Rangers’ Ross joining Southampton as Individual Development Coach-Analyst

At Southampton he will report into Nick Davies, the Head of Group Talent Development for Sport Republic, who own Valenciennes in France and Göztepe in Turkey as well as Saints.

Davies joined Sport Republic in October last year from Crystal Palace (where he was Head of Academy Analysis) and works with the Academy Directors at the three clubs to oversee the best young talents and ensure they have high-quality and consistent talent development programmes.

The Individual Development Coach-Analyst role was advertised last October/ November and will involve the “delivery and review” of the “talent development methodology” across the Sport Republic group.

Ross’s role will involve on-pitch coaching, analysis and mentoring, while ensuring players have  “robust Individual Development Plans” with “clearly-defined and agreed KPIs and actions”.  He will work with Talent+, loan and U16 to U21 players.

The Talent+ group refers to high-potential young players (primarily 16-21) who have been identified for accelerated, individualised development.

Following Southampton’s extra-time FA Cup win against Leicester City on Saturday, Andy Goldie, Sport Republic’s Director of Group Talent Strategy, wrote on LinkedIn, “Another hugely rewarding day for everyone connected with the Academy at Southampton Football Club.

“The commitment, expertise and care shown across the pathway continues to create meaningful opportunities — and, most importantly, players capable of performing and impacting our First Team.”

He praised a fourth Academy debut of the season (Sufianu Sillah Dibaga),  Academy Graduate Man of the Match (Cameron Bragg) and the five graduates who played (Bragg, Joe O’Brien-Whitmarsh, Nicholas Oyekunle, Barnaby Williams and Dibaga).

Southampton placed ninth in TGG’s Academy Productivity Rankings for 2024/25.