FOOTBALL is a fickle business.
A manager who is being praised to the hilt one day can find themselves facing the sack just six months later. It is why those in demand need to take advantage when their stock is high to move on to bigger clubs. They may come to regret it if they don’t.
Aberdeen fans might not like to hear it but if Sunderland follow up their initial interest in Derek McInnes by making him an offer, then I don’t see how he could turn that down. You have to strike when you get an opportunity like this as you never know when one might come around again.
I said last summer that I didn’t believe Derek could improve Aberdeen this season and he’s proved me wrong. A second-place finish in the league with a record points total and runners-up in both cup competitions is a terrific return. But, at the risk of repeating myself, I don’t see how he can do better next year. This is maybe as good as it gets for Aberdeen.
Read more: Exclusive: St Mirren and Jack Ross agree new deal in principle
Sunderland may not be the most fashionable of English clubs, but a move there would tick a lot of boxes for Derek. They have an incredible training ground – something Aberdeen don’t have – a brilliant stadium, a passionate and committed fanbase, and will be pushing for promotion.
It’s also not too much upheaval for Derek and his family, with Sunderland about a three-hour drive away. You could see why all that would prove appealing. (For what it’s worth, should he go then Tommy Wright should be the most obvious replacement given everything he has done at St Johnstone).
For a while it looked like being a similar story with Jack Ross. He has done an incredible job at St Mirren and kept them up on the last day of the season when all had seemed lost just a few months before. That run has really bolstered his reputation and it is not difficult to see why he was in demand from a club like Dundee.
The feeling is that he has manoeuvred St Mirren into a position where they can push for promotion next year and I think they ought to be at least looking to make the play-offs. But there is no guarantee he will take them up. Dundee United will start as favourites to win the Championship, while Inverness will also have their sights set on promotion, as will Falkirk who have come close in the last few years. It is a tough ask.
But Jack has elected to stay and it looks like he will be rewarded with a new deal. I’m really delighted for my old club as they could do with the stability after years of uncertainty. It is a bit of a risk for Jack, though, as we’ve seen a few young managers over the years arriving at a club bursting with potential only to stumble at the next step. Ian Murray, my old Rangers team-mate and briefly also my manager at St Mirren, is one such example. He had done brilliantly at Dumbarton when he arrived in Paisley, but for whatever reason it didn’t work out for him.
Read more: Exclusive: St Mirren and Jack Ross agree new deal in principle
And when your stock falls, it is very difficult to get another similar job in an increasingly competitive market place. Ian is now assistant manager at a team in the third tier of Norwegian football and these are the sort of cautionary tales that Jack might have been pondering as he stood at his own career crossroads.
But he has decided to throw his lot in with St Mirren for the time being and I couldn’t be happier about that. And if he continues to perform as well as he has done so far then there will be bigger jobs open to him further down the line.
Of course, there is no vacancy at Dens Park now after Neil McCann performed a U-turn and decided last night to take the manager’s job after all. Previously he had five matches in temporary charge before seemingly deciding this wasn’t the right job at the right time for him.
That had surprised me as he has done his Pro Licence coaching badges and I knew that he wanted to become a manager at some point in the future. That’s his passion. And now he’ll get the chance to indulge that and I wish my old Rangers team-mate all the best. It’s an interesting move.
Inverness are still looking for a new manager and I’d be surprised if they didn’t go for a more experienced figure this time after the experiment with Richie Foran didn’t work out. Giving a new and untested manager a four-year deal always seemed a risky move and the club have paid for that by tumbling into the Championship.
Richie’s a really passionate guy and a club legend, but it didn’t seem a good fit from the off. Management is a precarious business which is why those on the up have to take advantage while they can.
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