Ross County manager says he has respect for playing pressure
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Seven matches in, Ross County are still waiting for their first victory of the Premiership campaign. But with manager Malky Mackay describing last week’s display at Motherwell as their best yet, nobody is cracking under pressure in Dingwall.
It takes a strong mentality to keep coming back and playing as well as the Staggies did at Fir Park, especially when circumstances have been far from ideal.
The trials and tribulations County faced at the start of the season with Covid-19 and a complete overhaul of their squad have been well-documented, as have the frustrations over not having away fans at matches before last week’s trip to North Lanarkshire.
That would be enough to deal with on a day-to-day basis, but the sad reality is that for professional footballers, there is an unprecedented level of criticism coming their way.
Fans can shout whatever they like in stadia, but too often there is plenty of vitriol on social media directed towards players who have underperformed.
“Having been there myself I’ve got a great respect for these players,” Mackay said.
“They have to stay mentally strong through a variety of things – insecurity of whether they will get a game, where their career is going, where their contract sits, how the manager thinks they’re doing, and what is written on social media.
“Football is one of the industries where it’s still seen as acceptable to hurl abuse from stands, or on social media. I’m not saying it’s acceptable, but it’s still there and it’s not something that’s talked about as much as other lines of work.
“Obviously the manager is going to get it, and I think I will be the last person that will stop with, but talking about the players’ mental strength, that’s where they’ve got to have it.
“It is different now, they’re open to anything and they’ve got to deal with that.”
Mackay sees part of his role as County manager as doing his best to shield players from the inevitable criticism that comes their way – no matter how difficult that proves to be for the 49-year-old.
“Players are just young lads, like anyone else they’ve got wives and kids and families and friends who might all see these things as well,” Mackay explained.
“I can’t mask them from that, I can’t shield them from that, but what I can do is keep reaffirming how much I value them.
“People say ‘well, they’re playing football every day’. Some people would cut their arm off to play football for a living, but it’s like anything at the top end of what you do – look at the Ryder Cup last weekend, people would be watching on the telly thinking it’s an easy shot, how have they missed it.
“There are levels of who can play at what level. Imagine being on the pitch in the game between Man City and PSG – you would be eaten alive playing on that pitch unless you were actually at that level.
“I’ve got a great respect for my group, and what I can do is keep telling them that and showing them stuff they do.
“That’s the best thing, you show them evidence of things they do, how they played last week against Motherwell, and that’s the belief I can instil in them.
“The environment that I try and create with my staff is to make sure it’s a good, safe environment for them to flourish. That’s where the stresses can go away, because you’ve got processes that you go through every day to combat that.”
