Make me eat my words
Jack’s plea to ex-Saints
” St Mirren manager Jack Ross insists he would love nothing more than Saints’ departing players to prove him wrong.
Eleven players were cut from the squad at the beginning of this week, including six first-team players and five from the Under 21s.
The Buddies gaffer admits it was with a heavy heart that he had to show them all the door – but hopes they use the experience to kick on and make a success of the remainder of their careers.
He said: “It is only my opinion and that is not always going to be right.
“I said that to the young players who have left the club recently. Nothing would give me more satisfaction than seeing them go on and achieve something in the game – because it is only my opinion.
“It allows us to clear space in our squad and to make room for players we feel will improve us and let us progress within the Premiership.
“I’m looking forward to doing that and it is exciting in itself. It is challenging but we will piece it all together.
“We built a squad to win the Championship and we managed to do that.
“Now it is about building a squad to be progressive in the Premiership. That is not a slight on those players’ abilities or what they have done for me in my time here as they have played massive parts in the success that we have had here.
“I think they will look back on that fondly but I sometimes have to detach myself from the emotional aspect from it and do what I think is best for the club.”
Ross has already moved to sign up skipper Stephen McGinn and young midfielder Cammy MacPherson on new contracts over the past fortnight.
More are expected to sign new contracts in the coming days, while Ross revealed that new faces also won’t be far behind.
He added: “Beyond one or two re-signing it could take a bit longer to bring in some new faces for a variety of reasons.
“The identification process has been going on for a long time now. It then becomes a negotiation process and convincing players this is the right place for them to be and then getting it over the line.
“There is a whole number of components involved in that but we have given ourselves something of a headstart by winning the league.” LINES OPEN P