Former Hibernian manager Jack Ross admits watching the Easter Road side lose in the Premier Sports Cup final to Celtic was one of the hardest days of his career after being sacked days before the trip to Hampden.
Ross was axed by Hibs owner Ron Gordon in the days leading up to the final after woeful form in the league saw the Cabbage slide down the table.
Hibs were led at Hampden by first-team coach David Gray, before Shaun Maloney was confirmed as Ross’ replacement, and Ross explained that he was in close contact with the Easter Road legend as he prepared the side to face Celtic at the national stadium.
“To lose my job in the build-up to a cup final, I found that extremely hard to take, to be perfectly honest,” Ross said [Scottish Sun]
“I’m not ashamed to say that the day itself, when the boys were playing against Celtic at Hampden, was one of the toughest days I’ve ever had in my career.
“I actually spent a lot of that week talking to Davie and giving him as much help and advice as I possibly could, which is quite peculiar, when you think about it.
“Davie has talked about that himself, so that’s not betraying any confidence.
“I did not want to stand on his toes, but he wanted my help and I was never going to say no.
“I also sent a text to Paul Hanlon on the morning of the game with a message to put on the players’ group chat.
“In the lead up to the semi-final, before we left to go to Hampden to face Rangers, we talked about how opportunities like that didn’t come around every day.
“We spoke about making people proud and the players certainly did that. They were brilliant.”
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