BREAK WILL HELP ME LAY GHOST OF SUNDERLAND AXE TO REST
Jack plans breather after hectic start at Hibees
Before Jack Ross could get off the rollercoaster ride of being hired and fired at Sunderland he was strapping himself in again as manager of Hibs.
Having barely had time to reflect on the highs and lows of his previous job, he’ll finally get a breather during the Premiership’s winter break.
And he’s convinced that when he does look back on his time at the Stadium of Light he won’t feel bitterness – just pride.
A quick look at how the League One club have performed since his departure would certainly seem to back that up.
Any notion that he might be scarred by the experience on Wearside is quickly dismissed by the Easter Road gaffer.
When Ross was sacked by Sunderland he was only out of the game for three weeks before being paraded in Leith.
Of course, a lengthy holiday would have been nice. But as he assesses the challenges ahead at Hibs, he wouldn’t have had it any other way.
He believes his record at the Black Cats stands up to scrutiny and he’s as disappointed as anyone to see them struggle in England’s third tier.
As he prepared for the break Ross revealed he had to ditch plans to visit places like Anf ield because of his quick-fire return to management.
But he certainly wasn’t complaining when the Hibees came calling.
He said: “I’m fortunate that, having lost my job, I spent such little time out of the game.
“By the time I f inished up at Sunderland, and the process started to get the job here, it was only three- and- a-half weeks – which isn’t much.
“I had a couple of things planned that I was going to do but, obviously, I had to shelve them to join Hibs.
“I was due to go to Norwich for a couple of days and I was planning to see a game at Liverpool as well.
“It was all professional stuff, no exciting holidays or anything like that.
“But the initial week or two in the job at Hibs was probably the first point I real ised how much the previous job at Sunderland had taken out of me.
“Once I felt comfortable at Easter Road on a daily basis it felt normal again. Ideally, you want to get back to work as quickly as you can.
“With the intensity of the job down
I really want Sunderland to do well .. I had a great time there with brilliant experiences The initial week or two at Hibs made me realise how much the job at Sunderland had taken out of me. I began to feel normal again. Would an extended break have done me harm? Probably not. But I felt quickly I could go again..
there taken into account, would an extended break have done me any harm? Probably not.
“But I felt very quickly after leaving Sunderland that I could go again, so I feel OK.
“When you get sacked, the majority of times, it’s because you’re having a horrendous run.
“So through that you maybe need to take stock or have a breather. You might want to ponder all the rights and wrongs.
“But we had lost just two out of our last 14 games at Sunderland. So I wasn’t in a cycle of thinking: ‘Oh my God, I’m under massive pressure here, I’m going to lose my job.’
“If you’re losing seven or eight in a row, you will probably get to that end period of the sack and think:
‘I’m not sure I want to go through that again.’ But I felt I was in a different set of circumstances so I was f ine. I didn’t feel damaged in any way.
“I actual ly felt alright about it so that might have helped me come back so quickly.”
Sunderland have won just four of their 17 games since replacing Ross with new gaffer Phil Parkinson.
They’re now sitting ninth in the table, with their automatic promotion hopes dwindling.
If it wasn’t for Patrick
Bauer’s 90th- minute winner for Charlton in the play-off final at Wembley in May, Jack might still be in Wearside, now managing a Championship club.
But despite being bulleted along with his Scottish staff, Ross holds no grudges and still wants the club to be successful.
He said: “I was sacked on the Tuesday and probably woke up on the Wednesday morning bel ieving I was a better manager than I had been on the Tuesday – if that makes sense.
“On the Tuesday I was under pressure all the time – having to win games every single week.
“But on the Wednesday, people started looking at us only losing 10 of our 75 games
i n charge and two of our last 14. So maybe it wasn’t that bad, after all.
“That’s probably a strange set of circumstances but I loved my job there.
“Sunderland are a brilliant club and there’s so many good people there whom I want to do well.
“So I don’t look and think: ‘Oh, they’re not winning games, that’s a vindication of me saying that I was doing OK.’
“I just really want the club to do well because I had a great time there with some brilliant experiences.”
Now Ross has to focus fully on a new challenge at Hibs after taking over from Paul Heckingbottom in November.
He’s got them back into the top six and enjoyed a 2-0 Boxing Day derby win over Hearts at Tynecastle.
But he also knows there’s plenty of work still to be done as he attempts to get the Hibees challenging for a Europa League spot again.
He’ll look to strengthen his squad in January, as well as finally enjoying a well- earned rest.
Ross said: “The winter break sounds nice – it’s the main reason I wanted to take this job!
“No, seriously, it will be good. I came into such a busy schedule leading up to the break.
“So there will be a bit of time off. But I’ve not had as much time on the grass with the players as I’d have liked so this will give us at least a full week together.
“The break is a good thing. I’ve missed out on it wherever I’ve been so it will be good to get a little breather as well.”