How will Ross County fare in the SPL?

To many fans, I think this Scottish Premier League season has been a dismal campaign, more a chore than entertainment.

Of course, there will be plenty Jambos (cup finalists), Arabs (fourth in the league and rising), Saintees (top six), Steelmen (holding onto third) and Killie fans (league cup winners extraordinaire) who will take happy memories from 2011-12. But even they would admit that much of the football this season has been dross, about as entertaining as four hours of hearing John Major talk. And, ultimately, the biggest story of the year is not Celtic's title triumph, nor Kilmarnock's league cup win, nor the tantalising prospect of an all-Edinburgh Scottish Cup Final, but Rangers' off-field gloom and potential demise. The highlight of my season as a Caley Thistle fan, incidentally, will be if I win the £20 I have with a work colleague that Rangers will be liquidated. That's less a reflection on my tendency towards schadenfreude (or schad-hun-freude, as the joke goes) and more about just how bloody depressing it has been to watch Inverness recently.

The main driving force behind me renewing my season ticket, and committing myself to spending 90 minutes every alternate Saturday with my head in my hands is the impending arrival in the SPL of our rivals from across the Moray Firth, and the return of Highland Derbies. I look back fondly on our matches in the lower leagues - they even used to send Hugh Dallas to referee our division 3 clashes, which included one where the Inverness keeper got hit by a coin from the crowd, and where the Ross County goalie responded to chants of 'Sumo!' (he was built for comfort, not for speed, shall we say) by picking up and eating a Mars bar chucked at him from the Caley support.

Other epic games included a 3-0 away win in Dingwall where County striker Alex Bone picked up three red cards - one for bad tackle, one for foul and abusive language, and one for trying (unsuccessfully) to headbutt future Inverness manager Charlie Christie as he left the field. And, of course, it's a chance to get out the Politically Incorrect Songbook, which includes such hits as 'The Wheels On Your House Go Round And Round" and "Who Put the O and Y in County?"

Seriously, though, on paper it looks like a tough task for Ross County to stay up. Look at what's happened to Dunfermline, promoted last season - attendances have been poor, and their first division title-winning squad have proven woefully out of their depth. And they are a club with history, from a decent sized town. In contrast, the entire population of Dingwall could fit inside Ross County's Victoria Park ground. They too have won the first division with a squad made up of players who have played at this level for several years - and who almost invariably failed to make an impact during brief spells playing the SPL earlier in their careers. For example, striker Colin McMenamin has scored 16 league goals this season, and led the line brilliantly. But he is 31 years old. He played in the SPL for three years with Livingston and scored only 10 goals. Gretna didn't feel he was good enough to play for them in the top division, even though he had banged them in in division one. And when he was made redundant by Dundee in 2010 it was Queen of the South who signed him, not an SPL team. McMenamin's story is typical of a lot of his teammates.

And, to cap it all, the team's outstanding attacking player, Michael Gardyne, has signed a pre-contract with Dundee United. So it's not unreasonable to think that it might be hard going for them to avoid a return to the second tier within twelve months. But their situation is different, and their survival chances far higher than Dunfermline's were this season.

 The reason? Money, of course.

 And not in the Brooks Mileson Spending Money Gretna Can't Afford way either. For Ross County are backed by a man named Roy MacGregor, chairman of Global Energy Group, described on their website as 'A leading energy industry service company'. They have fingers in the oil, gas and renewables pies. They are doing so well that, even in a recession, they have been making a profit. And MacGregor is a local man who has been involved with County almost since they were admitted to the Scottish League in 1994. Instead of throwing huge sums of money at the club to ensure super-quick success, he has instead concentrated on fostering steady improvement and community involvement. Dingwall may be small, yet Ross County's efforts to drum up support from Caithness and Sutherland (plus more than a few folk from Inverness as well) mean the club easily get 2,500 through the gate - this figure has increased further with the club's recent success on the field. The Highland Football Academy is next door to their ground, and there are plenty of opportunities for local kids to play football under the supervision of community coaches.

The occasional grand gesture from the chairman, such as funding every single supporters bus laid on for County's 2010 cup semi-final with Celtic and subsequent final with Dundee Utd, does no harm at all. Manager Derek Adams may well have the largest wage budget in the division, but I would wager that it is still smaller than any SPL budget. Ross County, in short, are a wonderfully run club. Dunfermline's experience will be taken on board by MacGregor, Adams et al. The squad will need strengthened considerably for the step up to the top flight. They will not be spending six figure sums on players, but I would bet the chairman will look to give his coach what he needs. Adams has proven himself an excellent coach, and it is long forgotten in these parts how he ditched County in October 2010 to become assistant boss to Colin Calderwood at Hibs; the following summer, with the club having spent the season in the wrong half of the table under the stewardship of Willie McStay and Jimmy Calderwood, MacGregor had the humility to take Adams back, and has been royally rewarded.

History dictates that County will probably start 2012-13 as relegation favourites, and that they may struggle to find their feet. But I wouldn't be surprised if they stayed up - and of course, the potential punishments awaiting Rangers may improve County's chances even further...but that's another story...

L.