Even County now realise that sacking me was the wrong call
SAYS JIM McINTYRE
AS a man of untold wealth, Roy MacGregor has had a happy knack of getting many more decisions right than wrong in life.
By his own admission, however, the day he drove to Jim McIntyre’s Highland bolthole with a P45 in his back pocket was one of the latter. For the Ross County chairman, it remains a source of regret.
Football’s capacity to shock diminishes with each passing year. Yet the callousness of that parting of the ways last September was still staggering, its logic lost on almost every observer.
To recap, McIntyre had been appointed at Dingwall in September 2014 with the Staggies bottom of the Scottish Premiership. By the following May they were comfortably ninth.
Season 2015-16 saw them rise to sixth place but the crowning glory for a club based in a town boasting just 5,491 inhabitants at the last count was their capture of the League Cup.
Men have had their figures cast in bronze for less.
Instead, after finishing seventh the following campaign and enduring a sticky start which saw them sitting tenth, McIntyre got a knock on the door and some paperwork for his files.
Such was the brutality of his dismissal, it would assuredly have stopped many others from coming back for more.
‘Certainly not,’ said new Dundee boss McIntyre. ‘We are all big boys in the management game. We understand how it works. Sometimes you’re dealt a sore one. I certainly was.
‘Roy has since said what he’s had to say on it and, privately, I’ve had some great conversations with him.
‘It’s not about “poor me” at Ross County. But it’s easier to accept when it’s widely recognised it’s a mistake.’
That recognition came from people in the game who McIntyre knew and trusted but, more significantly, from others who felt compelled to pick up the phone and add their tuppence worth.
a tidal wave of bemusement, support and outrage did not get him his job back, but instead helped him pick up the pieces.
‘It’s not often you get the sack and have managers of a certain ilk on the phone right away saying it should never have happened,’ added McIntyre. ‘Not just your friends. Managers from outwith.
‘Generally, you guys (in the press) are the best gauges in terms of what’s fair and what’s not. and I never came across any journalist who thought it was going to happen. It did take everyone by surprise. You guys, us… but it’s football.
‘Roy was a fantastic backer for the whole time I was there. Somewhere along the line, there’s been a bit of trust lost and he’s chosen to make a decision which I have to respect as it’s his money.
‘He chose to change it. It didn’t work out and he had to change it quite quickly again. I’m sure, in fact I know, how he feels about that.’
Time has been the gradual healer. But after being chewed up and spat out, McIntyre felt raw to the point where a hiatus from the front line was essential.
‘I took a break,’ he admitted. ‘I could have gone straight back in the following week but I decided not to.
‘I just felt, a wee bit because of the way it happened and the fact I’d spent three years away from home, that I owed my family a bit of time back.
‘I went away on a couple of nice breaks and relaxed. Then, when I came back, I was just going to games, keeping my eye in, a bit of training, just making sure I was doing what any out-of-work manager does. I kept my eyes on squads and remained patient. That soon wears off…
‘There were a couple of opportunities that just didn’t feel right. One was just timing and the other I wasn’t liking what I was hearing.
‘You need to be strong minded. It’s having the courage to do that. It can go the other way and you can end up out for a long time.
‘I’ve always gone on my gut instinct. That’s how I make my decisions, as well as doing all my homework on the situation.’
McIntyre feels that Dundee have more in common with the County he joined, beyond the unfortunate fact that both clubs were bottom of the pile when he took charge.
‘There’s a stability here which I like,’ he added. ‘One of the things I learned from Roy was that your club needs to be right at the top. If that’s the case, then your manager has every chance of having success.’
To former Dens Park boss Neil McCann’s great frustration, the Dundee of this season have rarely been comprehensively outplayed. Small things have conspired to make big differences.
‘Squad-wise, I’ve been very impressed with what I’ve seen so far,’ said McIntyre. ‘There are a lot of very good technical players.
‘I’ve only watched Dundee a couple of times this season but they have been unlucky on certain occasions.
‘They’ve had a lot of their share of games but it’s just not quite gone their way. It’s my job to try to make sure we turn things around.’
One criticism of McCann was a slavish if admirable devotion to playing out from the back. No one should anticipate the baby being thrown out with the bath water.
‘There’s not a right or wrong way to play the game,’ said McIntyre. ‘It’s about winning football matches — that’s the be-all and end-all.
‘My Ross County team worked on playing out from the back and also being direct. It just depended on who we were coming up against and what the situation was.
‘I like to mix it up a bit. If you want to play the one way, that’s your prerogative as well.’
Nine days after Robbie Neilson’s appointment as Dundee United manager, the Dark Blues have completed a footballing overhaul to rival that of the city’s waterfront.
Separated for two, going on three, years since the Tannadice club were relegated, ex-United striker McIntyre hopes for a reunion as soon as possible.
‘I loved coming here as a player,’ he admitted. ‘I love the derbies and the atmosphere.
‘I certainly hope Dundee United come up. There’s a great buzz from the derbies and, hopefully, we can get them back.’