So the curtain comes crashing down on another, and arguably our worst ever, season. Yet, like an abrupt ending to a poor movie, I'm left wondering why events unfolded as they did:

Why was an untried rookie manager given a 4 year contract? 

Why, when it's been obvious for months we were headed for relegation, was the manager not removed from his post? 

If, as being rumoured, RF and BR don't get on, why wasn't RF given the opportunity to choose his own assistant months ago? 

Malpas was brought in with just 5 games remaining, why was this not done sooner? 

Why was Fisher, our top scorer, cast (pardon the pun) aside for much of the season?

What is going on at Boardroom level? 

Does David Sutherland still have an influence on the Board, and if so what's in it for him, and is it preventing others from investing? 

Has there ever before been such a rapid descent of a football club from winning the national cup and qualifying for Europe to relegation in less than 2 years? 

Why was John Hughes given a contract extension after being refused permission to speak to Dundee Utd and yet the relationship between him and the Chairman to turn so sour so soon after? 

What happens now? 

.....to be continued? 

Answers welcome, even on a postcard!

I will revert back to a post I made a few weeks ago about our financial predicament. The question of whether we are about to go into administration could well be a factor in what happens in the next few days. If it is the case then we will start life in the Championship with a points deduction. Then we will find the level that the Board seem to wish us to operate at to sustain the club in the long term. Sad times indeed.

 

6 hours ago, RednBlackComeback said:

So the curtain comes crashing down on another, and arguably our worst ever, season. Yet, like an abrupt ending to a poor movie, I'm left wondering why events unfolded as they did:

Why was an untried rookie manager given a 4 year contract? 

Why, when it's been obvious for months we were headed for relegation, was the manager not removed from his post? 

If, as being rumoured, RF and BR don't get on, why wasn't RF given the opportunity to choose his own assistant months ago? 

Malpas was brought in with just 5 games remaining, why was this not done sooner? 

Why was Fisher, our top scorer, cast (pardon the pun) aside for much of the season?

What is going on at Boardroom level? 

Does David Sutherland still have an influence on the Board, and if so what's in it for him, and is it preventing others from investing? 

Has there ever before been such a rapid descent of a football club from winning the national cup and qualifying for Europe to relegation in less than 2 years? 

Why was John Hughes given a contract extension after being refused permission to speak to Dundee Utd and yet the relationship between him and the Chairman to turn so sour so soon after? 

What happens now? 

.....to be continued? 

Yes, all the right questions....just no answers from our incommunicative board. This was a screw-up from the moment Hughes wanted to speak with United. He should have been allowed to do so and allowed out of the door, with compensation. He was nowhere near as good a manager as he thought he was - evidence Raith Rovers.

Every decision by the board since then compounded the error. Extend Hughes' contract - fall out with him and end up paying to get rid, then forced to go for the cheap option of Foran - 4 year contract for an untested entity - inability to weild the axe when his failings were clear. Utter shambles.

7 hours ago, RednBlackComeback said:

Has there ever before been such a rapid descent of a football club from winning the national cup and qualifying for Europe to relegation in less than 2 years? 

From Bucharest to Brechin! 

8 hours ago, RednBlackComeback said:

Has there ever before been such a rapid descent of a football club from winning the national cup and qualifying for Europe to relegation in less than 2 years? 

Portsmouth (Cup in 2008, relegated 2010) and Hearts (Cup 2012, relegated 2014) spring to mind, although both of these were precipated by financial implosion and administration. 

An answer (but maybe not the answer) to a number of your questions is "money"

The two big mistakes were not allowing Hughes to speak to (and then subsequently move to for compensation) Dundee Utd, and not cashing in on Tansey. I think that knocking United back started the souring of Hughes relationship with the Chairman. That, and Hughes not being half the manager Hughes thought he was. 

That meant that we were in the market for a cheap solution when we decided to pay off Hughes, and converting Foran's long playing contract (possibly another mistake) into a managerial one probably made financial sense. That also meant that Rice had to stay, irrespective of what Foran wanted. The rest is a matter of painful record. 

I've been told fisher was cast aside because he failed to turn up for extra training.foran told them they could all have time off at an international break but after a defeat he ordered them all in on the Sunday for extra training.fisher had booked flights home and went against rf wishes.when he returned he was told he would never play for the club again.dont no the dates when this happened but was told by somebody in the club.

8 minutes ago, ictbob said:

I've been told fisher was cast aside because he failed to turn up for extra training.foran told them they could all have time off at an international break but after a defeat he ordered them all in on the Sunday for extra training.fisher had booked flights home and went against rf wishes.when he returned he was told he would never play for the club again.dont no the dates when this happened but was told by somebody in the club.

Like everything else flying around at this time this could be pure speculation ,but if there is any truth in it I feel disgusted as it has cost us very dearly .Alex Fisher has proved his worth over the last few games and the club should do everything in their power to keep him .If Richie holds on to his job he should be put on a man management course as these boys give up a lot to come and play for ICT .To be penalised for going home on a planned visit is quite unforgivable .

Believe me it's true.

5 minutes ago, izzy said:

If Richie holds on to his job he should be put on a man management course as these boys give up a lot to come and play for ICT

This should be just another nail in Foran's coffin. 

Wrong team, wrong tactics, wrong management style, wrong man for the job. 

That explanation of Fisher absence makes sense but points to RF inexperience to handle the managerial position and a tendency to not have a controlled temperament /thought process when reacting to situations. Evidenced by the fact Fisher did play again. As HawkeyeTheGnu points out lack of money has a part to play but a good manager will understand the financial constraints adjust his approach to reflect those constraints. Easy way to lose respect in dressing room. And presumably contracts should be written to address these type of situations rather than letting manager have a rant?

I've had this earworm since I started reading through this thread so everybody else might as well too...

 

Talk about going into administration is probably premature. We made a small loss last financial results but the three years before made profits. We don't have any external debt either.

Who knows when it comes to football clubs finances though.

11 hours ago, PerfICT said:

Yes, all the right questions....just no answers from our incommunicative board. This was a screw-up from the moment Hughes wanted to speak with United. He should have been allowed to do so and allowed out of the door, with compensation. He was nowhere near as good a manager as he thought he was - evidence Raith Rovers.

Every decision by the board since then compounded the error. Extend Hughes' contract - fall out with him and end up paying to get rid, then forced to go for the cheap option of Foran - 4 year contract for an untested entity - inability to weild the axe when his failings were clear. Utter shambles.

Ffs why not let JH rest in peace. Our predicament has absolutely nothing to do with him

 

4 hours ago, ictchris said:

Talk about going into administration is probably premature. We made a small loss last financial results but the three years before made profits. We don't have any external debt either.

Who knows when it comes to football clubs finances though.

That being the case you should not expect administration or should we?

4 minutes ago, caleyboy said:

Ffs why not let JH rest in peace. Our predicament has absolutely nothing to do with him

 

Nothing here is blaming Hughes, it's fully pointing the finger at the Board

But the JH situation appears to have been the trigger for much that happened afterwards. While not totally to blame for our current predicament, in my opinion JH certainly sowed some seeds of discontent that have continued into this season.

The downward spiral began whist JH was still here.

The post split points we picked up flattered us and if you remove the points picked up against Aberdeen and County we had relegation fight form.

5 minutes ago, Tree said:

 if you remove the points picked up against Aberdeen and County we had relegation fight form.

But why would you?! 

12 minutes ago, Tree said:

The downward spiral began whist JH was still here.

The post split points we picked up flattered us and if you remove the points picked up against Aberdeen and County we had relegation fight form.

Its a lot of what ifs, like what if the two St Johnstone players hadn't started kicking lumps out of each other vs Accies? Its all irrelevant now anyway.

19 hours ago, RednBlackComeback said:

Has there ever before been such a rapid descent of a football club from winning the national cup and qualifying for Europe to relegation in less than 2 years? 

Yes! What's red, white and blue, won 54 titles and is dead?

Being serious this happened not that long ago when Hearts won the Scottish Cup in season 2011/12 and then two seasons later were relegated. Hearts bounced back first time of asking, lets hope we can do exactly the same.

 

29 minutes ago, Snafu said:

Its a lot of what ifs, like what if the two St Johnstone players hadn't started kicking lumps out of each other vs Accies? Its all irrelevant now anyway.

Yes! What's red, white and blue, won 54 titles and is dead?

Being serious this happened not that long ago when Hearts won the Scottish Cup in season 2011/12 and then two seasons later were relegated. Hearts bounced back first time of asking, lets hope we can do exactly the same.

 

Hearts had the income from average home crowds in excess of 14,000 in the Championship, a competent manager at the time and a shrewd and supportive chair in the form of Anne Budge.

We have none of that. What we need to rely on is our traditional Caley Thistle spirit that guided us up through the divisions in the first place. Unfortunately that seemed to go at the start of last season and has been utterly absent this. There is no reason it can't be restored but, in my view, to do so, we need both a new manager and a new chairman heading a freshened up board of directors.

For the life of me I cannot understand how the Board have got off with their silence this season. I am not aware of Company Law but would imagine that they must now make a statement to the shareholders as to what the hell went wrong over the past few months and what they have been doing to mitigate the disaster that has now visited us, This is a Board who have, in my opinion, a duty to the shareholders and season ticket holders to provide a full time lined explanation of the past year. This is a Board who have shown a complete lack of respect for the people (fans and sponsors and staff) by their secrecy.

Was it not only at the start of last season that Cameron and Foran held a Q & A session about what the future held. Since then nothing but rubbish fed to the fans each week by the manager, for example about how we were to end in the Top 6, we have been conned big time.

This club has been in existence for over 20 years and we have had an incredible journey but the infrastructure appears to be non existent. For example where are the young players coming through, I cannot name one single prospect that we are nurturing. Where are the basics like a proper training ground? Surely after all these years we could have identified a bit of ground to convert into a training facility. How on earth will we attract decent players with the facilities we have? Our stadium is horrible, a three sided area with a horrendous main stand.

I look forward to the statement that must be forthcoming tomorrow or the next day from the Board. We are at an incredibly important cross roads for our club, get this wrong and we face decades in lower league football. The potential is there for Inverness, just witness yesterdays crowd.

 

2 hours ago, Huisdean said:

But the JH situation appears to have been the trigger for much that happened afterwards. While not totally to blame for our current predicament, in my opinion JH certainly sowed some seeds of discontent that have continued into this season.

With hindsight, very much so.

1 hour ago, Snafu said:

what if the two St Johnstone players hadn't started kicking lumps out of each other vs Accies?

Thanks, I'd forgotten about that! I'll certainly be referring to that when my Saints friends ask what went wrong.

On 2017-5-21 at 9:33 AM, ictbob said:

I've been told fisher was cast aside because he failed to turn up for extra training.foran told them they could all have time off at an international break but after a defeat he ordered them all in on the Sunday for extra training.fisher had booked flights home and went against rf wishes.when he returned he was told he would never play for the club again.dont no the dates when this happened but was told by somebody in the club.

Like most rumours, this one makes sense & has a ring of truth about it.

Totally unfair on Fisher, as has been said, demonstrated RF's poor man management - surely given the circumstances, there shouldn't have been an issue here. I certainly wouldn't fault Fisher's workrate, definetly one of the hardest working players we have.

Woulnd't be at all suprised that if RF stays, Fisher will go - and who would blame him! Only suprised Alex isn't away already...