Ahead of the 2021/22 season, Ross County went through a changing of the guard.

Long-time fan favourites and club legends like Michael Gardyne, Iain Vigurs, Ross Draper and Jason Naismith all left the club after helping the Staggies avoid relegation on the final day of the previous Premiership season.

Change was afoot in the dug out too, with John Hughes’ six-month spell in charge coming to an end and club chairman Roy MacGregor going back on the hunt for a new manager.

He decided to return to a man who he had twice previously asked to take over the reins in Dingwall: Malky Mackay.

From Mackay’s perspective, it was a return to frontline management in a permanent role for the first time in six years, and it all came down to timing.

“I wasn’t actually thinking about getting back into management,” he recalled.

“I had been technical director at Scotland for four years, and I was deeply passionate about what I was doing. I felt privileged to be in that role.

“When I came out of that in December 2020, I spent the next six months getting the big jacket on and going to quietly watch my son play for Berwick Rangers – which was bliss – and also building a house.

“When I got the phone call from Roy, it was actually the third time I had spoken to him. Back in the day when I was out of work in England he asked if I would come up – I couldn’t, just because of where I was with my personal and family life. It wouldn’t have mattered who the club was.

“When I left the Scottish FA, it was around the time Stuart Kettlewell left the club, and Roy asked again. Again, the timing wasn’t quite right because I was literally knee-deep in mud and bricks building the house, so if I walked away then my wife would have thought I was having a laugh.

“Roy asked who I would recommend to help keep Ross County up if I wasn’t coming myself, and I said Yogi, although I’m sure that wasn’t the only factor in him being offered the job.

“When the season finished, Roy phoned again to ask me for a third time, and he said this time he would like me to bring everything I learned at the Scottish FA to help Steven Ferguson run the club’s football department.

“I went up to see them both at Roy’s house in Gleneagles, and we had a conversation about what kinds of things needed to happen to give us the best possible chance to compete in the Premiership with Ross County’s budget.

“By this point I was in a different position with the house, so I had a real taste in my mouth for it. Just as my family moved back up to Edinburgh, I moved out to come up to Inverness, but my wife Pam said I should give it a go and I had a real hunger for it again.”

Those things Mackay believed needed to happen for Ross County to compete in the top flight were not simply an overhaul of the playing squad.

With his experience at the Scottish FA, Mackay was determined to implement what he saw as best practice as far as possible across the entire club, even some things supporters may not have seen.

“It was all about the structure behind the scenes,” he explained.

“In recruitment, I wanted to bring in a process that was a mini-version of what I had at Cardiff City and the Scottish FA – a head of recruitment, data analysts and scouts. That didn’t have to be full-time work, I was talking about people who could watch games on laptops for £25.

“Before, I felt that Ross County were bringing in 10 players and hoping three would work. I wanted to mitigate that risk so it turned into seven out of 10.

“We spoke about how the week would work, and I liked a four-day lead up to a match, which meant we trained Tuesday through Friday instead of having a day off in the middle of the week.

“That helped us attract players up from England, which I felt we had to do because attracting players from Scotland up north isn’t easy.

“One of the things I was strongest on was that we travelled to away games on a Friday and stayed overnight before playing on a Saturday – the only game where we travelled on the morning of was St Johnstone, because it was relatively close.

“We weren’t going to go and perform at Ibrox or Celtic Park after spending four hours on a bus, and some players got travel sick. If we went down the night before, they would be fine the following day.

“I knew I had to cut my cloth, and I am always thinking about bang for your buck. We didn’t have a chef, so I spoke to the Highland Farm Cafe who helped us out with lunches, and some of the fine system we had went towards breakfasts.

“My staff were chipping in with cleaning, and people like Fiona MacBean was the player liaison and team manager as well as being the club secretary. Scott Thomson had three hats on, because I had to try and get as much out of what was there at the time.

“We became such an efficient football club, to the point that I know for a fact that people at the Scottish FA were phoning Fiona to ask how things were done in various departments.

“The staff pulling together was the strength of the football club. As a group, we made sure that Ross County travelled with a bit of class.”

Things were not always perfect for Mackay in that sense. After the departure of former Staggies head of physiotherapy Willie Nolan, Mackay felt he was never properly replaced with a long-term solution, for example.

He often described a perception of “little Ross County”, which could have just added to a chip on his shoulder after spending years away from frontline management with his return also being met with backlash across Scottish football.

However, his main driver as Ross County manager was not a personal one. Instead, it aligned perfect with his chairman’s desire to represent the Highlands on a national stage.

“It wasn’t as if I was sitting behind a desk for four years – I was close with the Scottish 21s, 19s and women’s squad, and I was on the touchline managing Scotland against Holland, so I honestly didn’t have a point to prove,” he added.

“The point I wanted to make when I spoke to the players was that we didn’t fear anybody in this division.

“We had to stick our chest out, put our shoulders back, and be tough mentally to make sure we didn’t feel like second class citizens to anyone.

“Early on, I had a good conversation with Roy about the perception people have of Highlanders. When his business got to a certain size, everyone told him he had to move its base to the central belt, but he proved to everyone he didn’t need to do that.

“I liked the fact he wanted to prove people wrong, and that in football the Highlands could have a team in the top division. That was music to my ears.

“A key trait in football is having a burning desire to win, and wanting to test yourself against others. There were always going to be times Ross County didn’t get three points, but I had to instil that belief in my players.

“Getting them to that point is little and often, and it takes time, certain phrases and a way of working to get people to that point. That was my immediate focus when I first went in.”