Malky Mackay reveals hopes that Ross County's player of the year nominee Regan Charles-Cook can still improve at Dingwall club
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Ross County manager Malky Mackay says the Staggies' star man Regan Charles-Cook can still improve.
The Premiership's top scorer was confirmed as one of four nominees for the Premiership's player of the year earlier this week, having already been named in the PFA team of the season.
His 13 goals have helped County secure a top six finish in the Premiership for the first time in six years, also putting them in contention to qualify for European competition for the first time in the club's history.
As far as Mackay is concerned, though, there are still improvements that Charles-Cook can make to his game that can help him find the back of the net even more often.
“There is always room for improvement, and it’s something he gets from me every day," Mackay insisted.
“I think he can be better, I think he could have scored another four or five goals and been way ahead.
“I think there are times when he could have made the back post more. When the ball is coming from the other side, I have shown him that at times, and it could have led to three or four more tap-in goals. That’s the bit where I think there is more to come – I could see some more little runs in behind at times as well.
“Other times he has done a couple of wonderful things. Even last Sunday (against Celtic), late on down the left hand side, he had a great take on against Anthony Ralston.
“I’ve been delighted about his willingness to be open to listening to critique, but also applying it – that’s the difference. You can have things pointed out to you, but the proof is whether he shows that behavioural change on the pitch when he’s been told something.
“We talked regularly about the conversations with his dad, who is an avid football fan and watches every game on Ross County TV down on London. He has a debrief with him, and then I debrief the debrief to see what dad is saying.
“Invariably, his dad is a hard taskmaster on him. That’s good, as he’s had a good upbringing and he’s not just always been told the sun shines out of his backside. That makes a difference when he’s learning that way.”
Mackay had to wait a while after joining Ross County to get his first look at Charles-Cook, with the Grenada international away at the Gold Cup last summer.
When the ex-Gillingham winger returned to Dingwall, though, Mackay was impressed with the 25-year-old's character – and believes the easing of Covid restrictions have had a part to play in him blossoming this season.
“I never actually saw him when I first arrived, because he was away for the Gold Cup," Mackay recalled.
“My first thought was ‘thank god’ as we had about eight players! He came off the back of a reasonably quiet season. The person that was coming back wasn’t someone coming back and I was going ‘thank god, it’s fantastic we’ve got this lad back’.
“He had played sporadically, but I think you’ve got to take into consideration the whole Covid situation after he came in from Gillingham. People were just turning up in a car to train, and then getting back in the car to leave.
“One of the great things about this year is we have organised the food a bit better for lunch time, we have table tennis, and when they are up there they are sitting and chatting.
“They are actually bonding as a group, and last year’s group missed that. I don’t think it would have been easy for anybody to settle last year. You’ve got to do it on the pitch though, and maybe that was part of the reason.
“He came back a wee bit later because of the Gold Cup, and he was playing catch-up for a few weeks in pre-season, but what I saw immediately was an honesty about him, which I loved.
“He needed me to tell him where I needed more from him, and what I expected from somebody in that position.
“I also saw somebody that was looking me in the eye when I was talking to him. When he was talking back to me, the things he was saying back to me made sense.
“When we were having a conversation, it wasn’t the case that he didn’t know what I was talking about. He grasped it immediately, and he was asking questions concerning what I had just spoken to him about.
“There was an intelligence and a work ethic I liked. There was definitely talent there, so I wanted to pull it all together and actually make something of that, but it takes him to walk across the line to do that."
