THOSE grainy old images of Gothenburg look even more vivid through the wide-eyed lens of a child.

Sir Alex Ferguson's influence transcends the generations and reaches far beyond the usual suspects and one piece of testimony which is rarely retold belongs to Derek Adams, the Ross County manager.

Adams was just seven years old when he skipped primary school to spend three days in sodden Sweden with his mother and father, the latter of whom just happened to be the club's youth coach, George.

A photograph captures for posterity the Adams family posing with the victorious manager shortly after the trophy had been paraded around the granite city on its way to Pittodrie, but even those memories which weren't committed to celluloid seem as real now as they were 30 years ago. Indeed, they only have added currency following the events of this week.

"I went over to Gothenburg on the staff plane, with my mum and dad," Adams told Herald Sport. "We were across there for three nights leading up to the final. It rained for the whole time we were there and I remember the night before the game I was at an amusement park with Jason, Mark and Darren, Fergie's sons, and we all got totally soaked going down the log flumes. But it was so wet that we didn't need an excuse to get wet!

"I was seven when that photo was taken," added the Ross County manager, who would go on to sign a YTS at Aberdeen under Alex Smith. "I had just taken the ride back and I got a picture taken with my dad and Sir Alex the next day, after they had paraded the cup around the city and back to Pittodrie. I also have a memory of walking across the tram tracks in Gothenburg after the match. A family friend called Chalky White, who used to play for Aberdeen, was beside me and my dad and he said 'Derek, remember this day because you won't get many like it'."

Ferguson did go on to achieve many more days like that in his career, the so-called Godfather of the British game clearly a source of almost paternal inspiration to Adams. And without overstating the case, there are the odd flashes of a resemblance there. Like Ferguson, who was 41 that night at the Ullevi Stadium, the Ross County manager is a young man in a hurry.

With a Scottish Cup final appearance, a first division title win, and a top-six appearance to his name by the age of 37, Adams is upsetting Scottish football's hierarchy, respectfully representing his club at all times yet still projecting the vague threat of an eruption of anger and indulging in the occasional bout of mind games.

"From an early age it was drummed in to me about winning, standards and discipline and Sir Alex was all of that," said Adams. "I remember watching him and Archie [Knox] at Pittodrie playing a kind of head tennis style game which they called Tibs, and the competitive edge the two of them had at that was unreal.

"Fergie and my dad would also play at snooker inside the old stand at Pittodrie, and Fergie wanted to win so much that he used a wee bit of gamesmanship, a wee cough here or a wee drop of the cue when somebody was about to take his shot.

"It was win at all costs for him and that has probably stood me in good stead throughout my coaching life. It is great to be around these people at a formative stage. He has been a big influence in a lot of people's lives and not just the ones who tend to talk about it."

No wonder, then, that Adams joins the list of tributes which have flooded in since Ferguson announced his retirement on Wednesday. Having said that, he welcomes, too, the appointment of his successor: a man whose acquaintance he made during a year in Burnley, while Moyes was at nearby Preston, the friendship being cemented with a trip to Everton during a time when Adams was studying for his coaching badges.

"He is going to be a massive miss for Scottish football and world football as well," said Adams of Ferguson. "His press conferences, his mind games, his tactical knowledge and the way he sets out his teams, for a Scottish manager he has really put us on the map in England. I think there is a good bit in the mind games, psychology is a big part of football if you are intelligent enough to use it to your advantage.

"I was at Burnley as a 19-year-old when David Moyes was at Preston, and he was a friend of a friend of mine. Even at that stage, he was always at games watching other teams. What a job he has done at Everton and I think it is great that another Scottish manager is taking over. I went down to Everton when I did my UEFA Pro Licence and he spent the morning and afternoon with us."

Considering his exploits, Adams is entitled to take umbrage at his omission from the PFA Scotland manager of the year shortlist, a bauble duly claimed by Queen of the South's Allan Johnston. There is still the outlandish prospect of European football to consider, even if County need Inverness and St Johnstone to do them a favour to set up a last-day decider in Dingwall.

"To be promoted from the first division and finish in fifth place or higher is a tremendous feat," Adams said. "We need Inverness and St Johnstone to lose on Saturday and for us to win to take it to the Highland derby on the last day of the season but we couldn't have asked for any more. There is no doubt that we have been one of the teams of the season."

Sir Alex, one suspects, must be proud, very proud, of the strides his star-struck young prodigy has made in the last 30 years.