Ross Laidlaw: ‘Ross County probably didn’t realise how good Malky Mackay was until he’d left’

Ross Laidlaw reckons two successive relegations at Ross County highlight the levels former manager Malky Mackay took the Dingwall club to.

The ex-Scottish FA performance director had managed Watford, Cardiff City, Wigan Athletic when he became County’s head coach in the summer of 2021.

John Hughes, in his caretaker role, had just kept County up, leading them from bottom spot to 10th during his half-season charge.

Chairman Roy MacGregor opted to appoint Mackay in a shock move and he led the team to sixth position in his debut term in Dingwall.

In 2022-23, County needed a nail-biting stunning comeback play-off penalty shoot-out win against Partick Thistle to stay in the top-flight before an eight-game winless league run led to Mackay being sacked in the winter of 2023. 

Under interim manager Don Cowie, County beat Raith Rovers to stay in the top-flight in 2024 before County lost in their third successive play-off last May against Livingston to drop into the Championship.

And in a disastrous season just finished, which saw Cowie replaced by Tony Docherty before Stuart Kettlewell returned as the boss in late December, County were automatically relegated into League One.

‘Best possible times’ under Mackay

Goalkeeper Laidlaw played almost 200 times for County over his seven years in Dingwall before being released recently.

He has coaching badges and is on the hunt for a suitable player-coach role.

And he explained that playing for County in the Premiership under Mackay was a great time to be a Staggies star.

He said: “Ross County probably didn’t realise how good Malky was until he’d left.

“And you can kind of see what’s happened since that time in the past few years. They probably didn’t realise how lucky they had it.

“Those were the best possible times, competing consistently well at that level.

“We achieved the top six under Malky, and it was great to have that experience, playing against the Old Firm and Hearts for example.

“I always feel the bottom half of the Premiership is the level Ross County should be competing at. That’s what they should be achieving.

“For now, it’s a time to reset and regroup for Ross County and hopefully they can come right back up to the Championship.”

‘Malky’s belief in me spurred on my performances’

On a personal level, Mackay was a big fan of Laidlaw, who was consistently impressive.

The Dingwall boss was pressing the case for the ex-Hibernian shot-stopper to gain a call-up to Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad with the 2024 Euro finals in Germany in mind.

Laidlaw detailed how the manager’s daily advice lifted his levels.

He said: “Malky was great for me. He believed in me and told me with my levels of performance I would not be far away from the Scotland squad.

“I was probably close, but it didn’t quite happen. That’s football, but over those two or three years in particular, I think I was pretty consistent.

“I was playing every week in the Premiership and having the belief of the manager really helped me.

“I had a lot of trust in Malky, and he put trust in me, like making me vice-captain (when Jack Baldwin was the captain).

“Malky’s belief in me spurred on my performances. The mental side of the game is huge, and he was such a good man-manager. He was really good at getting inside your head.

“A lot of people don’t see how good he was one-on-one with players.”

County ‘didn’t get the balance right’

County, under Kettlewell, plan to give north youngsters an opportunity to press for senior game time in League One.

Players still under contract for next season include experienced seniors such as Ross Docherty, Jamie Lindsay, Dean Cornelius and Kieran Phillips.

And Laidlaw feels County could have benefited from an injection of more youth at times as they fought against the tide in last season’s Championship.

He added: “The club probably didn’t get the balance right this season. They probably went with too many experienced (players) for a league that’s quite frantic, a lot of running, high energy.

“They need to get that balance right and Stuart will know what they’re looking for to bring in.

“They’ve probably learned from their mistakes this season of what they need to do next year.

“I hope they can get up at the first attempt, return to the Championship and kick on from there.

“They know it’ll be a difficult task, but it’s still an attractive club to go to. If you look at the training ground, the pitch they’ve got, the stadium, they’ll be the big team in that league. So, they’ll still be able to attract players, I’ve no doubt.

“You see the ones that are still under contract. I know they’ve had a bad season last year, but on paper too good for that level.”

[Source: Press and Journal]