‘I’m not finished just yet’, reveals Ross Hannah
HANNAH EYES A NEW CHALLENGE
ROSS HANNAH says there are plenty of goals in his shooting boots yet with the prolific NonLeague striker on the lookout for a new forward line.
The 34-year-old is a free agent after leaving Gainsborough Trinity and seeing his loan spell at Cleethorpes Town cut short by Covid-19.
Hannah’s goal record has spoken for itself over the years at Stocksbridge Park Steels, Matlock Town – where he hit 52 in a season to earn a move to Bradford City – Barrow and Chester.
He began last season as player-assistant to Liam King at Gainsborough before the pair stepped aside for Curtis Woodhouse.
Hannah says the role alongside best mate King was a real eye-opener and made him realise that, for now, he wants to continue focusing on playing and scoring goals again.
“As a player you’ve got a different mindset,” Hannah told The NLP. “You’ve got to look after yourself, make sure you prepare right, you turn up and you play to the best of your ability.
“But when you’re a manager, you’ve got to think of everyone and everything. There is so much detail on a matchday.
“It gave a massive insight into that. I was trying to combine both and it was difficult. Saturday nights would come round after coaching in the morning and then football and I was absolutely drained and emotionally shattered.
“There are times through your career where you look at managers and think, ‘What are you doing?’. I think everyone would say the same. You’re thinking, ‘Why would you make that decision?’.
“But there are situations you can’t always explain outside the dressing room that would explain that decision. Even at that level there are things you can’t speak to the press about and you keep inhouse even though it would help people understand.
“You don’t realise what goes through a manager’s head. It makes it clearer when you’ve been in those shoes.”
Like much of the country, Hannah spent much of lockdown home-schooling – he has two young sons Zac and Jake – watching football nostalgia documentaries – and also staying fit.
“With lockdown you were doing anything you could to get out of the house and that was the one thing you could do other than go to the supermarket,” he said.
Normality
“I’ve never seen so many people on bikes – Sheffield is the new Amsterdam! I was always one to go out and do what I needed to do fitnesswise, but this certainly made me do even more than I ever would have done.
“I also don’t think I’ve played as much football with my two boys in the backgarden in two years as I have in the last few months.
“I’ve actually turned into a good keeper as well. They’ve not scored many goals past me!
“I’m itching to get back. It’s not just the playing side but being in the mix with the lads in the dressing room. It’s well documented that when people come out of football, that’s one thing they miss, the camaraderie.
“It’s been a longer period of time away from team-mates than it would have been.
“At least to get back with the lads and train will be a great relief and get back a bit of normality.”
Hannah, who coaches for a company called Kixx, has also started giving oneon-one training sessions to players and says this period has given plenty of time for reflection.
“You’ve got to take positives from something like this,” he said. “People have had a lot of time to reflect in whatever they do and reassess what they want to do.
“I felt like that when I came out of the assistant manager’s job at Gainsborough. I didn’t give myself the best chance to help Liam and be successful because I was still fully committed as a player. I don’t think you can do both.
“Because I was still thinking as a player and committed to that, when we came out we both reflected on the experience. I didn’t come away and think, ‘That’s me now, an assistant manager’. It made me want to play. Cleethorpes gave me the chance to do that which I enjoyed. I felt back to how I used to feel.”
Offers
Hannah is now looking for that next challenge to continue his run in front of goal. Ideally, he wants somewhere close to home but says he will consider all offers and levels. However, he also knows being patient will be key with so much uncertainty around the game at the moment.
“The older you get the wiser you get, I suppose,” he said. “There are obviously more important things to worry about, especially at the minute, but I’ve got every intention to carry on playing football as high as I can.
“Location-wise, I’d like it close to where I am living and working but I’d listen to all offers. Obviously we don’t know what will happen next season. I’d like to think we’ll have a full season but will we? It’s uncertain not only for players but also clubs. I suppose it’s a waiting game and then making the best decision.”