Former Ross County striker Steven Hislop believes John Robertson can boost the Staggies’ title target next season.
He’s delighted that the Dingwall chiefs kept boss Don Cowie at the helm after the club plunged out of the Premiership.
And he believes recruiting ex-County and Inverness manager Robertson as his assistant could be a match made in heaven as they target a Championship-title win.
For a third successive year, the Dingwall club were the top-flight’s second-bottom side after a nightmare run of results from March onwards.
It was a case of third time unlucky as they lost the play-off final 5-3 on aggregate to Livingston, ending their six-year run in the Premiership.
After a week of crunch talks, chairman Roy MacGregor and chief executive Steven Ferguson opted to part ways with assistant boss Carl Tremarco, and first-team coach Paul Cowie, who is Don’s brother.
And vastly experienced boss Robertson was appointed as Cowie’s assistant.
‘Bubbly’ Robbo will help raise spirits
Hislop was a key player for Robertson at Inverness when they won the second tier title in 2004 and he knows exactly what the players will get from Robbo, who briefly bossed County in 2005.
He said: “I was Robbo’s first-ever signing at Caley Thistle (in 2003).
“He signed me on Christmas Day, and I actually played under him at Inverness, Livingston and East Fife.
“I think John coming in will be beneficial for Don and the club.
“As a coach, he’ll be very bubbly with the players, and he will raise the spirits and hopefully they will be confident to fly out the traps.
“They will be the league favourites, and they need a strong start. The last thing they want is to be chasing teams early on.
“The key now will be recruitment.
“It is difficult to get players to move to the north of Scotland, so it might be difficult to get players in, but the carrot is they could next year be playing in the Scottish Premiership.”
‘Players get managers the sack, it’s good Ross County stuck by Don’
Hislop accepts it’s a cruel business when push comes to shove, but feels it was right to keep 42-year-old Cowie after his first full season in frontline management.
He said: “It is good the club stuck by Don.
“As an ex-footballer, you see managers get changed all the time, and there is no real momentum.
“Managers get the sack, but it’s players who get managers the sack. Players sometimes don’t get held accountable, so it’s good to see, particularly with Don being a young manager, that Ross County kept him on.
“I imagine there would have been serious talks in the boardroom. The remit will be to get promoted next season or he will be out because that’s unfortunately how football works.
“I would imagine Ross County will have the biggest budget in the division.
“It was a shame that Don’s brother Paul and Carl Tremarco had to be let go. The side were clearly doing a good job until those last two months of the season. It’s a cut-throat business.”
Losing run was hard hurdle to clear
With County in the chase for a top-six spot going into March, they plunged into a run of seven losses and two draws before being beaten by Livingston in the play-off final.
Hislop explained that once a losing run starts, it can be tough to reverse.
He said: “It looked for a while that County were going to challenge for top six and then a couple of bad results led to the confidence dropping and the poor run continued and they kept looking over their shoulders as more teams crept up on them and overtook them.
“When you fall into that cycle of losing games, you can then concede the first goal in games and heads can go down. It’s a hard hurdle to get over.
“Unfortunately, it caught up with them dramatically and they lost to Livingston in the play-off final.”
Title win must be the target – Hislop
Following relegation from the Premiership Hislop knows bouncing back to the top-flight will be the top priority at Global Energy Stadium.
He believes chairman Roy MacGregor’s drive will ensure Cowie is well supported in his bid to win promotion back to the Premiership.
He said:Â “The chairman will again be dipping into his pocket, and as chairman he will want to do that to give Ross County the best possible chance of going up.
“It’s not even a case of trying to go up at the first attempt – the target will be to win the league.
“The play-offs are horrible, and they are more suited to the team which finishes second bottom of the Premiership.
“Unfortunately, after three successive years finishing 11th, it caught up with County.
“Robbo has come in and he knows the club and knows the area and, vitally, he knows how to win that division.
“I am sure he will be a good shoulder for Don to lean on. They will know one another well, so hopefully it’s a match made in Championship heaven, so to speak.”
Hislop harbours hopes for ICTFC rise
Hislop left County to join Inverness in 2003, where he played his role in helping the club reach the SPL – Scottish Premier League – one year later.
With ICT coming out of administration in a matter of weeks following Alan Savage’s bid going through, Hislop is urging the Highland capital side to aim high, starting with promotion from League One next term.
He said: “As much as Ross County and Inverness have always had banter over the years, the two Highland clubs need one another.
“Hopefully Caley Thistle can kick on now they’re out of administration.
“After getting the 15-point deduction, they did have a phenomenal season under Scott Kellacher (finishing seventh).
“They would actually have finished second in the league without that deduction, so they were not a million miles away in terms of their form, considering the terrible start they had, and the negativity of the points deduction.
“Scott’s a lovely guy and he done a brilliant job there since he took over (from Duncan Ferguson).
ICTFC can be League One favourites
Hislop believes Kellacher’s feat of keeping Inverness in the division has earned him the backing he will need to build a side capable of winning the League One title.
He said:Â “The board and the players had a lot of faith in him, and their results show that.
“It is a massive boost for the players, the club, the fans and everyone at Caley Thistle for Alan Savage’s deal to go through.
“I really hope Scott gets the backing to go and strengthen the squad. I would imagine they will then become favourites to win League One.
“They have to really drive on and try to get back into the Championship and ultimately back into the Premiership. Hopefully we can see both Highland sides back at the top level before too long.”
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