Ross County

Ross Morren
Fan writer

Sunday 14 April 2024 is a day that will live long in the memory of every associated with Ross County Football Club.

The Staggies’ incredible 3-2 over Rangers secured the club’s first ever victory over the Ibrox side and earned a monumental three points at a crucial stage of the season.

In the previous twenty-four meetings between Ross County and Rangers, the Dingwall side had failed to win any of them and found themselves on the losing side on 20 occasions.

The question amongst Staggies fans pre-match was could it be 25th time’s the charm?

It was one of the best all-round performances I’ve seen from Ross County. The goalscorers will take a lot of the headlines, but the performance was epitomised by Jack Baldwin, who showed incredible character to recover from the early own goal to lead his side by example.

Don Cowie has already had his name carved into Ross County’s history due to the achievements in his playing career, but he’s now managed to do it in the early stages of his managerial career too as he’s become the first Ross County manager to secure a win over Rangers.

The victory could also go a long way to earning Cowie the manager's job on a permanent basis.

Ross Morren can be found on The County Corner, external.

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Ross County's rousing win over Rangers could breathe new life into their survival bid, says former Staggies defender Richard Foster.

"To beat Rangers the game before the league splits, it's a huge result. A massive momentum shifter," Foster told BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"The three points is to the be all and end all. It's at the business end of the season. You need to win points to stay in the league.

"If Don Cowie gets that level of performance for the next five games, then Ross County will win more games than they'll lose and they'll comfortably stay in the league.

"I think Ross County's issue this season has been the fluctuation in terms of the performance level. But if I'm a Ross County fan, if I'm in that Ross County dressing room, if I'm Don Cowie, I'm looking at all these pleasing aspects going, 'we've just beaten, albeit not 100%, but it's still a good Rangers side'.

"They're still full of qualities. They're still a team that up until that point were kind of odds on favourites to probably go and win the title, so it's a huge performance against a good side and that can only give them confidence.

"If you look at the league table now, they're a point behind St. Johnstone, they're five points behind Aberdeen.

"If they play either one of those teams in the first round of the split fixtures and they manage to win that and it could be chaos in that bottom six."

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

After a historic win over Rangers, it's hardly surprising Ross County make up so much of my team of the week.

Simon Murray continued his wonderful season with another goal and boundless energy that kept the Rangers backline busy at all times.

It was the guile of Josh Sims that really stood out, as he scored what proved to be the winner with a close-range finish.

Captain Jack Baldwin was a true warrior at the back, repelling everything the visitors threw at him with an air of assurance.

And Hearts-bound Yan Dhanda showed his talents with a commanding display in the middle of the park, dictating play for Don Cowie's side.

Image source, SNS

Ross County showed more "hunger" and "intensity" than Rangers as they motored to their first ever win over the Ibrox side.

That's according to former Staggies boss John Robertson, who told BBC Sportsound the victory was entirely merited for the Dingwall side.

"No one watching on TV, or here in the stadium, could say Ross County didn't deserve to win," he said.

"It was a backs-to-the-wall performance. You have to ride your luck, dig in, put bodies on the line. They did that at times, but they also played with composure, they knocked the ball about well.

"Dhanda and Sims played in the pockets and caused the Rangers full backs all sorts of problems. Murray didn't give Souttar or Goldson a minute all day.

"The big thing today was the lack of desire in the Rangers team today. That is the worrying thing. You can see it in the second goal. Harmon has run the length of the park to get there.

"That was the desire, hunger, energy and intensity that every County player brought today."

We asked for your thoughts after Ross County made history with a first ever win of title-chasing Rangers.

Here's a taste of what you had to say:

Kyle: Victoria Park becoming a fortress again like our early Premiership seasons. Good sign for games to come. Cowie deserves the job long term.

Jim: All positives. Whole team stood up to Rangers today and made them look well below their league position. We broke well, caused the Rangers defence problems all game and took our goals well. Hopefully that quality and momentum will carry into the post-split fixtures.

Evan: Probably the greatest win in the Staggies' history. This proud Highlands club deserves to stay in the Premiership.

Anon: Today proved that Don Cowie should be given the manager's job permanently. The tactics were spot on and they played the way Don used to play, ball on the ground and quick passing. Great to watch.

Ronnie: Best all-round performance for a long time. Bit nervy at the end but thought we just about deserved the win. Could be a massive thre points, and probably would have been better for us if the split games were next week, rather than in a fortnight. Very proud Staggie.

Rob: I plan to enjoy this for a while, we waited long enough!

John: This has been coming for a while. This squad has huge belief and Don Cowie has nurtured that belief. Onwards and upwards.

Ron: Great performance & result. Thoroughly deserved first victory over the mighty Rangers (not so mighty on the day). Cowie was tactically astute & I hope he has guaranteed an attractive job offer from the chairman. Excellent individual performances, but truly a team win. Steve Clarke should widen his horizons and consider Laidlaw as one of his options

Pat Nevin and Richard Foster join Liam McLeod to pick over the bones of another incredible weekend of Scottish football drama.

They look back on Ross County’s historic victory over Rangers and discuss what impact it could have at both ends of the table.

They also assess the jobs done by Tony Docherty and Nick Montgomery as Dundee secure their place in the top 6 at the expense of Hibs and Motherwell.

Listen to today's episode of the Scottish Football Podcast here.

Don Cowie says Rangers manager Philippe Clement apologised for not shaking his hand immediately following Ross County's shock win. (Scottish Sun)

Clement explained his reasoning behind not shaking hands with Cowie straight after the match by saying he wanted to think of how he would address his players after Rangers' defeat. (Daily Record)

Clement suggested the on-going Dens Park pitch saga and his side's "really, really strange preparation" were possible factors in Rangers' first defeat to Ross County. (The Scotsman)

Read the rest of Monday's gossip.

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Ross County's xG value of 2.96 in their historic win over Rangers is by far the highest any team have had against the Ibrox side this season.

Celtic put up 1.96 last weekend in the 3-3 derby draw, and Aberdeen's xG was 1.62 in their 3-1 win at Ibrox back in September.

It's also the most xG Rangers have conceded in a single game since Opta started collecting Scottish Premiership data in 2019-20.

Were you at the Global Energy Stadium for Ross County's 3-2 win over Rangers or watch it on TV?

We'd love to hear your reaction here.

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Ross County interim manager Don Cowie thought his side thoroughly deserved their win over title hopefuls Rangers in Dingwall.

"I'm delighted for the whole football club," he tells BBC Scotland. "It was built upon a very good team performance.

"In the first half, I thought we deserved a bit more in terms of what we put in. The message at half time was to keep that going, build on it and be positive.

"We started the second half excellently, you then get a bit nervous at the end, but I'm just delighted for everyone. It's a big three points for us."

On the run-in, Cowie adds: "We have to take real belief. What we get is three points, nothing more, but on top of that we have to take belief and confidence.

"We have five very important games coming up. We've got a two week break. We'll enjoy tonight as it's not often you beat Rangers, but we then need to focus on those games."

Image source, SNS

Clive Lindsay, BBC Scotland Sport

Ross County went into the game against title hopefuls Rangers having only won once in six outings, but they remain unbeaten in their latest five home games and you could see why.

They were not daunted by the stature of the visitors and their record against them, taking the game to a side displaying a frailty that belied their status as title contenders.

County manager Don Cowie's changes to his starting line-up worked to perfection, with George Harmon, Josh Sims and Yan Dhanda in particular injecting a pace and sharpness that had the visiting defence looking well off the pace and Ross Laidlaw in inspired form in goal.

More displays like this and County are certainly capable of avoiding a relegation play-off.

More performances like this, when they squandered the first of two games in hand, and Rangers' hopes of catching a Celtic side who, as manager Brendan Rodgers mentioned on Saturday, come alive in the title run-in will quickly disappear.

They looked disjointed, error strewn, all too easily penetrated at the back and lacking a killer touch up front - hardly the characteristics of a title-winning team.

Meanwhile, manager Philippe Clement may now regret his decision to rotate his squad to give game time to some players who failed to live up to the big occasion and they will now likely have to win at Celtic Park in the final derby of the season if they are to keep their title dream alive.

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There are five County changes as they bid for a historic first-ever win over Rangers - the most eye-catching change being in goal where George Wickens is dropped in place of Ross Laidlaw.

Wickens has come in for a bit of criticism in recent weeks, having dropped a few clangers, and it appears interim boss Don Cowie has finally lost patience with his loanee keeper.

George Harmon, Victor Loturi, Josh Sims, and Hearts-bound Yan Dhanda come in. Loick Ayina, Eamonn Brophy and Jordan White drop to the bench, while Josh Reid drops out completely.

Ross County: Laidlaw, Efete, Randall, Baldwin, Leak, Harmon, Loturi, King, Sims, Dhanda, Murray.

Substitutes: Wickens, Borthwick-Jackson, Brown, Sheaf, Henderson, Khela, White, Brophy, Ayina.

Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Goldson, Souttar, Barisic, Lundstram, Dowell, Cantwell, Silva, Sima, Dessers.

Substitutes: McCrorie, Lawrence, Matondo, Sterling, Roofe, Balogun, King, Raskin, McCausland.

Image source, Getty Images

Why should Scottish football fans care about Czech side Viktoria Plzen drawing with Italian heavyweights Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League?

The result on Thursday night has serious consequences for the Premiership, with the Czech Republic now having leapfrogged Scotland in the coefficient standings.

Not only will the winners of the top flight no longer gain automatic qualification to the Champions League from 2025/26, but there's also a knock on effect for those finishing further down the table.

Here's everything you need to know.

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Following on from last weekend's defeat at Kilmarnock, Ross County welcome Rangers to Dingwall.

But who should start for Don Cowie on Sunday?

Pick your preferred starting XI here.

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• Ross County have lost 11 of their 13 home games against Rangers in all competitions, with the only times they’ve avoided defeat at home coming in November 2016 (1-1) and January 2022 (3-3).

• Rangers are unbeaten in all 24 of their previous meetings with Ross County across all competitions (W20 D4) and have never faced an opponent more often without losing in their history.

• Ross County are unbeaten in four home league games (W2 D2), their longest run since going seven without defeat from January to April 2022.

• Rangers have won 11 of their last 13 away league games (D1 L1), including each of their last four in a row.

• Rangers’ James Tavernier has scored 49 penalties in the Scottish Premiership. Since the competition was rebranded in 2013, this is 33 more than the nearest player for penalty goals (Adam Rooney, 16).

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George Harmon says he and his Ross County team-mates "owe it to the fans" and manager Don Cowie that they "give our all" to secure top-flight survival.

The Highland side, who survived via the relegation play-off last term, find themselves in 11th and are four points off St Johnstone in 10th.

"We want to make sure we keep this football club in the Premiership," left-back Harmon says. "I think if we keep [giving our all] we’ll hopefully move up the table."

County bring their pre-split schedule to an end by welcoming title-chasing Rangers on Sunday.

"Whenever you play an Old Firm team you are always going to be underdogs. We just got to stick to our game plan and stick to what we know.

“We’ve made it a tough place to come this season especially under the new gaffer. We just need to try and make sure we maintain that."

Ross County interim boss Don Cowie insists Sunday's match against Scottish Premiership title chasers Rangers is not a free hit. (Press and Journal - subscription), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish Gossip