Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Derek Watt Adams | ||
Date of birth | 25 June 1975 | ||
Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) [1] | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder [2] | ||
Youth career | |||
1991–1992 | Aberdeen | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1992–1995 | Aberdeen | 0 | (0) |
1995–1996 | Burnley | 2 | (0) |
1996–1998 | Ross County | 72 | (41) |
1998–2004 | Motherwell | 159 | (18) |
1999–2000 | → Ayr United (loan) | 4 | (0) |
2004–2005 | Aberdeen | 20 | (4) |
2005–2006 | Livingston | 25 | (0) |
2006–2009 | Ross County | 36 | (4) |
Total | 318 | (67) | |
Managerial career | |||
2007–2010 | Ross County | ||
2011–2014 | Ross County | ||
2015–2019 | Plymouth Argyle | ||
2019–2021 | Morecambe | ||
2021–2022 | Bradford City | ||
2022–2023 | Morecambe | ||
2023–2024 | Ross County | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Derek Watt Adams (born 25 June 1975) is a Scottish football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Ross County. Adams played professionally for six clubs, including Ross County and Motherwell, where he made over 300 league appearances during his playing career and has managed over 635 games thus far, achieving four promotions.
Adams became manager of Ross County in 2007, winning promotion from the Scottish Second Division in his first season, before reaching the Scottish Cup Final two years later. He joined Hibernian as assistant manager in 2010 before returning to Ross County the following year, where he won the Scottish First Division and was voted PFA Scotland Manager of the Year for the 2011–12 season. Adams then took on the managerial role at Plymouth Argyle in 2015 and led them to promotion from League 2 in 2017. Having been sacked by Plymouth in April 2019, [3] he became manager of Morecambe in November. [4] He would guide the club to promotion to League One in 2021, before leaving to take over at Bradford; after being sacked by Bradford, he would return to Morecambe once again. He left Morecambe in November 2023 to return to Ross County, but he resigned from that position in February 2024.
Derek Watt Adams [2] was born on 25 June 1975 in Glasgow. [1]
Adams started his professional career with Aberdeen, but failed to make a first-team appearance. He moved to English side Burnley, making a couple of league appearances in the mid-1990s before returning to Scotland with Ross County in 1996.
Adams was transferred to Motherwell in a deal worth £200,000 in 1998 and spent six years at Fir Park, including a short loan spell with Ayr United. Adams was one of a number of players affected by the club's administration problems, accepting a pay cut in April 2002. [5] Adams failed to win any trophies during his time with Well, although he scored in the 2002–03 Scottish Cup semi-final defeat against Rangers. [6] In 2004, Adams agreed a pre-contract move back to Aberdeen, [7] spending a year at Pittodrie before being transfer-listed [8] and leaving for Livingston in 2005. [9]
In 2006, Adams returned to Ross County as player–coach. [10] In November 2007, Adams was promoted to the role of player–manager, having served as caretaker manager since October. [11] Despite the terms of Adams' appointment, his last playing appearance was in October 2007. He led Ross County to the Scottish Second Division championship in 2008, earning promotion to the First Division. At the age of 33, Adams became the holder of the UEFA Pro Licence, which is the highest coaching badge in the senior game. The next year, Adams led Ross County to the 2010 Scottish Cup Final, notching upset victories over SPL sides Hibernian and Celtic. [12] County lost 3–0 to Dundee United in the Final. [13]
Adams left Ross County on 11 November 2010 to join Hibernian as assistant manager to Colin Calderwood. [14] Adams has had several disciplinary cases considered by the Scottish Football Association during his coaching career. [15] At one point he was due to be banned for a number of matches, [16] but he won an appeal against part of the suspension. [17] Adams was then suspended for further matches, a sanction which Hibs appealed against. [18] While this appeal was ongoing, Adams described the whole disciplinary process as distressing. [19]
Adams left Hibernian on 19 May 2011 to return to Ross County as manager. [20] In his first season back at County, Adams guided the club to the 2011–12 Scottish First Division championship and promotion to the Scottish Premier League. [21] County clinched the championship with five games to spare. They went on a remarkable 34 game unbeaten run and finished 24 points above 2nd placed Dundee. [21] Adams was elected PFA Scotland Manager of the Year for the 2011–12 season. [22]
Before the 2012–13 season, Adams made seven signings, all of which were free agents. [23] After three draw and one win, Adams was named SPL manager of the month for August. [24] The club's 40-match unbeaten league was ended by a 2–1 defeat to St Johnstone; Adams said he was very proud of achieving such a long run without defeat. [25] In November 2012, Adams appointed Neale Cooper, who had just left Hartlepool United, as his assistant manager. [26] Ross County struggled during the autumn of 2012, but Adams expected the club to avoid relegation. [27] In late-December the club began a winning streak, that eventually led to a top-six finish in 5th position and 1 point off a European position in their first season in the top flight. In the January 2013 transfer window, Adams offloaded nine players and made six new signings. [28] The winning streak continued, which resulted Adams receiving manager of the month awards for January [29] and February. [30] During the season, Adams was linked with positions at Dundee United [31] and Aberdeen. [32] Adams was nominated for PFA Scotland Manager of the Year, [33] but lost out to Allan Johnston. [34] At the end of the 2012–13 season, Adams signed a new contract with the club. [35]
Ross County finished 7th under Adams at the end of the 2013–14 Scottish Premiership season, the second season in a row finishing above Hibernian, Hearts, Kilmarnock, Partick Thistle and St Mirren. Following a 2-1 Scottish League Cup win over Stranraer, Adams left Ross County on 28 August 2014. [36]
Adams was appointed Plymouth Argyle manager on 11 June 2015. [3] In his first season in English football as a Manager he guided Plymouth Argyle FC to the League 2 Play Off Final at Wembley for the first time in 20 years, which they lost to AFC Wimbledon. In the following season, Adams guided them to a 2nd-place finish and promotion to League One. [37]
In the 2017–18 season, Plymouth just missed out on a promotion play-off place as they finished in 7th position in League One. [37] Following a poor second season in League One, which left Argyle fighting relegation, Adams was relieved of his duties on 28 April 2019. [37]
On 7 November 2019, Adams became manager of Morecambe, replacing the long-serving Jim Bentley, who left to take over at AFC Fylde earlier in the month. [4] Having been denied promotion on the final day of the 2020–21 season by a single point, Morecambe had to settle for the play-offs. [38] They faced Tranmere Rovers in the semi-finals, winning 3–2 on aggregate, a 2–1 win away from home [39] and drawing 1–1 at home. [40] On 31 May 2021, Adams led Morecambe to promotion to the third tier for the first time in their club's history, a penalty from Carlos Mendes Gomes in extra-time securing a 1–0 victory over Newport County. [41] Three days after Morecambe's play-off victory, on 3 June 2021, Adams left the club to pursue other opportunities. [42]
On 4 June 2021, Adams was confirmed manager of Bradford City, signing a three-year deal. [43] [44]
On 15 February 2022, Adams was sacked by the club with his last match in charge being a 1–0 home defeat to Exeter City that left his side in 12th position, eight points off the play-offs. [45] Following this defeat, Adams said in his post-match interview, “If [Bradford] are going to get a new manager in they’re not going to get as successful a manager as myself in the door. That’s obvious to everyone, because my record is up there with all the records in this league.” [46] They subsequently replaced him with Mark Hughes.
On 24 February 2022, Adams returned to Morecambe after Stephen Robinson, the manager who had replaced Adams in the summer, returned to Scotland to manage St Mirren. [47]
On 20 November 2023, with Morecambe sitting ninth in League Two, Adams' release clause was met and he subsequently left the club to pursue an opportunity elsewhere. [48]
Adams left Morecambe to become Ross County manager for a third time in November 2023. [49] His first game in charge was a 0–0 draw. [50]
Adams received backlash in December following his post-match comments after losing at home to Dundee through a last-minute goal, in which he slammed the standard of Scottish football as being "shocking", calling the game "one of the worst games I've ever seen", and claiming his former team Morecambe were "miles better" than his Ross County squad, specifying that "I've left a side down in England's League Two that is miles better than this team. And that's saying something, we had the bottom budget in League Two and we were a hundred times better than this." [51] Adams would later stand by his comments regarding the standard of Scottish football, but admitted regret in his comparison to his former employer and apologised to his playing squad for the comment. [52]
Adams resigned from his position at Ross County on 7 February 2024, the day after a 5–0 defeat at Motherwell. [53]
Team | From | To | Record | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
Ross County | 4 October 2007 | 11 November 2010 | 154 | 70 | 41 | 43 | 45.5 |
Ross County | 15 May 2011 | 28 August 2014 | 131 | 51 | 37 | 43 | 38.9 |
Plymouth Argyle | 11 June 2015 | 28 April 2019 | 213 | 90 | 45 | 78 | 42.3 |
Morecambe | 7 November 2019 | 3 June 2021 | 79 | 34 | 18 | 27 | 43.0 |
Bradford City | 4 June 2021 | 15 February 2022 | 37 | 9 | 15 | 13 | 24.3 |
Morecambe | 24 February 2022 | 20 November 2023 | 88 | 24 | 25 | 39 | 27.3 |
Ross County | 20 November 2023 | 7 February 2024 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 16.7 |
Total | 714 | 280 | 184 | 250 | 39.2 |
Ross County
Ross County
Plymouth Argyle
Morecambe
Individual
Ross County Football Club is a professional football club based in Dingwall, Scotland. The club currently play in the Scottish Premiership, being promoted after winning the Scottish Championship in the 2018–19 season.
Craig James Brown Brewster is a Scottish former professional footballer, turned coach. He made his name in a long playing career as a striker for numerous clubs in Scotland, particularly Forfar Athletic, Raith Rovers, Dundee United and Dunfermline Athletic. He also had a successful spell with Ionikos in Greece.
John "Yogi" Hughes is a Scottish professional football coach and former player.
Kevin Thomson is a Scottish professional football coach and former player.
Kyle Charles Letheren is a Welsh former professional footballer and goalkeeper coach. He is currently a goalkeeper coach at Doncaster Rovers.
Steven Milne is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a striker for Dundee, Forfar Athletic, Plymouth Argyle, St Johnstone, Ross County and Arbroath. Milne received a runners-up medal in the 2003 Scottish Cup Final, where Dundee lost 1–0 to Rangers. He won the Scottish Challenge Cup in 2007 and the Scottish First Division in 2009 with St Johnstone.
Gregory Strong is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. He was the manager of Rhyl from 2009 until 2015, and chief scout of Plymouth Argyle between 2015 and 2018. He is currently the Head of Recruitment at Ross County FC.
Richard Brittain is a Scottish former professional footballer. He spent the 2015–16 season as manager of Brora Rangers after a short playing spell at the club. He started his career at Livingston and also played for Raith Rovers, St Mirren and Ross County.
Steven Craig is a retired Scottish professional footballer. He is currently assistant manager of Gala Fairydean Rovers.
Hibernian, one of the most prominent clubs in Scottish football, was founded in 1875. The club was named in honour of the Roman name for Ireland and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. The club has competed in the top division of Scottish football in all but four seasons since they first gained entry to the top division in 1895. Hibernian have been Scottish champions four times, most recently in 1952. The club has also been champions of the second tier six times, most recently in 2017. Hibernian have won the Scottish Cup three times, the last time in 2016. This win ended a drought of 114 years and ten cup finals lost since 1902. The club has won the League Cup three times, most recently when they defeated Kilmarnock 5–1 in 2007.
Gary Miller is a Scottish footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or defender, who used to play for East Kilbride currently playing for West of Scotland Football League side St Cadocs. He has previously played for Livingston, Ross County, St Johnstone, Partick Thistle, Plymouth Argyle and Carlisle United, as well as Ayr United on loan.
Raffaele De Vita is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Italian side Anagni. De Vita started his career with Blackburn Rovers, and has also played for Swindon Town, Bradford City, Cheltenham Town, Ross County, Partick Thistle, Falkirk, Edinburgh City, and Livingston.
Graham Carey is an Irish professional footballer for Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone. He plays as a left sided attacking midfielder.
Gregg Wylde is a Scottish footballer who plays for Camelon.
Season 2003–04 was a disappointment for Hibernian, as the team again finished in the bottom half of the Scottish Premier League, and was knocked out at the first stage of the Scottish Cup. The main highlight of the season was the run to the 2004 Scottish League Cup Final, which Hibs reached by defeating both halves of the Old Firm. This also ended in disappointment, however, as the Final was lost 2–0 to Livingston. A month after that defeat, manager Bobby Williamson was allowed to leave the club to manage Plymouth Argyle.
Yann Songo'o is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Morecambe. Born in France, he has represented Cameroon at youth level.
Matthew Kennedy is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock. Having represented Scotland at youth international level, he has represented Northern Ireland at senior international level.
The 2012–13 Scottish Premier League was the fifteenth and final season of the Scottish Premier League, the highest division of Scottish football, since its inception in 1998. The season began on 4 August 2012 and ended on 19 May 2013.
The 2019–20 EFL League Two was the 16th season of Football League Two under its current title and the 28th season under its current league division format. On 13 March 2020, the EFL, alongside the FA announced the suspension of all domestic football until 3 April due to the rapidly developing COVID-19 pandemic. On 3 April 2020, this suspension was extended indefinitely.
Derek Adams at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database