Steven Ferguson says Ross County’s summer recruitment will be geared towards the Staggies sustaining a competitive Premiership standing for many years to come.
County are preparing for their fourth successive top-flight campaign, after finishing sixth in the Premiership this term.
Next season will be the Staggies’ 10th year from the last 11 among Scotland’s elite, having first won promotion in 2012.
Malky Mackay is preparing for another busy summer, with Blair Spittal joining six loan players in departing the Staggies.
Regan Charles-Cook, Harry Paton and Alex Iacovitti are also nearing the end of their contracts.
Chief executive Ferguson says the appointment of Enda Barron as the club’s head of data analysis and recruitment last summer has allowed the Staggies to go into the transfer window better prepared.
Ferguson said: “Bringing in Enda Barron specifically in that role was a first since Owen Coyle and Jim McIntyre’s days.
“Over the last three or four years, it has been very much recognised that if we wanted to be sustainable, we couldn’t continue recruiting in the way we had been.
“We’ve looked at that and invested in people and invested in a process. What we feel as a club is that if we get that bit right then we’ll have a better chance of being that sustainable model in Scotland’s Premiership.
“We were never going to be that sustainable top-flight club by continuing in that way, and that’s no disrespect to anybody. It was one that had to happen.
“Enda now has that responsibility as his actual day job. There’s a lot more focus, time spent, specialist input, use of software and analysis – everything that enables you to compete in the Premiership.
“We feel we’re in a better position now than we’ve been for a long time due to the time and effort, and investment that we’ve put in place.
“It gives us a good chance of competing properly within the Premiership.”
County go into summer with strong nucleus
Mackay oversaw a big transition after joining the Staggies last summer, with 15 players moving on and 12 new faces arriving.
Although there will be more comings and goings this year, Ferguson insists County will have a stronger starting point having tied down much of their squad on new deals.
Ross Callachan, Connor Randall, Jordan White and Jordan Tillson are among those to have renewed their deals in recent weeks.
Ferguson added: “What Malky and all of us were keen to do was have that nucleus. To replace that nucleus would be really difficult.
“The fact we had such a huge turnover at the start of the season encouraged us to do a little bit of business earlier than normal.
“We were able to do that because of success on the pitch. Had we not been in that position, these conversations wouldn’t have been had.
“From myself, the chairman and Malky, we’ve left no stone unturned in trying to keep the players we want to keep at the club.
“We’re also quite a bit down the line with another two or three we have identified through the recruitment strategy that we’d like to bring to the club.
“For that to happen, so many things need to join up.
“We’d all like these things to happen quickly, but we know it isn’t like that when recruiting players.”
Staggies’ recent success stories have shown rewards of strong recruitment
Ferguson recently spoke of his pride at former Staggies forward Ross Stewart earning his first Scotland call-up.
In his previous role as co-manager alongside Stuart Kettlewell, Ferguson was responsible for signing Stewart from St Mirren in 2018, before he was sold to English League One play-off finalists Sunderland last January.
Dingwall-born left-back Josh Reid is another success story, having earned a move to Coventry City where the 20-year-old is on the fringes of the first team.
Ferguson says recruitment has long been a focus of the Dingwall club.
He added: “Big Ross Stewart is being linked with Rangers and Norwich, while young Josh Reid is now on the bench in the Championship and looking to play down there.
“There has been a real conscious effort in our recruitment over the last period of time.
“Even before Stuart Kettlewell and I’s time, it has been ongoing.
“Everyone recognises your club is only as good as your recruitment. The levels you reach are all down to people.
“There are certainly enough people out there, but to get the right people, the recruitment needs to be good.”
