The Long Man

Our hearts are with you, even if they're in our mouths. D-Day! It'll be torture listening to this on the radio.

Oh well, we're not quite dead and buried yet. Still on life support though. Divine intervention required.

We did try for him once before. But he falls into the camp of player turned not very good manager. We already have one of them.

That is the most worrying possibility - that after a mass exodus, including our best players, we will have to rebuild a new squad. Would you trust Foran with that? It has all the makings of a disaster if that were to happen. Surely his position is utterly untenable. He hasn't shown a spark of ability over an entire season, and has been making the same mistakes every single week. He should consider himself lucky to have survived the season, he wouldn't have anywhere else.

He was trying Draper up front in October. It didn't work then. So what makes him think it will suddenly work now? Six months later and same old story. 

It's doubtful we'll be in a situation where we have the luxury of many candidates to choose from.

That is ancient history and irrelevant now. Please don't bring up that old nonsense as having anything to do with what is happening now. We have had a bad, ok terrible, season. That doesn't mean everything we have achieved in the past isn't something to be proud of. Take it as an opportunity to have some root and branch reform behind the scenes, bring in a new management team, and there is no reason it won't look a lot better next year. I don't assume we can bounce straight back, but we can build from the rubble of this year, if those in charge take the chance that change always brings.

Hartley was the favoured candidate, as i understand, but wouldn't move to the Inverness area for the job, and would thus commute back and forth. It was felt that meant he wasn't committed and he would follow the others out of the club as soon as a better job offer came along. Hughes committed to staying here. That was the difference.

This time I could care less about that, and would take whoever I thought would rebuild us and get us promoted, even if not at first go. Bear in mind how difficult we have have found it in the past, and have spent significant amounts of time before finding anybody. So if Hartley was up for it (and he may not fancy it, who knows) the huge benefit would be that he could start almost immediately, and of course he knows the leagues inside out - not always the case with new managers.

Heaven help us. Draper up front. FFS

Playing 'whose fault is it' is pointless now. Foran owns it. What is far more important is that we get rid of the failure Foran, and appoint somebody who can rebuild us.

The question is what has he learnt from last week, and will he build on it? Prove us wrong, Foran.

Hartley wouldn't be a bad shout, He was close last time, and crucially is available, so could get on with the rebuild straightaway. Otherwise we could spend months trawling candidates. A lot more convincing than Foran, which is all I care about at this stage, and a decent record in getting clubs promoted.

Agree. You can't just sling serious mud at people from the comfort of anonymity when you haven't a scrap of evidence to justify it. If you have, other than hearsay, put it out. otherwise withdraw it.

14 hours ago, Caman said:

Staff member later told me that none of the players frequenting that establishment like 'Foran the Failure'. 

Ouch. Can't really argue with it, though. If this is an indication of Foran's relationship with the players, then no wonder he peppers his terrible post match interviews with digs at them not being 'real men' and other barbs. It makes his position ever more untenable - would you rather try and keep our best players, or see them run for the exits whilst we keep foran to sign some 'real men', who we will then be stuck with after he inevitably goes?

That about sums it up. Sadly. 

You're clutching at straws there. The one bright spot was the win against Rangers. Did Foran learn from that and build on it? No.

Hughes wasn't hounded out by fans, nor was Foran demanded by them. They accepted the decisions that were made, without being party to them, and hoped for the best. By Christmas they could see the potential disaster  Had the board acted then, we might be comfortably mid table. The loyalty to Foran has been horribly misplaced and allowed him to get away with murder.

If there is any evidence whatsoever that Foran can manage, then please enlighten us.

forget about past managers. Why anybody thinks they are a viable option, wanted by anybody, or they have any desire to do it is beyond me. Back to the past is not an option.

i don't think he is being touted as a manager or assistant or anything like that, but as an experienced football man who can give people like the board some valuable input on the areas they are clearly out of their depth in.

He's had a whole season to show us what he can do. He's shown us.

There is absolutely no evidence that Foran would have any greater clue next season, and would you allow him to sign players who may well turn out to be mince, who we are then stuck with? At any rate he would be gone by November. The only logical thing to do is have a clearout and a fresh start after some serious thinking and a genuine strategy with input from some actual football people. A clean slate with a new face in charge. Then we go into next season with hope. Otherwise it is more torture and only a delay of the inevitable. Put him and us out of our misery now. Making a mistake is one thing, prolonging it needlessly and compounding your error is another altogether. We have to have a bit more bottle.

7 minutes ago, IBM said:

Kit man or ball boy 

I was going to say car park attendant, but there would be gridlock for days and a lot of angry car drivers. So, um, the teashop it is. But only as an apprentice.

i assume he wouldn't go back as manager but he could play a great role as the DoF or something similar, responsible for the football side of things within the club, including having a large say in appointments and strategy. No-one else on the board seems to have the slightest idea of football, or any relevant experience. I would have a lot more faith in Charlie than anybody else, especially when it comes to rebuilding the club, appointing a new manager and getting new players in. Foran out, Christie in.

In my view his position is completely untenable now. His press comments only add to the depth of the hole he has dug for himself. He should resign in the next few weeks, and take some responsibility instead of childishly trying to blame everybody else. After he leaves he will blame ICT, who gave him the chance of his career. We need to look to the future now.