’ll obviously have to tweak at times and depending on what resources are available to me, personnel, etc, so there will be things over time that will become routine but in the build up to that fixture we will work as normal as possible the way I work in terms of how we train. I’m excited about that because I love coaching and the frustration when you are a part-time manager is that you get to do it only two nights a week so the attraction for me to do that on a far more regular basis is brilliant and it is something that I can’t wait to do.”
What are Jack’s feelings of moving from a part-time set-up to a full-time one.
“I genuinely think it is exciting more than anything else. This biggest frustration for me was not being able to spend enough time with my players both on the training pitch and even away from it in terms of getting to know them, their character and personality and speaking to them about their performance and how they get the most from themselves so a full-time environment will allow me to do that. I’m no stranger to either in a playing sense or a coaching sense because I have done it so it doesn’t faze me in that sense it is more excitement. The realisation that I’m going to have all this extra time to work with the players is terrific and it allows me to deliver more of the ideas that I have of being able to do it to an extent that at Alloa I’m obviously limited by time on occasions so this undoubtedly gives me a greater platform on which to work.”
Jack confirms that he has someone particular in mind for his assistant.
“I do have somebody that I would like to bring to the club. He is working with another club at the moment so I’m hopeful that can be pushed through and it can be done, and if it is done it will be done over the next two or three days. If it doesn’t then we’ll look to alternatives and I would like to do that again as soon as possible. I know Allan [McManus] is obviously in place at the club and he’ll provide assistance as well and I look forward to that. But it is quite important to have somebody in to assist me and if I can get this person in then I think it will be beneficial to the club as well and I think supporters will be pleased with the appointment as well but as I said, at the moment it is outwith my hands to an extent but we’re hopeful that can be concluded soon.”
Jack also confirms the Board’s backing in trying to bring in his new assistant
“In terms of the coaching staff yes because they knew it was important for me and it was an important decision in my own career as well and it is something I want to get right first and foremost for the club and then for myself. So I think to have the right person in alongside me they were very supportive of that.
“On the playing side, I’ve got to be honest, I haven’t asked really because again going back to what I said earlier, we’re outwith a window, I have a playing squad here that has pedigree and quality, my challenge as manager is to get the best from them. I think that’s what managers should look upon as opposed to coming in and saying and making excuses about not being able to make changes, etc. I’ll do my utmost to get the best from them and I’m confident that I will as I believe in my abilities to do that and hopefully the fans will then see that on the pitch.”
Watch the full interview here
