Hibs heat turned up on Jack Ross as hurting fans hit out - but is it justified?

In a land of black and white, the grey areas, where more reasoned minds prefer to pitch their tent, are shrinking.

Jack Ross is a smart guy, he recognises that as well as anyone. He also loves football and the passions that drive the game so he knows what to expect when his Hibs team head into a match with Hearts and emerge with nothing more than what might have been.

But even he would, surely, be surprised to learn that there have been calls for his head on the back of the Scottish Cup semi-final defeat at the hands of capital neighbours Hearts.

Extra time was hardly over when some were questioning his ability to get the best out of teams in the big games.

The vital statistics need context

In 11 games against Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen and, of course, Hearts, he has led Hibs to two wins, one draw and eight defeats. Studying that microcosm, the returns look bleak, but context and perspective are vital.

With a budget that dwarves the majority of their Premiership opponents, Celtic lose very few games. To anyone. Which is why they have won nine league titles in a row, and are hoping to wrap up a quadruple treble when they meet Robbie Neilson’s Gorgie side in the final of the 2020 Scottish Cup.

Unlike his recent predecessors, who met a weakened Rangers Ross is also facing an Ibrox side that is again ready and able to challenge Celtic and while there have been two defeats, they have proved themselves more capable than most, becoming the first SPFL side to score against them and one of only two teams to deny Steven Gerrard’s team victory this term. While such an outcome does not make it into the win column, only the most bitter or twisted among the Hibs support could count that as failure.

But there are some who want to take certain statistics in isolation, angry that he lost a semi final to their main rivals, by the narrowest of margins, and it cut deep.

Last season the heads-to-heads were split one apiece. Back then, the priority was to recover the club’s standing after a disappointing start to the season under Paul Heckingbottom.

Brought in because he had done that so well at St Mirren in the past, and then gone on to do the same at Sunderland, he was in the process of doing it again when everyone was forced into lockdown and the season was curtailed.

In the summer he made shrewd acquisitions and, having sorted the wheat from the chaff, the man who is recognised as one of the best young coaches in the country has polished up the performances of those he inherited.

It lead to a positive return as the season got under way. There had been only two defeats in 15 matches before the loss at Hampden stirred up the belief that somehow they should be doing better.

Which is why, on Friday, there will have to be a strong reaction against Aberdeen.

Granite City challenge

Derek McInnes’ men are part of that ‘big teams’ benchmark Ross’ critics are measuring him against.

Since he joined Hibs almost one year ago, the clubs have met three times. The Pittodrie side have triumphed in two, Ross’ men celebrated the win in the other. It can be noted that Neil Lennon, whose time at the club was considered a success and who earned the club promotion before guiding them into Europe, won one of eight meetings against Aberdeen.

The rumblings on forums will not undermine Ross in the minds of the Easter Road board, not when the criticism remains churlish. The fact is no Hibs manager in recent history has come in and dominated Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen and Hearts.

Ross knows the landscape

But, football fan in Ross would probably be one of the first to acknowledge that not all three points are valued the same way.

While he tries to maintain his equilibrium, refusing to get too carried away with success and defying the demons that feed on doubts when things go wrong, he knows the game well enough to know perceptions count and the bigger the scalp, the more intense the rivalry, the more the victories sparkle.

In that sense the next two league games give Ross and his Hibs squad the perfect platform to bounce back from their frustrating cup exit and reignite the feelgood factor.

A point ahead of Aberdeen, a win over them at Pittodrie on Friday evening would plump up the cushion between them and their nearest rival for third. It would also ensure that even if they win their game in hand, they could not catch the Leith pacesetters.

It would also bolster belief, inside the dressing room, possibly even on forums, ahead of the visit from Lennon’s Celtic in the wake of the international break.

In his time at the Easter Road helm, Lennon faced his current club seven times. He won twice, meaning that a Hibs victory over them this time would see Ross’s record stack up favourably.

A manager with a pretty pragmatic approach, Ross will be more concerned with the six points on offer in these games, and the lift it could give his players and the fans, than he is about trying to polish his own reputation. He wants to win because he knows that it is a results-driven industry but when many teams trail behind Hibs because they have lost several games to the top teams as well as lower ranked opposition, he won’t lose too much sleep if his defeats remain few and far between, regardless who dishes them out and regardless the knee-jerk reactions online.