Owen Coyle expects striker Simon Murray to be a hit at Ross County, admitting there was no way Queen’s Park could win the battle to keep him.
The Spiders manager, and former Staggies boss, saw 30-year-old forward Murray make the move to the Premiership club on a permanent deal for an undisclosed fee on deadline day this week.
Murray’s 15 Championship goals has him joint-top of the league’s scoring charts for the division’s table-toppers alongside Ayr United’s Dipo Akinyemi.
The highly-rated forward, with more than 100 goals from 250 senior appearances, was preparing to face Inverness in Tuesday’s Scottish Cup fourth-round tie when he found himself scoring a deal with Malky Mackay’s County.
So instead of playing at Inverness, the former Dundee United player made his debut from the bench in Tuesday’s 1-1 Premiership draw with Hibernian.
He adds much-needed firepower to County, who have also added strikers Eamonn Brophy and Josh Stones on loan from St Mirren and Wigan Athletic respectively.
Murray, with 18 goals overall this season, joined Queen’s Park in 2018 from Dundee and his goals for the now-professional Glasgow club have seen them land back-to-back promotions and now lead the second tier.
County won battle against Dundee
Coyle clearly didn’t want Murray to move, but he admits financially Queen’s faced an uphill battle to keep him.
He said: “It’s an unbelievable opportunity for Simon.
“I think the world of Simon, who has been outstanding for me. He’d be the first to tell you Queen’s Park has also been very good for him.
“He was out of contract in the summer. You come to January and he’s banging goals in for fun, so of course he will attract attention.
“It wasn’t just Ross County, who showed an interest – there were a number of clubs.
“Even on the eve of our game at Dundee at the weekend, Dundee sent an email saying they were showing an interest in entering pre-contract negotiations.
“As it happened, Ross County won that race out the park and Simon goes to a good club with good people.
“It’s a fantastic contract Simon can earn there. We would never in a million years get near that. I love him to bits and I wish him the very best of luck at Ross County.
“Malky will love him. He works hard and he scores goals. He will certainly add to the threats they’ve now got.”
Murray left with Queen’s best wishes
Coyle explained that it made sense for the pre-contact deal to become a permanent deal, with the striker keen to get going at County this week.
He said: “I would have loved to have kept him, but once a pre-contract is agreed, it is only natural your head is turned.
“He’s now got a contract that will help him and his family. He’s got a baby and has another one on the way in the next couple of months, so it’s good for him and his family.
🚨𝐌𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐀𝐘 𝐉𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐈𝐄𝐒🚨
Simon Murray has tonight joined Ross County on a permanent deal from Queens Park FC
Welcome Simon👋
— Ross County FC (@RossCounty) January 31, 2023
“I told him I would not keep him at Queen’s Park against his will. I was very fair with him on that and he understood that.
“Simon goes with our best wishes. We’re obviously disappointed – we wanted to keep him – but that’s the nature of football. You just have to react to these situations.
“When it happens late in the transfer window, it’s difficult, but we’re not anywhere we’ve not been before.”
Queen’s Park moved to replace Murray when they snapped up Connor Shields on loan from Motherwell. He could make his debut against Ayr United on Friday night in a top-two showdown at Ochilview.
County, who moved up to ninth ahead of Wednesday’s games with their draw against Hibs, travel to Ibrox to face Rangers this Saturday.
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