The County Corner

Well it looks like we’ve got enough time to upload one more episode of The County Corner Podcast in 2025… 🎧 Ross was joined by Stuart Kettlewell for an exclusive interview less than 24 hours after he was named as Ross County manager!👔 open.spotify.com/episode/69lykg…

⏪ On this day 10 years ago… 🏆 We made history by winning the League Cup! ⚽️ Michael Gardyne and Alex Schalk scored as we defeated Hibernian 2-1! One of the greatest ever achievements in the history of the football club - a day that will never be forgotten, and one that should always be celebrated. Here’s the highlights from that wonderful day!

Worthy of a retrospective ban being issued? @TheRefsView

Turns out it’s not even just a punch… An absolutely disgraceful decision from the referee!

For the lack of character on display on at East End Park on Tuesday night, it would have been easy to fold after the red cards today. Fair play to every County player on the park today - They stood up to the challenge at a difficult venue against a good Arbroath team and were outstanding. We were the better team with eleven, ten and then nine players on the park - If we had come away from today pointless, it would have been a travesty. It’s another clean sheet on the road which is a good way to bounce back from conceding three on Tuesday night. And worth mentioning, the standard of referring in Scotland is at an all time low but that’s the worst refereeing performances seen this season from Calum Scott and linesman Alastair Mather. First of all, no complaints about the County Red cards - Kamara lunges in and Docherty’s scissor tackle are straight-forward red cards. However, despite showing no hesitancy in showing those two red cards, Arbroath ending the game with eleven players on the park is baffling. How Muirhead escapes any punishment for having Carbon pinned down on the ground with his hand around his throat directly in front of the linesman is staggering - yet Duncan is booked for just standing next to the incident? But the worst decision was Robinson not being sent off for clearly punching Docherty in the face in the melee towards the end of the game - Another incident which the referee and linesman are only a few yards away from and are both looking directly at it. Two clear incidents of violent conduct worthy of red cards - Two simple decisions and officials bottled it on both occasions.

Well that was an utterly pathetic second half performance to round off a woeful night. Outfought, outrun and outplayed throughout the 90 minutes - Just when you think we’ve turned a corner, we come up with a performance like that to bring us crashing back down to earth. Too many players go into their shells at the first sign of adversity and take the easy option to go backwards/sideways when in possession or start hiding in games - We’ve seen this with the defeats against Morton and Queens Park in recent weeks and again tonight. We’ve already been battered 3-0 at Arbroath in November - If we turn up on Saturday with the same attitude as we had tonight, it’ll be even worse.

Individual mistakes have killed us in that first half - Docherty taking an age on the ball for the first goal and Henderson jumping out of a 50/50 in the build up for the second goal. A massive HT team talk and a couple of changes are needed here.

SPFL Championship Form Guide Points Last Six Ross County 10 Queen's Park 10 St.Johnstone 9 Partick Thistle 9 Arbroath 8 Morton 8 Airdrie 7 Dunfermline 7 Ayr Utd 6 Raith Rovers 5

A thoroughly deserved three points based on the balance of the game today. With guys like Gallagher, Wright, Levis, Uche and White in our team, we should be a big threat from set pieces if we can put good crosses into the box. The quality and consistency of the deliveries from Henderson and Mackie were outstanding - They caused Rovers problems on every occasion. Uche and White took their goals really well and their all round game was excellent - Give them both quality, consistent service and they’ll find the back of the net more often than not. Our back three managed the game really well and were very good both in and out of possession - I hope Gallagher’s injury isn’t anything serious as I thought he was outstanding both last week at Ayr and today as well. In my opinion, there’s a few County “fans” who simply aren’t willing to give Ketts a chance - They couldn’t wait to get their knives out for him after the defeats against Morton and Queens Park, and no doubt they’ll do the same again if/when we have other bumps on the road. I think it’s worth mentioning that it took nineteen league matches under Cowie, Docherty and across Robertson’s two interim spells to pick up thirteen points. In contrast, Ketts has come in and picked up the same amount of points in only seven league matches. Cowie/Docherty/Robertson Played - 19 Won - 2 Draw - 7 Lost - 10 Goals Scored - 18 Goals Conceded - 36 Points - 13 Points Per Game - 0.68 Kettlewell Played - 7 Won - 4 Draw - 1 Lost - 2 Goals Scored - 7 Goals Conceded - 3 Points - 13 Points Per Game - 1.86 There’s absolutely no doubt that we’ve had a big upturn in form since Ketts’ return - He’s getting the best out of the players at the moment and he’s implemented a defensive structure that’s stopped us conceding goals for fun. Are there still areas to improve? Of course, I’d like to see us a bit more dangerous/creative in open play but hopefully that’ll come as confidence grows in the squad. Here’s hoping we can carry the momentum from today’s performance/result into a tough game on Tuesday night at East End Park.

MATCHDAY 🆚 Raith Rovers 🏆 William Hill Championship 🗓️ 28th February 2026 📍 Dingwall 🏟️ Global Energy Stadium ⏰ 3:00 PM 🦌 ‘Mon the #staggies!

STARTING XI Your #Staggies side to take on Queen's Park here in Dingwall!

📈 Three wins from our last four league matches 🧼 Four clean sheets in our last five league matches 🇺🇬 Uche grabbing the winner on his debut What a night!👏🏻

Intrigued to see how Ketts sets up the team today… The 3-5-2 used for the majority of the game last week looked solid which helped us the game really well. But the change to 4-3-3 in the latter stages caused Airdrie so many problems and deservedly won us the game. Thoughts?

👀 Inside Training... 🎙️ Mic'd Up with Noah Chilvers and Jason Moriarty! 📺 Watch the full behind-the-scenes session on our YouTube NOW! 🔗 buff.ly/Fhic6sE

Quite pleased this whole saga has finally ended and we can all move on from it - The constant speculation about his future has been an unwelcome distraction to the club for far too long. First of all, no doubt Hale is a decent player technically that can come up with some special moments/goals and I’m sure he’ll do the same down at Gillingham. But personally, I’m amazed at the reputation that’s been built around him - The way that he’s essentially been worshipped at times by sections of our fanbase as if we’re Ronan Hale FC is absolutely baffling to me. In my opinion, I think he’s the most overhyped player to play for Ross County in my lifetime certainly and arguably in the club’s history. Ever since Brendan Rodgers talked up Hale in the press after a 2-1 defeat against Celtic last season, it created a narrative across the media and in Scottish Football which overhyped his overall ability and performances which people bought into. He’s scored 19 league goals for County (5 of which have been penalties) in the last 18 months. Granted, the service into him or the rest of the strikers hasn’t been great at times across that period but 14 league goals from open play in 18 months (Which includes 6 months in the Championship he was tipped to “light up”) isn’t exactly spectacular. I think teams have identified how to nullify him now. He’s not remotely dangerous when he’s forced onto his left foot, evidenced by the fact he failed scored a league goal for the club with his left foot. He’s not quick, powerful or athletic enough to offer a physical dynamic in the final third. His biggest strength is the sharpness in his movements on and off the ball which allows him opportunities to create something from nothing. However, his work-rate and hold-up/link play is bang average at best so if he comes up against defenders who don’t give him space and know how to handle him. He offers nothing to the team when he’s not hitting the back of the net, which he’s failed to do since the start of November. Hale’s frustrations have been clear to see during most matches but he’s been his own worst enemy at times. The petulant arguments with team mates likely fuelled rifts behind the scenes and his tendency to overplay and make the wrong decisions at key moments have cost us this season. On the park, the performances and results against Partick Thistle and Airdrie showed that we don’t need to rely on him. There was a unity on the park with the players working and fighting FOR each other - Look at the team’s reaction when KP’s header hit the back of the net on Saturday and compare it to Hale’s reaction in the same moment… Off the park, there’ll be no more distractions or speculation around the club caused by his agent and/or the same journalists doing their best at every opportunity to hype up any interest in him. No doubt they’ll be doing the same again further down the line when he fancies another move. The way that he’s gone about getting this move as well the level he’s gone to (no disrespect to Gillingham) compared to some of our former players who got a “big move” in the past is hopefully a wake up call to some people that the “Ronan Hale Show” wasn’t actually as good as they made it out to be. Onwards and upwards with the group of players who actually want to be here and are up for the fight!

Ross County Football Club can confirm that midfielders Scott Fraser and Jack Wells Morrison have left the club by mutual consent. Scott departs for family reasons and Jack departs for the opportunity to play games closer to home. The club would like to place on record our thanks to both Scott and Jack for their efforts during their time with the club. We wish both players all the best with their future careers.

⚽The one you've all been waiting for... Kieran Phillips match-winning header! Listen to that #staggies support! 😍

A massive result for Ross County as they moved off bottom spot at Airdrie ⬆️ • First away league win since Feb • Successive league wins, first time since Feb • Successive league wins with clean sheets, first time since 2023 The Staggies are now only a point behind safety 🦌

The first win away from home in the league since the 15th of February and what a way to do it with a late goal from KP! I thought we thoroughly deserved the victory today based on our performance in the second half and the chances created - We could/should have scored three or four goals in the last 20 minutes of the game. The first half was pretty scrappy and both sides had an even share of the match - The less said about it, the better! In the second half, we grew into the game and the substitutions along with the tactical changes were key to winning the game. Phillips gets the headlines after scoring but he brought a sharpness and dynamic in the final third that we were missing in the first half - I wonder if Ketts sees some attributes that remind him of Ross Stewart when he was at the club… The change by Ketts to go from the 3-5-2 to 4-3-3 with 10 minutes to go showed great tactical awareness - It allowed us to really pin Airdrie back and maintain attacks/pressure in the final third and ultimately win us the game. The highlight in the match for me was the fight and determination shown after we went 1-0 up to see the game out - Randall, Lindsay, Docherty and Smith flying into tackles and winning every 50/50 to see us get over the line was absolutely outstanding! Seven points from our last three matches, three clean sheets in a row in the league and moving off the bottom of the table shows real progress in the right direction - Hopefully we can maintain that sort of form in the second half of the season to guide us back up the table! Also have to mention, what a full debut from Levis Pitan - a Rolls-Royce at the back!

Ross County Football Club can confirm that Andrew MacLeod has joined Strathspey Thistle on loan. The midfielder joins the Highland League side as part of the cooperation agreement between the two clubs. Everyone at Ross County wishes Andrew all the best during his loan, in which he will gain vital minutes following his recovery from injury. Alongside this, we can also confirm that Calum Brown’s loan agreement with the Seafield Park side has been made part of the cooperation agreement, allowing Ross County the option to recall the forward.

‼️ Re-arranged Fixture ‼️ Our William Hill Championship match versus Dunfermline Athletic, which was originally scheduled for Saturday 3rd January, will now take place on Tuesday 3rd March. The match will kick off at 7.45 PM. The original tie was postponed due to a frozen pitch and adverse weather conditions.