'Knowledge, determination & passion' - why MacGregor brought Adams back

Ross County chairman Roy MacGregor says he's "delighted' to welcome Derek Adams back into the fold, highlighting his affinity with the club and his previous success in Dingwall.

"We had a distressing period, like you do when you change your manager," he told BBC Scotland. "You have to evaluate so many things. For us, there was risk and opportunity, we had 70 applications to go through, but the name Derek Adams kept coming back.

"I've known for a number of years that Derek wanted to come, wasn't sure whether the opportunity was going to come about, he was working in England. But, when we decided that was the route we wanted to go, we got onto it fairly quickly over the weekend, and with Morecambe's agreement, we managed to attract Derek back to the club, and we're delighted.

"Knowing is a big factor. This is an area that takes you a wee while to get to know, but he's always had a house here. He's coming back to known territory. He knows most of our players from working in England because we have a good proportion of English players. He hasn't seen them on the training ground but he knows of them, or has played against them.

"For us, it was that knowledge, determination and passion for Ross County that were the deciding factors.

“The target for Ross County is to survive in this league, anything after 10th is a bonus. There is not much between fourth and 12th now. Now is a good time for a new manager to come in and not just be thrown into the deep-end, we have two-thirds to go. There is plenty of time to evaluate, and if we need to do more, there is a window coming at Christmas.

“Everyone will be different, but I think Ross County had it’s most successful time under Derek. As a first division club, he took us to the Scottish Cup final, he went away to Hibs to try assistant managership. It didn’t suit him, he came back and took us to the Premiership, so I see this as an extension of what happened nine years ago.

“Meeting him for the first time in a wee while today, there is a knowledge and a trust, I think it will be a good time for a club."