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We lost many good players after the cup win (Ofere, Watkins, Christie, Shinnie), yogis replacements were poor. He tried to play the same style with lesser players. He started the downward spiral, took the huff when the board wouldn't let him speak to Utd then engineered his way out the club, picking fights over anything he could (much like mourinho now). Both parties suffered badly from his actions. A humble man would reflect on this and admit his errors. However yogis still churns the nonsense that if the board gave him money he would have kept us at that level. His replacements he signed make that statement pretty nonsensical.

John Hughes fell into the trap that he thought he was a better manager than he actually was. You can see this trend at Hibs and Falkirk when he managed there and thought he could do no wrong but was proven, in the end, to be not as good as he thought. After we won the cup, we then started the next season without a recognised forward and he failed to sort that issue out. Sure we had injuries but a managers job is to manage when things are both good and bad but Hughes vision was that he needed money, and lots of it to improve things with no Plan B when he obviously knew we could not provide this. Don't any of the Hughes supporters posting think it strange that if he is as good as they and he thinks, that he is no longer managing. Hughes's solution to everything, when things went wrong was that he needed more money.

Is there anyway the club could bring the big man back in some capacity a winner like him will surely inspire our players possibly a crowd funding be required but well worth thoughts on it??

Well that's okay because I didn't mention about the styles of play under Hughes/Butcher. A bizarre comment to make. Hughes was in charge for about four months at Raith Rovers and won four games overseeing glorious moments like forgetting to sign a goalkeeper to play in goals when they had no one available and pissing off the entire dressing room by slagging the players off week in and week out. They were certainly not doomed as you say and were 12 points ahead of bottom placed Saint Mirren who overtook them to send Raith into the play offs. We all know of your all encompassing love for all things Hughes but the fact is you are never objective about anything concerning him as your post above shows yet again. To borrow your own wording, if you can't see the parallels between his tenures at Falkirk, Hibs, ICT and Raith Rovers then I can't help you. I don't disagree that Foran was a disaster, I've said that plenty of times on here before. Had he been sacked in January after the Accies thrashing we might still be in the top tier.

......................time to move on and forget the past by treating Alloa as if we were playing Celtic or Rangers - this is a big game for us needing a united front...and one where we do not underestimate the opposition...like we did against Dunfermline's reserves.

Thanks for posting this. Fascinating to hear about the Butcher years from the inside, the dressing room chats, Draper's first appearance, Steve Marcella and the Christmas party. Makes me very nostalgic about the glory years and the squad we had then. Two good guys.

No doubt RF did his best but he simply had no experience of looking through the other end of the lens. And stepping into a situation like that is a very severe test for anyone in his shoes at any time? Great footballer though and maybe we should now be concentrating on singing his praises for what he achieved in that role. In any event, management was as much to blame for appointing him in the first place and thus for the eventual negative situation that developed. So is it now time to move on guys? The guy is a human being and must be smarting and disappointed over the way his world must have crumbled around him. IMHO.

Raith were doomed before JH joined them I think he only had about 10 games to turn things around, everyone bangs about Raith but it hardly compares to a squad that you have worked with and built. The grave mistake as you put it was appointing Foran who had never managed at ANY level. JH even said after he left that RF was "no coach" and he was proved right in that in spades. If you can't see the difference between the football played under Hughes with the football played under Butcher then I can't help you.

Based on his first couple of seasons - no. Based on his final season with us - possibly. I certainly don't think it was out of the question as some seem to think especially given how he has performed since then.

Pele was a roaring success at Formatine for a season!