Flashback A chip off the old block
This is something of an uncharted territory for St Mirren. A manager headhunted.
It has been 32 years since Alex Miller was the last gaffer not to fall on his word or get punted out the door.
Cup-winning legends Danny Lennon and Alex Smith both suffered from the sack, as did the great Sir Alex Ferguson – so Jack Ross is something of a Saints rarity when it comes to actually being wanted from elsewhere.
Last week began with the alarm clock ringing each morning, a cursory glance of social media with trepidation in the hope that Jack Ross hadn’t packed in the Saints overnight. It was a tricky week for St Mirren. No more so because it has been 32 long years since the club last had a manager deemed good enough to be headhunted, in the shape of Miller.
A scary record, it just goes to show Pastures new
St Mirren FC is a club with a proud tradition — and a history to match.
They have been at the centre of the Scottish game since their formation in 1877.
Today, we look back at the last time we lost a manger to another club. Wait for it......Alex Miller to Hibs in 1986.
the miraculous job that Ross has managed to achieve in such a short space of time – not that you need to tell anyone affiliated with St Mirren.
Phone companies across the land will have revelled in the constant speculation, with conference calls between Jack and the St Mirren board racking up the bills with Ross holed up in Dubai on his one and only family holiday.
He had a thing for holidays right enough, with his trip to Spain last year also plagued by speculation that he was joining Dundee.
It is hard to judge what Ross will achieve at Sunderland, but if his last predecessor Miller is anything to go by then it might be a lengthy spell at the Stadium of Light.
Miller would head to Hibs, where he would remain for over a decade at the helm of the Easter Road side.
His spell in the nation’s capital wasn’t without its issues, with Hibs going through financial difficulties at the time.
However, it also wasn’t without its silverware after he won the League Cup in 1991following a 2-0 victory over Dunfermline in the final.
He would eventually be sacked four years later but would go on to carve out a stellar coaching career at the likes of Aberdeen and Coventry City.
But it was for his spell at Liverpool that he is best remembered, working as first-team coach and helping the club win the Champions League in 2005 and FA Cup in 2006.