'I own it' - Jack Ross responds to Hibs sacking calls after defeat at Livingston

Hibs manager Jack Ross came under pressure from disgruntled fans last night as his men turned in another sub-standard showing and succumbed to a seventh defeat in nine league games.
Hibs manager Jack Ross looks to the skies as his side crash to a 1-0 defeat at Livingston (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)Hibs manager Jack Ross looks to the skies as his side crash to a 1-0 defeat at Livingston (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)
Hibs manager Jack Ross looks to the skies as his side crash to a 1-0 defeat at Livingston (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

But he says he can have no complaints, accepting that the performance had been nowhere near good enough.

“It’s part of the job. I have done this for nearly 300 games now. By and large I have pretty positive times as a manager. You know you will get criticised and that criticism grows when you are not producing positive results. We’re not doing that right now.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

While there was the high of qualifying for the upcoming Premier Sports Cup final, the recent league form has seen them slip into the bottom six. Prompting calls for Ross to be sacked.

“There’s times where I would be more defensive if I felt the performance was good because everyone judges it on the end result. But tonight all the criticism I receive will be justified because I am in charge of that team.

“And as I said that level of performance was not good enough so the criticism should fall upon me.

“We were not good enough in all aspects of our play. We started the game well up to the concession of the goal. I know we have the immediate chance to equalise but our reaction to losing the goal for the rest of the game isn’t good enough in all aspects - energy, intensity, quality, discipline.

“That all falls on my shoulders. I own it, it’s my team and the team that was on the park for 60-70 minutes is nowhere near good enough to win games in the Premiership.”

Having taken the lead through Jack McMillan, Livingston were happy to see Martin Boyle’s penalty ballooned over the bar, adamant that it should never have been awarded.

Livi boss David Martindale said: “The one that was given wasn't a penalty. Boyle stood on Tom Parkes but there was another one they didn't get [on Josh Campbell] that probably was a penalty so it's probably evened itself out. I don't think the ref had any choice but to give the double yellows but the one on Shinnie [from Hanlon] was probably a straight red. The referee has said he's sorry if he got it wrong so I've got a problem with that.”

Get a year of unlimited access to all The Scotsman's sport coverage without the need for a full subscription. Expert analysis of the biggest games, exclusive interviews, live blogs, transfer news and 70 per cent fewer ads on Scotsman.com - all for less than £1 a week. Subscribe to us today

Comments

 0 comments

Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.