I don’t have any desire to prove Hibs WRONG... the only people I need to win over are the United FANS
THE hurt of his bruising Hibs exit is now in the past. As new Dundee United boss Jack Ross prepares to try and usher in a bright future at Tannadice, he concedes he has learned to live life in the present.
Ross had led the Easter Road club to third place in the Premiership, into Europe and graced a Scottish Cup final before being fired amid a poor run of form last December.
The axe fell just over a week before his team was due to face Celtic in the League Cup final at Hampden.
The unsavoury experience opened his eyes to an unforgiving industry where every day could be your last in the job.
Yet despite the way it ended in Leith, Ross took no pleasure watching the Easter Road side endure a grim time under his short-lived successor, Shaun Maloney.
That respect for his former employers was reciprocated when Hibs owner Ron Gordon and CEO Ben Kensell were among those wishing the new United boss well in his new post.
Nevertheless, his two years in the capital have not left Ross inclined to ever look too far ahead.
‘It was sore at first because of the timing of it and what lay ahead after I left,’ admitted Ross. ‘But you move on from it and you reflect because if I had got everything right, then my position would never have been under threat. Hopefully that reflection makes you a better manager.
‘I didn’t agree with it but I left on good terms. I have had messages from the chief exec and owner since I took this job, so that gives you an indication of where that relationship still lies.
‘I wish no ill will on the club. It was a brilliant club to manage. I was very close to my staff and players and I wanted them to do well.
‘You don’t take any vindication from anything that happened after (I left). For me, it was done. I believed in two years I delivered a lot of what was asked of me and when it was done, it was done.
‘There is certainly no feeling of bitterness or a desire to prove them wrong. I am probably too long in the tooth for that.
‘The only people I have a point to prove to are my new employers and the fans here, because I need to earn their trust.
‘Ideally, I plan on sticking around at Dundee United. But you become more hardened to the fact that it’s difficult to think too far ahead in my job because football management has become so transient.
‘Managers come under pressure very quickly now. So I’m not consumed by longevity in a job because it is so difficult to predict how it will unfold.
‘It’s about controlling the controllables — shaping what you want to do at the club and keep trying to improve players and staff. If you do that, then you give yourself a chance to succeed.
‘There are other elements you can’t control. But if you go in with your eyes wide open — which I very much do now — then you are okay.’
Maloney only lasted four months before being sacked, with Gordon later hinting that he regretted dispensing with former Alloa Athletic, St Mirren and Sunderland boss Ross so hastily.
‘I have always had good relationships with owners and that sometimes makes it harder,’ said Ross.
‘I got on really well with Stewart (Donald) at Sunderland, I had a good relationship with Ron and a good relationship with the guys at St Mirren.
‘You may naively think that personal relationship might help you further down the line but then you realise it doesn’t. But that still shouldn’t put you off having that (personal relationship) if it is in your nature.’
Ross is hoping to achieve ‘consistent’ success at Dundee United, with regular top-four finishes and challenging for cups his aim after succeeding Tam Courts.
United fans are also calling out for more entertaining football with only relegated Dundee, 11th-placed St Johnstone and ninth-placed St Mirren scoring fewer league goals than the fourth-placed Tannadice team last season.
‘I had that (accusation about entertaining football) at Hibs and it probably irked me a little bit,’ countered Ross. ‘I am quite detailed and I know, for example, that in over 50 per cent of our games Hibs scored two or more goals. I throw that stat at people because that’s not bad.
‘Maybe we did not score the goals in the right way... although I don’t know if there is a right way to score a goal or a better way to score a goal. But it is a common criticism managers have to put up with.
‘I am not being flippant about the fact supporters need to be entertained because I know they want to be enthralled on a match day.’
In his detailed discussions with United sporting director Tony Asghar, Ross has made it clear he intends to ‘lead’ and ‘make decisions’ rather than merely coach the players. And with 18 of the squad having left the club since the end of the season, he is ready to play a central role in recruitment. He said: ‘I don’t think it should be just me who thinks a potential target is a good player. But ultimately I do think the manager is the one who should believe they are the right person to bring to the club. I have the comfort of knowing that will be the situation here at Dundee United.
‘Once I started looking at the squad, there’s actually more needing done that I thought would be the case from afar.
‘We have to get players who we recognise and players who other clubs look at and think: “They are good signings”.
‘So I have to push the club as hard as I can to ensure we bring those kind of players in.
‘We want strong signings so people realise we are serious.’