AROUND a year ago, Stuart Kettlewell and Steven Ferguson were not so much thrown in the deep end in their first senior management job as tossed into the ocean with their feet encased in concrete slabs.
Unable to wriggle Ross County free from sinking into the Championship, they have since navigated their way back to the top flight at the first time of asking.
A rotten start for County’s last season culminated in the sacking of Jim McIntyre. His replacement just a few days later, Owen Coyle, showed some promise initially before a wave of disastrous mid-season results left them marooned at the bottom of the table.
By the time the young management duo took their place in the Dingwall dugout in March last year – initially as caretakers – the damage had already been done. They did oversee a slight improvement in results, getting to within a point of second-bottom Partick Thistle, and chairman Roy MacGregor saw enough to give Ferguson and Kettlewell the job on a permanent basis before the season was out – even if it was to end in relegation.
The pair, both former County players, built up a relationship in their previous roles in the development squad. With Kettlewell as manager and Ferguson as academy director, the under-20s were guided to a sensational Development League title triumph in 2016/17. Now, between them, they oversee all footballing operations at the club – from the first team through the reserves and all down the age categories.
There is an argument to be made that their achievement of a league and Irn-Bru Cup double – sealed with a resounding 4-0 victory over Queen of the South on Friday – shouldn’t be overstated given the resources they have at their disposal. Granted, County retained the nucleus of a Premiership side for the current campaign, but they were not without their challenges: a competitive division and an injury crisis – especially at centre-half, for which they used around 13 different partnerships. They maintained consistent results across the course of the season – at no period was there a slump – and scored more and conceded fewer than all their competitors.
Kettlewell and Ferguson got the results when they were most crucial, including an unbeaten April to seal the title, and have recently displayed an aptitude for making effective in-game changes while becoming the first side to bounce straight back to the Premiership since Hearts in 2015.
Since February they have gone behind in six league matches, but turned three of those into wins and another into a draw – namely, the 94th-minute Jamie Lindsay equaliser against Dundee United which all but sealed the title.
During that period they also trailed 1-0 to the unfancied Connah’s Quay Nomads in the Irn-Bru Cup final, before the introduction of summer recruit Josh Mullin. His second-half appearance and brace revitalised his side, inspiring them to the trophy.
The winger decided to remain in the second tier with County after helping Livingston to the Premiership last season and has gone on to provide some of the more spectacular moments of their campaign. A fair chunk of his 14 goals have been either dramatic or dazzling – the stand-out being his top-corner strike from an impossible angle at East End Park – and he sits atop the Championship assist table.
🚀 Joshua Mullin's rocket for @RCFCStaggies
— Ladbrokes (@Ladbrokes) August 14, 2018
👏 Kyle Lafferty's volley for @JamTarts
⚡️ Chris Millar's thunderbolt for @Morton_FC
Ladbrokes Goal of the Week is back! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/ASY22bEvUa
Another of the main creative outlets in Kettlewell and Ferguson’s side is the central midfielder Lindsay. Calm, perceptive and courageous in possession, Lindsay was a near-ever-present after being convinced to make his loan move from Celtic permanent last summer.
While Mullin is the wing wizard, getting punters out their seats by terrorising defences with his direct running and sprints in behind, Lindsay is the yin to his yang, the metronome in the middle of the park. Not only has he clocked up the fourth most minutes for an outfield player in the Championship this season, Lindsay has attempted more passes than anyone else, with an 81% accuracy.
Up front, County headed into the season with four first-team strikers. While they often played with two or three – even if one or two were stationed on the wing – it was Player of the Year nominee Billy Mckay who excelled, netting 20 times, including three trebles, before being ruled out for the season in February. In doing so, Mckay has helped to start turning around his streak of relegations, being involved in no fewer than five squads that suffered the fate in the past three years.
Mckay, the management team and County as a whole have bounced back from their relegation immediately, from a division that no-one could call at the outset, with anything up to seven teams fancied for a tilt at the title.
Despite the successes, the management duo will know all too well the perils of the Premiership and that their squad will require enhancing.
They will also know that MacGregor will back them, like he always backs his managers. And even if another Premiership season of swimming against the tide lies ahead, at least Ferguson and Kettlewell already have some experience of treading water there, and of the worst-case scenario.
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