It was less around the world and more around the bend in 80 days for all concerned when it comes to Derek Adams era 3.0 at Ross County.
The law of diminishing returns certainly applied to Adams’ third (and surely final) spell in the dugout at Victoria Park.
A bright start ultimately came to nothing – so much so that Adams has left the Staggies exactly as he found them when he arrived in November, second bottom of the league and deep in the relegation mire.
It’s easy to be critical after the fact, but County chairman Roy MacGregor has not exactly covered himself in glory with this whole sorry affair either.
A top six place among the big boys of Scottish football is akin to winning the title for a club of Ross County’s stature.
That’s not being derogatory to the Staggies – that’s more a reflection of the size of the task they face every season as a Premiership club.
There will be purple patches such as the League Cup winning campaign in 2016, and the top-six finish in 2022.
But with that success comes interest in your players and for the Staggies a near-impossible fight to hang on to their prized assets.
But what there must always be a nucleus of players committed to the cause. As hard as it is, five or six senior players to provide a spine for fight every Saturday are vital.
Take a look at the squad Adams has left behind and ask yourself: can you spot those characters in the side?
Derek Adams’ final Ross County reign came with scattergun approach
Livingston manager Davie Martindale’s honest assessment he was gutted about Adams’ decision to fall on his sword last week was a candid and refreshing change from the cliched managerial talk.
In the use of that one word Martindale emphasised what everyone looking at County saw – a club deep in trouble under a manager who had given out strong signals he just did not want to be there.
The condemnation of the standard of the football in Scotland, the insistence his former club was 100 times better, the admission he had not done his homework properly on the size of the task he had taken on, followed by a scattergun dismantling and rebuilding job in January.
All for it to end with him quitting after a 5-0 demolition at Motherwell when the window is closed and his replacement is stuck with a whole new mess of his own to fix.
Right now that task has fallen to Don Cowie. As a baptism of fire goes, the flames are sky high already.
Ross County interim manager Don Cowie has a huge task ahead of him, and what if Livi rally?
It is no secret Cowie has long yearned for his chance at management, but it seems almost unfair at this point to ask him to sort this mess out.
If he does, he’s a hero. If he doesn’t, then someone else can take the blame.
But make no mistake – uniting a group of disparate individuals on achieving a goal of keeping a club few of them have any affinity for in the top-flight will be no easy task.
Cowie is going to need all the help he can get.
Livi, who are six points adrift at the foot of the table, have looked dead and buried for a while.
But you do wonder if Saturday’s remarkable rally from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Partick Thistle in the Scottish Cup can be a turning point in their season…
County fans must be hoping that will not be the case.
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