The Staggies boss caused a storm at the weekend with his comments about the standard north of the border, however, has said sorry to his squad.
Derek Adams told how he apologised to Ross County’s players at training on Monday for saying Morecambe were 100 times better than them.
But the Ross County boss, addressing a furore that drew reaction throughout Scottish football, stood by his right to call out the “shocking” standards he had witnessed in five games since his return from England last month. Adams confessed to a squad “disappointed” by his comments over his claim his former club were way better than his current squad following defeat to Dundee.
And hinting there had been a stormy meeting with players as they regrouped at the stadium, Adams said: “It has obviously been a difficult weekend and couple of days, which is my fault because I gave an opinion. We have to get over that and get moving forward now. I have apologised to the players for that (Morecombe comment). It was wrong of me to say that. I spoke 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.
“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. The players were disappointed because of what I said about my former employers (Morecambe). We’ve got to get the best players out here on the pitch, performing week-in, week-out. It is up to us to then look at it and be on top form. We need to be performing better.”
The Saturday evening comments from Adams have been attacked by some pundits and personnel at other clubs as “disrespectful”, one even claiming he should be sacked. The County manager admitted rival teams might use his comments as ammunition in coming weeks, but stressed: “There could be a bit of that, but generally speaking I spoke about the last five games – the games I witnessed. I didn’t speak about every other team in the league. I spoke about the games, and how it has been played since I came back.”
Rather than demotivate his own players, though, he believes it can add fire to their bellies. He said: “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 each player to go and prove me wrong.
“It is up to the players to go and shut me up. Just go and steamroller over the teams. Go and be aggressive. That’s what I’m trying to really get into them.”
Asked if the wider reaction throughout the Scottish game had surprised him, he admitted: “Yes, it probably has. What I’ve said is what I’ve witnessed in the five games. That’s what I’ve seen. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s my opinion. Other people’s opinions can be different, I’ve no issues with that. But I’ve got the right to give an opinion on what I see and that has been my opinion on the five games. I stand by that.
“A lot of people have said ‘you’re correct’, a lot of people have said other people are scared to speak out about it. But that doesn’t mean I SHOULD speak out about it. It is just what I said after the game. I’ve managed more games in England than I have in Scotland. I understand how competitive English football is. That’s the comparison I did make. It’s not the first time I’ve made the comparison. It will probably be the last time I make the comparison.”
Be the first to comment