Derek Adams admits his controversial post-match comments following his side’s 1-0 defeat by Dundee upset some of his Ross County players.
However, the Staggies manager stressed his views were not a widespread pot-shot at Scottish football.
After a nine-year spell working in England, Adams, now in his third spell in charge of County, caused a storm on Saturday with his post-match comments after seeing his side concede a stoppage-time goal in a 1-0 home defeat against Dundee.
Adams left English League Two side Morecambe to return to the Highlands to replace Malky Mackay last month.
He guided the team to seven points from his first three games in charge, but Saturday’s last-gasp loss, which followed a 2-0 defeat at St Mirren, leaves County ninth.
In the aftermath of the defeat to Dundee, Adams said: “I thought the game was poor – I thought the standard was shocking. The standard since I’ve come back to this country is shocking. We’ve got to have a better product.
“If I’m a paying customer, I don’t come to watch this football match.
🗣️"The standard is shocking. If I'm a spectator I'm thinking 'is this what Scottish football is about?' It needs to up its game"
Ross County manager Derek Adams on his side's defeat to Dundee today ⤵️#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/FyWvtiGlb0
— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) December 16, 2023
“The standard has got to be a lot better. The way we pass the ball, create chances – it has to be better – and that’s for both sides.
“Ross County Football Club has to be better.
“I’ve seen some good play, but over the afternoon I’m standing on the touchline thinking ‘what a job you have got on here’.
“I’ve left a club that is 100 times better and we had the lowest budget in League Two.”
‘We’re all entitled to our opinion’
Four days on, Adams was keen to stress his words were reflective only of performances in his team’s 0-0 draw with Kilmarnock, 1-0 and 3-0 wins over St Mirren and Motherwell and the back-to-back losses against St Mirren and Dundee.
He said: “I have spoken about the situation in relation to the games I have seen since coming back to Scotland.
“All I commented on was about the five games I’ve witnessed.
“The one comment I made about a former employer (Morecambe) I probably shouldn’t have made because it wasn’t correct.
“I have given my opinion. We’re all entitled to our opinion. Sometimes when you give your opinion, and it goes against the grain, or against what everybody else thinks, then it becomes an issue.
“I’ll probably rethink things and not give an opinion and then the column inches will be a wee bit smaller from now on.”
🎟️ Yan Dhanda netted directly from a corner last time we hosted Hibernian at the Global Energy Stadium!
Tickets for Saturday's match are still available 👉 https://t.co/fifp93wsY5 pic.twitter.com/neqaz5jTRU
— Ross County FC (@RossCounty) December 19, 2023
Morecambe comparison ‘not correct’
When asked about his players’ reaction to being compared so unfavourably to Morecambe, Adams said: “I have apologised to the players for that. It was wrong of me to say that.
“I did say that after the game, and it wasn’t correct.
“The players are disappointed. If their manager has come out and said what he has said, they’re going to be disappointed.
“It is up to the players to go and prove me wrong. It is up to the players to go and shut me up.
“It is up to the players to go out on the pitch and go and score the goals, create the goals, keep the clean sheets.
“The manager picks the side, gives tactics and formation, there’s no doubt about that, but when you step over that white line the manager can’t do as much as the players.
“It is up to the players, and it is the same at any level. The manager is only as good as the players.
“I said that to them. Players get you the sack or they get you a move. It is two-sided.”
Players won’t all agree with Adams
Adams conceded his comments will mean some of his squad won’t be on board with his post-match assessment.
He added: “I don’t think that you always get that, no.
“That’s never possible. Top managers never get that, there are always people within dressing rooms that managers don’t get on with.
“It happens, players will not like a regime under a certain manager. It could be too easy, or it could be too difficult.
“All the top managers have the same problems.”
Derek Adams: ‘Maybe I’ve motivated players’
And the former Plymouth and Bradford City manager hopes any riled Ross County players react positively to what he said.
Adams, whose side host Hibernian on Saturday, added: “That’s the hard thing – when a new manager comes in, he talks in a different way.
“He maybe tries to motivate people in a different way, and it’s the same in any organisation – some people like it, some people won’t.
“That’s the nature of any business you go into, but all I’m trying to do is get the best out of these players.
“Some people might say that I’ve demotivated them by talking about a previous employer, but maybe I’ve motivated them.
“I wouldn’t like that to be said about me, so if your manager is saying that go and show how good you are to get up this league.”
Are teams too fearful to entertain?
Adams’ take on the game on Saturday was that his team deserved to win, but Dundee manager Tony Docherty was not impressed with that.
The Dark Blues boss, who wanted to look mainly at the stats, said: “We had more possession, more goal attempts, more shots on target, a higher expected goals (rate), we had more corners, more crosses and more final third entries.”
County manager Adams feels the fear factor is having an impact on the standard of play, which he feels should be much higher.
He said of last Saturday: “It wasn’t a great game of football. There was not a lot of entertainment in the game and that’s what I was alluding to.
“It’s a really tight league of 12 teams and what we’re trying to get is entertaining football. It is difficult because teams are worried about dropping into that drop-zone.
“Between third and last position, it is extremely tight. That’s probably why we’re seeing teams being so cagey at this moment in time.”
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