JACK CAN TURN THIS AROUND
Goodwin insists it’s not curtains for Ross at United
IN a season which continues to plumb new depths, it is surely beyond comprehension to think that Dundee United can sink any further from where they are at the present moment.
The home dressing room at Tannadice remained shut for over an hour on Sunday following the 9-0 annihilation against Celtic before Jack Ross finally emerged to speak to the media.
The soul-searching won’t have ended there. This is now without question the most challenging period of their collective careers for Ross and his players.
That is not intended to sound hyperbolic. It is merely a reflection of the fact that the team have now lost their last five games in succession by an aggregate scoreline of 24-1.
For any manager, such a horrendous run of form would lead swiftly to a spell of unemployment. But, as things stand, it seems like Ross will be allowed to battle on as he aims to turn things around.
A trip to face Livingston in the Premier Sports Cup is next on the horizon tomorrow night as Ross aims to get a reaction from his players.
Ross is barely two months into a two-year deal. He has reshaped the squad, with the likes of Steven Fletcher, Glenn Middleton, Mark Birighitti, Jamie McGrath and Dylan Levitt all signed under his watch.
This is very much his squad now after he replaced Tam Courts in the summer. If United were to make a change right now, it could be hugely expensive in a variety of different ways.
Perhaps that’s the only thing keeping Ross in a job. But he does seem to retain the support of the Tannadice board at the moment, as sporting director Tony Asghar made clear last week.
A 9-0 thrashing will have altered the landscape somewhat and shortened his lifespan. But, for the time being, Ross is determined to try and soldier on.
Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin knows what it is like to work under Ross. He was signed as a player at Alloa when Ross was cutting his teeth in management.
When Ross eventually moved on to St Mirren, it was Goodwin who took the reins at Alloa and spent a further three years at the club.
Goodwin has backed Ross to turn it around and insists it is the United players who should be taking a serious look at themselves.
‘Jack is a strong character,’ said the Irishman. ‘He’s been in the game long enough as player and manager to have been going through periods like this where things don’t seem to be going the way you want them to go.
‘I watched the game on Sunday — Celtic were immense. But, for as good as Celtic were, Dundee United were poor. The manager as always will get it in the neck. The question marks will always be of the manager and we accept that as managers.
‘But the Dundee United players need to have a look in the mirror as well and ask themselves if they’re giving everything, not just for the manager but for the club, too.
‘Jack deserves their support as well. He’s brought a lot of them to the club and shown a lot of faith in them and I just hope they give him the same backing as what he’s given them up to now.
‘It’s been a tough period. But has he got the capabilities to turn it around? Absolutely.’
Throughout his managerial career, Ross has never been shy of taking on a challenge. Whether it was a part-time gig at Alloa or trying to save St Mirren from being relegated to the third tier of Scottish football for the first time in their history, he’s never afraid to roll his sleeves up.
It was during that run at St Mirren, which became known as the ‘Great Escape’, when Ross became embroiled in a heated exchange with an angry supporter in the stand following a 3-0 home defeat to Queen of the South in January 2017. His current predicament is equally as troubling, but Goodwin feels it is important for managers to support each other when there is so much vitriol and abuse flying around. ‘I only spent a short time at Alloa with Jack but even during those three months I could tell how professional he was and the level of detail he went into, even at a part-time club like Alloa,’ said the Aberdeen boss. ‘I knew he would go on to have a good managerial career. He was brilliant with St Mirren, turning them around from a team that looked like they were going to be relegated to one that went and won the Championship and got them promoted back to the Premiership. ‘He’s had some big jobs off the back of his success at St Mirren that probably haven’t gone as well as he’d have liked. ‘At Sunderland, their aims and ambitions were probably to get promoted. ‘At Hibs, he did well.
He got them to Hampden on a few occasions and finished top three, four, competing for Europe.
‘He’s going through a sticky spell. I message him now and again.
‘I wouldn’t say we’re best of pals but it’s important when we’re going through situations like he is now that he knows he’s got the support of people out there.
‘I wish him every success. When we’re competing against each other you don’t and you want to beat him like he wants to beat me. But I don’t enjoy seeing what he is going through right now.’
Goodwin will take his players to Annan tonight, where they will be strong favourites to beat the League Two side and book a place in the quarter-finals of the Premier Sports Cup.
Aberdeen come into the game on the back of thrashing Livingston 5-0, with Goodwin insisting tonight’s tie is a test of attitude as much as anything else.
He added: ‘The place is always bubbly when you win games, especially as convincingly as we did at the weekend.
‘We will be huge favourites. We have done well in the earlier rounds to teams of a similar ilk to Annan, albeit that Peterhead and Stirling Albion were on a nice grass pitch and this is on astroturf.
‘But we can’t use that as an excuse. We must be professional and take care of our business.’
It’s been a tough spell but Jack is a strong character