JACK Ross, whose Hibernian team will attempt to cap a stellar season by beating St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden tomorrow, has confessed that he contemplated giving up football management after being sacked by Sunderland just a year and a half ago.

Ross has once again proved himself to be one of the outstanding coaches in the country this season by leading Hibs to third place in the Premiership, their highest top flight finish in no fewer than 16 years, and securing a place in next season’s Europa League qualifying rounds.

If the Easter Road club triumph over their McDiarmid Park rivals this weekend and prevail in the national knockout competition for only the fourth occasion in their 145 year history, it will be the undoubted highlight of his career.

However, the 44-year-old could very easily have chosen to quit his profession in the October of 2019 when a difficult 17 month spell at the Stadium of Light ended with his contract being terminated.

The former Alloa and St Mirren manager, who was named PFA Scotland Manager of the Year after leading the Paisley club to the Championship in 2018, had taken the Wearsiders to the Checkatrade Trophy and League One play-off finals in his debut campaign.

They lost both of those matches in cruel circumstances and the Scot’s services were dispensed with after less than three months of the following season due to disappointing form in the third tier. Ross admitted the bruising experience caused him to question whether he was cut out for a life in the dugout.

“It’s not nice when you’re putting everything into the job and are so focused on delivering success to the club,” he said. “You become attached to it and build relationships with loads of people around the club. Then you have that taken away. And it’s taken away very quickly in football management.

“Whenever you’re sacked, it’s human nature to question your abilities. I think every single person would do that. At that moment, the choice is just not to be a football manager again. Then you’ll be okay. Or you put yourself back in the firing line and back yourself to go and do it.”

The period of self-doubt, though, proved short-lived. Ross was approached by Hibs, who had just parted company with Paul Heckingbottom, just a few weeks later and he jumped at the opportunity. He has loved every minute of life in the capital, the turmoil caused by the coronavirus outbreak aside, since.  

“There was quite a quick turnaround between the two jobs,” he said. “But I was lucky to get this opportunity so quickly. What happened at Sunderland probably reminded me to enjoy these times because I’m sure there will be a point in the future when I have that same feeling, because naturally it does happen in football management.”

Despite his failure to lead fallen English giants Sunderland to promotion, Ross enjoyed his time on Tyne and Wear and knows it improved him as a coach. He believes the lessons he learned from being in charge of a club with an average home attendance which exceeds 30,000 have been invaluable. In fact, he thinks they have helped him to flourish at Hibs.

“First of all, it was brilliant,” he said. “It’s not something I’ve regretted for one moment. I had a lot of good times there. I think I’m a better manager now. I think I’ve hopefully continued to improve after being with an enormous club.

“Until you’re in that part of England, you don’t maybe appreciate how big the club is and how much expectation goes along with it.

“There’s a lot of different facets to my management and coaching that are defined and have not changed, because I think I’ve always had a consistency of approach, but others I’ve learned from, and hopefully I’ve improved.

“That’s the key challenge for me, to continue getting better all the time in what I do, whether I’m on the pitch or how I work as a manager. That whole experience, that whole time I was there, was something that has definitely helped me, hopefully, to continue to improve and bring success to Hibs.”

If Hibs, who lost last season’s Scottish Cup semi-final to Hearts and this term’s Betfred Cup semi-final to St Johnstone despite dominating both of those encounters for long spells, are struggling tomorrow Jack is confident he is better placed to address and rectify the problems as a result of his stint at Sunderland.

His men lost the Checkatrade Trophy final to Portsmouth on penalties in front of a crowd of 85,021 at Wembley and then were beaten in the play-off final by Charlton Athletic in front of 76,155 fans after conceding an injury-time goal. 

“First of all, it’s not to lose,” he said. “It’s not nice, not a nice feeling. What did I learn from it? Detaching yourself emotionally as best you can is important.

“That becomes a little bit easier with no crowds at the moment. You are talking about just shy of 90,000 in there. It’s an unbelievable arena to play a football match in. Unless you have been there, it is difficult to do it justice, it is a brilliant stadium.

“So it is difficult not to get caught up in the emotion of it, but the key aspect of management is remaining as clear headed as you can at all times. That is something I look at now after those occasions, that clarity of thought. You need that at times.

“That and the puzzle of how to win games, how you make sure players are influenced by your behaviour, your actions, your communication as well.”

Ross is looking forward to the experience immensely. “When I was a kid being involved in the Scottish Cup final was a dream, but when you become a manager it’s an ambition,” he said. “It’s something that in years to come I will look back fondly. 

“I’ve been lucky to do it at Wembley a couple of times, which was something I never thought I would do. The memory of the two games is sore, but the actual experience is something which, in the fullness of time, I will look back on and be proud of. 

“Doing it at Hampden is special because Hampden is still special to me.”