Calderwood has been tasked with keeping County in the First Division

Jimmy Calderwood has been confirmed as the new manager of Ross County until the end of the season.

The former Nijmegen, Dunfermline, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock boss succeeds the sacked Willie McStay in Dingwall.

And Calderwood explained to BBC Scotland: "Well, I have obviously been out of the game this season.

"And there were a few things I thought might happen abroad that did not materialise and I am not one for sitting about the house."

The 55-year-old Calderwood has been idle since leaving Kilmarnock at the end of last season, having agreed a short-term deal at Rugby Park after a spell unemployed following his exit from Pittodrie.

"People that I have spoken to who have been up here, like Craig Brewster, Alex Smith and Dick Campbell, they all spoke highly of the club, no matter how they left," he said.

The first goal is to get them out of this predicament they are in Ross County manager Jimmy Calderwood

"The chairman is a very successful businessman and his enthusiasm and plans for the club were very exciting.

"So I thought we would look at each other until the end of the season.

"It gets me training again, which is what I enjoy most. I have never been out of the game until what happened at Aberdeen and then the last six months."

Calderwood did not see himself being typecast as a trouble-shooter, having led Kilmarnock clear of relegation from the Scottish Premier League before leaving Rugby Park.

"Before that, I was very loyal," he stressed. "I was four and a half years at Dunfermline and five years at Aberdeen."

County sacked McStay, who was in charge for just nine games - failing to win any of them, on Saturday after a 0-0 draw with bottom side Stirling Albion.

The Dingwall club sit second bottom of Division One, four points ahead of Stirling, but Calderwood believes he has inherited a squad capable of much more.

"The standard of training was really, really high and you ask yourself what's gone on," he said after taking his first session with the first-team ahead of facing former club Dunfermline in his first game in charge on Saturday.

"It is a confidence thing. They are a very good footballing side.

"The first goal is to get them out of this predicament they are in, but they are definitely a top-five side, if not higher."

County chairman Roy MacGregor had previously spoken about the difficult decision he had made in sacking McStay.

"This has been one of the toughest weeks I can remember in my long involvement with Ross County," he told his club website.

"In Jimmy, we have secured the services of a manager with a proven track record of success in the First Division."

Glasgow-born Calderwood, who began his coaching career in the Netherlands, spent five seasons as manager of Dunfermline, where we won promotion to the SPL at the first attempt and reached the 2004 Scottish Cup final.

"We hope that his experience and motivational abilities will help the team rise to the very real challenges they face in the remainder of the season," added MacGregor.

"As a full-time club, with an excellent youth development programme, remaining in the First Division is of paramount importance to us this season.

"We do also have an Alba Cup final still to look forward to.

"As a lifelong Ross County fan, I fully understand the frustration and disappointment our supporters have been feeling since the high of reaching the Scottish Cup final last season."

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