JACK ROSS has been here before. Welcome back to the North-East.

When he was in region previously during a year-long spell with Hartlepool United, he ended up absent from Victoria Park without leave and vowed never to return to Pools: “Even if they are in the Champions League''.

Well Sunderland aren’t in the Champions League, far from it. They are at their lowest ebb, successive relegations mean they start in League One come August with their new manager Ross at the helm.

Ross appeared 24 times in League One for Pools in 2004. He arrived from Clyde, signed by Neale Cooper. When he returned to Scotland and signed for Falkirk, he was managed by John Hughes, another ex-Victoria Park chief.

This division may not be completely alien to the Scot, who gave a performance at the Academy of Light yesterday as polished as any of his tidy appearances at right-back for Pools.

Ross adapted well to English football when he joined Pools, now he has more, much more, to get to know about his new surroundings. There’s a history, a pride, a standing about the club. He’s the manager; he can’t be homesick this time.

“It’s about knowing the squad and familiarising myself with as much of the club as possible, but you don’t do that until you are in place,’’ he said. “The only problem I have today is names which is challenging and I need to find out as much as I can about things, so I’m looking forward to learning so much about it in the next few weeks.’’

The demands at St Mirren and Alloa may not be akin to those at the Stadium of Light, a graveyard for managers over the last decade.

Ross is the Black Cats 12th manager in ten years. Only his former club Pools go close, and they trail by two.

“I would not shy away from saying I have never managed or coached in England, but I can say is that I have to immerse myself into League One,’’ he said. “The challenge is to get out of League One and to learn as much as I can quickly. Then I have to understand as quickly as I can. I have always found it exciting.’’

Ross was always a thinker as a player, one who took an interest in the game. Willing to listen and learn, it’s served him well in his managerial career.

"I have to learn in a quick period of time,’’ he admitted. "In the last couple of years I have immersed myself in the Scottish Championship.

"I haven't seen that many of the Scottish Premiership games, not because there was no need, but because I needed to have as much understanding about the opposition [we were facing] and understanding of how I build a squad to win that league.

"I have to learn that as quickly as I can. If you back yourself, you can do it. There is a huge amount of information out there.

"That is an exciting part of the job, to do it as quickly as you can."

From a young captain at Clyde, to a caretaker boss at Dumbarton, coach at Hearts and manager of the year in Scotland last season, Ross has had plenty of football experiences in his 41 years.

“I have been an assistant and U20s at Hearts, that allowed me to develop my approach to management,’’ he reflected. “A manager has to put a group in place and I have always viewed my job as making players better. I have not gone away from that. If you can make players better then there’s good chance of being successful. I just want to do the job as best as my ability.’’

His time at Pools ended acrimoniously, in dispute with club, manager and chairman: “I really enjoyed the football, I played 30 games, we got to the Championship play-off final and I honestly did well on the park. But I made mistakes. I learned a lot from it, don’t get me wrong.”

He’s heard this week from a few of his Victoria Park compatriots and tapping into their North-East knowledge, while catching up with old colleagues in the process, is important.

Ross said: “I was here with Hartlepool in the North-East before and there’s people I can get in touch with. I’m familiar with part of it to a degree and I’ve had a text off Micky Barron which was nice.

“He is someone well-versed in football in the North-East and he is going to pop up for a coffee and that can be of benefit for me.

“As manager I need to judge for myself, but equally it’s nice to take counsel from people who are involved in the club and know what it takes to be successful here.

“And it’s nice to be hearing from and be in contact with people I’ve not heard from for a while, like Micky and Tommy Miller [senior] too.’’