The General Ross County Chat Thread

[PauloPerth]

9 hours ago, J_Stewart said:

What I don't understand about Mackay being constantly linked with jobs is that not only is he a bigoted gobshite, resulting in his potential appointment being met with groans by every fanbase he's linked with, but he also hasn't managed a club in 6 years, and two of his three managerial appointments ended up in sackings. This isn't SAF re-born, he's not some flawed genius, he's a fairly poor manager, a confirmed bigot, and potentially corrupt as well (was loads of question marks over his signings and dealings with agents at Cardiff). No club should be going near him with his record, and that the SFA employed him - as has been talked to death - is farcical as well.

Hope it's just bookies protecting themselves and he gets nowhere near County, United or any other club. 

This is what I don’t understand about him getting the SFA gig and now if he gets the County one as well.

I would still disagree with it if he was a proven winning manager with his past, but could maybe see why a club would forgo its principles to gain success in the cutthroat, often unscrupulous environment that football often is.

But why would you do it for this guy? It really doesn’t make any sense.

 

[Sherrif John Bunnell]

2 minutes ago, Scotty Tunbridge said:

Yep agree with the both hopefully you guys stick to this I certainly would if it was my club. Hurting them in the pocket and giving them some backlash for the appointment is the only thing they will understand.

Please don’t let this be the point where you go all Clyde on us 

We did used to have David Goodwillie and Adam Strachan on the books...

[TommyDickFingers]

Shocking appointment 

[Forfinn]

Utterly grim. On the same day the club publish an interview saying:

"We do need to take stock and particularly that relationship with the fan has to become stronger."

I'd suggest this is not the way to go about it.

 

[deldad7]

6 hours ago, Arch Stanton said:

Could have been worse.

Aye you’re right could have gone for a dream team of Hitler and Idi Amin.....but they’re not that much worse than Mackay.

[LondonHMFC]

Do the club have a supporters trust or something similar. Could they not outline why fans are opposed to the appointment. 

An absolute shocker from County. 

[Willie adie]

6 hours ago, Arch Stanton said:

Could have been worse.

Has county a female physio?

[Staggie52]

I’m going to disagree here. I utterly condemn his comments and behaviour as all reasonable people do. I have opposed racism and homophobia all my life and find even reading the comments difficult. However, I can’t just oppose such behaviour, I have to argue that people can change, without that there is no hope that behaviours will change. Behaviours have changed. I’m in my mid sixties, I was born into a society where racism and homophobia were not just tolerated but encouraged. Society, people, have changed, there’s a long way to go but we’ve come a long way.

I welcome him to the club on the basis that he’s changed. However if there is any sign that he displays racist or homophobic behaviour I’ll be amongst the first at the ground calling for his dismissal. For the good of County I hop he has changed and that he’s a successful manager. 

[RandomGuy.]

1 minute ago, Staggie52 said:

I’m going to disagree here. I utterly condemn his comments and behaviour as all reasonable people do. I have opposed racism and homophobia all my life and find even reading the comments difficult. However, I can’t just oppose such behaviour, I have to argue that people can change, without that there is no hope that behaviours will change. Behaviours have changed. I’m in my mid sixties, I was born into a society where racism and homophobia were not just tolerated but encouraged. Society, people, have changed, there’s a long way to go but we’ve come a long way.

I welcome him to the club on the basis that he’s changed. However if there is any sign that he displays racist or homophobic behaviour I’ll be amongst the first at the ground calling for his dismissal. For the good of County I hop he has changed and that he’s a successful manager. 

[Swello]

19 minutes ago, Staggie52 said:

I utterly condemn his comments and behaviour as all reasonable people do.

You could have left it at that TBH.

 

[Mackie The Staggie]

Can only hope this goes the same way as when we appointed Dick Campbell, we find some rubbish excuse to get rid of him (lack of style and panache) and appoint a young hungry ex-player eager to prove himself.

looks as if it's either Clach, Brora or Alness Utd for next season.

[Pull My Strings]

33 minutes ago, Staggie52 said:

I’m going to disagree here. I utterly condemn his comments and behaviour as all reasonable people do. I have opposed racism and homophobia all my life and find even reading the comments difficult. However, I can’t just oppose such behaviour, I have to argue that people can change, without that there is no hope that behaviours will change. Behaviours have changed. I’m in my mid sixties, I was born into a society where racism and homophobia were not just tolerated but encouraged. Society, people, have changed, there’s a long way to go but we’ve come a long way.

I welcome him to the club on the basis that he’s changed. However if there is any sign that he displays racist or homophobic behaviour I’ll be amongst the first at the ground calling for his dismissal. For the good of County I hop he has changed and that he’s a successful manager. 

How very diplomatic. Worth noting that you're a lot older than Mackay and these comments weren't made 40 or 50 years ago or by a callow youth who couldn't be expected to know better. They were made by a senior professional in his 40s. Maybe his character has changed but it seems unlikely.

[Staggie52]

10 minutes ago, Pull My Strings said:

How very diplomatic. Worth noting that you're a lot older than Mackay and these comments weren't made 40 or 50 years ago or by a callow youth who couldn't be expected to know better. They were made by a senior professional in his 40s. Maybe his character has changed but it seems unlikely.

I’m not arguing that he’s changed, but I hope he has. I also hope that Roy thinks he’s changed and has discussed it with him. If neither is true I’ll be looking for another club.

[Dunning1874]

[TheScarf]

[RH33]

Well the appointment will probably be ok with the Wee Frees element. When they finally get the news.

[Trogdor]

I am genuinely stunned. That's a sore yin, could you no just have appointed another former Calley manager?

For Uncle Roy to say this then appoint MacKay. Fucking hell... 

Quote

What Ross County is, what does it stand for and what does it represent.

Edited May 26, 2021 by Trogdor

[yoda]

There's an argument that maybe, just maybe, he's changed and become a better person. Kick It Out and Show Racism The Red Card appear to be in his corner. However, he's not really shown any contrition for what happened. Not publicly at least. And there's the small matter of him pretty comprehensively covering almost all bases of bigotry: racism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, etc. It's not that he's a stupid wee boy who made a mistake; he's a grown man and there was slur after slur. 

He walked into a job with Wigan. Then into a cushty SFA gig. He's hardly been hounded out of football. So I don't buy the "second chance" redemption sorry arc that the club will inevitably push.

Football is obviously very contradictory. Declan Gallagher gets jobs at Motherwell and Aberdeen despite caving someone's skull in with a baseball bat and not really showing any remorse. Luis Suarez still picks up hundreds of thousands a week despite being a known racist. That Leeds goalkeeper is still at Leeds. Jamie Vardy, of racism fame, continues to be one of the most celebrated strikers in England. There's a rogues' gallery of racists, sex offenders, thugs, and killers (okay, manslaughter-erers) who still pick up a wage from football. 

But despite that above paragraph I'm just not comfortable with him being at County. The club don't see much money from me anyway but I won't be giving them any cash for the foreseeable future. They talk a good game about being a "community club" with "values" which makes this all the more baffling. I'm a bit scunnered by all this.

Finally, two other things that annoy me:

a) the timing of the leak - obviously trying to hope things die down by the time he is officially announced; it's cowardly

b) the speed of the appointment - it's obviously been planned for a while

[RiG]

 

[Mr Heliums]

33 minutes ago, Staggie52 said:

I’m not arguing that he’s changed, but I hope he has. I also hope that Roy thinks he’s changed and has discussed it with him. If neither is true I’ll be looking for another club.

I hope you're right.  Everyone seemed to adore the story of David Martindale this season – from a self-confessed greedy drug dealer who helped destroy people's lives to an inspiration to others in that situation. It was a fantastic feel-good story that the  press were slavering about it in the build up to the League Cup final.

I don't know if the indefensible things that Mackay said are directly comparable. It's certainly not as romantic. But surely the principle is the same: we have to offer a path to redemption for those who have done awful things in the past. We can't permanently cancel them or  condemn someone forever if they show they've learned their lesson. That's the big question of course. But I presume he has if Roy McGregor is offering him a job.

Edited May 26, 2021 by Mr Heliums