THE surrounds are familiar to Jack Ross but not the circumstances. His two seasons as a St Mirren player coincided with the club’s flit from their previous home on Love Street to a new stadium on Greenhill Road. He was also among the first group to get the benefits of their new training ground in Ralston. Upon his installation yesterday as the club’s fifth manager in two and a half years, those memories bring him a degree of comfort.
Many other things have changed, however, since he left St Mirren in 2010. From being a club safely ensconced in the top division under former manager Gus MacPherson – a rival, ironically, for this vacancy – their stock has plummeted in recent seasons. Years of steady decline under the old board eventually took its toll when the team was relegated out of the Premiership last year. Now they find themselves anchored to the floor of the Championship, without a win from their opening eight games and in danger of plummeting to the third tier for the first time in the club’s long history.
Ross arrives at a significant moment in that timeline. Not only are St Mirren looking to arrest that stagnation on the pitch, they are also taking the first tentative steps on a path that will eventually lead to being wholly owned by their supporters. It means there is little prospect of the new manager ever being handed a “transfer warchest” – not even a small one – and that every financial outgoing will be closely scrutinised. Having been a coach at Hearts during their own move towards fan ownership, Ross is aware of what lies ahead of him. And he is on board with it all.
“It helps that I was a player here,” he said. “It helps me from the job perspective, meaning I can walk into the stadium and it’s comfortable for me because I’m familiar with it. The training ground will be the same.
“But I was lucky enough to play here when they were a fairly established Premiership club, so I understand that it’s by no means unrealistic to have that ambition to get back there. It’s not a soundbite, it’s factual. The club should be there. I know it’s easy to say it, doing it is obviously the challenge.
“The new owners have a model which is trying to put a structure in place which provides any manager with the necessary support. It’s about engaging the supporters in the right way to make sure as many people as possible come to watch.
“I understand that there is a hugely passionate fanbase here that can become frustrated if things don’t go right on the pitch. I get that, that doesn’t faze me, that’s part of your job in football. It’s part of your job as a player and it’s part of your job as a manager.
“If I can meet the challenges of getting things right on the park then I absolutely know that the fanbase here will provide an enormously positive support. I know how big the club can be.”
New chairman Gordon Scott, the conduit through which this transition to fan ownership will pass, admitted Ross’ appreciation of the bigger picture was a vital factor in bringing him on board. He now hopes the club and those running it will rise to the challenge of providing the new manager with the funds he needs to take St Mirren to the next level.
“I need a manager who is going to challenge me as well,” he said. “Not somebody who is going to say, “the only way forward is to give me money”. I need someone the players will respond to.
“The supporters association are putting money towards the club. We need to start moving forward. We were moving backwards and we need to start moving forward now. As a board we need to be challenged to bring in more money. The top six teams in the Premiership are all turning over £5million a year. If we want to go from being a club bottom of the Championship to the top half of the Premiership we need to increase our turnover. That’s the challenge for us as a board. It’s not just about the manager. We need to find the money to help him take it forward.”
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