Very amusing Sunderland reaction to announcement of Newcastle United Head of Strategy | OneFootball

Monday brought news(see below) that Newcastle United had appointed a Head of Football Strategy, former Sunderland manager Jack Ross.

The official Newcastle United announcement (see below) stating that; ‘In addition to overseeing the club’s player loan and emerging talent strategy, Jack will also lead on building strategic relationships with other clubs, introducing new football development and talent pathway opportunities in the UK and overseas.’

The club also stating that; ‘The establishment of this model is aimed at enabling talent depth and retention, as well as supporting the development of Newcastle United’s global brand and IP.’

Amongst the reactions to this, some from Sunderland fans stand out.

No idea whether this reflects the view of Sunderland fans in general, but the general message from the comments I have seen, is along the lines of that it is hilarious that Newcastle United now have a Head of Football Strategy who back in the day was a supposedly useless Sunderland manager.

I did of course know that Jack Ross had managed Sunderland but I checked out exactly how he had done with them.

After other managers had overseen consecutive relegations that had taken the Mackems from the Premier League to League One, Jack Ross was appointed in May 2018. Ross had just got St Mirren promoted to the top tier and won the PFA Scotland Manager of the year.

In his first (2018/19) season he got Sunderland to fifth place in League One and only missed out on promotion back to the Championship when losing to Charlton in the play-off final at Wembley. As the Mackems went into a cycle of appointing and sacking managers on a regular basis, Jack Ross was then sacked on 8 October 2019 when Sunderland were sixth in the table.

Ross went on to manage Hibs, got them to a cup final and they also finished third during his time in charge, their highest league position for 16 years. A shorter less successful period with Dundee United followed, before Jack Ross then found himself arriving as interim head of coach development in March 2023.

I think fair to say that Jack Ross had an overall decent managerial career and was hardly a disaster for Sunderland, certainly not by their standards! However, having left Dundee United aged 46 and seemingly not having tried to get managerial post, maybe this wasn’t where his main long-term interest was. Possibly not totally in love with the specific role of manager.

Does the fact that Jack Ross wasn’t a spectacular success as a manager, rule him out of being capable in a different role in football? Well, very few of the most successful football managers also had very successful careers as players.

This is even more the case when it comes to those who work more behind the scenes at major football clubs, whether that is as Sporting Directors, or even Heads of Football Strategy…

Many of the Sunderland fans commenting, didn’t even seem to know that Jack Ross had already been working at Newcastle United for more than two years, before yesterday’s announcement. During that time I have seen plenty of mentions by some of the more credible journalists that cover Newcastle United, along the lines of how highly thought of Jack Ross is, that he is indeed seen as a potential Sporting Director of the future, whether at Newcastle United or elsewhere.

When you scratch the surface of his past, you find that Jack Ross was chairman of the PFA Scotland players’ union.

That he also worked with the worldwide FIFPro union.

Whilst Jack Ross holds a master’s degree in economics from Heriot-Watt University.

I think fair to say, not the background of your average player, or manager.

Who knows whether or not Jack Ross is destined for greatness in football, on the business side of things. What I do know, is that narrowly failing to get a wrecked Sunderland instant promotion by the faintest of margins, doesn’t mean he is a ridiculous choice of Head of Football Strategy at Newcastle United.

What I do find amusing…

I am actually surprised that Jack Ross hasn’t got a special place in the hearts of these Sunderland fans who are so keen to do him down.

After all, he is the only Sunderland manager in the past decade that has won a derby match against Newcastle United.

Due to his predecessors taking the mackems down to the third tier, Jack Ross was the Sunderland manager finding himself with the embarrassing task of having a derby match, whereby the Sunderland first team had to play the Newcastle United kids in an official Sunderland first team match.

The Checkatrade (EFL Trophy) draw saw the Sunderland first team picked out of the hat to play the Newcastle Unitedd Under 21s in January 2019.

It was the draw that no Mackem wanted and Sunderland were quick to break the competition’s rules, giving Newcastle fans only 2,800 tickets rather than the minimum 4,900 they should have been entitled to as the away side.

Jack Ross actually handled the situation very well.

Meeting the media ahead of the match for his Checkatrade press conference, the Sunderland boss said that he had ‘dreams’ of one day being in the same division as Newcastle United.

Ross though admitting that Tuesday night’s match is ‘far from ideal’ for Sunderland. Whilst accepting that it was a derby match, he said it wasn’t ‘the derby…that everybody [Sumderland fans] would want it to be.’

IMAGO/NurPhoto

Jack Ross ahead of the Sunderland first team facing he Newcastle United kids in January 2019:

“It (Sunderland’s first team playing Newcastle Under 21s) s a very unusual set of circumstances. If I’m honest, it’s far from ideal.

“I mean because we are involved in this competition as a first team, due to what has happened (consecutive relegations bottom of the table) in the last couple of years.

“One of the ambitions, goals or targets for me coming here as manager, is to lead this club into a derby match (against Newcastle’s first team), hopefully at the top level. This is not what tomorrow night is.

“It is a Checkatrade trophy match and that’s really how we’re looking at it. Our preparations have been the same, our approach to the game will be the same, as it has been when it was Stoke Under 21s or whether it was Morecambe, Carlisle or Notts County, or whoever it was.

“It (not having derbies in the league) is a disappointment for us because that’s a consequence of us having suffered relegations. Newcastle have retained their place in the top league in that period and so, that’s when the disappointment or soreness of that becomes more acute, when a fixture like this comes around.

“The drive for me is to take the club back to playing in these fixtures. I mean that in the most respectful manner because this isn’t the derby or a derby that is seen as the one that everybody would want it to be.

“It just gives us the extra motivation to make sure that, hopefully in future, I get the chance to manage a Sunderland team in this derby and it’s done on a league footing and we both find ourselves, ideally in the top league.”

Sunderland won that ‘derby’ match 4-0 against the United kids BUT it was a hilarious victory for Newcastle United fans, seeing the humiliation of the mackems, sinking so slow, that they were in a competition where their first team were on equal footing to the NUFC under 21s.

Jack Ross never got to manage Sunderland in a ‘proper’ derby against Newcastle United but the coming season he will perhaps have extra special reason to be cheering on the Champions League competing NUFC, as they look to send the Mackems straight back down to where they belong, in the second tier or beyond.

Newcastle United official announcement – 14 July 2025:

‘Newcastle United have appointed Jack Ross as the club’s Head of Football Strategy.

Reporting into a new Sporting Director, Jack will take on an important leadership role that will help to develop a consistent sporting philosophy across the club.

He will work within the Football Directorate alongside senior leadership across all sites, supporting communication, collaboration and the implementation of best practice across men’s, women’s and Academy football.

Having previously overseen almost 300 professional matches as a manager, Jack initially joined Newcastle United’s Academy’s as Head of Coach Development in March 2023 before moving to the position of Head of Strategic Technical Football Partnerships. He has continued to provide mentorship and strategic support to key staff.

In addition to overseeing the club’s player loan and emerging talent strategy, Jack will also lead on building strategic relationships with other clubs, introducing new football development and talent pathway opportunities in the UK and overseas.

The establishment of this model is aimed at enabling talent depth and retention, as well as supporting the development of Newcastle United’s global brand and IP.

Jack said: “I am delighted to move to the role of Head of Football Strategy.

“This is an exciting opportunity to help the club build on the outstanding progress and successes it has achieved on and off the pitch in recent seasons.