Ex-Sunderland boss Jack Ross lands new job at Newcastle United | OneFootball

The 48-year-old took charge of the Black Cats between 2018 and 2019.

Former Sunderland AFC manager Jack Ross has announced that he is taking up a new role at Newcastle United.

That's according to his LinkedIn page, where the 48-year-old has posted that he will take up the position of Head of Strategic Technical Football Partnerships.

Ross was sacked by the Black Cats in October 2019 following a 2-0 defeat to Lincoln City that dropped the team to sixth in the third tier after 11 games.

He had previously taken the club to the final of the EFL Trophy, where they were beaten by Portsmouth on penalties, before Sunderland were the losing finalists in the 2018/19 League One Play-Offs, as Charlton Athletic booked their place in the Championship for the following campaign.

He took on two more managerial roles following his departure from the Stadium of Light, both of them back in his native Scotland. However, despite two successful seasons at Hibernian, where he finished third in his second year in the job, a dismal performance in his third and final campaign saw him sacked in December 2021.

He went on to manage Dundee United, but lasted just seven games before he was relieved of his duties after a 9-0 defeat to Celtic.

Ross' new position is not his first at Newcastle

While his links to Sunderland are evident, Ross is not new to St. James' Park, having spent the last year-and-a-half with the club.

He originally made the switch to Newcastle in April 2023, taking over on an interim basis as the Head of Coach Development, before his position was made permanent two months later.

He operated in that role for over a year, later making the switch to become the Head of Strategic Technical Football Partnerships in September, announcing this new career move on his personal LinkedIn on Thursday.

It's a job that not many perhaps expected Ross to hold considering the numerous managerial positions he has held in recent years, but offers him something away from the pitch, and more in the boardroom.

Ross' time at Sunderland was a mixed-bag

Many Black Cats supporters will be surprised to see him involved with their bitter rivals, Newcastle, after spending so long on Wearside, almost taking them back to the Championship.

His sacking while they were still in the play-off spots can also be seen as quite harsh, especially as Sunderland had lost just one other time in their first 11 matches of the 2019/20 League One campaign. But it was something that turned out to pay off as they won promotion back to the second tier in 2021/22.

Nevertheless, he was able to take the club to Wembley twice in one season, and while they were defeated in both of those finals, it looked as though he was starting to put together another promotion challenge.

In the years since his departure, Sunderland have massively improved, and are currently top of the Championship under the guidance of Regis Le Bris. If they continue to perform at the levels that they have done, Jack may have a reunion with his former employers quite soon, even if his say on the pitch is null.