Wishart loves the latest chapter in Ross fairytale
AS an author of children’s books, Jack Ross had tales including Alfie The Adventurous Winger and Calum The Courageous
Keeper published. Seven years on from setting out as a writer, the latest chapter of his own life since being forced to quit playing sees Ross’s managerial career take its most fascinating and exciting twist yet.
The stories penned by Ross before his retirement in 2011 proved particularly popular in schools and community groups for their moral or educational messages.
There are no shortage of lessons to be gleaned, either, from the new Sunderland boss’s alternative account of rising to the job of reviving one of English football’s fallen giants.
Many future managerial stars find themselves debating if it’s best to become a No1 somewhere down the divisions or to try to land a coaching or assistant role further up the chain. Ross began to prepare for life after playing by writing books for kids. Then moved on to an office job for one day a week.
That his desk was at PFA Scotland’s headquarters in Glasgow helped play a huge role in shaping the ascent of Ross as one of British football’s most sought-after bosses.
Sunderland chairman Stewart Donald prised the 41-year-old away from St Mirren after Barnsley, in mid-season, and Ipswich Town last week tried and failed.
Fraser Wishart, the footballers’ union chief executive, recruited Ross then gave his blessing for him to leave for a first full-time coaching post with Hearts.
In between times, Wishart witnessed Ross blossoming into a potentially great football administrator. In the full knowledge that he was determined to be an even better football manager.
‘Jack was chairman of the PFA while still a player so he was always very caring about players and individuals,’ said Wishart. ‘As a senior player, he was a guy who team-mates would seek out for advice.
‘I brought him in one day a week for six months to work on integrity matters and gambling regulations affecting players. I could see these issues coming and wanted him to dig deeper into it. He was great.
‘When he finished his career through injury in the summer we took him on full-time to deal with these issues, mental health initiatives and communications for the PFA. He always knew, deep down, that he wanted to be a coach but nothing jumped out at him.
‘Then he did some part-time coaching and, all of a sudden, got a really good reputation at Dumbarton. Their climb to the Championship started through Jack’s coaching. I remember players saying how interesting and varied it was, how motivated they were.’
Ross assisted Alan Adamson then Ian Murray at Dumbarton and, in the summer of 2014, Craig Levein swooped to make the former Scotland ‘B’ cap a key part of his Hearts project. With Robbie Neilson appointed manager and Stevie Crawford assisting, Ross was effectively No 3 while in charge of the development squad and touted as a future Hearts boss.
‘That was the point he had to leave the union and was the start of his rise,’ stated Wishart. ‘When Craig Levein approached me to say they were thinking of offering Jack a job as Under-20 coach and No3 to first team on match days, I had nothing but good things to say about him.
‘He’s very organised, motivated and a hard worker. Craig was director of football and I thought Jack could go on to do that type of role as well. He could easily have had a career as an administrator in football. But management was always where he wanted to go. I hope we helped him in that way. He was
definitely part of that line of succession planned at Hearts. But Hearts chose to let him go for their own reasons.’
Ross returned to part-time basics at Alloa after leaving Tynecastle and impressed again. He was then charged with saving St Mirren in October 2016. That slowburner succeeded as Saints avoided the drop last spring.
This season’s Championship title success by 12 points attracted a glut of interest and Ross opted to cash in while his stock was high before he could manage a single game in the Scottish top flight.
‘I was delighted for him winning the league with St Mirren and I couldn’t be happier for him now going to a huge club in England. I think he will be a big success,’ said Wishart. ‘It’s a big move, a big club. He could be heading to the very top.
‘I think the work for us helped him a huge amount, he learned a lot. It’s a good grounding to see the nuts and bolts of the game under the bonnet, see how the people behind the scenes operate. How people and players are treated by clubs, the politics of the game.
‘He was always a good people person. He’s someone who’ll care for his players and help them. A lot of that has come from the role with the union and working on management committees before that.
‘If you look at social media posts by players who have been coached by him, every one of them says much the same. That he was the best coach, had the best training. That says how popular his work has been.
‘He can be hard. He and I would have conversations about many things and he was opinionated.
‘That’s great, you need that working for the PFA. He needs to be a player’s pal to some extent, to be a confidante. He will be that. But he also knows how to keep that distance and I think that is one of his many skills as a manager, too.’
His PFA work let him see how those behind the scenes operate, the politics of it all