Jack Ross New Sunderland Manager

[TractorBoys]

2 year deal with option for a third, worth £350,000.

Well done Marcus Evans, sure fire way to lose your top target by dragging out the hiring process over a month.

Now looks like we'll try and secure the services of Hurst from Shrewsbury.

 

[SoutheySWFC]

Hursty deserves better than Ipswich.

 

[Marked Ox]

Have St Mirren agreed to this as yesterday they knew nothing about it? So wouldn't it be an illegal approach?

 

[TractorBoys]

Have St Mirren agreed to this as yesterday they knew nothing about it? So wouldn't it be an illegal approach?

They dismissed claims that they had given permission early afternoon, but then confirmed a few hours later that Sunderland had now been in touch requesting permission.

 

[Marked Ox]

They dismissed claims that they had given permission early afternoon, but then confirmed a few hours later that Sunderland had now been in touch requesting permission.

Cheers.

It seems to me Sunderland went about it entirely in the wrong way initially and have got lucky St Mirren have been reasonable. Unless they've offered a generous compensation deal so that St Mirren are reasonable.

 

[3Loggerheads]

2 year deal with option for a third, worth £350,000.

Well done Marcus Evans, sure fire way to lose your top target by dragging out the hiring process over a month.

Now looks like we'll try and secure the services of Hurst from Shrewsbury.

While you get your hopes up about Paul Hurst, there will be compensation to pay whoever he goes to as he recently agreed a 12 month extension on his rolling contract and his salary doubled.

I think if Derby County show interest they would be more preferable than Ipswich.

The other thing is that he will not uproot his family from Sheffield and it is a 4 hour drive from Sheffield to Ipswich.

Shrewsbury fans accept he will move on, but don't be certain Ipswich will be a shoe in.

 

[Tom_ITFC]

While you get your hopes up about Paul Hurst, there will be compensation to pay whoever he goes to as he recently agreed a 12 month extension on his rolling contract and his salary doubled.

I think if Derby County show interest they would be more preferable than Ipswich.

The other thing is that he will not uproot his family from Sheffield and it is a 4 hour drive from Sheffield to Ipswich.

Shrewsbury fans accept he will move on, but don't be certain Ipswich will be a shoe in.

I agree with the majority of that but as a rolling contract, he must have a clause in it that says when and for how much he can move on? It’s reported we agreed 300k for Ross

 

[3Loggerheads]

Hurst new contract will be around that now. The Shrewsbury chairman isn’t stupid and will expect a very decent compensation. I see Barnsley are also in the frame now

 

[LondonOrn]

Didn't know Chris Coleman had been sacked by Sunderland and that was four weeks ago! Doesn't surprise me in fairness as while there are a lot of problems with that squad, they had too many good players in it to go down, never mind finish bottom with 37 points, and outside his Wales stint he's a proven poor club manager and I don't know why he keeps getting jobs there, or why they didn't hang onto Simon Grayson for that matter, can't have done any worse a job.

Still it sums up what a mess that club is in - their manager turnover is as bad as Swansea's though it may be more that the job is a poisoned chalice rather than the club not giving their managers enough time. Despite Bolton and Wigan bouncing back quite easily, and Rotherham being in the play-off final tomorrow, I can't see Sunderland being clearly in the promotion frame, I reckon it'll be play-offs at best for them.

 

[SoutheySWFC]

Didn't know Chris Coleman had been sacked by Sunderland and that was four weeks ago! Doesn't surprise me in fairness as while there are a lot of problems with that squad, they had too many good players in it to go down, never mind finish bottom with 37 points, and outside his Wales stint he's a proven poor club manager and I don't know why he keeps getting jobs there, or why they didn't hang onto Simon Grayson for that matter, can't have done any worse a job.

Still it sums up what a mess that club is in - their manager turnover is as bad as Swansea's though it may be more that the job is a poisoned chalice rather than the club not giving their managers enough time. Despite Bolton and Wigan bouncing back quite easily, and Rotherham being in the play-off final tomorrow, I can't see Sunderland being clearly in the promotion frame, I reckon it'll be play-offs at best for them.

With their budget they will piss it.

They are a huge club and can cherry pick, no offence to any club in the division but if a Sunderland, Leeds, Wolves etc come calling down here you go

 

[TractorBoys]

While you get your hopes up about Paul Hurst, there will be compensation to pay whoever he goes to as he recently agreed a 12 month extension on his rolling contract and his salary doubled.

I think if Derby County show interest they would be more preferable than Ipswich.

The other thing is that he will not uproot his family from Sheffield and it is a 4 hour drive from Sheffield to Ipswich.

Shrewsbury fans accept he will move on, but don't be certain Ipswich will be a shoe in.

He's never going to Derby.

Today has pretty much nailed on his appointment- there's no way he's still with you next season, needs to be at a higher level.

"Town will hold formal talks with Hurst and Shrewsbury in the week ahead having kept their distance during the Shropshire side’s play-off endeavours.

However, it’s long been understood that they have been given a strong indication that negotiations will progress positively and barring a late hitch Hurst looks set to be named Town manager later this week.

Those talks with Blues owner Marcus Evans seem unlikely to take place face to face with Hurst, who is understood to be on a rolling contract with the Shrews, flying to Dubai for a delayed family holiday on Monday."

 

[Marked Ox]

According to Sky Sports, Frank Lampard is talking to Derby.

 

[TractorBoys]

Indeed, Lampard has also confirmed talks/his interest.

 

[bantamigo]

Ipswich must be the most depressing club to lose your manager to.

 

[TractorBoys]

Hey! Not everyone is lucky enough to be associated with the greats like Bradford City.

 

[bantamigo]

Not trying to be offensive, just one of those clubs that is bigger than most lower league clubs (including us) but never seems to have any sort of success.

 

[TractorBoys]

Championship stability is what happens when you have an owner worth £850million but only plugs a £5mil gap each season to keep us afloat with next to nothing spent on transfers.

Grateful for what he's done for us, but he hasn't reached acceptable investment levels now for 6 seasons according to most fans. He's hinted at change next season, and hopefully Hurst plays a big part in that.

 

[Tom_ITFC]

Not trying to be offensive, just one of those clubs that is bigger than most lower league clubs (including us) but never seems to have any sort of success.

I saw a table of average positions in English football over the last half century and admittedly not had much success in the last decade, we’re still sat 13th in the country.

We’ve still got one of the longest unbeaten home records in European competition (31), possibly the longest current run and I can’t see that ending anytime soon

 

[bantamigo]

Championship stability is what happens when you have an owner worth £850million but only plugs a £5mil gap each season to keep us afloat with next to nothing spent on transfers.

Grateful for what he's done for us, but he hasn't reached acceptable investment levels now for 6 seasons according to most fans. He's hinted at change next season, and hopefully Hurst plays a big part in that.

Well it all depends doesn’t it. Personally I would be ecstatic if our owner put 5mill into the club every year. But then again we would easily get promotion from this league if that happened.

 

[TractorBoys]

That's just it. The top 3 English leagues really are different animals when compared to one another.

 

[bantamigo]

Just shows the gulf in leagues now, all three relegated teams going straight back up, would also put Barnsley and Sunderland as favourites for autos again next season.

 

[LondonOrn]

That's just it. The top 3 English leagues really are different animals when compared to one another.

Is the Championship pretty much going the same way as the Premiership money-wise (albeit obviously on a smaller scale)? You'd think that with all the money floating around up there and transfer records being broken every window the gap between it and the Championship would get even bigger, but all three promoted teams managed to stay up with something to spare (including Huddersfield, who almost no one gave a prayer from the moment they were in the promotion frame, and ended up going up with a negative goal difference).

 

[TractorBoys]

It hasn't been unusual for teams, especially the relegated Prem sides, to spend £25m+ in a season on transfers in the Championship, sometimes £10m+ on a single player.

We simply don't live by the same rules as other clubs and won't overstretch ourselves despite having a rich owner. The likes of Huddersfield, and to a lesser extent the likes of Preston, Milwall and us a few seasons ago suggest it can still be done on much smaller budgets, though.

 

[#Beebot]

Looks like this Ross chap has done a reasonable job at St Mirren but how come Champ/upper L1 teams are so interested? The Scottish second tier is NL standard.

 

[St. Juste]

Looks like this Ross chap has done a reasonable job at St Mirren but how come Champ/upper L1 teams are so interested? The Scottish second tier is NL standard.

And what possibly is your evidence for this?

Last year, with Ross as manager, we were bottom of the league and it was, quite literally, the worst St. Mirren team of all time in terms of league position.

We played the runaway rampant Welsh champions, by their own reckoning a League 1 standard team seeking a Europa League Group stage place.

We beat them 4-1.

 

[Bobbin']

That is some achievement, how did this guy slip under Arsenal’s radar?

 

[St. Juste]

That is some achievement, how did this guy slip under Arsenal’s radar?

We were terrible last season, so I don't imagine that particular game factored in a great deal.

The reason Ross is getting so much attention is that he took a (biggish club) from bottom in the league one season, a fairly miraculous escape, and then winning the league at a canter the next year.

During this, he played impressive football and bloodied young players, revitalising others whilst having the 4th biggest budget in a ten team league.

Crucially, unlike most football managers, he is degree educated, intelligent and articulate. Plus, in all this he's still quite young and has been a success in his only two jobs in management.

I'm glad he's got his chance and hope he does well. Sunderland is a great opportunity for him.

 

[ThisTinpotLeague]

And what possibly is your evidence for this?

Seems entirely fair. Players like Kane Hemmings are optimistically L2 standard and they're fine in the Scottish Prem. Other stand outs like Marvin Johnson are good in l1 but still can't make the step up.

I imagine we all have a lot more money.

 

[St. Juste]

Seems entirely fair. Players like Kane Hemmings are optimistically L2 standard and they're fine in the Scottish Prem. Other stand outs like Marvin Johnson are good in l1 but still can't make the step up.

I imagine we all have a lot more money.

Except X player does well in Y league is wildly open to interpretation - see Daryl Murphy romping the Championship and being a miserable failure in the SPFL.

Charlie Adam, English POTY nominee, was hounded out of Rangers.

Or Robert Snodgrass muttering around the lower leagues and being sent to Stirling Albion on loan before starring in the Championship. Or Stephen Dobbie failing at Hibs then carving out a good career in England.

Even when St. Mirren were in the Championship we signed players from League 1 (Gary MacKenzie) and the captain of a League 2 team (Harry Davis). We sold players to the Championship (Stephen Mallan, Kyle McAllister).

Our average attendances would place us in League 1.

As for the money, yes, maybe, the English league is awash with money. Doesn't necessarily mean better football though. Players like Trevor Carson turned down more money in England to play in the SPFL - higher profile meant he was more likely to be recognised internationally (and he was).

Whatever anyone thinks of Celtic, they are a Champions League groups stage team and their attendances (and that of Rangers) outstrip anything to be found below the Premiership in England. Some players like playing in big games, against much better players, rather than clogging through a game at Walsall for a few hundred pounds a week extra.

Where would St. Mirren place? Probably around League 2, certainly far better than any Northern Irish team. The SPFL top division will be around League 1 standard for some, and Championship for others. It's an endless debate notable for how keen English fans are for putting Scottish football down - maybe we are all national north, right? Look at the facts, look at the attendances, look at the players, looks at the results. We are clearly far better than any part time Northern Irish team.

 

[bantamigo]

Hardly any English people care about Scottish football. We get constant updates on Ross County against East Fife and the like from most of the English based media who probably make the vast majority of money from English people, yet the coverage of the lower leagues in this country is pathetic.

You’ve made the point yourself that apart from a couple of teams at the top of the Scottish Premier the standard is not demonstrably better and the crowds aren’t bigger, so you can see why people get pissed off.