Are Ross County about to bring through a golden generation?
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The future appears to be bright for Ross County Football Club.
Over the last year, several young players have been able to make their mark – whether in Dingwall or further afield – fuelling hope that a golden generation could be on the verge of a breakthrough with the Staggies.
There is still a long way to go for that to become a reality, but the early signs are there.
Dylan Smith established himself in the first team squad last season at just 16 years old, while Jamie Williamson made his senior debut at the same age during the second leg of the play-off final.
Further down the tiers in the Highland League, a handful of young Staggies impressed while out on loan.
Connall Ewan was named Forres’ players’ player of the year, while Ryan MacLeman was also a regular at Mosset Park. Logan Ross and Andrew MacLeod ended the campaign at Brora Rangers, having previously spent short spells at Lossiemouth and Clachnacuddin respectively.
For most of them, then, the challenge this summer will be to convince first team manager Malky Mackay that they are ready to play a part like Smith has done.
“All these guys have done brilliantly in terms of their development,” County’s head of professional academy, Gary Warren, said.
“Playing in the Highland League for some of these clubs and some of these teams is not easy, and it’s different to playing academy football.
“You’ve got to be a little bit more robust and develop that mental side of your game, and all of these boys have done really well and had good seasons in their own right.
“It’s difficult to say at the moment just how far they can go. They’ve had a great start, but when the limelight goes on you, that’s where you’ve got to work even harder and become even more grounded as an individual.
“There are still lots of people fighting for one or two spots, and they have to make sure they make their spots their own.
“It will be a lot of hard work until they’ve played 50 to 100 league games. There’s no reason they can’t do that, they just have to stay humble.
“At the academy we’ve got a lot of really good coaches that will keep these boys level-headed and keep pushing them in the hope that they make as many first team appearances for Ross County as possible.”
Warren suspects that having so many players coming through together will only help their bid to break into the first team, as they can drive each other on and support each other.
He will not be getting carried away at the idea of several players turning out together for Ross County’s senior side, though.
He does have high hopes for every one of the youngsters listed, but he also knows the realities of football will make it difficult for half of a starting 11 to break through together.
“The group we’ve got at the moment, the likes of Connall, Dylan, Ryan, Andrew, Logan and George (Robeston), I’m really excited to see where these boys end up,” he explained.
“I really want to see them all push next year. Dylan has had a taste of the limelight now, and Jamie has had a taste of it right at the end of the season – but we’ve got to remember these boys are still young and learning the game.
“Our jobs as coaches is to try and promote as many of these boys as possible, and get them into the first team environment. Then they will be passed on, and hopefully successful.
“We don’t look too far in advance. We look at what we’ve got at the moment and say these are the boys we are looking to push on and give the best possible opportunities to. It’s then up to the rest of the boys in the academy to follow suit.
“We want everyone to be fighting to follow the same mould. We want there to be competition for places, and we want to make it a challenging environment while still keeping an element of enjoyment and fun.
“We don’t want it to be just one or two, although realistically that’s all that will get the opportunity to go and play in the first team. We want a whole group of boys to be coming through to be one of the most successful academies around.”
There are connections to the Ross County academy readily visible around the first team picture.
Assistant manager Don Cowie is perhaps the most famous homegrown talent to come through in Dingwall, while Josh Reid has just returned to the club after earning a move south to Coventry City.
With a handful of talents having the potential to follow in their footsteps, Warren is keen to ensure that the proverbial “production line” does not end there.
Even beyond the current group of young players looking to break into the first team, Warren made sure to credit the efforts of community coaches at the club for their day-to-day work with pre-academy age players – which will hopefully help in producing the next generation of talent.
“To be fair, we’ve got a good couple of groups coming through that are really pushing,” Warren added.
“When you get to under-18s level, unless you’re a stand-out team that runs away with the youth league and wins the Scottish Cup, it’s going to be tough to have a conveyor belt of six or seven.
“At the moment, we’ve got a couple of lads in each group that we think we can push and really kick on.
“Since I came up, I’ve noticed that the club itself is so community orientated.
“It does a lot of work, not just in the academy but in the community set-up.
“We’ve got coaches who work really hard in getting out to schools and seeing how other models work.
“That’s a lot of the behind the scenes stuff that people probably don’t see.
“There are a lot of good coaches that work really, really hard, so it’s important they get some recognition for the work they do behind the scenes too.
“There’s a really good community feel. We’re all pulling together in the same direction and look after each other, and I think that’s what rubs off on the rest of the groups.”
