Ross County adamant no stone will be left unturned for Premiership return as chief executive Steven Ferguson admits relegation led to lots of ‘soul searching’ in Dingwall
Ross County chief executive Steven Ferguson insists the Staggies are determined not to leave any stone unturned this summer as they plot a return to the Scottish Premiership.
Defeat to Livingston in the play-off final meant that, for just the second time in 14 seasons, the Staggies will be playing in the second tier during the 2025/26 campaign.
Last time that happened in 2018/19, County managed to secure an immediate return to the top flight.
That will be the aim this time around again, and the club have already implemented changes to try and help make that a reality.
John Robertson has rejoined the club as manager Don Cowie’s new assistant, with former coaches Carl Tremarco and Paul Cowie departing the club.
Seven out of contract players have also left the club, with Josh Nisbet following suit by exercising a relegation option in his contract that allowed him to depart.
There will be significant turnover on and off the pitch, then, and Ferguson says it is a concerted effort to do everything they can to secure the fastest possible return to the Premiership.
“We had a difficult season last season. There were some really positive moments, and some real tough moments, but that’s the Premiership and Ross County within it.
“Relegation was raw, and it hurt, but we did not want to leave a stone unturned.
“There was a lot of discussion and soul searching, and we felt that there needed to be some sort of change.
“We thought long and hard about how we could do that, and we’re obviously still in the process of working through what our blueprint is to try and win the Championship.
“The first thing we needed to do was let everybody know who the manager was going to be, and what support would be around him for the season ahead, and we managed to do that.
“We’ve got to a stage where we have a management team that we think gives us the best chance to win the Championship, we have tidied up the current group of players with some negotiations still going on, and we’ve brought in Declan Gallagher who will be an important part of the rebuild.
“Now we look forward to building a squad and we will continue to chase other targets between now and pre-season as we focus on trying to win the Championship. All roads are leading to giving ourselves the best chance of trying to do that.”
With relegation will naturally come cost-cutting, with revenue taking a hit in the Championship compared to the top flight.
That puts staff outside of the first team environment at risk, but Ferguson says no decisions have been made about other structural changes that could be coming.
“We’re in the middle of a full review at the moment,” he added.
“We identify that the community and academy side of the club are huge parts of our DNA, and they will still be a huge part of our DNA moving forward.”
