St Mirren 'will not repeat Sir Alex Ferguson mistake with Jack Ross', says Tony Fitzpatrick
- Published
Sir Alex Ferguson phoned St Mirren manager Jack Ross ahead of their title win
St Mirren made their worst-ever decision by allowing a young Sir Alex Ferguson to leave and will not make the same mistake with manager Jack Ross.
So says chief executive Tony Fitzpatrick, who played under Ferguson as they won promotion in 1976-77.
Ross' present side have secured the Championship title and Fitzpatrick is hoping he will be in charge next term.
"They made the biggest mistake of their lives, St Mirren Football Club, when they let Sir Alex go," he said.
"So we can't allow that to happen again until it's right for Jack and the club."
Ross, whose Alloa Athletic part-timers were sitting second top of League One, switched to St Mirren in October 2016 when they were at the foot of Scotland's second tier.
Fitzpatrick realises that, having ended the Paisley side's three-year absence from the top flight, the 41-year-old former Clyde, Falkirk and St Mirren full-back will again be linked with richer clubs after turning down both Dundee and Barnsley.
"It is important we keep this young man," he told BBC Scotland. "I am not worried at all.
"We see it as a positive. It means we are doing the right things at the club.
"It is the same as our young players. When you look at the last year, we have sold three young players as well for over £1m, which we didn't want to do.
Sir Alex Ferguson won his first silverware as a manager with St Mirren
"We want the interest from other clubs and Jack can handle that and we can handle it as a club.
"There will be a time, make no mistake about it, when Jack Ross will leave this club and it will be a sad day.
"But we're in the Premiership now, he loves it here, he loves the club and I think he will be keen on having a real go."
Fitzpatrick fondly recalls Ferguson, before St Mirren became the only club to ever sack him, laying the foundations of a side who qualified regularly for Europe.
And he is already targeting a repeat of the past three seasons - when Championship winners, Hearts, Rangers then Hibernian, secured a top-six finish in their first campaign back in the top flight.
"If we stay in the Premiership, it is fantastic and I know we'll do that, but really we've got to be more ambitious than that and Jack needs the support to be able to do that and we'll give him that," he promised.
"If you look at our history, St Mirren are a Premiership club.
"It wasn't too long ago when Motherwell were in the Champions League qualifiers - they finished second.
"So, without putting pressure on Jack at our club, we should be aiming for the top six, definitely.
"Just staying up is not good enough for St Mirren and St Mirren supporters. We demand to be in that top six and that's where we'll be heading."