The General Ross County Chat Thread

[Pete the Jakey]

25 minutes ago, Matty-RCFC said:

 there will be several places between us and them come the end of the season.

I tend to agree, but probably on the strength of their our signings!

[Rcfc fan]

8 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

Ross County are, quite literally, just a football club.

Are you steering clear of the caley forum due to missing out on dan mackay to a league rival 

[UAE1929]

1 hour ago, Sherrif John Bunnell said:

Every time McGregor opens his mouth, there is less and less chance of me ever giving him a penny again.

Makes it an easier decision every time he speaks. 

[Matty-RCFC]

Ross County are, quite literally, just a football club.

Nice one mate, cheers for the input.

[TheScarf]

21 minutes ago, Rcfc fan said:

Are you steering clear of the caley forum due to missing out on dan mackay to a league rival 

The beauty of this forum is that you can post of other clubs threads m8.

10 minutes ago, Matty-RCFC said:

Nice one mate, cheers for the input.

No problem m8, your weird chairman would do well to remember it.

[Savage Henry]

3 hours ago, TheScarf said:

Ross County are, quite literally, just a football club.

That’s what we’ve been saying all along!  

[StoneThrowAway]

https://www.rosscountyfootballclub.co.uk/news-items/welcome-kayne-ramsay

 

 

[McG]

1 minute ago, StoneThrowAway said:

https://www.rosscountyfootballclub.co.uk/news-items/welcome-kayne-ramsay

 

 

Ramsay is a brilliant signing.

[starryfish]

8 minutes ago, StoneThrowAway said:

https://www.rosscountyfootballclub.co.uk/news-items/welcome-kayne-ramsay

 

 

Good to know we can sponsor Declan

[forkboy]

On 13/01/2022 at 12:17, UAE1929 said:

Advise having a look on OTB where there are many voices of reason.... 

MacGregor singing the praises of Mackay in the P&J this morning

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/sport/football/ross-county/3834267/ross-county-have-more-than-a-manager-in-malky-mackay-says-chairman-roy-macgregor/

I think we are well past the point of doubling down. An embarrassment. 

Advising people to look at OTB is a cruel thing to do to a person.

I know the chairman has rarely turned down a chance to speak when a microphone is put in front of him but he really should consider just shutting the f**k up at this point. Because this is just, at best, clueless. What's to explain? He's never shown any contrition for the shit he said in the past. I'd not care if he'd won 10 Champions League titles & a couple of World Cups. It's absolutely not about the football team.

I'd honestly just kind of resigned myself to accepting that this is the reality & that I'd not go back to Victoria Park for years but mostly stick to occasional snippy remarks on here, but this has just reignited my anger & frustration at the whole thing. He either has just not read or been told any of the criticism or has & simply agrees with Malky that it's just a bit of harmless banter. Neither of which reflect particularly well on him or the club. He'd hardly be the first rich person who huffed their own farts often enough to no longer think anyone who disagrees with them is worth listening to.

22 hours ago, Forfinn said:

I think it's quite clear Macgregor still doesn't get it, but I won't bother re-hashing old arguments.

Something that's new out of the RSJ write-up of the interview though:

"I chased Malky for seven years, but I never thought he would come to this level of football. It was just the right time, place and opportunity."

Seven years from 2021 takes us back to 2014. That suggests he first tried to appoint Mackay when Derek Adams was sacked at the end of August, pretty much a week after Mackay lost out on the Crystal Palace job due to Vincent Tan releasing those text messages.

This is absolutely mental. Why would you say that? Why would you admit that you desperately want the racist/sexist/homophobe as soon as he got outed as those things? (The answer is obviously MacGregor sees nothing wrong with that for whatever reason)

[frankthetank22]

On 13/01/2022 at 00:09, staggy4life said:

Our new RB looks fun.

 

He certainly does. Glad that we've been able to get what looks to be a dynamic/pacey right back to replace Clarke so quickly.  

 

Not sure if he'll go straight in for the home game against Motherwell on Tuesday but it'll be great to get back to the stadium, the atmosphere at viccy park has been so positive lately.

 

Happy Birthday Hungbo, a winner on Tuesday would be nice.

[Lowrie83]

On 14/01/2022 at 12:39, forkboy said:

Advising people to look at OTB is a cruel thing to do to a person.

I know the chairman has rarely turned down a chance to speak when a microphone is put in front of him but he really should consider just shutting the f**k up at this point. Because this is just, at best, clueless. What's to explain? He's never shown any contrition for the shit he said in the past. I'd not care if he'd won 10 Champions League titles & a couple of World Cups. It's absolutely not about the football team.

I'd honestly just kind of resigned myself to accepting that this is the reality & that I'd not go back to Victoria Park for years but mostly stick to occasional snippy remarks on here, but this has just reignited my anger & frustration at the whole thing. He either has just not read or been told any of the criticism or has & simply agrees with Malky that it's just a bit of harmless banter. Neither of which reflect particularly well on him or the club. He'd hardly be the first rich person who huffed their own farts often enough to no longer think anyone who disagrees with them is worth listening to.

This is absolutely mental. Why would you say that? Why would you admit that you desperately want the racist/sexist/homophobe as soon as he got outed as those things? (The answer is obviously MacGregor sees nothing wrong with that for whatever reason)

Firstly, point me to anyone on here who hasn't made a mistake in their life and I will point you to liar. 

Mackay actually did apologise for the messages. The FA conducted a full investigation and they did not charge Mackay with any wrongdoing - that's not to say the messages weren't wrong but I'm my opinion if an investigation is conducted and no charges are brought doesn't not signify no case to answer.

He underwent a course through the LMA on sensitivity etc. When he was employed by SFA Kick it Out, the anti-racism group, actually issued a statement I support of his appointment.

From what I've been told, when Mackay came to his interview he supplied the panel with a full dossier on the messages responsible plus the investigation.

 

The club clearly will have done their due diligence on Mackay.

 

True fans will support their club through good times and bad, whether they agree with management or players or not.  Those I class as fair weather fans walk away when things are tough. God knows there have been players and managers I have disagreed with and wanted rid of but through it all I've supported the club and given them my monies. And I'll continue to do so.

[UAE1929]

12 hours ago, Lowrie83 said:

Firstly, point me to anyone on here who hasn't made a mistake in their life and I will point you to liar. 

Mackay actually did apologise for the messages. The FA conducted a full investigation and they did not charge Mackay with any wrongdoing - that's not to say the messages weren't wrong but I'm my opinion if an investigation is conducted and no charges are brought doesn't not signify no case to answer.

He underwent a course through the LMA on sensitivity etc. When he was employed by SFA Kick it Out, the anti-racism group, actually issued a statement I support of his appointment.

From what I've been told, when Mackay came to his interview he supplied the panel with a full dossier on the messages responsible plus the investigation.

 

The club clearly will have done their due diligence on Mackay.

 

True fans will support their club through good times and bad, whether they agree with management or players or not.  Those I class as fair weather fans walk away when things are tough. God knows there have been players and managers I have disagreed with and wanted rid of but through it all I've supported the club and given them my monies. And I'll continue to do so.

Of course everyone makes mistakes. I remember vividly running across the road to get to Renatos without looking both ways. My mum came in and skelped my arse. However that was when I was a child (honest) and not a 40 something year old. That's the difference, Mackay knew what he was sending was racist (or homophobic or sexist or anti semitic). Those texts weren't a mistake from Mackay, he typed the words knowing what they meant.

As for the apology, I assume you mean this one 

Quote

“Out of 10,000 text messages in and out of someone’s phone I sent three and that being the case, looking at them they are completely unacceptable, inappropriate and for that and for any offence I’ve caused I sincerely apologise.

Surely you realise why people have an issue with that "apology" ? 

You say the club did its due diligence, surely if that was the case they'd look at the potential fallout hiring a man like Mackay would cause? I wouldn't say County are everybody's second side, but generally we were a fairly well liked club. Hiring Mackay has been nothing short of PR disaster for the club.

As for your true fans comment, just complete nonsense. Football is much more than 90 minutes on a pitch. Just imagine for one second being one of those groups of people Mackay made a mockery of, and how you'd feel going to watch a match. 

f**k Malky Mackay. 

 

[Derry Alli]

13 hours ago, Lowrie83 said:

True fans will support their club through good times and bad, whether they agree with management or players or not.  

Good Times or bad times on the pitch, yes. Only a blind idiot would continue to support the club through certain situations. It's good to see people turn their back if that's what they truly believe in. 

Seeing you forgive him for his "apology" firmly puts you in the 'idiot' camp, in my eyes. 

[Forfinn]

14 hours ago, Lowrie83 said:

The FA conducted a full investigation and they did not charge Mackay with any wrongdoing - that's not to say the messages weren't wrong but I'm my opinion if an investigation is conducted and no charges are brought doesn't not signify no case to answer.

I can't quite wrap my head around the triple negative here, but on the FA investigation it's worth pointing out the reason Mackay wasn't charged was because, to that point, it was not their policy to bring charges “in respect of private communications sent with a legitimate expectation of privacy”. However, he was “spoken to” about the “inappropriateness of terms used in the messages”. Following the case, the FA instigated a review of how similar cases should be treated in the future.

In his original car crash P&J interview Macgregor said Mackay had been found “not guilty” and “exonerated” by the English FA, which casts some doubt on the thoroughness of the club's due diligence.

Quote

True fans will support their club through good times and bad, whether they agree with management or players or not.  Those I class as fair weather fans walk away when things are tough. God knows there have been players and managers I have disagreed with and wanted rid of but through it all I've supported the club and given them my monies. And I'll continue to do so.

I don't even know where to begin with this, so I won't bother.

1 hour ago, UAE1929 said:

Surely you realise why people have an issue with that "apology" ? 

It's also worth remembering the Sky Sports interview was actually his second apology. The first one was in a statement a day earlier when the story first broke and used the phrase "friendly text message banter". So you'll forgive my cynicism about the sincerity of the crisis management TV interview apology.

If Mackay and Macgregor had approached the PR around the appointment differently then we might be in a different place now, but they didn't. As far as they're concerned, and has been repeatedly demonstrated by Macgregor, it's "in the past" and they don't understand what all the fuss is about.

To Mackay's credit (I'm not close-minded on this), his Rainbow Laces interview was very good and is exactly the kind of thing he - or any football manager, for that matter - should be doing. It's a shame it was cancelled out by his reaction to the Jeando Fuchs incident which suggested he wasn't really paying attention during all those anti-racism classes.

Edited January 16, 2022 by Forfinn

[Comrie]

Looks like some of our fans are keen on us offering Griffiths a deal.

What the f**k has happened to County this year?

[forkboy]

14 hours ago, Lowrie83 said:

True fans will support their club through good times and bad, whether they agree with management or players or not.  Those I class as fair weather fans walk away when things are tough. God knows there have been players and managers I have disagreed with and wanted rid of but through it all I've supported the club and given them my monies. And I'll continue to do so.

All due respect, this isn't a primary school playground & we're not kids. Football is a fun game. It's entertainment at the end of the day, and as grown adults we should have enough common sense & perspective to know when to draw the line. Supporting through thick & thin always meant, to my ears at least, on the pitch, & I have. But some things are more important than a game to me, like taking a stand against bigoted behaviour. Worrying about being called out for not being a real fan, can't honestly say I give a shit, I'm not quite that insecure.

I'm not arguing that a football club needs a perfect human being for manager, that'd be a ridiculous standard. I've said some gross shit in my past & I'm deeply embarrassed by it & it came from a place of total ignorance & I got older & smarter & learned to be a better person (I hope). But I was a dipshit teenager, Malky Mackay was older than I am today & while technically he gave an apology it did not ring sincere in the slightest.

Bottom line is this: if I'm in a group chat & one of my friends said what Malky said I'd tell them to fucking sort themselves out. And if they kept doing it they'd quickly stop being my friend. I'm not going to hold my football team to a lower standard than my friends.

[yoda]

I think I've still got TRUE FAN points in the bag from those abandoned games in Dumfries way back in 2011.

Although booing David Goodwillie on the couple of occasions I saw him play, as well as not going to a home game since 2018, mean I am running low on credit.

[UAE1929]

58 minutes ago, yoda said:

I think I've still got TRUE FAN points in the bag from those abandoned games in Dumfries way back in 2011.

I will happily admit I was a seething mess after the second installment.

I see Rangers fans were able to buy tickets in the home end for the game at the end of the month as the club didn't stop Glasgow postcodes from being able to buy. However I think it'll be tough to distinguish who is who with posts like the above from @Lowrie83

[Pete the Jakey]

Fair play to Lowrie83 for puting your head above the parapet.  I dont think you are "in the idiot camp" as you are intitled to your opinion regardless of whom agrees with it.

 

I dont think anyone can argue that the PR prior to and following Mackays appointment was shambolic - but why wouldnt it be?  At RCFC we have along history of either not bothering with PR or simply ignoring it.  I cant figure out which.   Had a properly prepared unvileing of Mackay been aranged, complete with a heartfelt apology for past mistakes, a contrite manager and an admission that lessons must be learnt then it would have been a much easier pill to swallow for a lot of folk.  Are we surprised it wasnt done this way?  No - Roy Macgregor has never been to kinda guy to lie in bed worrying about who he's hired of fired that day.  You do not go from working at an oil yard to owning the oil yard without that mentaltity.  Macgregor loves an underdog, he has history of giving guys second chances, giving them a leg up - Richie Hart being a prime example.

 

There was mention of "doubling down" with the recent press statement.  Again, complete lack of PR but at this point in proceedings would you really expect a Chairman not to back his manager?  It was double down, or say nothing.  We all know the latter wouldve been best, but Macgregor is backing his man should we be surprised.

 

There are two wide ranging racism investigations ongoing in Scottish cricket just now off the back of the Yorkshire CC scandal.  Raffiq was termed an "elephant washer", told to "sit in the corner with your type" and forced to drink alcohol.  In Scotland players were allegedly not selected due to their race, were marginalised, were treated unfairly.  The Running out Racism and the SG funded SportScotland investigation are going to uncover some truths that will make text messages seem like a walk in the park.  I firmly believe cricket is the test case, football may likely next, and I would be surprised if Rugby didnt have some questions to answer,  and so on. 

 

All very well but whats my point....  However uncomfortable as it may seem, like all henious injustices in our world, racism has levels of depravitity.  There is such a thing as racism by association, and I can see why a supproter will feel vulnerable to that.  Segregating players in the dressing room, not signing or selecting them because of their background is the sharp end of it in sport.  I believe in second chances, and thats why I am attending County matches, and will not change my profile club to Clach or Brora or other such virtue signalling.  People change and must be allowed to chnage.  Back to cricket (sorry) the outfall from the Raffiq affair will not castigate those cricket Clubs, board members, players forever, but they will have to dam sure learn from it.  As I believe, or hope, Malky Mackay has.  

 

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by Pete the Jakey
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