On this day in 2018, Jack Ross was appointed as Sunderland manager...
Ross arrived as an up and coming manager, who wanted to play attacking, possession-based football. But by the end things had turned sour and he was notorious for his flat, defensive style of play and endless amounts of disappointing 1-1 draws.
The Scot had been on borrowed time at the SoL since the summer, as we failed to get promoted with a play-off defeat to Charlton. In fact, many fans believed the right time to sack Ross was straight after the Wembley loss. But the ownership group stuck with their man, who was appointed at the very start of our journey in League One.
But after a 2-0 loss at Lincoln, his position became untenable. We were sixth in the league after 11 games, but fans expected more from the team with the biggest budget in League One. The reality was we never recovered from two defeats at Wembley, and the wind was well and truly out of Jack's sails by the time he was sacked.
Stewart Donald said: “This is a decision that has been made with a heavy heart. When we arrived at the club 18 months ago, we appointed Jack because we felt that he was the right man to take Sunderland forward over a number of years. Jack has worked extremely hard, and has helped us achieve stability at the club, and I sincerely thank him for his efforts. I hope and believe that he will go on to have a successful career in management.”
The strange thing about the sacking was that it came just hours before an EFL Trophy game against Grimsby. Assistant James Fowler took charge, but the permanent job was eventually given to Phil Parkinson. And we all know how well that went...
Ross then went on to manage both Hibernian and Dundee United, but he failed to deliver at both clubs. However, the Scot has since landed a short-term gig at the Mags. He is currently their head of coach development, who would have thought that a few years ago.
