Mackay’s eyes on Euro prize to end County season on a high

MALKY MACKAY has Ross County fans daring to dream of jumping aboard the Eurostar next season. But the Staggies’ manager is refusing to give himself a well-deserved pat on the back until he’s seen the job through.

Miracle man Malky has overseen a remarkable transformation in fortunes on the back of a 10-match winless run that had some fans calling for his head.

Six months after Roy MacGregor was being called to account for appointing him in the first place, Mackay reduced the chairman to tears when a dramatic victory at Pittodrie clinched a top-six spot.

But the ex-Celtic defender has been around football long enough to know that fate is a fickle ally and that his former club represents a massive challenge as the Premiership title race reaches boiling point.

Speaking ahead of the first of a five-match run that will define the depth of his achievement, Mackay (below) insisted on the eve of Celtic’s visit to Dingwall today that County is still a work in progress.

He said: ‘Football is such a precarious industry where you see so many things happen and we are not finished the season yet. I’m still working in the moment.

‘I’m really happy for Roy because he stuck his neck out to bring me here and also Steven Ferguson and the tiny staff, as well as the little group of fans who support this football club.

‘For us to be in this division for another year is a starting point. But, right now, my drive is to try to get us to Europe.

‘Don’t get me wrong, it was nice to drop the shoulders for a couple of days after the Aberdeen game and have the week off. It was great for everyone to have that.

‘Of course, I’m delighted we’ve made the top six and the achievement is really up there at the top in terms of my career.

‘I have been lucky in terms of where I ended up and how things have worked out after not being picked up as a YTS and working in a bank for four or five years while playing at Queen’s Park.

‘Later, not being kept on at Norwich, where they said I was surplus to requirements going into the Premier League, and then ending up at West Ham still meant that I ended up with promotion.

‘From there, I moved to Watford and subsequently became manager. These are sliding door moments.

‘But to be up here as a Premier League manager and for us to make the top six against the odds, I guess you might say, is up there. It really means a lot.

‘Whether we hit sixth or fifth or fourth, I am delighted that the club has managed to be in a position of strength going into the summer so our owner, who has to make huge financial commitments, can make a little less going forward.’

Mackay, who faced a fans backlash when appointed County manager due to offensive text messages he sent while in charge of Cardiff City in 2014, says he learned more about himself in the wake of his past travails, in particular a desire to live for the moment.

He added: ‘I’ve found a great place up here with good people and I’ve been embraced at this football club and been allowed to do what I was brought here to do.

‘Roy asked me if I could bring some of the high performance environment we had at the Scottish FA and help each other to do what it says on the tin.

‘Getting back into management again has been terrific. One pundit questioned my ability to be a football manager again. But I didn’t even blink at that at the time in terms of it being a thought in my head.

‘I had been at the sharp end of seven national teams for four years throughout the whole of Scottish football and been to so many games. I was also lucky enough to take charge of the national team for one game.

‘So I am delighted to have been able to get back into it and set a team up to go and play at the top level and do okay.’

That is a major understatement to the extent that Mackay is certain to be head-hunted by several bigger clubs in the coming weeks.

But goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw claims that the threat of losing their manager has not featured in any dressing room chat.

‘We haven’t even discussed that,’ said Laidlaw.

‘We are focused on the next five games and creating a bit of history by getting into Europe. ‘That would be some achievement because Dingwall is such a small place and we need to believe we can do it.

‘The situation is in our own hands. We have done well getting into the top six but there is no point in just making up the numbers.

‘We have three home games and it has been our home form that has been so good

and contributed to us making the top six. We are up for the fight.’