‘ We’re being used as an easy
Ross questions the ‘ puzzling’ criticism of football from those working in politics
WHEN addressing the way football clubs have been criticised by politicians during the pandemic yesterday, Jack Ross was treading carefully. Almost as carefully, in fact, as he, his staff and the Hibernian players have with the Covid- 19 protocols since they were permitted to return to training last summer.
Make no mistake, Ross – like countless others within Scottish football – knows that he is in a privileged position when it comes to being able to simply do the job he loves on a day- to- day basis during the coronavirus pandemic. That’s not to say though that he is ready to stand idly by while politicians or anyone else take pot- shots at the way our football clubs are conducting themselves during this crisis.
Ross takes his team to face Celtic on Monday night, and while he didn’t offer an opinion on his opponents travelling to Dubai for a midseason training camp, he was sanguine about the prospect of any risk to his own players.
One suspects that if he has any gripe against the trip at all, it is that it has given those who are eager to give our clubs a kicking something of an open goal, one they were all- too willing to accept. For Ross, it appears that Scottish football has become the dead cat which is thrown on the table when attention needs to be shifted from elsewhere.
“I will choose my words carefully,” Ross said. “Given the situation we find ourselves in as a nation, given some of the things that have gone on over the past 9- 10 months, some of the mistakes that have been made and some of the changes to what we are doing on a daily basis at very short notice. Some of the challenges we all face, not just at work but in life in terms of how it affects for example children and their education, their social interaction etc. I do find it puzzling at times that we give so much attention to some of the debate around football from a political level. That’s probably the most diplomatic and concise way of saying it.
“It would appear at times that it’s a diversion or a distraction that’s easy to take. I don’t think football as an industry or the people who work within it should ever be immune from criticism, but there are a lot of good people working in football through all levels of the game and all roles who do things professionally and respectfully, and that sometimes seems to be forgotten.
“In my opinion, there are an awful lot of other things we could be discussing, debating and asking questions about other than some of the things that have been talked about over the past three or four days.”
Ross can only offer the example of his own players when defending the way that footballers are conducting themselves, but he believes they offer a pretty decent counter argument to those who are lambasting the wider footballing community when there have been isolated transgressions.
“I don’t think they can be any more careful than they’re being,” he said.
“We travel to work, we work within an environment with protocols in place, we’re tested twice a week – and we return home. There’s not an awful lot else to do.
“The natural side of it, that has been spoken about, is people have families and take children to school etc. But that isn’t happening at the moment either.
“I don’t think it’s a case of us having to advise players to be extra careful. If we’d been through a period of opening up, that might be the case. But our players currently live a fairly straightforward lifestyle.
“We’ve had Alex Gogic earlier in the season as the only positive test to date, from a fairly high number of tests.”
While Celtic have been making much this week of the benefits their trip to Dubai would have for them in a sporting sense, it could be argued that the furore the trip has sparked may increase the pressure on Neil Lennon and his men to prove it was worth it through their performances when they return.
Ross isn’t sure that burden
It would appear at times it’s a diversion
will give his Hibs side any sort of advantage come Monday evening, however.
“The one thing that Neil and his players are used to is pressure,” he said. “When you operate at a club where the expectation is on you to win every single week, they are used to dealing with that pressure.
“They have had it this season. I don’t think they will feel any extra pressure in that respect. The difficulty of the game doesn’t change because of the circumstances. It was always going to be a hard match for us.”
Indeed, far from being put out about the SPFL’s decision to move the match between the sides to accommodate Celtic’s journey abroad, Ross has been quite glad of the rest in the absence of the traditional winter break, particularly after three defeats on the bounce.
“Before the weekend – and I don’t think it will have changed – we had made the fewest changes to our team in the Premiership this season,” he said.
“Statistically we had used the fewest players and made the fewest changes, so I think we’ve got three or four players up amongst the top seven or eight in terms of minutes played this season.
“So, you will always get maybe a slight dip from some of those players. And mentally, it has allowed everybody to have a breather.
“We have been quite intense about our work this season and about what we want to try and achieve. We have pushed a lot, players and staff.
“Everybody at times needs a breather and, through circumstance, this bigger gap between the fixtures has allowed us a little bit of rest time and since we have come back there has been a bit more freshness.”