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They didnt deny him funds tho did they? He has had the biggest budget of any ICT manager and was backed with emergency money when the injuries got critical last season. Would you suggest putting the club at financial risk for yogi? I also wouldnt have trusted him to spend any money wisely given his signing record for us

After some yogi bashing over performances and raven-gate I still wanted him in charge next season and was willing to give him a chance to rebuild but now he has gone I'm not really bothered. He deserves credit for taking butchers team, changing the style of play and reaping the benefits (3rd and cup winners). He tried to play the same way with his replacements and with key players out injured and it didn't work. I am pleased the board has been strong. All this lack of ambition chat is tedious. We had our most successful season ever last season, what was the increase in attendances? To have a bigger budget will involve years and years of engaging kids in Inverness with the club so they get hooked and so do the next generation. Adding a few more hundred or thousand onto the gate won't happen overnight it will take decades. Get used to better players and managers moving on, it's football.

I've just joined the forum this morning - Hello everyone. Just wanted to say that I am a big John Hughes fan and will always remember that Scottish Cup win as long as I live. Our club is a small one that thrives on the passion and belief from supporters and players. There's been an underdog mentality for a long time which has worked for us and I think we've established ourselves as a solid top flight team. I don't ever think we'll lose that and I am really looking forward to supporting the team and the new manager next season. I think that if the new manager can bring contacts with him at a national level then there's a chance we can continue to source these lower league rough diamonds and mould them into a top 6 team again. I, like a few others on here, would like to see more trust and investment in the youth team too, let's find more Ryan Christies and Liam Polworths. Our positivity is one of our best assets, so out with the old and in with the new! Best of luck Yogi.

Butcher? No way. He burnt his bridges when he sat with the Hibs directors when he was still on our payroll. I reckon we should look to the Icelandic league. Of course, Foran is the obvious choice though. Either way, we need Raven signed up. Best of luck and best wishes to John Hughes. He won the Scottish Cup with us and we shouldn't forget that. Exciting times ahead. Trepidation, and excitement.

How anyone with any self-respect would demean themselves enough to Butcher back is astounding. He treated the club like absolute dirt when he left.

I too am not giving up hope. The feel good factor for ICT fans would be priceless if David Raven got a contract.

Firstly, and it's the first time I've done it since this time last year, I would like to say thank you to JH for his reign at ICT and the tremendous season he brought us in 2014/15 and for his time during his spell at the club - some have suggested for that you should go down as a club legend. For all you brought the club though that's not one phrase I would use to describe you I'm afraid. To become a legend you have to have it all, the full package and you didn't which is a shame because you had the chance to, maybe some better guidance in certain situations and it wouldn't have fallen apart especially with the press which ultimately was your short coming. Lets be honest you inheritted a a good squad, the way you got the team playing in 2014/15 was marvelous and deserves great credit which IMO makes you an excellent coach but once that starting breaking up as a manager you had to adapt to what you had which you didn't. Legendary managers adapted through their reign at whatever club they were at and changed, you didn't especially with regards to tactics and the ability to change a game and playing style. In the transfer market you were less than legendary, yes every manager makes the odd mistake but you made more and I think ultimately panicked at the situation you faced. With the media again you were less than legendary, before you started to bemoan the budget you had and publically slating the board, you had prior with the way you waxed lyricals about Celtic and at points Rangers as well, it got embarrassing and was cringeworthy at times. The way you talked the team up at times was a little overboard as well, we as fans knew we were good and had potential but even in defeat you stated your undying love for the way the team played and their efforts and the fact you couldn't fault them, you needed to slightly reign it in a little at these times. On the fans topic, well you could have worked a little bit harder on that subject, you didn't endear yourself to them very well at times. Ultimately winning the Scottish Cup was the clubs finest achievement to date but it was your downfall I'm afraid, from that point on IMO you saw yourself in a different light, almost as if you felt elevated above it all, felt bigger than it all and began to believe you were bigger than it all - no one person is ever bigger than the club I'm afraid, certainly not at our level. So while I am eternally greatful for the memories and success I am not sad that you are gone, we need a settled club, a club that can make progressive steps forward, a club that can live within it's means, a club that is an attractive outfit to come to and last of all retain our roots - it wasn't going that way towards the end and for that the boards decisions is justified.

When was he denied funds? When the squad was stretched they gave him more money but they can't give him extra money when they, erm, don't have any to give. Unless you want the club living beyond its means and running the risk of going into administration. Not that I think the board have been perfect here either but your 'denying him funds' point is ill founded.

Totally agree. In the past I think weve sold the club as somewhere to shine and move on to bigger things. Reading some of the comments on FB especially a few of our fans need a reality check on our financial means. To think we can compete financially with the likes of Aberdeen is deluded.

I'm sure that there will be no shortage of applicants for the manager post. It provides a very good platform for anyone with the right skills to show exactly how good they can be. I think there will be a number of applicants who are young, dynamic and full of hunger for success and a determination to prove that they can do well out there. For me this is the type of manager I'd like to see (rather than a been there, done that type who sees ICT as a bit of a second best option). I think that this type of manager would fit in well with the general ethos within the team to be the best they can be and to always strive to prove the doubters wrong. I don't think mega wages would be a problem either as this type of manager would want the job, not for the money involved, but in order to prove their worth. Of course this all sounds very idealistic, and where the downfall would be would be that when success follows, it would only be a matter of time before our manager would start looking at bigger (but not necessarily better) prospects. This would be the point where maybe we have to be realistic and accept that once this seed has been sown it always signals the beginning of the end. We have seen it time and time again and whether a manager is tempted to take up a lucrative offer or is persuaded to stay, at that point they start to distance themselves from their role at ICT, so really what is the point in trying to hang on to someone who no longer wishes to be there. We have to perhaps change our mindset to see it as flattering that our club is seen as a great place for an aspiring manager and rather than feel rejected when they move on, be proud that Inverness played a part in their career and that they hopefully have happy memories of a successful time at our club. In other words we are like a feeder club for managers. I know how upsetting it is to see managers, and players too, being picked off by other clubs (Aberdeen for one), but if we can accept that this is how things are likely to play out then we can enjoy our clubs part in producing promising managers. And of course, we always get the last laugh anyway when 'The Curse of Caley Thistle' strikes when the try to reproduce what they had here elsewhere! I hope the team are enjoying their holidays and not getting too caught up in all this - I have every faith in them carrying us through whatever lies ahead and I hope Dave the Rave has not even started to think about packing up yet.

This is one thing on which there seems to be absolute unanimity and is surely one piece of business that can be done without a new manager in place. Any potential new manager who doesn't see the merit of having Raven in the squad is probably not a manager we would want.

John Hughes He has to be held as a club legend in his 2 and a half year spell, he won the scottish cup and took us to europe and a league cup final, not forgetting our highest ever league finish. He certainly went through his ups and downs, but in 50 years time what will he be thought of by ICT fans? He will be known as the man who brought the worlds oldest trophy up to Inverness. In 22 short years we have done what some clubs have not managed in over 100. We may never win it again, but he brought happy memories to every ICT fan. some people won't be happy he has gone, who knows what goes on behind the scenes, but to become an established premiership club in the last 10 years with only 1 little blip is incredible. The John Hughes chapter in ICT folklore is over. Whatever the board does, there will always be questions asked, there will always be mistakes made, but for all the success you have brought us. John hughes i thank you. Onwards and upwards into the next chapter. No matter who the next manager is i will be supporting ICT for years to come.

If David still wants to stay it's the only decent thing to do .The only one who wanted him gone is now gone himself . We don't want to give the idea that this is the disgusting way we treat our players . Please consider this and let us move forward with positive thinking . We will survive after J H we've done it before . After the amazing send off David got can you imagine how the place would erupt with his comeback . I'm not giving up hope on this one !!!!

As far as I can see, he knew what the budget was. Its not that he had no money to spend, more that he spent it unwisely, flooding the squad with mainly mediocre midfielders when our main requirement was up front. Apart from Storey (on loan) he signed no one of any real quality up front. Coupled with his ridiculous and stubborn stance re Raven, this was always going to end in tears. I thank him for being in charge, and rightly being praised, for giving us our best season in our short history, but I can't honestly say I'm sad to see him go. Lets look to the future with optimism!

^ that sums up some of views of the yogi haters, no matter what the man did or could achieve at the club some will never give him praise. Winning a national cup, runner up in a 2nd and taking our little club into Europe will never rank as high as making our way through the lower leagues of Scotland.

Yes Butcher deserves a good fisting...Not in the face either.

TogetherNESS Yogi and caley thistle have overachieved every season except the relegation year. Thanks to yogi for improving so many players and having the confidence to inspire the players to victory. Thanks to the board for maintaining our position in the league. Lets get on with our next chapter fully behind the new manager, coaches, and young players as they learn from there mistakes. Seeing ross,polworth, shinnies, meekings etc develop and players recover from broken careers has always given me hope that we can continue to overachieve .

And may well they carry on the same as ever IMO, they didn't allow the manager to take all the flak nor did they deny him the funds. He had the biggest budget in ICT history during the 2015/16 season and that same budget set for 2016/17, at what point was he denied the funds? Do you mean the funds from a bank loan or director loan? If so then they can keep them there and I trust the boards decisions to keep it debt free while not bowing to pressure. They didn't allow him to take the flak, he brought it on himself by his ridiculous attitude in the press and public outcrys of displeasure over his playing budget. He was a victim of his own belief's and the more he spoke in press conferences the more his head got bigger and he started to believe half of the crap he was spouting, his dealings with the media over his full tenure have been his downfall, it didn't just start with outing the board. For a long while I had voiced my displeasure over his media handling.

I doubt if anyone on this site is a 'yogi hater'. Some of us had legitimate and growing concerns about the direction he was taking the team in, yet more of us thoroughly dislike the way he has played the media and exploited the club for his own benefit in recent weeks and months but I would be very surprised if anyone hates him. Such inflammatory terminology doesn't add to the debate at all.

Excerpt from a Russel latapy interview in The Scotsman - 6th March, 2016 "The mood turns slightly more serious when he contemplates his current situation, which could be described as being between jobs. He walked away from Inverness before the beginning of this season, explaining to Hughes that he wished to manage in his own right, rather than be an assistant. He planned to be back in work by the end of the year. “I do miss Scottish football and football in general, but it was a decision I made at the time and you have to stick by them,” he says. “I left Inverness at a peculiar time, when it was the beginning of the season and everyone pretty much had their teams. I was hoping that maybe by December I would be back in the game. “I know I will be back in the game by the beginning of next season. I’ve already had a few offers that have not been right for me, although not in Scotland. These have been in Portugal and the Caribbean. But next season I will definitely be back.” He believes his ambitions are being frustrated through no fault of his own. There is a persistent suspicion black managers are not being given the chance to show what they can do in British football – and Latapy subscribes to this view. In Scottish football, where Latapy would most like to manage, the absence of black managers is as stark as anywhere, perhaps starker." Was part of the management team that took us to 3rd in the league an won the Scottish cup. Well worth a shout with Foran as Assistant

McCall with Foran as no.2!

Always talks about ICTFC respectfully when he's on Sportscene. Would have good contacts..... Could do worse.

I am disappointed although not surprised that it has come to this. Firstly, it's only proper to give credit where it is due. John Hughes deserves much, although far from all of the credit for our fantastic and historic success last season. I am fairly sure that that will represent the pinnacle of his career and while we are grateful for his contribution he should also be grateful to the club and Kenny Cameron in particular for giving him the opportunity when his stock was so low that Morton fans were horrified that he might be appointed to their manager's seat which was vacant at the same time as ours. Whilst last season will, in my view prove to be the height of John Hughes's career, It won't be the height of the club's. They might not come round with great frequency but there will be managers in the future who will win silverware for ICT and lead the team into Europe but Yogi will always be the first and will always have his place in our history. He could, in these circumstances have walked away with his head held high if he had been honest and straightforward and told the chairman that he could not improve on this frankly disappointing season on the money, a record sum for us remember, being made available to him. Instead he chose to sign a new contract which is highly lucrative to him personally and only then try to blackmail and bully the directors very much into the public domain into giving him funds that he had already been informed were impossible without risking the club's future. Yogi has form in this respect and did precisely the same thing at Falkirk. Their board caved in and gave him money which he squandered on duds and has beens resulting in their relegation and very nearly financial oblivion. Hibs are another club yet to fully recover from his mismanagement. I am pleased that our board has not capitulated and have put the long term viability first. Yogi, by acting in the way he has has cleverly ensured that he walks away with a wedge of ICT cash but in the process has, in my view severely tarnished that place he earned in the history of Inverness Caledonian Thistle. There will be uncertainty for a spell, we will have to examine the way we do these things in the future but the club will go on and personally I am now looking forward to the new season with a great deal more enthusiasm and sense of optimism than I was a few days ago.

NPL Stats – 2015-2016 Total individual entries: 1771 Total correct HT: 361 Total correct FT: 137 Total correct 1st Scorer ICT: 252 Total correct 1st Scorer Opp: 237 Time of First Goal - 10 pts: 22 Time of First Goal - 5 pts: 251 Time of First Goal - 2 pts: 230 Highest individual points tally: 20 – Kingsmills, Andrew Fraser, crownjaggie, Scotty, Most correct HT: 15 – MrCaleyjag, Andrew Fraser Most correct FT: 7 – Caleyjag, Wanderer, Scotty. Most correct 1st Scorer ICT: 11 – Gringo, Renegade Most correct 1st Scorer Opp: 10 – crownjaggie, RedCard Time of First Goal - 10 pts: 3 – Andrew Fraser, SOS, mcdonnell761 Time of First Goal - 5 pts: 14 – caleydawson. Time of First Goal - 2 pts: 11 – Caley Mad in Berks The 100% club (entered all 47 games):- Caleyjag Gavroche Gringo ICTRoughi MrCaleyjag Mrs Gringo Wanderer But there's only one stat' that really matters.... NPL CHAMPION 2015/16 ANDREW FRASER

yer right kingsmills

Cheers guys....tough game as always but great fun. Cheers Gringo for all your hard work and effort in running the predictor. It's always good fun to enter and see how you get on each week. Thanks again and enjoy the rest over the Summer months :-)

J.H is definitely a legend in my eyes, although I don't have the first hand experience to compare him to other managers apart from Butcher, but getting to a League Cup Final (and finishing in the top six the same year) , winning the Scottish Cup, finishing third in the league and getting into Europe, and finishing well above the drop zone this season given injuries and departures, and getting to the quarter finals of both cups this year.....how can that not give you 'legend' status. What more do you have to do, yes sometimes the performances have not been great, but there have been plenty times when they have....don't forget we got to the Cup Final last year after we had sold effectively our only striker (Mckay). And yes there have been disagreements, in particular over Raven, but every club has similar issues. I also don't get this poor signings thread...given the pool we have been fishing from, Ofere, Fon-Williams, Storey, Roberts and Mutombo have all been decent signings, which offset against others in the same way other clubs sign duffers (I'm not saying the ones I mention are brilliant but definitely showed promise or delivered or did a job for us). In the same way guys like Christie, Polworth, Devine and Tremarco have flourished under Yogi. A sorry end frankly...but as we say at Palace (usually every year) 'new era, new era'

For next year's Eurovision ?

One thing that has been instrumental in driving our club forward from the very start from the Highland League to European football is the innate sense of what we rightly call togetherNESS. That has sadly been lacking just recently and if our club is going to continue to progress, as I believe we still can, that has to be recovered from the Boardroom down. This is an opportunity for a fresh start and to recover the essence of what makes our wonderful club unique. Time now for the directors to play their part by being a bit more open and informative and for everyone with the interests of the club to get behind them, the new management team whoever they may be and most importantly the team.

Foran & Latapy or Latapy & Foran Paul Sheerin & Foran

If there's any money left for a decent manager - Stuart McCall.

Lots of people hating this decision, and tbh I can't make up my mind. Kingsmills post sums it all up nicely though. i don't agree however, with our perception in the media being tarnished bla bla! Perhaps, things could have been handled differently, but the board are operating without hindsight! To suggest that the board of a club at the highest level of Scottish football have 'no vision' is rubbish also. They might not communicate that vision, or the budget may not match that vision, but there will still be a long term plan in place. This may simply be 'survive' and to that end, they are succeeding. The club still exists, and for another season, exists in the premiership. However the new manager is, they will have a budget, and they will know from this, that the budget available is very inflexible, and 'if your not happy with that, don't bother trying to bully us' I actually think in this regard, the board looks quite strong. im happy they never yielded to the pressure, I only wish they'd taken that view before extending his contract. It would've saved money and face. good luck in the future yogi, thanks for the memories.

Must admit I have mixed feelings. He will always be associated with our best ever year (to date!), but if he feels he has done all he can, it may be the best all round. The Board is right to avoid over committing the club financially, as that would be a recipe for future disaster. Regardless of the rights and wrongs, getting the appointment of the new management team right is key. Most of all, I hope we get unity in the ranks to help us through a difficult time and hopefully set us up for a top six finish and a good cup run (or two) next season. I certainly believe we should be thanking Hughes for his part in our achievements.

what is this ... Ikea ?

Ha ha ha - who wrote that for him

.....and is likely to sill want to be here two years hence..

If Yogi is to leave then I find this very very sad for the club as I hold him in very high regard for what he has achieved with this club. If we are looking at a new manger I just don't feel Foran should be the answer, he's never even been an assistant manager never mind manager. Personally I think we look at a young up and coming manager like Gary Naysmith or Barry Ferguson. Both of whom played at the very highest level of football and have proven themselves at a lower level in Scotland as managers with East Fife and Clyde respectively. A fee would obviously be involved here but if we seriously cant afford to poach a manager from a league 1 or 2 side then serious questions have to be asked.

The present ICT board reminds me of the Celtic board of the late eighties(IHE will verify as he was a regular in the jungle at the time) Celtic won the double in their centenary year then sat back without pushing on and let it all decay away due to neglect and mis-management Yogi took us to two cup finals and cemented himself as the most successful and greatest ever ICT manager yet he's been hung out to dry by a backward thinking board I wish Big Yogi well whatever he decides to do, I shudder to think who will be the next gaffer it certainly won't be anyone of the same calibre sadly Dougal

There will be plenty of interest in our new managers job and I'm sure it's not only me who is excited awaiting to see who is interested. We have turned a page in our story and another chapter is about to begin P's onwards and upwards!

Butcher,McCall same old names, whats wrong with actually having a look about it see whats available? im tired of the same old sh1te being churned out when we need a manager, we need someone forward thinking to come in. As Much as i hate the club formerly known as Rangers at least they had a good look about, how many people in Scotland had heard of Wharburton before he came North ? im sure we will have plenty of people interested in the job. Lets hope we get some better candidates than McCall , andi for one hope Butcher never darkens our door again after the way he left last time Stand back and await the backlash

I didn't expect you to 'give a toss' - it's a free forum so we're all entitled to say what we want within reason and without getting personal. Watch though because you might just start to sound like an Arsenal fan who measures their progress and achievements on whether or not they out-do Tottenham. If your only concern is being left behind Ross County then I suggest you take a look at what you want our club to achieve because I for one want to finish as high up every season as we can above as many other teams as we can and not just Ross County. You're probably entitled to feel aggrieved by the actions of the board or how you perceive their actions to be however just remember that no one person is bigger than a club and in the clubs 22 years of excistance since 1994 I think the board has done a pretty fine job in getting us to where we are today.

Sorry to say it, but we already are! They finished one place above us and won the league cup last year. On top of that, they have a very settled squad for the next couple of years, not to mention old megabucks pumping money into the club. I expect them to finish 5/6th next year, whereas our future is now very uncertain.

Frankly my friend I couldn't give a toss if you agree with my posts or not. My concern is there is a distinct possibly that if we don't get our act together on and off the park we could end up playing catch up to Ross County.

When our new manager is appointed he won't have far to look for first signing.

It's ridiculous that we've got ourselves into this situation. Only a year after our greatest ever season the board and manager having a playground spat. One thing I do want to say on this is that the same thing happened with Yogi at Falkirk. He eventually bullied the board into giving him a much higher budget and it ended in disaster. The signings didn't pay off and the club almost ended up in administration. I don't want want that to happen to us so if the manager can't work within the prescribed budget there's only 1 solution.

Absolutely. In an interview about 6 months ago he made it very clear that whilst he would be happy to extend his loan til the end of the season, he was here to put himself in the shop window. The plus side of all this is that his success in that respect can only encourage more players to come here to relaunch there careers, as many others have done before him.

It's taken a bit of time to assimilate my thoughts on that season! On the face of it, the basic stats make reasonable reading: League position: 7th Points: 52 Goals for: 54 Goals against: 48 Scottish Cup: QF (lost to Hibs 1-2 (h) replay): League Cup: QF (lost to Ross County (h)) Europa cup: lost to Astra 1-0 agg. So, mid-table and 2 quarter-final appearances: what's to be glum about? 1. Style Yogi's persistence with possession football really did my head in! It is not entertaning or effective. In general, we actually did better when we adopted a more direct approach (e.g. games against Aberdeen and Ross County). We had the 3rd lowest number of shots and number of shots on target. Conversely, we had the 3rd highest conversion rate (goals/shots), suggesting that when we created chances, they were more clear-cut. Equally, we were tight at the back, with the lowest % shots on target in the league, perhaps suggesting that teams were forced to take shots from range against us. This also is relected in the number of goals conceded - the 3rd lowest in the league. Summing up - a reasonably effective style that worked well defensively, but made us too slow and predictable going forward. The players seemed afraid to shoot unless there was a clear goalscoring chance. 2. Players Some terrific performance this year, particularly from Ross Draper. I've always seen him as a ball-winner, but this year he was a really attacking midfielder who won us a few pens and scored a few key goals. Fon Williams was generally solid in goal and Tremarco really came onto his game later in the season. Tansey had a really slow start, but was neverthelss a key player in midfield. Warren was solid on his return, but would have liked to see his partnership with Meekings rekindled. Devine was OK, but has the odd crucial mistake in him. Of the guys definitely leaving: Vincent had a really good spell in January, but injuries let him down, Williams was reliable at left back and midfield and Storey was an excellent find from obscurity at Swindon. Vigurs was his usual mercurial self, while Roberts played really well when he got the opoportunity. Mutombo was exciting at times, but lacked a final ball and had a couple of petulent moments early on. 3. Manager Yogi refuses to shift from his principle of possession football. In fairness, it does yield the occasional cracker of a team goal, but too often it doesn't yield even a shot. If he'd just swallow his pride and go more direct occasionally, and encourage the players to shoot and get in the box! Off the field, Yogi has had a shocker IMO. The DUFC debacle was embarrassing: Yogi should be delighted that KC helped him dodge a bullet! All his statement did was to alienate him from the supporters who then doubted his commitment to the club! In addition, what is it with bigging up Auld Firm opponents? How many players has he offered to "drive them down there myself for the money they've bee offered"? The thinly veiled spat that is playing out in public over budget is unhelpful. And what about the comment about injured players playing through pain?? Meekiings wasn't impressed. 4. Injuries If one word summed up the season it was "injuries". There were times when there were more players on the treatment table than the pitch. Easy to forget after the event, but we really were struggling to field a team at times. 5. Recruitment and retention My biggest gripe all year. Everybody was aware that so many contracts were up at the end of the season and yet we failed to recruit effectively during last summer and then continually brought in midfielders when short of defensive cover and attack-minded players. Granted our late finish to last season and early start to this contributed to the problem, but starting the season without a recognised striker was justt shambolic. At least efforts were reported to have been made to keep Williams, but he turned down the offer - the same wasn't true of Vincent, who Yogi didn't rate for whatever reason. The Raven saga was just poor form - here's a player who really wanted to stay and he's punted by the manager.... 6. Attendances In many ways, this was the most depressing aspect. Average attendances almost exactly the same as last season (3,753 v 3,732), despite all the buzz of the cup win! I know these figures hide many things (e.g. who we play more times at home and midweek games, poor form etc), but it certainly highlights that there is no "other level" for us to go to in this respect and that we failed to capitalise on the cup victory. My pipe dream of perhaps 500 extra bods lay in shatters, which is why we find it so hard to retain and recruit!

If the release clause has been met we have no choice. Now its up to the player to decide what he wants to do. I sense that the club will get slated for having a release fee "as low as 200K" .... Considering that ICT have never been known for release clauses AT ALL in the past, and I have no clue if they were in any other contracts (certainly dont remember anyone being sold after meeting any quoted figure before), I think it may be safe to assume that the player or his agent had a hand in setting this figure as a condition of him re-signing with us in the first place.

Stolen from twitter