Manager says busy summer in store for Ross County
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Malky Mackay expects another busy summer at Ross County – but hopes he will not have too many more in the future.
Between loan players returning to their parent clubs and out of contract players, the departures from Dingwall could once again tally into double figures.
Blair Spittal has already announced his intention to leave the club when he becomes a free agent, with decisions still to be confirmed by several others.
It may not be as significant of a rebuild as last summer, when 19 players left the Global Energy Stadium, but it is still set to be a busy spell as Mackay enters the market.
“That’s the challenge ahead,” Mackay told Ross County TV on their end-of-season review.
“We’ve got to refill the squad – right now we’ve got 10 players who won’t be here next year.
“We’ll try and replace those 10 and maybe add to that as well, so it’s another summer of massive change on the recruitment side.
“Over a period of time I’d like for that to lessen – we’re still dealing with historic contract situations.
“We’ve got players who have signed contracts that will be coming back, and there’s a solid base there for us to work round about.
“They know what they will be coming back to in four weeks, the way that we’d generally like to play.”
On top of ability, though, Mackay has other criteria in mind for new recruits.
“I spoke to the owner and Steven Ferguson (last summer) and spoke about talent identification going forward, and how important that would be for a longer term strategy,” he reasoned.
“I’ve realised that the personality of the player is just as important as the talent. They’ve all got talent if they’re playing at a certain level, but the idiosyncrasies of individual personalities make a huge difference at a football club.
“There’s plenty of talent out there, but how that talent does really has a lot to do with mindset and being open to change.”
