Renegade

I really rated Marley Watkins the first times I saw him against Keith and Forres. He's been pretty good since he's come in, but here's the thing - I don't think he's really fit his top form yet. When he finally comes good, he'll be superb. An even better prospect than Doran IMO, hard to believe he's only about 23 as well!

I ticked the public option in 'The Hughes Poll', but it didn't work on that one either, and hasn't for some time.

Had it been a high scoring game, we'd would've gotten beat. Not a very good performance today really, but Dean Brill probably had his best performance since signing. Not a very good performance, but at least we didn't get beat.

Graeme Bennett - Clachnacuddin

I don't believe for one minute, that Hughes was the real first choice for board. I mean, taking almost four weeks to employ an unemployed manager is the giveaway and Hughes was no way the man they really had their heart set on from the off. I know the board "voted unanimously" for Hughes, but that's not really that difficult when you consider that the other choice was Sutton United coach Paul Telfer (what...I am what?!). It's all done now though. It's quite interesting actually. A lot of prominent players at ICT right now, were by no means the club's first choices. Billy Mckay was only signed after Terry Gornell turned us down. Some argue that Mckay is worth £1,000,000 - Gornell has since left Shrewsbury (who he turned us down for), before being released by Rochdale and is now at Cheltenham. Ross Draper only came in after Lee Beevers pulled out at the eleventh hour, and Dean Brill (I'm led to believe) was only signed after a loan move from an Arsenal keeper in the summer fell through. And this mob will be by no means the only ones. Have we landed on our feet again? Hughes, despite needing subtitles, certainly seems enthusiastic. That can only be a good thing, and his statements that very little needs to be changed, has certainly put me at ease for the time being. It'll interesting to see though, what (probably minor) changes he will make. Will we finally see Curtis Allen is the squad? What'll he do with Doran and Watkins? Will he change the formation somewhat? I for one, am looking forward to finding out.

Interesting reading on P&B there by the Falkirk fan "Choirbairn". Despite Falkirk being regarded as Hughes best job, he takes a lot of what people have said about Hughes (he's a good youth coach, he plays good football etc.) and debunks it. Some of it does not get me excited about this appointment at all I'm afraid, and hopefully Hughes will have changed his ways for the job he has here.

With the way our team is, we have quite a big overlap of the regular first team and the U20 squad. Would having Shearer doing both jobs really be a bad thing? He'd certainly know more about the players than anyone at the club now I would've thought.

Could we see Shearer as assistant and Charlie Christie (or John Docherty, Kellacher etc.) taking over the U20s, unless Shearer does both jobs. Or Christie as assistant of course. I still wonder if we'll see John Collins turning up at some point, and we still need a goalkeeping coach.

So is Brewster at Brighton, Whitehawk or both?

I've never met him, but Duncan Shearer seems quite a shy man and doesn't seem to like being in the limelight. I wonder in light of his recent form and experience at the club (and elsewhere), had he been up for it, would he have been offered the job?

Care to explain that statement? I don't think Foran looks very happy in that interview, to be quite honest.

I don't think Foran looks very happy in that interview, to be quite honest.

Could Duncan Shearer be assistant and manager of the U20s? He certainly wouldn't be the worst choice.

Not necessarily. I've seen Aberdeen and Hibs fans touting him for their clubs when they've been looking for a manager in the past.

I see John Hughes got one more vote than Bomber Brown and a third (and less than a third) of what Shiels and Robbo got each.

For those talking about the reaction to Butcher in 2009, I remember Robertson was the initial favourite prior to Brewster's sacking. Butcher though was a popular choice from the outset and for much of the time was neck and neck with Robbo for the majority of the managerless week, with Robbo maybe slightly ahead in the online poll. The influence of Archie Knox entering the running, influenced some people to go for him, though Butcher was still one of the favourites, apart from when it was speculated (IIRC) that Butcher had removed himself for the running, before coming back in. The only real thing people worried about with Butcher was that he wasn't seen as a long-term appointment (obviously that fear was unfounded). The belief the Butcher was an unpopular choice is simply incorrect. If he wasn't people's number one, for the majority, he was certainly one of the more favourable candidates.

As we all know, ICT have a terrible habit of getting really close to something and then blowing it. This seems like another one of those times. We're a team well and truly on the up, yet it seems like the board are afraid of success. That can't be right though can it? No, that can not be right at all.

The more I think about it, the more I can't fathom this one at all. What the board see in him to even interview him, I have no idea. People were talking about Hartley being a risk, but I reckon this could well be an even bigger one. Only Brewster coming back has left me this deflated, and I fear that all our dreams of Europe and cup wins are now in tatters. This is a huge risk, and should it all go wrong, which it may well do, Kenny Cameron and the rest of them must hang their heads in shame.

So what do you think of that then?

Old Sun article (no wonder Graeme Bennett left!) -

Has anyone floated the ideas of Jocky Scott or Dick Campbell as manager yet?

Here's a good joke for you - "I really want John 'Yogi' Hughes as ICT manager," said three people!

This appointment - Fully expect us to sign some vagabond like Derek Riordan in January, before going on another managerial merry-go-round in the not too distant future.

I've spoken to someone in the past who was at very close quarters with Hughes at one of his previous clubs. He waxed lyrical about his motivational skills and his coaching of the youth players, which I don't doubt at all. Apart from that though, what does he really bring to the table? His record on the whole, is rather poor. Promoted with Falkirk before narrowly missing out on relegation (at the expense of us!) and then rather unspectacular spells at Hibs and Livingston (prior to which he also failed to get the Swindon job), before being sacked by Hartlepool (tough job, but sacked and relegated nonetheless). He essentially got the Livi job (a team in the league below), with a better CV than what he has now, so to get the job with us in mind boggling. Has he brought something to table though, that has put him over the top, such as bringing his Director of Football from Livingston John Collins, with him for example? Has that been the pivotal moment? If he is indeed the new manager after all this speculation over the last few weeks though, what an anticlimax it will be. I'm sure I won't be the only one who'll feel rather disappointed.

The Courier still seem pretty sure it'll be Hartley - http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/Sport/Football/ICT-very-close-in-appointing-new-manager-02122013.htm