Ross County chairman Roy MacGregor opens up on decision to keep Don Cowie as Staggies manager, and bring in John Robertson as new assistant in Dingwall
Roy MacGregor believes it was a collective failure that saw Ross County relegated from the Premiership – admitting not enough was done to put manager Don Cowie in a position to be successful last season.
The Staggies fell into a third consecutive play-off at the end of the Premiership campaign, which proved not to be any sort of charm as the Highlanders lost out to Livingston over the two legs.
That naturally led to questions over the future of Cowie, who had just completed his first full season in senior management.
Discussions were intense and thorough in the days following relegation, but eventually it was decided that the former Staggies captain would continue to lead the way.
His coaching staff were not so lucky, with Carl Tremarco and Paul Cowie leaving the club and John Robertson being appointed as Cowie’s new assistant.
Now, club chairman MacGregor has opened up for the first time about the motivation behind those decisions, and why Robertson was the right man to bring in.
He said: “I’ve heard that people would say I’m a bit of a hatchet man – I go early. I do go early because my head is two years ahead of my body.
“In making opportunities in business, I see them early. I see the football club in the same way and although I’m a fan at heart, my business has bought 92 businesses here.
“We’ve tried to breed our own. Steve Ferguson, our CEO, was player, community coach, youth coach, academy manager, coach, Neale Cooper’s assistant manager, and co-manager with Stuart Kettlewell, and Don Cowie was a nine year old who came into the academy.
“Did we equip him with everything he needed? Don in football terms has just got his pro-licence. He has worked in Global, coached by people for a year before he got the job. Did we do enough to give him all the tools?
“The answer is some of it was right. Some of it was experience in decision-making that wasn’t as clear as someone more experienced. There was culpability everywhere, not just with Don.
“The two that lost their jobs didn’t do anything wrong, but we felt there wasn’t enough experience. Don’s brother was taken in as an analyst but when things started going wrong, he became a coach, and that wasn’t quite right.
“When the going got tough, we didn’t quite have enough experience. We had a list of six, then it went to three, and Steven and Don went with John.
“He was in the area, he was 60 years old, wasn’t going to get another manager’s job, but his enthusiasm was still there at 60. He was probably looking for a director of football job, which we didn’t have, but because of his relationship with Don we felt he could be there for Don.
“It was thorough, again, someone with a wealth of experience that has won a championship and knows how to deal with things when not going so well. He had experience, trust, and he’s a huge character, so he ticked all the boxes.”
Club chief executive Steven Ferguson insists every decision being made this summer is with the intent of winning the Championship this season and secure an immediate return to the top flight, continuing: “Once we had decided that we were going to be making a change to the backroom staff, it was very much specific to how we win the Championship.
“The chairman started us off, and we all contributed to what we believed we needed to win the Championship, and John ended up being the one.
“He had an insight into recruiting to the Highlands, and an understanding of the Championship. He knows Scottish football and the players, and he has managed a lot of games. He has won the league before, and he’s not coming in completely light, he has seen the players for 18 home games last season.
“The most important thing is that Don is the manager, and that is very clear to John that he is coming in as an assistant that is almost that wily old fox who has been over it before.
“We needed a different sort of character, and not just one – look at the players that we’ve brought in too. Everybody will talk about them on the pitch, but one of the most important things with recruiting all three was their character and how they are as people, how they conduct themselves off the pitch.
“That, again, all stemmed from the seven days after relegation where we talked about what we needed to do. Robbo was a part of that, the three signings were a part of that, and more of that will follow.”
