Strength of culture within Ross County squad can help manager Malky Mackay bring new signings to Dingwall ahead of 2022/23 Scottish Premiership campaign
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Malky Mackay believes Ross County’s culture has grown massively over the last 12 months – and that should only bode well when it comes to recruitment.
The scale of turnover in Dingwall since Mackay was appointed Staggies manager has been well-documented, but what that did was give him a chance to mould a squad in his own image.
Now, the 50-year-old is confident that there is a strong team ethos at County where newcomers are welcomed into the fold on and off the pitch, and good habits are practiced on a regular basis.
“When you’ve got players and staff and directors and fans all going in one direction, you need people to buy into each other at that point and be selfless as opposed to selfish,” Mackay stressed.
“It’s easy to spot selfishness within a group of players. I’ve been doing this a long time.
“When I come in from day one I can see that, and that’s where things can start to grow and the culture can start to grow and something good happens.
“It’s about good habits, being selfless and working for each other instead of just yourself. Excellence is doing little things consistently well, but it’s about consistency – you have to keep behaving that way.”
With the transfer window open once again, Mackay believes that unity in County’s fold will help attract new signings.
“Anyone that came into the group (last season) got embraced,” he insisted.
“There are no cliques, because I won’t have cliques, and egos are left at the door.
“Those are the four or five things that actually make culture, and then you’ve got a team that have had the belief to go around the country and take teams on.
“Last summer we were doing things on a promise – ‘here’s what I hope you will buy into, because here’s how I want this to go’.
“Now there’s a body of work behind it. We can say ‘here’s what you’re actually walking into’, and that’s a team that finished sixth in the league.”
