Malky Mackay could have stayed out of the spotlight and worked away in the background, shaping the plans for the next
generation of players.
That would have been easier than putting himself back in the firing line of club management, where past controversies would inevitably be dredged up.
But Mackay still has a passion for the game and admits he’s desperate to get the boots back on to work at the sharp end of the game where it really matters on the training pitch.
Ross County came calling at the right time as the 49-year-old believes he has unfinished business in the dugout.
Mackay’s managerial career famously hit the buffers at Cardiff when his relationship with owner Vincent Tan turned sour as he was on the verge of becoming Crystal Palace manager and the Bluebirds chief exacted his revenge by making public dodgy text messages.
He was a promising coach under Brendan Rodgers at Watford and made a huge impact at Cardiff.
Mackay has had to do his time among the suits at the SFA but there has always been a burning desire to get back into the hotseat.
He said: “I have probably got unfinished business as a manager. That being the case, coming up here and seeing the project that Roy MacGregor and Steven Ferguson have laid out and help kick on, is something that excites me a lot.
“I’ve not gone looking for jobs but I have had four or five approaches in the last couple of years and it’s about timing.
“I was incredibly passionate at the Scottish FA about growing the performance side of the national game.
“We have had youth teams all on the same page, having continued success against the best in Europe.
“There is a performance strategy in place that will see the elite side of the national teams go well in the next three or four years.
“That’s something I deeply care about, I want our teams to do well.
“That passion will never leave me but can I then go and do that in a club? This gives me the chance to step back on the touchline again and be the person who grows that.
“I am looking forward to getting my boots dirty again.
“I have done little bits of that over the last few years by coaching the youth teams, it will be great to get out on the grass with the players again.”
Mackay had to get questions about his past out of the way yet again, just like he did when he became the SFA’s
performance director and when he was interim boss for the national side.
How has Mackay coped with the battering he takes from all quarters?
He said: “Like anything, you have people who believe in you, like the people at Ross County.
“Before that, people at the SFA, UEFA and FIFA have done that.
“In the wider Scottish game, people have met me and know me from the last three or four years.
“Football is my life. In the last four years I’ve been heavily involved in the international set-up and every weekend I would invariably be at a game in the Premiership or Championship so I have been involved in the game here.
“I’m proud I’ve been asked to be manager of this club and I want to be successful here.”
