Hibs’ Head Coach Jack Ross insists that he is happy at Easter Road and has a ‘lot of contentment both professionally and personally’ at the club after being linked a potential move to Parkhead should Celtic get rid of Neil Lennon.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of today’s game against Hamilton Academical, Ross said: “I’ve no plans to go anywhere soon. I’m very happy where I am at the moment.
“I don’t think you’d be surprised to learn that I wouldn’t comment on that at all because somebody’s in that job. It’s one of the biggest jobs in British football. So, it’s about me concentrating on doing my job here as well as I can.”
“I really enjoy the club and the progress we have made so far and it’s about trying to push us as hard as I can and as far as we can.
“In the space of two years I found myself managing Alloa and then Sunderland so it was quite a dramatic change in a short period of time and I had to cram a lot of learning into that couple of years.
“I feel as if I am still doing that and I don’t think that is ever going to end for me, I just want to be as good as I can be at this job.
“I very much enjoy it, once people get insight into it, it can be a lot different to their expectations as well but I am fortunate to do something I enjoy very much as well.”
“It’s always attractive, but it isn’t that often in football that time is afforded to managers, for a variety of reasons, not just the negative ones, because I probably got opportunities to move through teams doing well and that can happen as well so the clamour for change and the turnover of managers and coaches is far greater than it has been in the past, so that is a factor.
“I’m happy at the moment and that is a big thing in my professional life and personal life as well and I do feel with the ownership here, I have a good relationship with Ron (Gordon) and I feel his plans for the club and where I can push us on the playing side are in alignment.”
“So you can never say for certain because it is such an unpredictable profession, but certainly at the moment there is a lot of contentment with where I am at both professionally and personally.”
Hibs face Hamilton Academical this afternoon and a victory at the Hope CDB Stadium, New Douglas Park would see the club leapfrog Celtic into second place in the table, an incredible achievement considering where Hibs were when he took over from Paul Heckingbottom.
Since then Hibs have taken more points than any other team apart from Rangers and Celtic but Ross is not satisfied to rest on his laurels and is determined to take the club as far as he can.
He is anticipating a tough test against Brian Rice’s men who have responded well to an 8-0 defeat tp Rangers earlier this season.
“He continued: “It’s (going second) is a massive incentive for us and would put us I a good place going into this busy period, not just December but January which is very busy for us as well. It’s a nice feeling going into that game knowing that a win could put us in that position.”
“Their character has never been questioned for a number of seasons and their response to a difficult afternoon at Ibrox and the Stranraer game in the Betfred Cup game in the aftermath and my understanding from watching games is that they played well at Tannadice and obviously drew with Aberdeen and beat Kilmarnock so their response to that character wise has been excellent.
“I expect the game to be competitive against a team that are in a different frame of mind to what they would have been a few weeks ago. Even the home game against them was difficult although we played well so I am under no illusions about the challenge facing us.
“It’s another away fixture but our away form this season has been excellent.”
There was some good news for Ross as Scott Allan has stepped up his return to full training after missing most of the season with an undisclosed health issue.
Kyle Magennis also took part in yesterday’s session after returning from a hamstring issue, however, Jamie Murphy, Alex Gogic and Sean Mackie remain major doubts for game.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
