YOU’RE IN SAFE HANDS

McPHERSON ISONBOARD

JACK ROSS has led Hibs to their best top-flight start since Turnbull’s Tornadoes tore through Scottish football in the 1970s.

Four wins and a draw have seen them match Rangers stride for stride with only goal difference keeping the Leith side off the top of the table.

Since he took over from Paul Heckingbottom in November last year, Ross has accumulated more points than any other side outwith the Old Firm and scored more goals.

It has been an impressive start for the 44-year-old and the manner in which they’ve got off to a flier in this campaign has had the Hibs support watching at home daring to dream.

None of which is a surprise to the man who gave Ross his first job with part-time Alloa, which has become a breeding ground of managerial excellence with bosses such as Paul Hartley and Jim Goodwin cutting their teeth in Clackmannanshire.

That’s down to chairman Mike Mulraney’s eye for a guy he believes will be a perfect fit for his club, which is frequently jousting with full-time opposition in the Championship.

Back in 2015 when Danny Lennon departed, he had no doubt Ross – despite never having been a boss in his own right – was the man to lead Alloa.

Mulraney said: “We had about 60-odd applications for the post when Jack got the job. But we had narrowed our shortlist down even before we got the applications in and Jack was one of three names that was on it.

“His application wasn’t the first one I received but it was the one I was waiting on. Even before I met him, I just felt he was what we thought we needed.

“When I met him, it wasn’t a job interview – it was a discussion.”

Mulraney, also the SFA’s vice-president, had done his homework on Ross, who had been unknowingly auditioning for the job while assistant manager at Dumbarton.

He said: “I’d watched him on the touchline. I know what players said about him and I kept a close eye on him when we were playing against his teams. He was a committed assistant manager is how I’d best describe him. He was very vocal and we got a feel for what we were after – he ticked all the boxes.

“It’s a backroom team at many clubs and everywhere Jack had been, he’d been an integral part of that team. We did a little bit of homework and we thought he was a perfect fit for us.

“When I spoke to him, I was left in no doubt he could take our club forward.

“He had never been a manager and

BY DAVID McCARTHY some experienced managers applied but we felt he had a great skill-set that would be ideal for us and wanted to chat to him.

“He was the only candidate I spoke to at the time and that just confirmed what I believed, he had everything we would need as a club – ambition, enthusiasm and time. He had time, which is something you need at a part-time club.

“We watched what he did and believed he had everything needed to become a manager. He’s a very intelligent man.

“He knew what he wanted to achieve and convinced me I could work with him. You’ve got to be able to work with your manager and that was the journey we went on.”

Operating in a Championship that had Rangers and Hibs was a huge ask and Ross didn’t have a great start with results, winning just one of the first 15, But his chairman had no doubt the former St Mirren full-back would get it right.

Mulraney said: “Even when we weren’t winning, everything that Jack did was right. Even if you’re losing, you know if the manager is doing a great job – and he was.

“What I saw with Jack was he seldom made the same mistake twice. He’s an intelligent, capable football man.

“I said very early doors Jack would be a successful manager. I totally believed it and he’s proved it. “From the very first day he walked into Alloa, he was clearly a manager. I don’t think I taught him very much. Jack taught himself what he needed to know.” Alloa were relegated that season but a blistering start to the following campaign saw Ross headhunted by St Mirren, whom he saved from the drop before guiding them to a runaway Championship success that saw him poached by Sunderland. More adversity followed as he tried to lead a basket case of a club out of League One and when that didn’t work out, it didn’t take long for Hibs to pounce – and they’ve never looked back. Mulraney added: “He had to experience some truly trying times. We’re in a very difficult league and he was playing against some big clubs in what was his first outing into management. “We got relegated. But you learn more from your more difficult challenges than from your successes. “But I’m absolutely convinced Jack will have many more successes than difficulties. He’s doing well at Hibs and it’s no surprise.”

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