Lindsay couldn’t Count on Celtic for regular game
Jamie Lindsay knew he had to walk away from Celtic this summer – or waste away.
After a loan season with Ross County ended in relegation disaster, the Parkhead youth product might easily have wanted to put his days in Dingwall behind him.
But the final two months of the campaign, while ending in gloom and heartache, proved a revelation to the playmaker.
New co-managers Stuart Kettlewell and Steven Ferguson had re-energised the club and dressing room although the downward momentum suffered under Owen Coyle’s brief tenure proved too much to reverse.
Rather than return to Celtic for another year, Lindsay felt it was time to grasp control of his career and take his first steps outside of the comfort zone.
The County pair’s determination to sign him sealed the deal.
Kettlewell and Ferguson are convinced Lindsay is ready to be their perfect No.8 in a new-look County squad intent on winning back Premiership status.
Lindsay, fresh from tour matches in Holland against Belgian and Dutch top-flight sides, revealed why he had to leave the club he’d been with since an early age.
The 22-year-old, who came through the Hoops ranks with Kieran Tierney, Anthony Ralston and Calvin Miller, said: “There was a wee bit of temptation to stay at Celtic. It would have been very easy to do that.
“But I got to the point where I felt I need to look after myself and take control of my career.
“There was no point in me staying at Celtic and not playing. I could have ended up being there for another season, doing nothing, wasting away.
“This is a big season for me now. I just need to keep working hard.
“If it wasn’t for the two gaffers here, it would’ve been a far more difficult decision to come to Ross County but I really enjoy it. All the boys are great and the new lads have gelled here in Holland.
“We went through the trauma of relegation last season but you would hardly know it from the mood within the squad.”
Leaving Celtic, where Brendan Rodgers had offered careful counsel on his career, was still a big plunge to take and an emotional wrench.
But those feelings have been replaced by excitement at the challenges ahead.
Lindsay said: “I really enjoyed the last couple of months of last season with the new managers.
“They seem to like me and I like them and their style of play and training. They have a clear role in mind for me and everything is good.
“Obviously results weren’t good for us but I just sense something this season.
“I feel we can go and achieve something – and it’s a good challenge to have.
“Hopefully we can be up at the top of the league and winning matches, playing for something different, rather than going into games scrapping for our lives.
“Obviously, we’d prefer still to be in the Premiership but the only way we can get there is to win games and get back up.
“Everybody at the club knows what we need to do. If we can keep working hard and putting in performances, with the cup games now coming up, hopefully we can start well.”
On Wednesday last week, County went down 2-0 to Belgian side Sint-Truiden at the club’s training base at Doorwerth, near Arnhem.
Then on Friday evening against Utrecht – last season’s fifth top Dutch side – the Staggies again showed good organisation as they lost by the same scoreline.
Both were matches that could have brought a hammering but Lindsay said: “It was tough but a good exercise for the lads. I enjoyed it.
“It is something different. You don’t play against a team like that every week but it is good to test yourself and see if you can play at that level. The boys got as much out of it as we could. The shape was good.”