Ross County chairman Roy MacGregor insists he has no plans on walking away from the club.
The Staggies’s six-year spell in the top flight of Scottish football has come to an end following relegation to the Championship.
MacGregor has invested an eight-figure sum in the debt-free club in the past two decades and has vowed to rebuild the club for “the next five to 10 years.”
He said: “It would be easy to go now. I’ve prepared the club for when I do leave. It would be really easy.
“We have a stadium complete and paid for, no debt, and there is a legacy.
“But I’m a Highlander. Unless I get succession of the same passion for the Highlands that I have, I wouldn’t want to step aside.
“I would love a year or two out of the firing line. But people have believed in me for 20 years. I hope they will still believe in me and believe I have the best interests of the club at heart.
“The pain of relegation is there but you have to take setbacks in the correct way. We weren’t good enough in all areas and we’ve let the fans down.
“We need to ask for their renewed support and help – and their patience – as we try to rebuild for the next five to 10 years.”
After relegation was confirmed, experienced County attacker Michael Gardyne was scathing of preparation levels and professionalism under Owen Coyle.
MacGregor stopped short of laying blame at Coyle’s feet – emphasising the players’ role – but admitted he was left soul-searching over his own part in the club’s downfall.
The 64 year-old said: “We did get things wrong. Most of what we got wrong was down to the players. It’s not down to management or leadership.
“Ultimately, players have to take a responsibility. There weren’t many games where we performed.
“Looking back, would I change anything I did in terms of leadership with Jim McIntyre and Billy Dodds? There was stability, but I didn’t feel it was going forward.
“The fans didn’t believe it was going forward, but you could say that was an early decision. I need to examine that myself to consider if it created an instability about the club.
“I need to question the timing. It was early in the season.
“Owen just didn’t work. Why that was the case, it is really difficult to say. Changing managers in the middle of a season is not that clever, either, in retrospect.
“I would question myself on my decision-making. I would be a fool not to take those lessons on board and challenge myself.
“I have a huge responsibility here. The Highlands will now be without Premiership football
“So for two clubs not to play in the top league is something we need to put right. We’ll certainly be doing a bit of soul-searching here.”
