Ross County ended the search for their new Manager on the eve of when The ALBA Challenge Cup Final was due to be played at the end of November when it was announced that Willie McStay would take over from Derek Adams.
The former Celtic player spent his 49th birthday on 26th November taking his new side for the first time only to discover the next day that the showpiece game at St. Johnstone’s McDiarmid Park had been postponed because of the wintry conditions that engulfed Scotland.
The debut for McStay as the Dingwall club’s boss was delayed further as the weather worsened however, it eventually came last weekend when County travelled to Glasgow and drew 1-1 with Partick Thistle at Firhill.
McStay was a defender for Celtic progressing from the youth set-up to the first team, making two successive Scottish Cup Final appearances, losing 2-1 against Aberdeen in 1984, when his brother Paul scored the Parkhead club’s goal, and then picking up a winners’ medal as Dundee United were defeated 2-1 in the 100th Final in the competition.
He stayed in green and white hoops until 1987 before turning out in the colours of Huddersfield Town, Notts County, Hartlepool United, Partick Thistle and then Kilmarnock.
McStay’s playing career never saw him grace County’s Victoria Park however, it is a ground he knows well from his days at Celtic’s Youth set-up saying: “I have brought teams up here over the last 15 or so years and you could see the progress this club was making on and off the park. The ground has changed a lot in that time.”
The first steps into management were taken as Player/Manager of Sligo Rovers in 1992 and McStay led them to a historic treble of the Irish First Division title, the First Division Shield and the FAI Cup in season 1993/94. The defender then came back across the Irish Sea to rejoin Celtic, where he was involved in their Youth Development Programme for 13 years before bringing success to their reserve side between 2007 and 2009.
European football in the Europa Cup was sampled when McStay took over the reigns at Hungarian side Upjest last season for 10 months until April 2010 before he returned to Celtic for a third time for a brief period as Reserve Team Manager.
McStay, who has never managed in the senior game in Scotland, said: “The time is right for me to begin my managerial career here. I spent a long time at Celtic in various roles such Head of Youth and Reserve Team Manager and I learned from some great Managers there.
“Celtic’s Chief Executive Peter Lawell told the Chairman at Ross County, Mr. MacGregor, that I had been too loyal to Celtic and should have been managing in my own right even before I went over to Hungary.
“However, I have no regrets on how my career has panned out. I managed Upjest in a Europa League tie in front of 30,000 fans and led them to a derby win over Ferencvaros. Those were special days and I look forward to special days with my new club.”
It is all about IRN-BRU SFL First Division football now with McStay saying: “I am absolutely delighted to be the Ross County Manager and that the discussions with the Board resulted in my appointment. I came up the week before my appointment and had a look around Victoria Park. I was really impressed with the infrastructure that is in place.”
The newly appointed Manager had also quickly done his homework on his new charges saying: “I have researched into our players and have looked at the available video analysis on each of them. I worked with the likes of Michael McGovern, Michael Gardyne, Paul Lawson and Paul Di Giacomo when they were youth players at Celtic so I know a good bit about them.
“The other players I do not know as well as players or people, but I know well the attributes of guys like Richard Brittain, Scott Morrison and Darren McCormack, who I was very keen to get to Celtic at one time.”
After leaving Celtic in the summer, McStay spent his time taking in games at various levels and he knows that the IRN-BRU SFL First Division is a competitive place to manage saying: “I went and spent a week with David Moyes down at Everton learning from him and then travelled all over Britain taking in various games.
“From what I saw and the people I spoke to, I am aware that the First Division is an extremely tough division.”
The County job has brought to an end McStay’s learnings from others at the moment as he explained: “I was due to spend some time with Roy Keane at Ipswich as well but that is on a back burner for just now. It is all about turning what I have learnt into practice now.
“There has been a lot of hard work done at this club and last season was a fantastic success with the high of the Scottish Cup Final.
“It is now my job to build on those foundations and The ALBA Challenge Cup Final was looking a fantastic way to start my career here however, that never happened.
“Despite the Cup Final being postponed, it was still a good time to join as I walked into a place where everyone had a real edge. Everyone was bright eyed and raring to go but we came back to earth with a bump when the game did not go ahead.
“It was disappointing for me as I had the wee dream of winning silverware in my first game and that went when the game was called off.
“The following weekend was fine as we knew that games were off quite early so we were able to concentrate on training.”
The two week break before County took the field again last Saturday at Firhill against Partick Thistle allowed McStay and his players to get to know each other better as he explained: “The players had been magnificent in training and they have shown a great attitude throughout.
“The break allowed them to get to know me and I am getting to know them better as individuals as well but it is watching them in games that you really see what they are about in terms of their character and mentality.
“Seeing things like how they make decisions under pressure is also really important and all in all, it will take about half a dozen games before I feel like I know them fully.”
The game at Firhill ended 1-1 with Brittain netting an early penalty only for quick thinking from the home side’s Simon Donnelly to set up an equaliser for ten-man Partick from Chris Erskine.
McStay said afterwards: “I was eagerly awaiting my first competitive game and my first impressions were what I thought they would be. The team worked very, very hard and I was delighted with how we started the game where we passed the ball about nicely and we were rewarded with the penalty that came about after a good move.
“We had a great tempo but with about half an hour played, we seemed to lose a little bit of our discipline in the game and that gave Partick a lift. Their goal before half-time gave them another lift and set them up for the second half.
“We had a lot of the ball and finished strongly but could not force a winner with a combination of good goalkeeping from Scott Fox and then substitute Garry Wood pulling a shot wide. We kept going and remained vigilant at the back.”
It was a home debut on Tuesday night for McStay with Scott Boyd striking an injury time leveller in their 2-2 draw with Morton with McStay joking: “You wait three weeks for a game and then you get two in three days.”
County will need to shake off an indifferent start to the season to prosper with McStay commenting: “Our League position needs to be stabilised and then improved and there will be a Cup Final to prepare for later in the season.
“Reaching the Scottish Cup Final last season raised the profile of this club and gave everyone associated with it increased ambitions. Expectations were high for this season and it is my job to stimulate that again.”
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