clacher_holiday2

Bloody wimps, Alferton game off with rain, I took your tip IHE and had my biggest bet in ages on Tamworth losing this afternoon. Probably worked out for the best.

I'm attempting to muster some optimism over this, could be just the lift we need to get into the swing of things again. Will take pressure of Shearer and Hughes for sure, which will take pressure of the players. The 6 weeks+ wait for an appointment is still a **** up on the part of Kenny Cameron, should all have been sewn up within 24 hours of Hughes being announced as manager. It's all well having confidence in your existing staff but it was obvious to everyone before Hughes came in that Shearer wasn't interested in being assistant. Either Hughes was dictated to that he couldnt bring in his own person straight away to maintain continuity or Hughes didn't have a clear vision of who he needed at the club from the outset and it wasnt seen as an issue when hiring 'the best candidate' by the chairman, both were bloody mistakes on KC's part. A win on Saturday would soon shut me up lol

lol Has this been confirmed yet? Could be a shrewd move by Hughes, can't imagine there's many in the Scottish game who don't respect Latapy.

If Aberdeen are in the final, I can see the place selling out regardless of who else is there. Hearts away first.

Why wait till 2015? Lets put Foran and Wilson in charge right now, couldn't think of a more popular pairing from a fans perspective, short of my childhood sweetheart Liam Keogh coming back.

Id expect Highes himself to come forward and say he wants to be judged on results, no matter the length of time hes been here.

As was pointed out by somebody else on the new manager thread, Hartley has in recent years played in Bristol and Aberdeen, all while having a daughter living in the central belt, so domestic issues were not a problem until 2 months ago apparently.

The slump normally starts after Christmas, wasnt until after the winter break last season It came early this term.

lol If hughes had recently won the second tier european trophy with Aberdeen, I think we'd be prepared to give him a decade to get it right. Man United were not Second when Ferguson took over. What exactly is this John Hughes stamp youre waiting for? Stop trotting utter garbbage, the people will soon be voting with thier feet and Cameron is the one who should pay the price, not Hughes.

You could hardly say a slump was inevitable with Butcher going? We won both managerless games, we re-signed Foran and were all caught up.in the new manager rumours, people were apprehensive about what was coming next out of excitement rather than fear. It was a chance to regroup and start again, on a far more positive footing than ever before, all spurred on by the motivation to stick it to Terry by carrying on... reality was Kenny Cameron ****-ing us all over with his BS public relations chat about diligence and patience. Still no assistant now, did Hughes say during this thorough interview process 'a dinnae ken like, ull hink aboot at'?

I'm on IHE's side on this one, the fans/media have been guilty of building us up to be better than we are, any manager could've experienced a slump. Its just very bad timing for Hughes. My questioning his appointment is more a criticism of our apparently untouchable board than the man himself.

We've lost to Partick at home already this year.

For the record I'm not a Butcher fanboi and was happy to say thank you for raising the clubs profile and attracting players from a new talent pool... but goodbye! If I was to criticise somebody at the club over the new manager affair it would be Kenny Cameron, who is responsible for the appointment and not Hughes himself, who I can say without meeting him is most likely a great guy to work with and be around. The interview process was a PR success for the chairman but in reality looks to have been half arsed and lazy, we all thought there was a battle for the post from a group of up and coming young managers, proven SPL managers and even an ex Scotland manager, yet we ended up with Hughes because he interviewed well? the fact Hughes didnt have any sort of backroom team or wider network of support didnt appear to even come up during the process, so how thorough was Kenny Cameron (and whoever else made the call)? Why is it the fans of other clubs in Scotland laughed at the decision, yet KC claims he did all the background checks required for the post? Obviously he could never have asked the fans of every team he managed for an opinion, as to a man they wouldve said he was in-affective as a coach, who would often be ignored by players he was barking at. Are we to assume the opinions of all of his previous clubs boards were totally different from those of the fans on the terraces, who tracked him just as closely, or that KC didnt actually dig as deep into why Hughes kept failing as he should have? Its done now and like the majority, I'm willing to sit back and accept mediocrity as the norm for as long as this current crop of players remains together with little drive to achieve even further beyond expectations. Not because I'm obligated or expected to but because I know we have no other choice. Just don't abuse me or other dissenting voices on here for not jumping on board with 'team yogi' etc.

"You refer to yourself as a true friend of the team" "The problem with your attitude is that you don't believe that he is sincere" Where did I type either of those? It's not his sincerity I question, I'm sure he believes in himself and wants to do well for all of us. That last post of mine was critical of the fans who blindly support any **** theyre spoon fed, then even worse, turn on those who don't fall into line. My original point stands, we're under no obligation as supporters to back Kenny Camerons decision to hire Hughes as manager whatsoever and nor is it a measure of our loyalty. I can hear sleigh bells... shall catch up on boxing day. Take care.

Since when are we obligated as fans of this club to give Hughes a chance as manager? No employee of the club should be untouchable from criticism, no matter the length of service. Kenny Cameron has done little to defend the decision, the interview apparently didnt even include talk of who his coaching team would involve? Hardly the diligence we'd expect from Scotlands Chairman of the Year. It was never explained to me as an 11 year old that being supportive of our first team coach was conditional of being a CT fan, even if I thought it was going to lead to disaster later, we're all supposed to fall in line? We aren't Liverpool, Rangers, Celitc etc lets not be stupid and delude ourselves that we're fighting for some sort of cause, 'togetherness' or 'team yogi' are just as contrived as any of the pish the fans of those teams come up with to rally behind, we don;t need it. Lets try and be ourselves, which is better than that. Don't cheapen the real bond all ICT fans have with each other, forged in defiance of all the Old Firm/Premiership fans that surround us no matter where we live. When I speak to a stranger for the first time and they mention theyre an ICT fan, instantly I've something deeper in common with them than any happy-clapper, apologist BS slogan on a forum I'm expected to jump on board with. Seeing TEAM YOGI on here makes me bloody cringe when 90%+ of people on here didnt want him when other candidates were still on the table, you can't feign passion so why pretend otherwise? Togetherness comes as standard with supporting this team, proclaiming it in defence of the clubs stupid decisions and poor shows on the pitch cheapens the term entirely. My colours are nailed to the mast, we hired the wrong man and Cameron has embarrassed the club. Id be delighted to see the leader of 'team yogi' chucked tonight and on the dole boxing day. Merry Christmas lol

I'm a huge critic of Hughes and am embarrassed he's the manager but the defeat on Saturday cannot be blamed on him, Aberdeen approached the game with the aggression and respect it deserved and we didn't. If we were not up for it from the start then its as much down to the players as it is the boss. In the medium to long term I expect the appointment of Hughes to prove to be a ******* disaster for ICT and for him to drop back to managing the likes of Livingston again after a lengthy period unemployed. We will need to do some massive rebuilding work once he's gone, my views on that haven't changed from the day he was appointed. As for comments on his interviews, I really cant say much, I turn them off as soon as the cliches start rolling out. I'm in denial that he's now the spokesperson for our club, Butcher might've been one dimensional and an egomaniac in his management style but at least he could speak English. That's not a dig at his accent, I lived in Edinburgh for 4 years and became well adjusted to it. The Royal Shakespeare Company could perform his interviews and sound like idiots repeating 'honest boys' 10 times in 5 minutes.

I haven't sensed any disillusion or breakdowns on here over the past couple of managerless weeks, the majority seemed to be of the opinion that as things stood, we wouldnt miss TB, especially after Foran signed on again. People were entirely optimistic about who we could bring in next and what direction we would take, nobody was feeling abandoned by Butcher. You've got this little analysis wrong about people being likely to reject any and all new leaders, no doubt you'll argue the toss on that. I was critical of Butcher for the same maniacal reasons you were but was happy to have him as the figurehead/spokesperson for the club knowing most of the work was being done by others, I was one of the few people on here who wanted him to bugger off to Barnsley last January. I certainly won't miss him and the response from the players and everyone within the club was telling of how missed he will really be.

Forgot about Mr Loverman, I'd have taken him way ahead of Hughes for the comedy value of touchline dancing after goals alone.

I'm really struggling to be reasonable about this, I'm still in disbelief that he was the best candidate we could find. Levein would've been my number one choice way ahead of Hartley, with Shields 3rd and the rest equally unwelcome. If at some stage it turns out Craig Levein or Hartley were realistic options and we just plumped for the cheaper candidate in Hughes, I'll go buy a Real Madrid top and none of you will ever hear from me again

I think majority have it spot on, give the guy a chance regardless of your views on him. For me, I won't judge him on any tactical mistakes or results, as we've had some shockers even this season (hammering by St Johnstone and complacency v Partick are the two that stand out) and its to be expected from any manager. If he gets stubborn with a mistake and doesnt correct it then he should be open to the same questioning any manager would. I'll really judge him on how I perceive his man management skills over time, I'll be convinced of his appointment fully if we can now secure other players on longer term deals. That will be the real measure of the squads faith in him rather than any cliched soundbites in interviews, in time he'll be judged on his own signings aswell but by the time we get to that stage he won't be considered the "new" manager anyway. I won't jump down the happy clappers throats on here at the first bad result and I'll flat out ignore anybody saying 'I told you so' to me after his first win lol

lol. the whole thing has been a farce from start to finish

My worry is it'll be the players doing whatever they can to get away from him, not him wanting to dismantle the squad.

SACK THE BOARD. good luck

Had a few hours to dwell on the news and have to admit, even after all the interviews and comments, I still think this decision is a ******* disaster. Until last night, this was the first SPL season we've had where it doesn't feel as if the squad will fall apart towards the end with pre contract signings and complacency kicking in, costing us a decent finish in the league. Hughes is exactly the man we need to come in and unsettle the players, throwing them off form and to eventually push them to the first paying clubs they can find when their time comes. I dearly hope I'm proved wrong, it wont be until over a years time will we will see the fallout from Hughes stamping his dim personality all over the squad to find out.

All we can do is wait and see Libero, nobody on here wants him to fail or split the dressing room.