Start Of The Championship Season For Ross County

With the opening game of Ross County’s championship season kicking off tomorrow against Alloa Athletic, I wanted to write about how the club have prepared for the upcoming campaign. I will be discussing how we have performed in the transfer market and where I believe our target finish should be come the end of the season. This is my second blog / write up about Ross county so, as always, any feedback or constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Let me know your opinions also!

So, if you were one of the six-hundred that decided to read my first write up about County’s potential transfer targets for the upcoming season, you might be unsurprised to know that none of my suggestions were enticing enough for the management team. (In Ketts & Fergie we trust). So for players we actually acquired, here are my opinions.

1 ~ Josh Mullin

This was a signing that wasn’t rumoured or leaked and just appeared suddenly with a lot of county fans flocking to Wikipedia and Livingston fan pages for some information about the boy. Turns out, most of what has been said by Livingston fans has come true going by our league cup games. Josh is a fast, tricky and direct winger with superb crossing ability, something we’ve been lacking recently. He’s already opened his account with a goal against Elgin City and looked impressive against Dundee United. His mazy runs and trickery is definitely something to get the crowed off their seats and Kettlewell and Ferguson deserve a good amount of credit for bringing him to the club. With Mullin, Gardyne, Keillor-Dunn and Ryan Dow all comfortable wingers, I believe we are very strong in wide positions for this season and expect a lot of goals coming from crosses. Great signing so far, happy with that one.

2 ~ Jamie Lindsay

Not much to be said about Lindsay as he was on loan from Celtic last season so we all know what he’s about. Young and occasionally prone to a misplaced pass but his determination and work rate to correct any mistake is to be credited. A real team player who gives one hundred percent every match. My personal man of the match against Dundee United, showed real hunger to cement his place in a strong midfield. Should be a big season ahead for Lindsay. Very happy again with this acquisition.

3 ~ Declan McManus

Former Aberdeen and Fleetwood town attacker, McManus, was another signing that went under the radar. Best way to describe McManus is a taller, stronger, faster and more greedy Craig Curran. A good upgrade in that case. Netting thirteen times for Dunfermline last season isn’t a bad record at all and being young means a chance to improve season on season. Declan is a player who, in every game I’ve seen so far, can create plenty scoring opportunities. Scoring on his debut against Elgin is always a good confidence boost for a striker, maybe too much so as he appeared a bit greedy in the game against Dundee Utd where a particular opportunity was shot and saved instead of being passing across goal, which, would have been the better option. Nevertheless, his hunger for goal is not in question. A good upgrade overall.

4 ~ Harry Paton

A couple of Staggies fans had mentioned this name before as a good potential target last year. Admittedly, I knew little about Paton but I now see why fans from Stenhousemuir rated him highly. Harry, looks like a real prospect similar to that of Davis Keillor-Dunn’s potential. He looks like a modern midfielder, great technical ability, passing, vision and reading of the game. Always encouraging when young players get on the score sheet early just like harry done last weekend opening his scoring talley in a 2-0 win over Alloa. Only concern is he appears a little lightweight for a central midfielder in a physical league. Creativity and potential to go far. Great signing!

5 ~ Callum Morris

A NATURAL CENTRE BACK AT LAST!!! I was delighted to hear the management had realised the need for a natural centre back meaning Marcus Fraser could play Right back, his best position in my opinion. Another player who arrived from Dunfermline, with a summary comment from their fans of, solid but error prone. Meh. With the centre back issues we’ve endured the past season I’m sure he’ll fit in. From what I seen when he came on for Fontaine against Dundee Utd, he was a good reader of the game, happy with the ball at his feet. Pretty solid, not easy to muscle off the ball and loves a slide tackle. All I have so far on Morris. Time will tell.

6 ~ Keith Watson

Another under the radar signing. Well it’s good to finally have depth in defensive positions so credit to Fergie and Ketts for managing this. Back from injuries, Watson will be keen to return to Scottish football with a bang. Having only seen him play against Dundee Utd again, I can only offer my opinion on how he did that 90 minutes. Albeit the tangerines didn’t offer too much of a thread but every time danger needed cleared, Watson was there. Seemed comfortable playing out from the back and made a few good headed clearances. No messing about, no nonsense, just the type of player the east stand loyal are wanting in their defence. Needs a few games to be judged properly but glad for depth in defence if nothing else.

7 ~ Stelios Demetriou

Don’t know, not seen him play, st Mirren fans describe him as a ‘legend’. He’s got a cool name, ate a bounty chocolate bar that was thrown at him, seen him get crunched on live stream vs FC Utrecht in Holland pre season and get up no bother where a Neymar roll for five minutes would of been justified. 10/10 quality bit of business.

8 ~ Ian Vigurs

The Inverness player of the season eh, oh it’s sweet! Arguably the best centre midfielder in the championship last year, we probably have the strongest depth for midfield in the league. This signing just shows intent to get back in the top flight. Best player we could have signed. We all know his quality’s and with Draper in the midfield with him, it is frightening how good we could be this season. Perfect.

9 ~ Brian Graham

Brian has returned. One of the best signings we’ve made this summer. A tall striker is exactly what we needed and I’m glad Ketts and Fergie decided on bringing this man home to fill that role. When graham left it felt a bit like not knowing what we had until it was gone. I’ll hold my hands up and admit I wasn’t his biggest fan, but Graham scored 17 goals in 36 appearances for us… genuinely never would of known that if it wasn’t in todays P&J. A lot more than expected. Graham was seriously underrated by us including myself. In fairness he was competing with Boyce, Schalk & Curran. But anyway, brilliant acquisition, hope to see him play tomorrow! Fantastic signing!

So in summary of our transfers. This is the best transfer window for Ross County I can remember. Every area of the pitch that needed addressed has been. Players must really buy into the managements philosophy and aspirations. This is the most confident I have felt going into a season in a long time. Top 3 should be Ross County’s minimum target, although I think County are more than good enough to win the league. Below is my opinion for our strongest XI, let me know yours!

Thanks again for taking the time to read / Share this piece. Second attempted write up so again, appreciate any feedback and opinions. Grateful for all the kind words on my last blog. Until next time,

Mon Eh Staggies!