Rick's Career

Good job so far dude! Hope you can keep this up and get to the dizzing heights of the SPL!

December was good to you mate! Well done. Hopefully you can keep it up and make top spot your own!

We began the new year with some more good form, hanging onto the top spot even though Falkirk have eroded a narrow lead at the top down to goal difference.

An 81st minute Steven Ross goal rescued a point against Dunfermline which was a relief as they certainly wouldn't have deserved to have beaten us.
Morton turned out to be a bit more of a push over as we eased to a solid win without ever really breaking a sweat, it was more of the same against Hamilton, although Academical did threaten a late come back, thankfully we were able to weather the storm and hold on, Following Ross's 23rd minute penalty, the striker has now scored in six successive games.
Finally came the visit of Queen of the South who have gotten the better of us in our previous two meetings, despite us dominating the game we were not able to break down QotS who have really surprised me since being promoted from Division two in the summer, their beginning to fall away now but until recently they looked as if they could be on for a second successive promotion

Transfer news now, Swiss full back Mihael Kovacevic has agreed to join Aberdeen when his contract expires in the summer which is a blow as he has been immense for us this season, young midfielder Alex Cooper is also leaving to join Livingston, but I'm not bothered about that as I don't rate him much.
In addition to these departures we have agreed a deal for Northern Irish midfielder Robbie Garrett from Linfield.

I've been out to Ireland to watch him, he possesses all the mental attributes I prize and should click right into place when he joins at the end of the season.
I'm also considering an offer for my old inspirational Dumbarton captain Andy Graham who would make a wonderful, hard working addition to the squad should I move for him.




Thanks mate, yeah that's the plan, just twelve games to go in order to achieve that goal now.


Yeah it was, January went ok as well so as long as the next couple also go fine we should go up...should.

Just four games this month, two of them against Falkirk;

We went into the crunch game with Falkirk on the back of an eleven game unbeaten run and two points clear of the Bairnes in the table, after slipping behind in the 52nd minute my side reacted like a wounded lion, scoring twice in seven minutes to turn the tables completely, that was until Rob Hulse managed to pull Falkirk level with five minutes left to play, I would have been happy with a point as it would have kept us top, however the b*stards robbed us in injury time for a thoroughly undeserved win.
We were immediately given the chance to extract some vengeance upon Falscum by dumping them out of the Scottish cup thanks to goals from Steven Ross and Jordan Morton to see us book ourselves a place in the last eight of the cup where we will host Hearts, if we can overcome them I see any reason the club can't go on to it's second final in three years.

After the loss to Falkirk we could really have done with beating Raith to keep pace with the leaders, however after only managing a 1-1 draw we slipped five points behind in the title race. we reduced that deficit to three with a convincing 4-1 rout over Cowdenbeath which included Steven Ross netting his 17th and 18th strikes of the campaign, he has now scored fourteen goals in his last twelve games.


Ross's form earned him an award;


I'm looking forward to next month, particularly the cup quarter final with Hearts, we've already beaten Inverness and Rangers this season who are both traditionally seen as bigger clubs than us, so I can't see why we can't pull off an upset against Hearts.
There is also my fourth and final show down with my former club Dumbarton to savour, our three previous meetings finished 4-0, 3-0 and 3-0 again, all in our favour, can we maintain our impressive record?

Unlucky to drop behind Falkirk in the league mate. Although your not far behind at all so could go back top if they have a slip up! I'm sure you'll manage it.

March proved an incredibly frustrating month which saw us allow the title to slip out of our own hands and into those of Falkirk who are now four points clear with five games to go, making our April fixture with them an absolute must win if we are to stand any chance of returning to the SPL this year.

My old club Dumbarton weren't willing to roll over and let us take the points we needed to return to the top of the table although their stay in the First division looks to be coming to an end with them ten points adrift of safety which is disappointing to see.
Next up was the Scottish cup quarter final with SPL side Hearts we matched the Tynecastle side all the way, until the introduction of Britt Assombolonga in the 85th minute, the Congolese international scored twice in the space of three minutes to condemn us to defeat and bring an end to our dreams of a place in the final.

After allowing another two points to go down the drain against Livingston it was imperative we beat Morton in order to stop Falkirk running away with it which we did with an impressive performance, captain Grant Munro got a brace after making a pest of him self at set pieces throughout the game.
With Falkirk only managing a draw against Dumbarton, a victory for us against third place Dunfermline would have seen us slash Falkirk's lead to just a point, however we failed to covert pressure into chances as the game fizzled out into a lacklustre 0-0.

So the onus is well and truly on us going into the last five games against Hamilton, Falkirk, QotS, Raith and Cowdenbeath. Falkirk aside we should comfortably be beating the other four sides, it's just a matter of handling the pressure (and Falkirk slipping up somewhere in their run-in.)

You'll need a good run of form now!

Well, our season ended up fizzling out, we had to settle for second place. a disappointing end to a season which promised so much last August but inconsistency has cost us in the end. As things stand I will be leading County again next season, but the board certainly isn't happy about failing to achieve promotion back to the SPL which was their primary aim for the season.

In earnest the title was lost at Hamilton rather than the crunch tie with Falkirk, we came from a goal down to lead in the 44th minute but immediately lost the lead to a Chris Iwelumo goal just a minute later. Needing to win I pushed everybody forward in search of a third goal, unfortunately that left us rather exposed at the back which Academical exploited with just four minutes left to play, Jon Routledge bursting away with my defenders still up in the oppositions half to all but kill our title dream.
We went into the Falkirk game seven points behind, if we could snatch the points then perhaps we could cause the Bairnes to doubt themselves in their final three games and leave the door open for us, slipping behind in the twelfth minute looked to be the end of matters, however we were handed a lifeline shortly before half time thanks to an own goal by goalkeeper Graham Smith. We began the second half like a speeding freight train, creating a plethora of chances, however, try as we might none of them would go in, finally Falkirk took advantage of our failings in front of goal, Lewis Small getting in behind our high defensive line to slot the ball past Alex Cisak to wrap up the title for the home side as we started to plan for another run in division one next season.

Typically with the title now beyond reach, our form picked up in the final three games, Stevie Ross continued to chase the golden boot with a brace against Queen of the South before midfielder's Robbie Crawford and Jordan Morton secured another victory, this time against Raith Rovers.
I used the final day against Cowdenbeath to experiment with a few of our brighter youth prospects, including defender Roy Bruce who at just 15 years old became the youngest player in club history, how good does the look?;

We did my former club Dumbarton a favour by preventing Cowdenbeath from winning, handing the Sons a stay of execution, although they were later relegated in the play-off's, Airdrie and Rangers will be coming up in their place whereas Partick Thistle will be returning to division one after being relegated from the SPL.
The title looks a bigger ask next season with Rangers coming up, I think it would be more sensible to begin building for a real push the following season and using 2014/15 as a transitional period, several of our players were promised promotion this season so they will be wanting to leave the club, some also have a non-promotion release clause so I may well have to revamp my squad in the summer.

We have several players in the team of the year;

Jordan Morton and Lewis Milne were both summer signings of mine who I brought in to start building a squad of my own making, they are both hard working and natural creative players who have proved well worth the money I invested in them, captain Grant Munro has lead by example at the back, he should still have another good season in this legs so he will again be a fixture in my defence next term, I will be using him as a mentor for young Roy Bruce as I slowly phase the youngster in. Stevie Ross didn't quite manage the golden boot, coming up one goal short of Raith's Brian Graham on 23, still he has been deadly in front of goal.

So unlucky mate! Im sure you destroy the league next season!!

It's been a frustrating summer for me and County as we faced up to the prospect of another season in division one, the club's financial situation meant I had to sit idly by and watch our rivals snap up my transfer targets as the vultures circled above the better players in my current squad, thankfully I was able to hold on to all bar one of my first team regulars but I had to make do with utilising the loan and free transfer markets in order to bolster my team.
Outgoing:

I was saddened by the lost of Kovacevic who was an integral part of my squad last season at right back, Alex Cooper can take a running jump for all i care as he never put an effort in for us. I have loaned a few of my most promising youngsters to our affiliate club Montrose in order for them to gain some first team experience.
Ok, lets take a quick glance at the new faces who will be representing the Staggies in 2014/15;

I have also brought back Rangers pair Chris Hegarty, 22 and Robbie Crawford, 21, on loan for a second season, both came on leaps and bounds last term, a second season of regular football could really aid their development and help them break into the Rangers team, if the Gers don't want them I would be quite happy to take the pair off their hands.

Here's a look at my squad as a whole;

As you can see, I have a strong side that should be capable of at least making Rangers and Partick work for the title, we have good strength in depth and some decent youngsters emerging which is encouraging.

Right then, on to results;

We've had a very reasonable start to the season, unbeaten after eight games and still alive in all competitions, I couldn't ask for much more, our cup form has been particularly impressive.
The opening day saw my players burst into life by tearing second division Elgin to shreds in the Challenge cup, Gary Glen emphatically staked his claim for a more regular place in my team by netting a hat-trick in just 15 minutes, Chris Whelpdale, débutante Simon Lappin and want away striker Steffan Wohlfarth completed the rout to set up a second round tie with Queen of the South.
The cup action continued against Peterhead, this time in the League cup, a brace from winger Jordan Morton and a rare strike from fullback George Francombe saw us ease through to a game with Greenock Morton.

Before the cup game with Morton we had to take on the Ton in the opening league fixture, we slipped behind early after conceding a seventh minute penalty, however Steven Ross came off the bench to rescue a draw which was the very least we deserved after controlling the game.
Two newbies secured safe passage into the last eight of the Challenge cup with Simon Lappin and Ryan Stevenson scoring in a 2-1 win over QotS.

Our second successive game against the Doonhamers didn't quite produce another victory as we played out a rather forgettable 1-1 draw.
A 0-0 bore draw with Livingston made it three draws from three games in the league, not the ideal start when we will be needing to get as many points under our belts as possible to compete with Rangers and Partick Thistle, but still, unbeaten.
Our second meeting of the season with Morton produced a real game of two halves, finding ourselves 2-0 down at the break, prompting me to lug the old hair dryer in which did the trick, Stevie Ross almost immediately pulled one back before winger Jordan Morton rifled in from 25 yards to even up the scores, from that point on there only seemed like there was one possible out come in the game, Ivan Sproule netting the winner with nine minutes to go to complete a wonderful turn around to send us through to a third round tie with SPL side St. Mirren.
Finally we visited Dunfermline, who we didn't manage a win over in our four meetings last season, all that changed today though as an early penalty got us off the mark before a thunderbolt from Ryan Stevenson extended our lead to two, which proved a winning advantage as we picked up our first three points of the campaign.

All in all I'm delighted with how the first month has gone, the cups in particular have been exciting, I believe we have a real chance in the Challenge and cup and perhaps if we play our best the League cup also.




It would be nice but with Rangers and Partick Thistle in the same division I have to say I'm not too optimistic about going up this year, I'm going to be focusing on building a squad for a serious push next season and sorting out our deepening financial crisis.

Some brilliant signings there mate, Especially Stevenson, Lappin, Garrett and Hegarty.

Surely you must be a shoe-in for promotion this year!

Good luck.

Some good signings you've made Rick. Good luck this season.

A tough season ahead with Rangers in your division!

Our already very reasonable start to the season has turned into a truly phenomenal one as we continued our unbeaten run, we now have eight wins on the bounce and an unbeaten run which now stands at seventeen games.

The month kicked off with a narrow 1-0 win over Hamilton before a Challenge cup quarter final with Airdrie where my players showed just how much lifting a trophy this season means to them, picking apart the Diamonds to see us through to the final four where we will face Partick Thistle with the winner facing either Hamilton or Rangers in the final.
We rode the wave of euphoria from the previous fixture into our first meeting with the dreaded Rangers, my players gave the 54 time champions no respect as we outplayed the Gers from start to finish, Stevie Ross fired us into the lead on the stroke of half time, the dismissal of Rangers's Kevin Thompson in the 76th minute as we claimed our first victory over the Ibrox side in the clubs history.
Next up was an equally tough challenge in Partick Thistle, with us meeting again in the cup semi final next month this was going to be a useful exercise in both scouting and mind games, goals from Lewis Milne and Jordan Morton put us into a commanding position, the Jags did threaten a come back in the second half but we were able to hold out for another important victory.

It was then back to cup action, this time in the League cup as we headed to SPL side St.Mirren where we faced a stern test, the game was balanced on a knife edge with both sides having several good chances to take the lead, however it wasn't until the 86th minute that the deadlock was finally broken, Steven Ross wriggling free of his marker to fire us into a home quarter final with mighty Celtic, the end of our cup run? perhaps, but we'll certainly be going out with a fight, and if we can somehow knock out Celtic then what's to stop us winning our first major trophy?
Our final game in this remarkable month was our second face off with Airdrie this season, it actually proved to be the toughest game so far as the underdogs threw everything at us, thankfully we did manage to grab a goal against the run of play midway through the second half which we were able to protect in order to move four points clear at the top of division one!

The Airdrie game was also a milestone for me personally as I reached 100 games in management;

There was an award to make the occasion even sweeter;


In other news;

The club is over £1M in debt so a takeover would be brilliant to prevent a slide into administration, I just hope the new owner doesn't want to bring in a manager of his own!

Charlie - Cheers, but I won't be getting ahead of myself just yet, there is still a long way to go.
Shedender - Thanks mate!
Sean - Aye, but beating them this month has certainly boosted our confidence.

Great start this season matey. Hopefully you get a sugar daddy and he gives you loads of dollar to spend!

After our amazing run in the last few months the bubble had to burst sometime, defeats to Morton and Raith brought us back down to earth with a bump, we are however through to the Challenge cup final after overcoming Partick to set up a big day out at Hampden against Rangers.

Going into a game against Greenock Morton on the back of a run of seventeen games without defeat, one might be forgiven for expecting s to get something out of the game and when we took the lead after just ten minutes anything other than a County win seemed unlikely, however complacency crept into our game as Morton rallied and battled back to level terms before going on to win much to my annoyance, I made my fury known to my players after the game in no uncertain terms.
After a potentially morale shattering defeat it was imperative that I instilled confidence into my players ahead of the challenge cup semi final with Partick, thankfully I was able to push their buttons and fire them up for the biggest game of the season so far as two Stevie Ross goals in the opening twenty minutes were enough to book our tickets for Hampden where we will take on Rangers who we have already beaten this season remember!

Our cup joy was short lived as we slumped to a second league defeat in a row, this time to Raith Rovers who in beating us seized the top spot for themselves, Rovers had taken an early lead through striker Joe Hammill, however the irrepressible Steven Ross had evened the score just after the half hour mark, from then on we always looked the most likely winners as we trapped Raith within their own half, unfortunately we perhaps pushed them too high up the pitch as Lewis Vaughan broke away clean through on goal in the 85th minute to win the game for Rovers.
Those two losses hurt our pride as well as our title hopes, my side responded with a dominating display against Queen of the South, we controlled the game from first to last, allowing QotS just a single shot on goal throughout, in truth it could of been a rout, however I'm happy with 2-0 and getting back to winning ways.

Finally came the big one, a home League cup quarter final against Celtic, the potential for an upset was truly in the air before kick off, however our odds quickly became much much longer when Charlie Austin fired the Bhoys ahead after just 30 seconds, to my boys's credit the defended wonderfully and refused to allow Celtic a second before the break, they were rewarded with the last move of the half, Chris Whelpdale dropping a freekick perfectly onto the head of captain Grant Munro who nodded past Wayne Hennessey in the green and white goal to send us in all square.
Celtic were back ahead on the hour mark in infuriating circumstances, Portugese forward Joao Silva appeared to have dribbled the ball off the pitch for a goal kick, with all of the ball clearly over the line, however the officials (or the crappy game engine) didn't seem to notice this as the forward played a one two with a supporting Celtic player before beating Michael Fraser from point blank range at his near post.
Perhaps fueled by a sense of injustice, my lads carried on, even more determined that they should get something from the Champions, we were level again with twelve minutes to go when Stevie Ross was on hand to slot the ball home following a goalmouth scramble to send our supporters wild.
With the scores at 2-2 it looked as if we were going to force extra time, however another cruel twist of fate befell us late on, Tony Watt used his pace to burst through our backline but was denied brilliantly by Fraser, the keeper however could do nothing about the rebound which fell to Joe Ledgley who made no mistake in netting an 88th minute winner. A great effort by my team though and they can hold their heads high after giving Celtic a real test today.
The game also provided a much need financial boost;



That would be nice mate but the takeover now looks in doubt;

Hopefully they can sort it out as the club could really use it's finances being brought under control before it's too late.

Youre still doing really well dude, cut out the defeats again and youll be up top in no time!

God sake, same thing that happened to me is happening to you! How annoying is it!?

Nice earner from the Celtic game! Still close in the league too.

Well, we came up just short in the Challenge cup final;

It's always gutting to lose a cup final, even if you did go into it as underdogs. still the fact that we are reaching cup finals in the first place is something that the club can take heart from.
We will immediately get the chance to exert some revenge on Rangers as we face them at home next in the league.


RJ - Thanks mate, yeah, if only i knew how to cure our inconsistancy.
Charlie - I know, I wish they would hurry up and sort it out one way or another.

I literally don't know how to react to this month, it has been a truly baffling run of games, from appearing in a cup final to getting hammered by a division three side and other strange results along the way.

Ivan Sproule's sixth minute strike was enough to see off Livingston and return us to the top of the table before a disappointing defeat to bottom of the league Dunfermline promptly toppled us off of it again, our inconsistency is so frustrating, all of our last five wins have immediately been followed with a defeat so the omens were not looking good for the Challenge cup final when we came from behind to defeat Hamilton to once again climb to the top of the pile.
We were right to fear that omen, despite a spirited battle with Rangers at Hampden we were unable to bring the trophy back to Dingwall, going down 2-1 to the Ibrox side.
Of course after having lost the previous game the consistently inconsistent form gods owed us a win in the next match, which they duly delivered as we avenged having to collect silver medals in the cup final by beating Ally McCoist's men in the league for the second time this season. Mr. McCoist incidentally now finds himself worrying about his employment status after the Gers's poor start this season, sacking him would be rather harsh in my opinion but I would be quite happy to jump in his grave should he go!

An 83rd minute Ryan Donnally header ensured the points were split between us and Airdrie which was frustrating, but at least be broke our win/lose chain of results and earned a point to keep ourselves top of the division.
The final game of the month saw us entertain division three side Brechin in the Scottish cup, as games are coming thick and fast at this time of the year i opted to field a weakened team which included two sixteen year old's in defence which proved a fatal decision as Brechin sensed our weakness, exploiting it to full effect, I now have a sore throat from yelling at my players, none of whom stepped up, the performance was not good enough even if they are only young against a side such as Brechin, especially at home. Easily the worst performance I have overseen in my career so far.
Still at least we're doing well in the league;

There was an award for Stevie Ross this month;

I don't know where we would be without this lad, he already has 17 goals in all competitions this season, add that to his 26 last term and I'm suprised no bigger clubs have shown an interest yet.

The proposed takeover has officially collapsed now, although the chairman still seems keen to sell up;

Surprised to see Rangers struggle. They favourites for promotion? You're doing well though, mate. KIU.

One of the two biggest jobs in Scottish football has just opened up, and I simply couldn't resist putting my name forward to succeed Ally McCoist at Rangers;

With the board impatient for a return to the SPL, even Ibrox legend McCoist wasn't afforded time despite only being six points off the pace in fourth, it just shows what a tough job this is and what sort of pressure I'll be under with the 54 time Scottish champions.

I've really enjoyed my 18 months or so with County, I build a squad I'm proud of and reached a cup final, however this was just too big of an opportunity to pass up and hopefully the start of my trophy collecting days.

Take it.

Good luck to them, I hope the club bears me no ill will, I enjoyed myself there and am already looking forward to my first trip back to Dingwall.

Right, here's a look at my new players;

Rangers have a MASSIVE squad, the above screenshot is just the first team, there are also reserve and youth teams full of money sucking leaches with low work rates who I shall be trying to offload when the transfer window opens up. I am already planning to raid my former club in January to bring in Stevie Ross and Lewis Milne, both of whom I'm very fond of and would love to have as part of my set up here at Ibrox, I also wouldn't mind bringing Andy Graham over with me perhaps as a player coach, Andy was my captain at Dumbarton as well as vice captain at County.

Rangers are obviously a very well know club, but here's a quick overview of their facilities;


I think we should easily be winning this division, I've gathered a good tactical knowledge of all the other clubs in the league which should help, we are also still going in the Scottish cup with a last sixteen tie with Dundee United on the horizon.

Good luck at Rangers- this is a great read.

good luck dude

good luck dude

Unlucky on losing the cup final but good luck at Rangers

Massive move considering they are below County!

I've had a good first month in charge at Ibrox, winning all four of our games and playing some good football;

My first game came at home to Queen of the South, Rangers had taken a big risk appointing me as manager when they could have gone for someone with much more experience at a higher level, so it goes without saying that I was desperate to prove myself, you can imagine my disappointment when we fell behind after just three minutes to a Martin Boyle strike. thankfully that turned out to just being teething problems as the players adapted to my tactical changes, two headed goals from French defender Sebastian Faure turned the game around before Ryan Wallace fired in a third to confirm the win.
Wallace who had been floundering in the reserves before my arrival continued his scoring form by adding another two against Livington and yet another against Dunfermline in a narrow 1-0 win.
Finally we took on Hamilton, knowing a win could take us top depending on other results, DJ Campbell's strike in the eight minute was enough to secure the win but Patrick just hung on to first place by a point.


There's several players who I want to ship out as they lack the work ethic I so prize, already though I have flexed the Gers financial muscle to re-unite myself with two of my former County charges.

Stevie was the primary source of goals at County having scored 36 goals in the last two years, hopefully he can continue his fine form here at Rangers.

His £110k move from Cowdenbeath to County was probably the best signing of my career so far, this time I had to stump up a bit more (£190k) but I have full confidence he will again repay my faith.


Thanks mate, keep reading!


Thank you


Aye it was a bit gutting but still, technically the cup is on the mantel piece of my club now.


Not any more \o/