Jack’s hoping to start the year with cheers — not jeers

A year ago this Saturday, to be exact.

As the St Mirren players trudged off following another hammering, this time at the hands of Queen of the South, Saints boss Jack Ross waded into the crowd.

Angered by comments from a section of the support, Ross approached a group of spectators in the Main Stand of the Paisley 2021 Stadium looking to clear the air and discuss his view on the game.

The rain poured that evening as most made their way from the stadium in the wake of a 3-0 defeat that left Saints staring further down the barrel of the relegation gun for which they had long been stuck in the cross hairs.

Rooted to bottom spot, January 2017 brought little hope for the year ahead.

Since then it has been something of a roller coaster ride.

And you could say the sight of Ross jumping the barrier acted as the catalyst for the almighty turnaround that saw St Mirren eventually beat the drop — and now sitting top of the Championship.

Would he do it again? Only if Saints win promotion ...

“Hopefully, I’ll never do it again — unless I’m celebrating

“Some people might have looked at that as a bit of a gamble, but it certainly wasn’t something that was pre-planned.

“It was done with my gut at the time and I am not afraid to go against the grain.

“But I’m not sure that I’ve met that supporter since.

“Someone emailed me and said he was one of the ones that was giving me the stick that day.

“I don’t think he was exactly the one. I get a lot of letters and emails and I do reply to them personally.

“You could say it had the desired effect.

“It might have looked like I was willing to stand in the firing line, or that I am willing to take the criticism, but I’ll have an open discussion with you.

“There is nothing wrong with having a sensible conversation because most of the people that come are sensible, they just get caught up in the game.” This year it’s all change. St Mirren return to Paisley for the first game at their home stadium in 2018 when they welcome Inverness Caley Thistle.

Sitting pretty at the top of the Championship, you’ll struggle to find anyone of the Buddies persuasion having anything to say against the man in the dugout.

The goal has always been to earn promotion come May this year, with Saints bouncing along nicely, having carried the form from the tail end of last year into the current campaign.

And Ross heaped praise on his players for continuing in the same vein as they look to get their team back into the top flight.

He added: “The second half of last season is something that I am not sure any of us will go