Leaderboard

The "big" difference between Brewster and Butcher lies with their personalities and characters. Brewster was very reactive, often emotive and outspoken. He was aloof and often also opened his gob before he had thought through what he was saying. Butcher is charasmatic and likeable and very calm, assured and controlled. Butcher will not get immersed in any form of bickering. He will undoubtedly not discuss the Tokely matter any further and adhere to the official statements that have been made and will be made. That also projects the "blame" and the ownership of the decision on the club and Tokely. Butcher will innocently plead innocence. In many ways that is pretty feckin impressive from a business management perspective. The Tokely issue is also diverting people's attention from the dilemna of a host of players not signing up and a real "scamble" to get players in for the start of the season (again!!). If Butcher could add tactical prowess to his repetoire he would be one mighty manager and would also be heading towards legend status. Munro did have a pretty poor season on his return to the SPL. Rosscoe has been struggling for years. Duncan was finished. If you want to go back then Wilson and Wyness were over their sell back dates.But the "threat" posed by Munro and Tokely lay off the field of play and related to their "influence" in the dressing room and with the support. From what I gather it was six of one and half a dozen of the other. But there are some who are extolling the likes of Golobart, Williams and even Aldred. Golobart has potential but makes as many "mistakes" as Proctor. Williams is "raw" and will never get above League 2 status and Aldred was a big mistake. So no replacement was brought in for Munro - if there had been then the odds on are that Tokely would not have got a game last season. The mere fact that Rosscoe was one of the few who appeared to be fisrt on the starting X! and even Butcher stated that he would love a team of Tokelys must show that he was worth a shout again this season. The issues are the "timings" - to announce this on the eve of the final match was deplorable. As I have alluded to before at least Munro had an opportunity to say "goodbye". That must have been a real kick in the teeth after 16 years and playing regularly throughout the season. And initially Tokely referred to not getting a chance to prove himself. And I dont know the actual sums involved but if lets say Tade was offered more than Rosscoe - and lets face it these things are discussed - then Rosscoe must also have been angered. Probably the biggest problem for Tokely is that he didnt have an agent fighting his corner and the final decision may have rested on improved deals to try and keep Hayes, Tansey and Tade on board. Well that is me finished with that and moving on to the new season. But, as Gringo junior, has mentioned Butcher has now placed himself in the open and the target for all the Internet snipers. Personally I am not going to reproach him in regard to Munro and Tokely becos it makes sense from a playing perspective. Butcher will now be judged on holding on to the likes of Gillet, getting on board a central defender and a scoring striker and - please gawd - altering his tactical approach and improving the standard of play.

I believe Gary will be a huge player for you next season. He's 100% committed when he's on the pitch and won't shirk a tackle.

gordieICT, the way I see it, there is no spin coming from Butcher. Butcher hasn't said a damn thing regarding Rossco yet so where on earth is the spin of which you speak. The only 'spin' on the Rossco story is coming from The Sun, Mrs Tokely's facebook page and the theories flying about these very forums as a result. And all from the same very people who have moaned about Munro's departure all season. Call me a happy clapper, accuse me of falling into butchers so called trap or whatever the heck you like. The FACT of the matter is Rossco was offered a contract and he has refused it. There simply wouldnt be this discussion if Munro and Duncan hadn't been released last year, nor would there be this discussion had it been any other member of the squad. I can;t wait to see what happens next year when Ross or Sutherland get released. But I bet it'll have some sort of 'butcher slaughters our team' conspiracy attached to it.

Wouldnt it be ironic if he went to The Buddies

They probably would be, trouble is a lot of the postings are bordering on the destructive! reading them can not be conducive to the desired effect.

Just though I'd respond to your points Laurence

The one thing that has to be got right this time is the rules of engagement. The Scotland Act of 1978, which allowed for the referendum of '79 demanded that at least 40% of the total registered electorate had to vote yes. Over 51% of those who voted said yes but the turnout was only 64% which was actually one of the highest turnouts for elections and such like. The government of the time knew there wouldn't be the required turnout so knew the Act would never be passed. Short reply to Laurence.......if you were back south of the border you'd be paying for your prescriptions and your council tax would be a lot higher. Unless, of course, your living of the Scottish benefits system.

Can't be bigger than graeme shinnies. Can it?

Good Luck to Gary Warren from all of us at Newport County. The skipper has been an absolute legend for us over the past 3 seasons and he will be a big miss. You have got one hell of a good player and please take care of him because eventually we would like him back. A top top bloke!!!! Oh by the way, Gary has probably the biggest nose in football....lol!!!!!

He should have known he was being released, because Clark Kent.

Ross Tokely is superman, there's no doubt about it.. His own superman thread was a particular highlight of his career, and just knowing Ross Tokely was in the team was good enough for me.

Scoring against St Mirren in a 4-1 win at Love Street while Hendrie was manager. Scoring the winner against St Mirren the first season at their new place. Both late goals after getting dog's abuse from their lovely fans.

Of course the difference is that after 16 years most people would be worth more to their employer whereas a footballer eventually obviously goes in the other direction, hard though that may be for them to accept. I really don't think Butcher would have offered anything if he didn't want to keep him but as he said his hands are tied i.e. an annual deficit of £250k or whatever that has to be plugged somehow. If he pays more to Tokely that probably means one less youngster he can take on (without knowing the actual numbers). Not being in the UK anymore I can't comment on current form but certainly a couple of years ago both Tokely and Munro looked off the pace to me (when we got relegated), Munro's distribution was awful and it's not as though other SPL clubs were queuing up to hire them (compare eg Darren Dods) so life is hard but at the same time everyone is frothing at the mouth over Rangers, it's not realistic to criticise the club/management for making tough financial decisions.

So 'TB totally runs the ship' As this is the case I think his bar staff are requiring his input, too few when the pressure is on and don't get me started on his pie making skills. His inability to sell the corporate boxes should be addressed .. what is he doing with his time?. The car park is crap on match days - time he addressed this, it is not as if he is giving his team any advice. His handling of the grass cutters leave a lot to be desired, the stand side cutting is iffy! His ICT site members concerns need addressed - what right has he to ignore them and more so, our well informed contributors on this site talk so much sense, Terry. The players needs and tactics for next year are already in good hands if he just listens to the well qualified, reasoned, presentations on this site - easy peasy - we don't need a football manager at all. That wonderful player Munro, the one ALL the SPL clubs were fighting over when we released him, should be reinstated in the heart of our defence along side Rossco and their speed and ball distribution will bring instant success. Oh, should there remain a wee bit of concern re the tactics etc... it would appear from the above posts.. you should just watch the Tinks. ....they are so much better than us. Now the financial situation... I think Terry that you should set up as a NEWCO ... Inverness Thistle FC (2013) and get rid of all the moaning minnies on here at a stroke! Reclaim the high ground Terry, you know it makes sense, we did come from up the Hill, look once again down on the nerds as we always did and allow them to find their true home, over the bridge with their distant relatives. Oh, and yes you are at fault - the toilet cistern is also iffy and it is your fault!

Clubs slashing their budgets and laying off players, meanwhile http://www.bbc.co.uk...otball/14064682 Scandalous.

One thing I am fairly certain of is that if had been Brewster doing this the same fans defending Butcher would be up in arms.

Going to be a bit contravesial here but NO Butcher is not to blame. The blame lies at the low fanbase. The lack of funds. The state of Scottish football. And the state of britian as a whole. Running a successfull football team needs money. The sugar daddies are few and far between. The fanbase is falling. The sponsors are tightening their belts and the whole country is fekked up. Add it all together and we, the humble citizens, cant afford our recreational hobbies.

Who cares! We looked dapper

No not soley to blame but his treatment of established players, dreadful tactics and blaming everybody else apart from himself makes him more guilty of our current problems than anyone else. I hope I am wrong and he turns things around as I think we are stuck with him, after all I can't see anyone else wanting him

Whatever the reason's a legend leaving in such circumstances is not the right decision for the future. Also your choice of the 2 is not an option because when lads like Golabart come in and do reasonably well they will be of and the club has to search for a replacement. Golabart was off at the first chance he got, Tokely committed himself to his whole footballing career at this club and would have been here for another if it wasn't handled so badly. I am not saying Butcher has an easy job but his choice to get rid of established players before he has found long term replacements is staggering

I am just waiting for a fans representative to pop up on Reporting Scotland shortly to confirm that it is all the creditors fault and they are organising a boycott!

I have to say Luke if TB ever needs to employ a spin-doctor you're the man for that job! ;)

End of the line for my two season books - dreadful home performances have been making me think for a while that I could find a better use for the money, as has the treatment of some of my favourite players, but the killer was the Rangers scandal and, more to the point, the inaction, ineptitude and all-round deafening silence from footballing authorities and other clubs' boards. I care about ICT, but as a club participating in a fair footballing competition. What's happened over the last couple of months is a tacit admission that the competition is not fair, and may well not have been fair for a very long time, but that it's ok to cheat, break the rules of the association and the law of the land if you're sufficiently (self-)important: off you go, naughty Rangers, and come back as a new company when, without automatic sanctions in place, we'll probably just let you back into the SPL with a smacked bum. To me, that just isn't cricket, and it's certainly not football: more like wrestling.

You make a good point Yngwie in that 'ICT hasn't retracted its contract offer'. It's made me wonder as to whether Rossco could be waiting on a better offer from another club, and should one not be forthcoming, come back accepting the offer? Who knows? I've read a lot of the comments made on here and everyone seems to think that the club (or rather, TB) is trying to dismantle the club by releasing players with legendary status. Although I can understand that point of view, I can't really join this particular bandwagon when I reflect on what TB and the club are trying to achieve. Players who we would never get outwith a loan spell have come and tried to strengthen the side. Davies, Williams, Golobart and others. All players who many have said would make the grade at a Championship level or higher. Andrew Shinnie, Billy McKay and Ryan Esson will be our heros next term, and so long as Foran encourages from the back rather than criticising from the front, we will do well I think. Rosscoe is now 33 years of age and although I still think he is still a cracking defender, I'm unsure as to if he'd be able to perform at SPL level for another full season. Grant Munro is a classic example of 'finding his level' in that he struggled in the SPL the year we got relegated, excelled at Division 1 grade, struggled back in the SPL and was again sensational at Division 1 level. Division 1 is his level. Perhaps Rosscoe's level is now also Division 1???

I really must have lost the plot. God forbid that I should view the club posting information about a short extension to the early bird offer and keeping the shop open over a bank holiday weekend to accommodate as being a good thing. It's clearly all just a conspiracy to bury the story of Ross Tokelys resignation....silly me, how could I not have seen that. Nothing wrong with opinion, I have plenty of my own, but attacking the club for the above is not opinion, it's just using any excuse to have another pop and make a bad situation look worse than what it is. What's more, when such a thing spills over into personal insults and name calling then it's clear that hysteria has taken over....yet I am the one who is overreacting!!!

You cant put all the blame on Butcher. Financial restraints are playing a huge part, hence why rossco, hayes, tansey etc have all left bacuase ICT cant afford the wages. Perhaps if we had larger crowds week in week out we could afford to pay players a bit more and keep the bestter players. I think the blame lays with many people. The SPL itself, the board, Butcher, the players and the not enough supporters. You simply can't blame one person, is madness!!!!

So the lack of money available in Scottish Football and the inability of the club to offer salaries that players expect is all the fault of TB. Seems there is a hardcore TB witch hunt on here with certain fans - its all getting very boring and predictable that every thread has the same people posting their anti TB comments. Sure there have been managerial mistakes with certain players coming in, but others have been a success. Promotion, SPL survival, long inbeaten runs - I count that as not doing too bad. Ok we had a poor season this year and some of the football wanst great but most importantly we are still SPL so lets support the club and build from here for the future both finacially and on the field!!

They may well have been on a fraction of the wages Tokely was on and hence more scope to make an improved offer Without actual figures that's a moot point. Despite being so 'skint' as some allude too, we still seem to manage to make improved offers to the players Butcher really wants to keep. Did Foran take a pay cut with his new 2 year deal in January??

I see no conspiracy whatsoever here. Tokely has been at the club a long time and I'd imagine he's one of our top earners. Nobody knows if he's able, at his age, to complete another full season at full fitness. He's been offered a deal for another year at a reduced wage. How reduced I dont know. This deal has not come about because anyone wants rid of Tokely. Its come about because we cannot afford to keep him at the salary he was on. Look back over the last few years at whats been happening. Every year we have had a 1/4 million shortfall in cash needed to survive. Alan Savage stepped in with that amount. Then a few directors chipped in with a similar amount. A deal was done on the social club to subsidise another season. A consortium comes forward with a similar amount to cover last seasons shortfall. This season the club has said the playing budget is cut. This club is struggling to make ends meet as a full time club in this league. We cant go below a 24 player first team and we also need an U-20 squad. Perhaps the only way to achieve that is to cut wages and find players that'll put themselves in the shop window for a move to a bigger wage elsewhere. That to me seems the only way this club can survive and no amount of bleating is going to put funds in the coffer. At least not unless the jackpot is mine tonight.

I reckon that the practically "blunderous" season that we've just had is a fairly prominent reminder if ever he needed one. How can we expect to move on or grow as a team if things such as "supporters" feeling a constant need to linger around particular sour situations of the past and jump on the matter whenever possible, in apparently thinking it'll magically change everything.

Gavin Morrison is off to Iceland on a 4 month contract! Yay All hail Terry Butcher! Forward thinking there! But, no. Gavin is off to Iceland for 4 months with 1 year left on his contract. The next 4 months will save money on his wage and the hope is he will be signed by a first division or an Icelandic club in the summer. There's no long term player development. It's all done to make sure he signs for someone else. The plan from the management is that he will never wear a Caley Thistle top again. I'm not one to make things up, but this is the truth. I'm fed up with everything that's happening and i'm fed up with the way the club is heading.