HOW close Jack Ross actually came to becoming the manager of Dundee this summer remains unclear. Gordon Scott doesn’t really want to go into the details.

Suffice to say, with his team sitting top of the Championship, the St Mirren chairman is just happy his man elected to stay.

With Dundee sitting bottom of the Premiership with one point from their first five games, there may be some of their supporters also wistfully wondering what might have been.

Dundee’s loss, then, has undoubtedly been St Mirren’s gain. The form team in the Championship over the second half of last season, they have carried that momentum into the new campaign.

One painful blip aside, a derby loss away to Morton, they have enjoyed the perfect start to the league campaign, their four victories including wins over anticipated title rivals Falkirk, Dundee United and Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Much of that success has been down to Ross and his assistant James Fowler who have helped lift a club that – 2013 League Cup win aside - had been on its knees for the best part of the previous five years.

When the management team met with supporters at a Q&A session on Thursday night, the most demanding question centred on where Ross bought his natty matchday knitwear. In the eyes of the fans, Ross and Fowler can do no wrong at this point.

Their good work won’t be going unnoticed, of course. If Dundee saw enough over a six-month spell to consider Ross for their vacancy, then other clubs will be following his progress, too.

Scott acknowledges as much. All St Mirren can do is try to match their manager’s ambition and on that front they are not doing too badly.

“I think Jack appreciates what he’s got here,” Scott told Herald Sport. “I don’t doubt that there may be a time when there is interest in him again as when any team is successful then other clubs start to take notice.

“Our job is just to match Jack’s ambition. We’ve done that this season by giving him the funds that has allowed him to put together a team that we can compete with.

“When I came back as chairman I said one of the things I wanted to see was exciting football and we’re definitely getting that. Of course, it’s more important to be winning but what I meant was I didn’t want to sit through boring 0-0 draws. You want the team to go out to try to win. And that’s happening now.”

No team ever got handed the trophy for being top after five matches but for Scott it felt like a symbolic moment for a team that sat bottom of the Championship for the majority of the previous season.

As chairman he was confident that Ross had compiled a squad good enough to push for a play-off place. Now, having seen how the team have played in four of their opening five games, he is convinced they can go on to win the league.

“Going top of the table felt like a massive moment,” he added. “It was like seeing all the work you’ve put in – and by that I mean collectively around the club – start to pay off in the best way possible. I had a few beers last Saturday night to celebrate!

“But I’m not surprised by what the team has done so far this season. We’ve got a good squad and a good manager. Perhaps the surprising element is that it’s been achieved with a few key players still missing through injury. We had a really tough start to the season but the players have coped with that and done amazingly well. They are scoring for fun which makes it really entertaining too.

“My doubts before weren’t whether we could challenge towards the top because I always thought we could. It was more whether we could actually win the league. And now I have no doubt that we can win.

“The way the team has played since the start of the season and the squad we’ve put together has reinforced my belief that they are good enough.

“You always want to see the results that vindicate your optimism and in the last few weeks we’ve definitely seen that. I speak to people who think top four would still be a good return but we want to win the league and we’ve got the guys to do it.”

The supporters have done their bit, too. The introduction of a singing section at the Paisley 2021 stadium – complete with drummer – has lifted the atmosphere at a ground that, after almost a decade after the move from Love Street, is finally beginning to feel like home.

“There is undoubtedly a better connect now between the supporters and the club as a whole,” added Scott. “When I’m heading out in Paisley I’ve got taxi drivers or folk in the pub telling me they’ve come back to watch the team again as they’re really enjoying the football. That’s great to hear.

“You can feel that vibe about the place. We’ve got that section in the west stand where the guys are with their drum and banners and they’ve definitely made a huge difference to the atmosphere.

“But when the team is winning it seems the whole stadium is buzzing. And that’s what we wanted to create. A feeling of everyone in it together.”