Former Ross County assistant manager Carl Tremarco admits Staggies sack was devastating – with ex-Inverness Caley Thistle skipper open to any new role in football
Carl Tremarco admits it still feels raw to have been removed from his position as Ross County assistant manager – but believes the Staggies’ promotion hopes could depend on who stays in Dingwall this summer.
The 39-year-old stepped up from a role leading the club’s academy to assist Don Cowie when he was first put in interim charge following Derek Adams’ departure from Dingwall, and then appointed permanently.
This time last year, he was celebrating a commanding play-off victory over Raith Rovers. Fast forward to the present day, though, and Tremarco has lost his job in the wake of County’s relegation.
He admits it was not a surprise that the club’s hierarchy decided a change was necessary, even if he did not know exactly how that would look.
Tremarco remains convinced, though, that had no action been taken County would have been challenging for promotion from the Championship in the upcoming campaign – a task Tremarco knows all too well is easier said than done from his playing days over the Kessock Bridge with Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
“It is still a bit raw, and I am devastated and gutted obviously,” Tremarco said of his sacking.
“I knew the chairman was going to make some kind of change to be fair, and I’m okay with it. There’s no hard feelings or anything like that, I get it – it’s football.
“The chairman is a ruthless businessman, and he felt he need to make a change, so I’m okay with it. I would have liked to plead my case personally to him, which I didn’t get a chance to do, but there is no bitterness from me. It is what it is.
“I knew this could potentially happen when I took the role. I could have been sitting in the academy for a number of years and been okay, but I wanted to push myself and test myself. This is the casualty of relegation, so it’s disappointing, but I knew something was going to change – I just didn’t know how that was going to look until I was told.
“I’m not going to lie, it’s going to be difficult to process not being in football. I’m seeing Ross County making signings and going back for pre-season, and I still get a bit of a sickly feeling because I wanted to be part of that process.
“The signings they have made have been decent, but I think it’s more important who they retain. If they can keep the nucleus of the team and add to what they’ve got, I have no doubts they will be competitive in the Championship.
“Another thing that was a bit disappointing for me is that even if no changes had been made to the management team, I believe we still would have been competitive next season.
“They will win games, that’s a fact, it’s just about whether they’ve got enough to win the league because we all know how difficult it is to go up via the play-offs.”
Having sat in a solid position with 12 games to go, and even optimism among fans early in 2025 that a push for the top six could be on the cards, it was an unexpected slide down the standings that saw County end up in the relegation play-off in the first place.
Just two points from their final nine matches was certainly relegation form though, and Tremarco believes there was a key turning point that ended up proving costly.
“It’s difficult to put your finger on one specific thing, but losing Noah Chilvers was a big blow, a massive loss for us,” he reflected.
“Everyone has seen it before – once you start getting into a rut, it’s difficult to get out of. There is always one team that gets into that, and unfortunately this time it was us.
“How you get out of it is the million dollar question – if anyone had the answer to that, they would be a rich man.
“Losing Chilvers was the main thing I think, and then confidence became an issue once we started going on that wrong.
“You try your best to instil confidence in the players, but it’s difficult. I’ve been there, the manager has been there, and you can’t always control what happens on the pitch.”
Unless something changes in the imminent future, it will be the first time in over 20 years that Tremarco does not go into the new season attached to a football club.
He would love to get back involved in some capacity, ideally in a role where he does not have to uproot family from their home in the Highlands, but he is open to having discussions about any opportunity going forward.
“I learned a hell of a lot at Ross County, and that started with the academy,” he added.
“Gordon Duff was a massive help to me when I started to transition into coaching, and then I started dipping my toe into first team coaching when Malky Mackay was in charge. Once that started happening, I knew what I wanted to do if I got the chance.
“When the chance came about, it was a no-brainer to be fair. I don’t regret it, that’s for sure.
“Now, I’m going to take stock and reflect and reset, and see what’s next for the family. Ideally we will stay up here, because we are so settled as a family and we have invested into the city, but I’m not naive enough to not think I’ll eventually need a job.
“Hopefully that can be up here, but if it can’t be we might have to venture back down the road. I don’t want to leave the area, but I need to go where I can get work, and hopefully that’s in football.
“I’m not ruling out anything, whether that’s first team, academy, a normal job - I just don’t know yet. I’m in no rush to make a decision, but I’ll start getting itchy feet, that’s for sure.
“I wouldn’t dismiss anything, I would look into any options and possibilities and see what’s financially viable. I wouldn’t like people to think that I’ll turn my nose up at something just because I was assistant manager at a Scottish Premiership club, because I know how difficult it is to be in football.
“If that means a route back in through academies, then so be it, but I know how limited options are in the Highlands. I’ll just see what’s what and take it from there.”
