Jack Ross Report Card - 1 Year in

[basehibby]

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We really need to get that sort of mentality pushed aside. Losing as many games as winning is not encouraging. We're meant to be one of the biggest clubs in the country. We should be winning the majority of our games.

Can you not read? My post clearly makes reference to the reality that Ross took over a team that was flirting with relegation. In that context, the 7-4-7 league record was 100% encouraging IMO. Not brilliant, not amazing, not wonderful but definitely ENCOURAGING - ie moving in the right direction.

[MWHIBBIES]

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Lol. Many, many Hearts fans said the same last season. We would've been relegated under PH IMO.

I doubt it but it was never going to happen anyway. Hecky was never going to finish the season.

Hearts didn't have quality like Marciano, Allan, Doidge. They had no creativity, no decent keeper, no decent centre backs and no goalscorers. Our squad was much better than theirs. Their best players were injured all season or in positions that didn't make THAT much of a difference (they had decent fullbacks for example).

Hecky wasn't good but not everything was bad under him. We were generally decent at taking leads in games. Pretty much every game we were scoring first. We weren't doing everything wrong. The signs were there that some small changes, a bit of luck etc and we would start winning.

[ScottB]

I think he’s done alright, pretty middle of the road. We don’t look in any sort of danger under him, but nor does it feel like we’re going to kick on and genuinely be in the mix for 3rd (or even 2nd if Celtic implode) or win Cups.

My main concern is our lack of performance in the big games. His record against the ‘lesser’ clubs is very good, his record against the Old Firm, Aberdeen and especially Hearts is very poor. That Hampden semi sums it up really, we didn’t turn up for a big game. That’s something Jack really needs to work on.

So for now, a C. I suspect we’ll finish 4th this season which is pretty much the minimum in terms of budget spent we should be getting as a return. Any lower and I think it would be fair to start asking questions.

[Magpie]

B-

The manner of the defeats to Hearts was unacceptable.

[basehibby]

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I don't think we were ever really in any danger of going down. Team was far too good.

I reckon you could have said exactly the same for the Yams - but they made the wrong managerial appointment and look what happened.

[basehibby]

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To put the A, B and C into context, what's the available marks?

e.g. is it A-E? Or A-Z?

As the OP I was thinking of the old skool A-E lols

[basehibby]

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...Cannot agree with that m8,I'd give him "C".

Fair dos - it's a thread that invites opinions - but I reckon if Ross had managed to reverse that one result at Hamden he'd be skooshing an A from the vast majority on here. Fine margins and all that.

[basehibby]

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B-

The manner of the defeats to Hearts was unacceptable.

Painful and definitely in the must do better category. Unlikely he'll get another chance this season though (and fingers crossed next as well lols).

NB - we should remember that he has managed a victory at Tynie. Our record against them is terrible though and one mark of a successful Hibs manager should be improving that record.

[CMurdoch]

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Improved Heccky's team but tbh that wasn't hard.

Decent start this season with performances a bit all over the place, I wish he'd pick a formation and stick to it, this 442 352 451 433 every game. I'll give him a C.

Played Doidge in a 2 up front and Newell in his correct position and it was sorted last season.
Not perfect but a functioning stop gap till summer.

Then covid arrived and Ron Gordon rightly put us into a holding budget strategy.
Still 4th biggest budget but I suspect a mile off Aberdeen for this season only.
Ross small squad budget further hampered by the playing contracts of McGregor and SDG.

It will be easier to judge Ross next season and I am sure we will continue to improve if he can retain Marciano & Newell and switch out a few for well chosen new recruits. McGregor, SDG, Stevenson (if Mackie & Doig are considered good enough to cover left back), James & S McGinn could be moved on with little detriment to the team.

[Diclonius]

League performance: Pretty good
Cup performance: Ok
Games against the OF/Aberdeen: Not great
Games against Hearts: No

[BILLYHIBS]

Not convinced

B

[Keith_M]

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As the OP I was thinking of the old skool A-E lols

Cheers.


So a 'C', as given by a number of people, means bang average.

TBH, I would have thought he was above average, given we're fourth in the league, but I think a lot of people's viewpoint is (understandably) coloured by the last two games against Hearts.

[JimBHibees]

Think he has been very good. Steadily building a better team and by and large winning the games he should do two or three games aside. The derbies are big and to that end he has imo been very unlucky not to have beaten both Hearts (stick on pen in injury time) and Celtic horror show goal at the end of the game both from things very much out of his control. Think he has also won the most points outside the OF since here which is an excellent achievement.

B+

[lord bunberry]

He seems to constantly sit on the verge of being really good and then we have a few bad results and he falls back into the doing ok category. He probably needs a couple of big wins to convince us that he can take us to the next level.

[calumhibee1]

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He seems to constantly sit on the verge of being really good and then we have a few bad results and he falls back into the doing ok category. He probably needs a couple of big wins to convince us that he can take us to the next level.

Absolutely. Just as we seem to be getting ahead of steam we then have an absolute stinker of a result and it seems to set us back a bit.

[Northernhibee]

I think if we didn’t have such an enforced period of being cautious with the cash we’d have had a more complete transfer window. The only signing that I’d say might not work out is Drey Wright who on paper looked a good signing, but he’s been very adept at spotting a chasm in the team and finding the right player to fill it - Gogic, Paul McGinn, Kevin Nisbet.

Results have been decent - the times we’ve had a bad time have unfortunately come at a time to allow a narrative of “Jack Ross can’t do big games” to form when actually games against the likes of Rangers have seen us do well. The footballs been decent but nothing to write home about on the eye but again this isn’t helped with injuries to Allan and Macgennis.

In a word Id describe him as pragmatic. A B from me.

[Bobby's Cinema]

I honestly don't know what people expect at times.

In difficult uncertain times we are a solid 4th place in the league.
My view is that we are making a good fist of trying to emulate what Aberdeen have done. By beating the teams below us and there are also similarities in our recent transfer policy.

Give the manager a chance to build something here. In my lifetime we have never had a Hibs team consistently finishing in European places year after year.
Even the best Hibs teams I have seen.

I back the manager fully to aim to be the first to achieve just that. IMO I am seeing a few bad parallels in the support for me from when Yogi had us right up there - and this is before Ross has even had any kind of slump. Negativity needs dialled right down.

[calumhibee1]

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I honestly don't know what people expect at times.

In difficult uncertain times we are a solid 4th place in the league.
My view is that we are making a good fist of trying to emulate what Aberdeen have done. By beating the teams below us and there are also similarities in our recent transfer policy.

Give the manager a chance to build something here. In my lifetime we have never had a Hibs team consistently finishing in European places year after year.
Even the best Hibs teams I have seen.

I back the manager fully to aim to be the first to achieve just that. IMO I am seeing a few bad parallels in the support for me from when Yogi had us right up there - and this is before Ross has even had any kind of slump. Negativity needs dialled right down.

In these difficult and uncertain times we have been able to spend considerable sums of money on players while others are struggling to make ends meet. Difficult and uncertain times cannot be used as an excuse this season. If anything they should be used to demand we finish well clear in 4th.

[Unseen work]

Really happy with his appointment and how we’ve been since he came in.

I like his signings and the type of player he goes for - knows the Scottish leagues well etc.

Its too easy saying “4th is where he should be” - Well for the past 20 years we’ve hardly done it and he has us on track for doing it.

We’re 1 point behind Aberdeen who have a game in hand, potentially stretching the lead to 4 points. Considering we lost our 2 games to them it shows how well we’ve done this season.

Aberdeen have got lots of plaudits this year yet in the 2 games we’ve played them we’ve conceded awful goals.

1 - Boyle clumsy pen
2 - Murphy losing possession edge of own box
3 - Porteous thinking he’s Sauzee

Take the 2 games against them out of it and we would be higher than them with a better points tally.

We’ve got good at beating the teams below us, it’s about doing that consistently, building on it and trying to get points against your Aberdeen’s, Rangers and Celtic’s (We’ve drawn against both the old firm already this season).

I keep hearing we’re bad in ‘big games’. Is Rangers and Celtic a big game for us? I mean for the fans it absolutely is, however Dundee United is probably a bigger game as they’re behind us and it’s a “6 pointer”. At the end of the day every game is 3 points at stake, some fans just view them differently.

Im unsure how many have played football in Scotland at any level that’s on this forum, however in my experience you have 1 or 2 that beat the majority and win all the leagues and trophies, 1 or 2 that lose most weeks and other than that there’s not too much of a difference.

I think that’s the case with the SPFL and people can’t underestimate how difficult it is against the likes of St Johnstone, Motherwell, Killie and Dundee United etc. Every game is an absolute battle and you need to earn the right to play, if you can’t find a way to play beautiful football then find a way to win the game which is the most important thing.

Very few teams in Scotland play amazing football and win most weeks - it’s a huge demand. If players are winning most weeks and rarely losing then you best believe the confidence is building and they won’t care how they get the job done.

As the famous quote goes “Strikers win games, defenders win leagues”.

Now im not saying we’ll win the league, however it shows how important and impressive the first 7 games was for us defensively, as a team and where we are in the table. Let’s get back being hard to score against and it will stand us in good stead going forward.

Ross has my complete backing and I’m sure he’ll make further good signings in January.

Lets not forget, this season Boyle had been non existent, Doidge quiet and Allan unwell. Once those 3 get firing along with Murphy, Nisbet and Magennis we’ll be flying.

Mon the Hibees

[Jim44]

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Really happy with his appointment and how we’ve been since he came in.

I like his signings and the type of player he goes for - knows the Scottish leagues well etc.

Its too easy saying “4th is where he should be” - Well for the past 20 years we’ve hardly done it and he has us on track for doing it.

We’re 1 point behind Aberdeen who have a game in hand, potentially stretching the lead to 4 points. Considering we lost our 2 games to them it shows how well we’ve done this season.

Aberdeen have got lots of plaudits this year yet in the 2 games we’ve played them we’ve conceded awful goals.

1 - Boyle clumsy pen
2 - Murphy losing possession edge of own box
3 - Porteous thinking he’s Sauzee

Take the 2 games against them out of it and we would be higher than them with a better points tally.

We’ve got good at beating the teams below us, it’s about doing that consistently, building on it and trying to get points against your Aberdeen’s, Rangers and Celtic’s (We’ve drawn against both the old firm already this season).

I keep hearing we’re bad in ‘big games’. Is Rangers and Celtic a big game for us? I mean for the fans it absolutely is, however Dundee United is probably a bigger game as they’re behind us and it’s a “6 pointer”. At the end of the day every game is 3 points at stake, some fans just view them differently.

Im unsure how many have played football in Scotland at any level that’s on this forum, however in my experience you have 1 or 2 that beat the majority and win all the leagues and trophies, 1 or 2 that lose most weeks and other than that there’s not too much of a difference.

I think that’s the case with the SPFL and people can’t underestimate how difficult it is against the likes of St Johnstone, Motherwell, Killie and Dundee United etc. Every game is an absolute battle and you need to earn the right to play, if you can’t find a way to play beautiful football then find a way to win the game which is the most important thing.

Very few teams in Scotland play amazing football and win most weeks - it’s a huge demand. If players are winning most weeks and rarely losing then you best believe the confidence is building and they won’t care how they get the job done.

As the famous quote goes “Strikers win games, defenders win leagues”.

Now im not saying we’ll win the league, however it shows how important and impressive the first 7 games was for us defensively, as a team and where we are in the table. Let’s get back being hard to score against and it will stand us in good stead going forward.

Ross has my complete backing and I’m sure he’ll make further good signings in January.

Lets not forget, this season Boyle had been non existent, Doidge quiet and Allan unwell. Once those 3 get firing along with Murphy, Nisbet and Magennis we’ll be flying.

Mon the Hibees

Excellent post. My thoughts exactly.l

[NAE NOOKIE]

Hibs are the 4th / 5th take you're pick, biggest club in Scotland. In view of that this is what I expect from a Hibs manager:

To win regularly at home against anybody outside of Celtc and The Rangers.

To win at least 50% of our away games outside of Glasgow and Aberdeen and draw more than we lose of the other 50% including against Aberdeen.

To win at least 3 of every 10 games we play against the uglies, I don't think that's unreasonable.

To make the semi final of at least one cup competition every season.

To make a European qualifying spot at least once every 3 seasons as a minimum.

Because JR hasn't actually had a full season it's hard to judge him just now, He made a semi final last season, so that's a box ticked and we have negotiated our LC group without any dramas, box ticked.

Our away league record is very good with our only two negative results being at two of the hardest venues in the league, where better Hibs managers with better teams than Jack Ross has have historically struggled.

Our home record isn't so impressive with a loss to Aberdeen ( an unlucky one to be fair ) and two disappointing draws against Motherwell and St Johnstone .... but most seasons draws with Celtic and Sevco even at home wouldn't be sniffed at, so that's a plus for him.

But ..... The same old same old of a defeat to Hearts doesn't help him, especially in a semi final, and the feeling that our early season's results weren't quite a reflection of how we were actually playing at the time now returning, except that this time that feeling isn't being negated by positive results. You get the feeling that things are on the cusp just now, we could either improve and start winning again, or we could continue on this apparent slump and the results wont get better, at the moment the latter looks the more likely I'm sorry to say.... though I expect us to win tomorrow.

Anyway ... blah, blah, blah ...... the next 10 games will give us a better idea, if we have more in the negative column than the positive one the fans will get restless as they say.

[basehibby]

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Hibs are the 4th / 5th take you're pick, biggest club in Scotland. In view of that this is what I expect from a Hibs manager:

To win regularly at home against anybody outside of Celtc and The Rangers.

To win at least 50% of our away games outside of Glasgow and Aberdeen and draw more than we lose of the other 50% including against Aberdeen.

To win at least 3 of every 10 games we play against the uglies, I don't think that's unreasonable.

To make the semi final of at least one cup competition every season.

To make a European qualifying spot at least once every 3 seasons as a minimum.

Because JR hasn't actually had a full season it's hard to judge him just now, He made a semi final last season, so that's a box ticked and we have negotiated our LC group without any dramas, box ticked.

Our away league record is very good with our only two negative results being at two of the hardest venues in the league, where better Hibs managers with better teams than Jack Ross has have historically struggled.

Our home record isn't so impressive with a loss to Aberdeen ( an unlucky one to be fair ) and two disappointing draws against Motherwell and St Johnstone .... but most seasons draws with Celtic and Sevco even at home wouldn't be sniffed at, so that's a plus for him.

But ..... The same old same old of a defeat to Hearts doesn't help him, especially in a semi final, and the feeling that our early season's results weren't quite a reflection of how we were actually playing at the time now returning, except that this time that feeling isn't being negated by positive results. You get the feeling that things are on the cusp just now, we could either improve and start winning again, or we could continue on this apparent slump and the results wont get better, at the moment the latter looks the more likely I'm sorry to say.... though I expect us to win tomorrow.

Anyway ... blah, blah, blah ...... the next 10 games will give us a better idea, if we have more in the negative column than the positive one the fans will get restless as they say.

I'd love to see your expectations delivered upon - it's basically league championship form - bring it on

[Bronson]

He’s improved on what he inherited and has us where we expect to be, so on that basis he gets pass marks.

Football is boring 80% of the time which i can tolerate if we’re getting results but not so much when we’re not. I want to win but i do want to be entertained too. As mentioned previously the defeats to hearts weren’t good enough.

Recruitment has been a mixed bag.

6/10

[matty_f]

I think a B is a fair reflection on what he's done so far - some good, some bad and some inbetween. The semi final was a big black mark against him, that was one we really had to win.

I like the squad he's building - the approach of signing emerging talent (Magennis and Nisbet) is definitely a route I'd like to see us continue on, and I like that he's not afraid to play youth players, even if that's borne out of necessity as much as anything else, we've seen other managers play an older player out of position in similar circumstances, so it's good to see him taking the development of our youth players seriously.

I really like him in general and I have high hopes for him if he gets the time to build at Hibs.

[eastmainsmsh]

Straight swap for Lennon 😂🚕

[Greenio]

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Not convinced by him and not enjoying watching his team play. Certainly not suggesting we get rid of him, but I don’t think he’s a great manager or one we will worry about being poached by a bigger club.

Who do you think we're great Hibs managers?

Genuine q.

[Onion]

Really good start to JR's tenure. He carried that progress on to the start of the new season making us hard to beat and scoring goals. But his results / performances in bigger games has been disappointing and signs of fragility have crept in recent games.

[Saint Hibee]

It’s a meh from me. We’re harder to beat (unless you’re Hearts) but rather uninspiring to watch. C.

[green day]

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Jack Ross has been poor. Bang average manager who has us where we should be at minimum and that's with no Hearts in the league too as we'd have dropped more points to them. Jack Ross record in big games is a big concern and he has already lost the biggest game of the season. Talk of him going to Celtic is laughable.

So is he poor or average?

[JimBHibees]

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Jack Ross has been poor. Bang average manager who has us where we should be at minimum and that's with no Hearts in the league too as we'd have dropped more points to them. Jack Ross record in big games is a big concern and he has already lost the biggest game of the season. Talk of him going to Celtic is laughable.

Poor is 7th or 8th in the league not 4th near 3rd.