Hibs lacked resolve admits Jack Ross as he brands BBC journalist 'disrespectful'

Hibs head coach Jack Ross admitted his side lacked resolve and the strength of character in their 3-0 Hampden humbling at the hands of St Johnstone.

Jack Ross ws clearly irked at the line of questioning from BBC reporter Kenny MacIntyre

The Easter Road boss declared himself “angry, rather than frustrated” as he lashed out at his players' failure to adequately respond to going two goals down early in the second half.

Ross said: “We have given up the opportunity to get to a final far too meekly.

“Things won't always go your way so when you dominate the first half and find yourself behind, it's important that you retain discipline and character and we didn't do that.

“Our reaction to going further behind wasn't good enough. We have no complaints about the end result but we have to be better in the face of adversity.

“We've defended set-pieces very well all season; statistically we're one of the better teams at dealing with them.

"This evening we didn't and that gave St Johnstone a foothold in the game and made the half-time scoreline not a fair refection of the game.

"We had to make sure that we didn't give up similar opportunities and we did exactly that early in the second half.”

Ross also criticised his players for "falling short" on guts, heart, and drive in the final half-hour of the game.

'Disrespectful’

The Hibs boss also took BBC journalist Kenny MacIntyre to task on-air over what he branded "disrespectful" questioning, just days after the reporter was embroiled in a similar incident with Celtic boss Neil Lennon.

Pressed by MacIntyre on what had gone wrong for the men in green and white Ross retorted: “You’ve just asked me questions about the first half and how we did well.

"I heard your interview during the week and I think sometimes you’re a bit disrespectful to managers.

"I’ve explained the first-half performance and I’ve explained the second-half performance, in terms of it being about heart, character and guts, and how you do things in the face of adversity so that would suggest that if I understood a lot about football, then there’s not really a tactical element that comes into that.

“I’ve answered your questions fully and respectfully and I think it would be good if that was a two-way street."

MacIntyre responded by insisting that he did respect Ross and was merely asking for Hibs fans what had gone wrong in the second half.

‘I think your line of questioning is tiresome’

A clearly incensed Ross hit back: “Wait a minute, have I not explained that several times already? Are you asking questions and not listening to the answers?

"I've already explained it to you: we played well first half, the second half we didn’t react well in any way.

“If you ask me the same question, you’re going to get the same answer, which would suggest this interview could go on for a while and get very boring for everybody.

"I’ve explained it and I’m accepting my responsibility because I’m the manager.

"I think your line of questioning is becoming a bit tiresome, and it's about time you start to show greater respect; not just to me but for other managers in this job.”

As MacIntyre suggested Ross' response was unfair, Ross interjected: “You think that's unfair Kenny; sometimes I think how you speak to managers is unfair, so let's leave it at that.”

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