5/10
LEAGUE: 9th, 44pts (2013-14 - 7th, 40pts)
SCOTTISH CUP: Fourth round
LEAGUE CUP: Third round
MOST USED FIRST XI: Mark Brown, Marcus Fraser, Scott Boyd, Paul Quinn, Jamie Reckord, Michael Gardyne, Martin Woods, Jackson Irvine, Filip Kiss, Craig Curran, Liam Boyce
OVERVIEW: The biggest challenge for any Ross County fan was remembering all the players' names; Derek Adams went on a shopping spree in the summer, but after he was dismissed most of his signings were binned and chairman Roy McGregor bankrolled a plethora of new faces for Jim McIntyre. 34 players turned out in the club's colours in 2014/15, and a few others were on the books but never played. The initial months of McIntyre's reign were rocky to say the least - County were bottom in early February and deservedly so - McGregor's faith in McIntyre was rewarded spectacularly in the final few months of the season, as they won ten of their last fourteen league games after winning just two of the first twenty-four. By May they looked superior to several teams that finished above them in the table. It was a remarkable turnaround.
HIGH POINTS: Guaranteeing Premiership football by beating Hamilton Accies with ten men prompted a celebratory - and very well-behaved - pitch invasion. Liam Boyce nicked the winner that day; his hat-trick at St. Mirren Park in April, live on BT Sport, was another highlight.
LOW POINTS: August and September were a nightmare that included 4-0 defeats to Partick and Accies, as they lost their first seven league games. A mid-January defeat at home to St. Mirren, who played most of the match a man short, was probably the nadir though.
STAR MAN: Most of County's best players either joined in January, or only started playing well after this point. Of the former group, I loved watching the clever, nochalant wing play of Raffaele De Vita, and the Staggies have done well to sign him up for the next two years. Of the latter group, Boyce's achievement of becoming the first County player to score 10 league goals in a Premiership season is worth flagging up.
ONE FOR THE FUTURE: McIntyre has hit the jackpot with ex-Celtic youngster Marcus Fraser, who may be a centre-half in the future but who looked very comfortable at right-back after arriving mid-season. He will go on to better things...but is contracted to spend the next two seasons here, which is a real coup.
WASTE OF SPACE: Where to start? Three of the back four from the opening day - Uros Celcer, Tim Dreesen and Jim Fenlon - seem like a reasonable place. Fenlon won this blog's Worst Signing of the Season accolade for his inept impersonation of a right-back. Celcer used to be on Parma's books, and someone once paid a seven figure sum for Dreesen, but you wouldn't know it. All three had been kicked out of Dingwall long before Christmas.
THE BOSS: I had my doubts about Jim McIntyre's appointment, and I don't think I was the only one; his previous season as a top flight manager, at Dunfermline, was not impressive. I even wondered, come the start of February, if he might be for the chop - shows how much I know. Once he had a squad that could play the way he wanted them to - two busy strikers, a midfield willing to press up the pitch, a defence which could actually defend - the results came, and how! It's not always pretty, but it is effective.
PROSPECTS FOR NEXT SEASON: For the last two seasons, County have had to pretty much sign a new team in every transfer window. No more - the likes of De Vita, Fraser, Boyce, Craig Curran, Michael Gardyne and Jamie Reckord will be here for a while. The additions of Ian McShane in midfield and Brian Graham up front should only strengthen them. I'd be surprised to see them embroiled in another relegation battle.
FIRST TEAMERS DEFINITELY LEAVING: Darren Barr, Richard Brittain, Mark Brown, Cameron Burgess (end of loan), Joe Cardle, Graham Carey, Terry Dunfield, Ben Frempah, Jackson Irvine (end of loan), Jake Jervis, Filip Kiss (end of loan), Abdoulaye Meite, Ruben Palazuelos, Paul Quinn, Antonio Reguero, Steven Ross, Darvydas Sernas, Steven Saunders, Martin Woods
Lawrie Spence (LS) has ranted and spouted his ill-informed opinions on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007. He has a life outside this blog. Honestly.
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