Firstly let me say this is just a thought and I am open to debate but are many of us being really negative about recent goings on? Here is a more positive alternative universe.

The club realised early on that it had made a mistake with CC. CC realised it and, as all were decent people, all involved wanted to sort it in a win/win. they knew who they wanted based on previous performances here - not those at the Arabs.

The club showed it's ambition when it signed Marius but didn't realise the effect that this would have on some unprofessional trouble makers in the team.

There were/are problems somewhere within the club with divisions and low moral amongst the players.

The club wanted a strong manager who was not afraid to be unpopular (after CC) to sort this out.

Brew had to keep things together long enough in order to get to the Jan window but is now putting his foot down at the right time. Some of those who were causing the trouble don't like this. There is, for a short time, more unrest at the club but...you can't make an omelette without cracking a few eggs!

(read Brew's comments re Black in today's courier)

Donald Park really does want to go south for family reasons, see's some good career opportunities coming up and maybe just didn't 'click' with Brew as well as he did with others. This is not the same as major animosity - both can be good guys but with differing ideas and maybe just didn't 'click'.

I would add that although he is really respected on here DP has been part of the set up throughout our really poor period - perhaps he is out of step with current ideas at the club or perhaps he wants to go before being tarred with the same brush (as he want's a move south and need to find a job). None of these need point to 'serious' problems.

Maybe all this is just the shake up we need. Do what you've always done and you'll get what you have always got and; lets face it, it was not working under CC. Maybe the club and Brew realise the mistakes they made when he left.

Maybe; just maybe Brew' problems at the Arabs were due to factors beyond his control and he has now learn't from his mistakes. Remember Strachan was the first manager to get Coventry relegated from the English top fliggt in 22 years; then look what he did for Southampton after that)

Pure speculation but I say give Brew, and the board, a few more months before coming to a conclusion.

interesting post MacBandy ... I can see this thread being one of the busiest ones on here in the next few days as people both agree and disagree with you in equal measure and with (extremely) forthright opinions.

so here's mine ! - again, none of this comes from any official sources, just putting 2+2 together from various places (and perhaps getting 5 for an answer too).

The club realised early on that it had made a mistake with CC. CC realised it and, as all were decent people, all involved wanted to sort it in a win/win. they knew who they wanted based on previous performances here - not those at the Arabs.

nope. the rumblings are that CC offered his resignation a long time (and maybe even several times) before it happened or was accepted so what makes sense to me is that the club had a backup plan if he actually walked. However, CC has always been loyal to a fault with ICT so he didnt walk and in the end may have had the decision made for him.

The club showed it's ambition when it signed Marius but didn't realise the effect that this would have on some unprofessional trouble makers in the team.

cant buy this. the team has not been renowned for troublemakers before and although some might be a little unhappy at the wages being quoted for MN, the rumblings are that it is not as huge a problem to the players or between the players as it seems to be to the fans !

There were/are problems somewhere within the club with divisions and low moral amongst the players.

cant buy this either. ICT has always been a team with a good spirit. I would agree there are problems at the club right now, but the unity of the team has always seemed good so if there is any divisions it is of a "them and us" type between management/directors and staff.

The club wanted a strong manager who was not afraid to be unpopular (after CC) to sort this out.

I could buy into this as Brewster does seem to be more of a disciplinarian or maybe it was just "jobs for the boys" as speculated elsewhere.

Brew had to keep things together long enough in order to get to the Jan window but is now putting his foot down at the right time. Some of those who were causing the trouble don't like this. There is, for a short time, more unrest at the club but...you can't make an omelette without cracking a few eggs! (read Brew's comments re Black in today's courier)

I can buy into this too . Brewster definitely has his own style and some like it and some dont - as we have seen. I do believe he is in it for the long haul this time and wont be swayed by other offers but the question remains as to whether he is up to it. He probably IS getting the blame for some of the problems that were evident before he arrived but if he is to win the fans over he has to start showing them its working ...... we havent seen that yet.

Donald Park really does want to go south for family reasons, see's some good career opportunities coming up and maybe just didn't 'click' with Brew as well as he did with others. This is not the same as major animosity - both can be good guys but with differing ideas and maybe just didn't 'click'.

Interesting to note in another thread that Robbo is in Scotland pondering his future. I posted on here weeks ago about him leaving Derry and Kenny going back there .... Will Robbo go to the Pars ? or will it be more convoluted with Irons going to the Pars and Robbo to Gretna ? either way, I wouldnt be surprised if Park ends up with him as his assistant again.

I would add that although he is really respected on here DP has been part of the set up throughout our really poor period - perhaps he is out of step with current ideas at the club or perhaps he wants to go before being tarred with the same brush. None of these need point to 'serious' problems.

He was also part of the setup in good times ! The Robbo connection makes more sense to me.

Maybe all this is just the shake up we need. Do what you've always done and you'll get what you have always got and; lets face it, it was not working under CC. Maybe the club and Brew realise the mistakes they made when he left.

Agree that things werent working, but maybe, as speculated by others, the problems start further up the food chain ! However, everything at the club is now more cloak and dagger than ever and just leads to all of us coming out with conspiracy and counter-conspiracy theories ! there is no communication any more and the club could make things a lot better by actually talking truthfully to the fans a little more.

Maybe; just maybe Brew' problems at the Arabs were due to factors beyond his control and he has now learn't from his mistakes. Remember Strachan was the first manager to get Coventry relegated from the English top fliggt in 22 years; then look what he did for Southampton after that)

I have no doubt that a large portion of CB's problems at DUFC had their origins elsewhere but it looks like he has jumped into a similar situation here ! lets hope he can remove those problems and show us what he can actually do ... or if he can do it.

it makes me really sad and at times angry to see the turmoil at a club I have supported since its birth, especially when I know how good things were even a short time ago ...... I sincerely hope that people with the club at heart take a good look at whats going on, repair the things that are not working and allow us to continue our progression ... this is the first time in 14 years that we seem to be going backwards developmentally and it is not pleasant !

You may very well be on the right track, but if it was all as straight forward as that then why have the club created such a web of lies and half truths to cover up what has been going on.  It's at the stage where the lies don't even fit with what we have been told previously.

Everyone makes mistakes...that's life, but some people at the club need to realise that the club is bigger than them and if they have fecked up then they would respected far more for holding their hands up and admitting it than telling lie after lie after lie in an effort to cover their own butt and create even bigger problems.

I do know that despite my early fears about Niculae becoming an outcast due to his wages is not the case.  He gets on well with the whole team and the whole team get on well with each other....the only problems that exist are between players and management/club officials - partly because of the money thing, but mostly because none of them can get a straight answer from Brewster with regards to their futures.

I found myself having a wee laugh last night when lying in bed thinking about what's happening with the club and some people might think I have just gone mad when I say what I am about to say, but.....I was at a meeting last week with Mike Smith (and DJS) following some issues I had raised about how certain things were being communicated (or not) to the fans and I came away from it feeling pretty positive that he had listened to what had to be said, taken on board the fact that everyone had a part to play in changing things and moving it forward to prevent future animosity between fans and the club in regards to the non-footballing side of things.  Cards were laid on the table and I got a better understanding of the problems and frustrations he faced as well.  We all agreed that things could have been done differently by everyone to prevent certain events and the important thing was to learn and move to prevent it in future instead of continuing a war of finger pointing.

Between us we came up with a couple of ideas to change and hopefully improve matters.  Some things have already been done by Mike/The Club and I think everyone has witnessed that in terms of Stewarding etc the Matchday experience is a bit more relaxed and we (the fans) don't feel like we have Stewards breathing down our necks every 2 seconds...it's less intimidating for all concerned....hopefully we can work together to improve things further and get better communication on what's what for the fans.

Anyway, to cut a long story short....what made me laugh was that here we were, getting plans in place to sort what we all perceived as one of the biggest issues between club and fans and no sooner were we getting that sorted when the club were busy shooting themselves in the foot on the footballing side and almost recreating the issue in another area.

When you put the personalities aside....be that Mike Smith, Craig Brewster, Alan Savage or any of the Players or Fans....it comes down to one thing.....Communication.

As the song goes "Aint what you do, its the way that you do it...that's what gets results"

Yep and maybe the undoubted communication difficulties are not sinister but merely incompetence.

Surely this is more believable than a BoD who employ people to do as they say so that they can fiddle as Rome burns?

And re Scotties points:

about us always having a good team spirit in the past and not being renknowned for having trouble makers ...things change! Especially when noses are put out of joint.

about the problems not being within the team but team vs hierachy....look at the body language on the pitch.

All I say is lets give him a bit longer...I do think the need to manage and Lead what he was given until the Jan window could be a major factor.

Completely agree, MacBandy... especially your bottom line (first post)...

Further to Scotty's comments re Robbo, it's worth mentioning that he was in the stand at this afternoon's reserve match.....  :024:

Never has the club been faced with the dilemma of having to break up Pele?s players.

There seems to be a Bligh(t) on HMS Sneck.

This water is uncharted and the passage forward is not certain.

Some of the new ratings seem to have a less than Christian attitude towards the admiral efforts of those who would wish to steer us towards safe harbour.

FROM THE COURIER

When Brewster said he was taking the team for Spin lessons...I automatically assumed it was to the gym  :029:

CB'll get the team problems sorted out, no probs.  Am looking forward to seeing what he does come January and how we move on - and hopefully upward! - from that point.

MON THE ICT !!   :021:

And Sophia is about to form a ......Steering Committee ..... to...channel....her considerable energies into ...uncharted....waters in order to get the ....Ratings...... to roar and soar to get Inverness' HMS Sneck all ship shape and Bristol fashion under the admirable and incomparable Admiral IHE, OBE, DFC, and...and.... :004: :sillywave: