Roy MacGregor insists Ross County’s stars will not be sold cheap in ‘nobody will get pinched’ decree
Ross County chiefs expect the club’s current squad to pull together with the aim of winning the Championship this season – as chairman Roy MacGregor insisting “it will take a lot” to prise their key stars away from Dingwall.
In the wake of the Staggies’ relegation from the top flight, there has been concern among the fanbase that some of their stand-out performers could be picked off cheaply.
There has been speculation around the future of top scorer Ronan Hale in particular, after he scored 18 goals in all competitions, with the likes of Wigan Athletic, Luton Town, Reading, Bolton Wanderers, Derby County, Peterborough, Portsmouth and Wrexham all having been credited with an interest in the Northern Ireland international in recent months.
However, speaking to the press earlier this week, MacGregor and County’s chief executive officer Steven Ferguson insist they are not in a position where they need to sell, so anyone looking to buy Hale will need to put their hands in their pockets.
Ferguson said: “We invested in Ronan as a replacement for Simon Murray, and if you were to tell me that he would end up with 17 goals in his first season in the Premiership, I would have bitten both of your hands off.
“Getting 17 goals in a team that was struggling to score was huge. He’s just had a cap for Northern Ireland, so that raises his profile, but he’s on a long-term contract to be a Ross County player.
“We encourage players wanting to improve, but he is under contract and he will be reporting for pre-season training as part of the group that is going to try and win the Championship.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there is interest in more of our players, but the way that we do our business is that these players are under contract with us, and we look after our players.
"If we have invested in players, they are assets to the football club and there are no clauses in their contracts."
MacGregor continued: "Players won’t get picked off. Take Simon Murray for example, we had a really good relationship with him, and he was under contract so we could have made life difficult for him, but we accepted that his personal life was more important than him scoring goals for us.
"We worked a deal with a number of clubs, and we got the best deal, and the money that we got bought Akil Wright, Ronan Hale and Noah Chilvers. That's the way we trade.
"Nobody will get pinched. If someone comes in and offers us £1 million for Ronan Hale, we'll have to consider it, but they will have to push the boat."
Both of County’s chiefs also revealed that they were looking to make three more signings after the arrivals of Declan Gallagher, Gary Mackay-Steven and Ross Docherty already this summer.
Added to players like Jay Henderson coming back in from loan, and there is plenty of optimism about what can be achieved in the 2025/26 campaign.
Ferguson said: “I think the credibility of the football club is on show here. It’s common knowledge that Premiership clubs wanted to sign all three of the players we’ve signed this summer, so part of our story is that we believe we are going to win the Championship this year, and pitching that to players.
"It's not just Ronan Hale who is still in contract – Akil Wright, Noah Chilvers, our two Premiership-quality goalkeepers are too.
"Jay Henderson was nominated for player of the year in the Championship last season. We believed that him going and playing 40 games in the Championship would mean we had a more complete player next year.
"We thought we would be in the Premiership, and we're not, but the way his contract was structured he's still here and he will be with us in the Championship.
"We were after six signings, and we've got three over the line quickly, and we're hoping another three will follow to compliment the players we have.
MacGregor added: "We will probably have a tighter squad. The three players we have taken in were our top three targets.
"We wanted leadership on the park, so we took in Declan Gallagher. We took in Ross Docherty, who was the best leader we knew, and we took in Gary Mackay-Steven because we wanted to go back to playing with wingers. We also have Jay Henderson coming back as a winger.
"We have another three targets we're working on. If we can get in all six then we will be in the right place. We identified very early what we wanted and Steven and Don went after them.”
