The Return of Robbo

[Doofer]

I dont get it!! Robbo did really well when he was our manager then left for his boyhood club and did rubbish, brewster did the same as robbo, doing well for us then off too dundee utd and did rubbish so getting a former manager back is not a good idea at all considering whats happened since brewster came back. Personally i would rather see rowan alexander in charge, the former grenta manager. I know he is unproven at spl level, but the players listened and the morale at gretna when he was in charge was sky high and thats what this club needs right now!

[Renegade]

I dont get it!! Robbo did really well when he was our manager then left for his boyhood club and did rubbish, brewster did the same as robbo, doing well for us then off too dundee utd and did rubbish so getting a former manager back is not a good idea at all considering whats happened since brewster came back. Personally i would rather see rowan alexander in charge, the former grenta manager. I know he is unproven at spl level, but the players listened and the morale at gretna when he was in charge was sky high and thats what this club needs right now!

No chance, one of the reasons Christie resigned was because of the stress of the job. This guys got heart conditions and the stress of managing an SPL club could be fatal for him.

[Doofer]

I dont get it!! Robbo did really well when he was our manager then left for his boyhood club and did rubbish, brewster did the same as robbo, doing well for us then off too dundee utd and did rubbish so getting a former manager back is not a good idea at all considering whats happened since brewster came back. Personally i would rather see rowan alexander in charge, the former grenta manager. I know he is unproven at spl level, but the players listened and the morale at gretna when he was in charge was sky high and thats what this club needs right now!

No chance, one of the reasons Christie resigned was because of the stress of the job. This guys got heart conditions and the stress of managing an SPL club could be fatal for him.

Ah well fair enough, but why do so many people want robbo back? We need someone new and we need them now!

[alimci]

If finishing fifth in the league (with Hearts) is rubbish, then I'll take that rubbish any day of the week.

Robbo knows the players, knows the game, cares about the club. What's not to want?

[Pele_Is_God]

To be honest I was sceptical before he came on here couple of weeks back. However its obvious how much he cares for the club, didnt go too well for him at Livingston but done a decent job everywhere else he has been. He also has a lot of contacts in the game as well. IF/When Brewster leaves, he would be my number one choice with Shearer assisting.

[Johnboy]

To be honest I was sceptical before he came on here couple of weeks back. However its obvious how much he cares for the club, didnt go too well for him at Livingston but done a decent job everywhere else he has been. He also has a lot of contacts in the game as well. IF/When Brewster leaves, he would be my number one choice with Shearer assisting.

I agree.... although I'd be equally happy with Donald as his Number 2.

Robbo also appears to be settled and enjoys living in this area, which would be an added bonus...

[Joe DiMaggio]

If finishing fifth in the league (with Hearts) is rubbish, then I'll take that rubbish any day of the week.

Robbo knows the players, knows the game, cares about the club. What's not to want?

Finishing 5th with Hearts is pretty rubbish!

[starchief]

Why do you say he did badly at Hearts? Coz he was sacked (well, he was asked to stay on in a reduced capacity) by mad Vlad? Can you read too much in to that? Seems to me that in the clubs he's had, Hearts, Livi and Ross County, that he's not really had a chance to make a difference. Mad owners, the lot of them!

[kiltarlity]

Finnishing 5th with Hearts is good, when you consider the Mad Vlad factor.. imo

Graham

[ICTJackson]

didnt robbo manage derry city for a while?

[Council Juice]

I think its his seemingly apparent love for the club. His staunch defence of them every week shows this. He has done well before. He was here when we won the league, the challenge cup, got promoted. He embodies the clubs feel good factor of days past. Whether a 2nd tenure would work is entirely different but their is no question to his close affinity with the fans. Us. Even when he did leave he went with dignity and respect (unlike someone else)

I wouldnt take Rowan Alexander ever. His players wanted rid of him because of the way he was acting. Placed on gardening leave. asked to go to councilling. Put Dr Deucher in the reserves for nothing (something the player still doesnt know why he did. No arguement. just dropped.) He seemingly went doolaly

He turned up 1st game to take charge when everyone knew he was not welcome. It distressed the players to the point where they spoke out how it almost ruined their SPL debut.

I wouldnt mind a punt on John Brown at Clyde. They've had no end of problems down there with a complete collapse after their promotion chase. Financial, a complete team strip down. everything. Had to build from scratch. He's got a lot of contacts as we saw with getting Albertz to turn out and then Laudrup and Numan v Rangers (money spinner)

But we all have a soft spot for Robbo.

[reefinweedallday]

Not all of us have a soft spot for Robbo but he could certainly do a better job than the 1 watt dimwit that is currently managing the club

[Scotty]

To answer the question .......

1. He is available. [which is what we need - we dont want to be paying compo that we can ill afford]
   
2. He is now local. [which removes the central belt argument]
   
3. He is personable. [as we have seen on open all mics and elsewhere, a personality fans and players alike seem to like]
   
4. He is passionate about ICT. [as can be heard every week on open all mics - As ICT have frequently "punched above their weight" passion is a vital element of motivating the players.]
   
5. He has a far superior managerial record than Brewster at ICT [In 82 games overall he won just under 54% of them. Brewster on the other hand has won 34% overall from 112 games with this season seeing his record drop to 25%]
   
6. He is second only to Steve Paterson in having the best season ever at ICT [This happened in 03/04 when he won 62% of games and took us to the first division title. Paterson eclipses him with the 02/03 season when he won 2/3 of all games played, but it was only half a season as he went off to Aberdeen midway through it - Robbo came in and won more than half of the remaining games. Brewster on the other hand has presided over parts of 4 seasons, all of which have been near the bottom of our performance table, including this season which is the worst ever record a manager has had at ICT].
   

[CELTIC1CALEY3]

''We have great belief in this young man,? he said.

http://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/output/2...y7924461t0.shtm

John Robertson had been ruled out as a possible contender by David Sutherland (Chairman) in a TV interview where he made it clear the John Robertson was part of ICT's history and would be remaining there.

http://caleythistleonline.com/news/archive...end-a-fans-view

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Fer fecks sake - Robbo is the wind up in the internal political battle.

[Pele_Is_God]

Heard Scotty's plug for Robbo on Final Score, not much was said though.........

[Scotty]

not guilty this time - what was that ?

[alternative maryhill]

To answer the question .......

1. He is available. [which is what we need - we dont want to be paying compo that we can ill afford]
   
2. He is now local. [which removes the central belt argument]
   
3. He is personable. [as we have seen on open all mics and elsewhere, a personality fans and players alike seem to like]
   
4. He is passionate about ICT. [as can be heard every week on open all mics - As ICT have frequently "punched above their weight" passion is a vital element of motivating the players.]
   
5. He has a far superior managerial record than Brewster at ICT [In 82 games overall he won just under 54% of them. Brewster on the other hand has won 34% overall from 112 games with this season seeing his record drop to 25%]
   
6. He is second only to Steve Paterson in having the best season ever at ICT [This happened in 03/04 when he won 62% of games and took us to the first division title. Paterson eclipses him with the 02/03 season when he won 2/3 of all games played, but it was only half a season as he went off to Aberdeen midway through it - Robbo came in and won more than half of the remaining games. Brewster on the other hand has presided over parts of 4 seasons, all of which have been near the bottom of our performance table, including this season which is the worst ever record a manager has had at ICT].
   

Scotty - or anyone else with an opinion - while I agree with a lot of what you've said about Robbo, do you not worry that his obvous passion for the club has led him to a position where he may have aligned himself too closely with the fans to make a return as manager possible?

I refer mostly to his decision to post on here. His politeness and patience in answering questions and his high regard for the club and its fans impressed many, myself included. However, were he to take over as manager again, would he be able to distance himself from opinions on the website? Would he feel tempted to respond to criticism in person? Would he feel more of sense of betrayal than another manager might if he was aware of criticism from the website?

On the other hand, would some people who might be inclined to used the site to vent their spleens or offer opinions critical of the manager, feel unable to do so because they were worried about Robbo reading the comments and taking them personally? I think this is a very important function of any fans' site and would not like to see that aspect of this site diluted.

I'd take Robbo's passion over Brewster's apparent aloofness any day, but I also feel a manager should retain a certain distance from the fans (and for me, that would include not entering into online debate with supporters). I hope, should Robbo take over, that he is able to do this, otherwise I worry that he, like Charlie Christie, will find the weight of expectations and advice affecting him so that he can no longer do the job effectively.

Thoughts?

[Pele_Is_God]

Just said ICT fan Scotty suggests Robbo should be given a contract until the end of the season to see if he can keep us up.

[Scotty]

Scotty - or anyone else with an opinion - while I agree with a lot of what you've said about Robbo, do you not worry that his obvous passion for the club has led him to a position where he may have aligned himself too closely with the fans to make a return as manager possible?

I refer mostly to his decision to post on here. His politeness and patience in answering questions and his high regard for the club and its fans impressed many, myself included. However, were he to take over as manager again, would he be able to distance himself from opinions on the website? Would he feel tempted to respond to criticism in person? Would he feel more of sense of betrayal than another manager might if he was aware of criticism from the website?

On the other hand, would some people who might be inclined to used the site to vent their spleens or offer opinions critical of the manager, feel unable to do so because they were worried about Robbo reading the comments and taking them personally? I think this is a very important function of any fans' site and would not like to see that aspect of this site diluted.

I'd take Robbo's passion over Brewster's apparent aloofness any day, but I also feel a manager should retain a certain distance from the fans (and for me, that would include not entering into online debate with supporters). I hope, should Robbo take over, that he is able to do this, otherwise I worry that he, like Charlie Christie, will find the weight of expectations and advice affecting him so that he can no longer do the job effectively.

Thoughts?

Very good questions ....... and its hard for anyone to answer except Robbo

My own opinion - from his previous stint as manager - is that he wouldnt get himself in a situation where the criticisms were quite so harsh as they are with the present incumbent. I think Robbo is someone who could actually turn round and say he made a mistake which is a large part of the problem with Brewster. Once you admit your mistakes, you are half way to solving them and Brew cant admit his whereas I believe Robbo would.

In his first stint as manager, I think he was also very happy to meet and mingle with the fans on their level so to speak, with the supporters do at the Corriegarth being a prime example. He didnt make the requisite 5 minute appearance then bugger off, he (and many of the players) stayed for quite some time, got the craic and left at the end of the night blazer-less rather than blazing !!!

As for diluting opinions because he might be reading, well that is up to the individual poster isnt it. We all know Charlie reads the site ... he was posting Centenary Draw Results every week long before he was manager ... but that didnt stop people having an opinion one way or the other, and I think the same would be true if it were Robbo.

Whether Robbo would take it to heart or not would be down to him I suppose. At the end of the day, if he came in and did crap, I am sure there would be no shortage of people ready to tell him so .... equally, if he did well, I would hope the reverse would apply.

Having said all that, I do tend to agree that a manager should retain some distance from the daily goings on of a fan website. Coming on here now is fine, he is currently a radio journalist in much the same way as Charles Bannerman, but if he were ever to become manager again, personally I would favour him writing a column for us or doing a Q&A session, or maybe a chatroom session so that he could speak to fans in a more organised fashion rather than posting on the boards. Ultimately though, the decision would be his.

Maybe Robbo could take advice from Craigy boy ..... I was going to start a thread highlighting this article, but your question made it pertinent t stick in here !!!!

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/...86908-21012217/

Brewster is aware of the weight of criticism he is facing from a frustrated section of the support but revealed he gives fans' websites a wide berth.

"I don't read the websites, if you did you'd go a little crazy, but I believe if we can start the game well the supporters will react and play their part against Rangers."

[CaleyD]

They probably just read it off here

AM, I can see where you're coming from, but the one thing that has contributed to the current problems is the lack of communication between club and fans. So whilst I would not expect, nor encourage, Robbo to partake in the forum in such a direct manner, I do think it would be positive for us to have someone who, when communicating, talked with the fans instead of at them.

Club representatives coming on to the forum to talk to fans is nothing new, we've had them come on and chat to people via the chatroom in the past. Provided it's done in a controlled/formulated manner then I don't see the problem.

With regards to the pressure of criticism, I don't see why it would be any different for Robbo than it has for any past (or present) manager. People from the club visit the site and print off pages from the forums on a regular basis and they get passed around personnel at the stadium...so whilst certain individuals might claim they don't read the site/forum, they are almost certainly aware of what's being talked about/said on here.

The connection between fan and clubs has suffered badly in recent years, and if we were to bring in a manger who's personality/popularity was able to bridge that gap as well as improving things on the pitch then the club might just be able to get everyone pulling in the same direction again just that little bit quicker.

[alternative maryhill]

Scotty, Don - thanks for such considered replies. Certainly you've both had far more opportunities than me to see how different managers have coped with the more "goldfish bowl" aspects of being Inverness manager, as I've been down in Glasgow for the lifetime of the club. Guess we'll wait and see what happens!

[tokelyisvictorious]

I'm no huge fan of robbo. He may give the players a bit of a boost for a few games, but apart from that i can't see him changing much. The lift may be enough to keep us up, but only for the one season.

If we were to get a new manager i'd prefer a completely new direction.

[cal234ey]

I think Robbo would be the wrong choice for ew manager as if he had not left for Hearts i think we would have been relegated straight away. Then Brew came and is playing ability and fitness rgime (not managerial skill) is what kept us up.

Also when Robbo left for Hearts he also mad some very insulting remarks abut us as a club and i don't think this was very fair.

If Brew goes its a firm NO to Robbo from me

[The Mantis]

I was never a massive Robbo fan either. I remember the team put on a fantastic performance in his first game at Love St but as a rule it was pretty dire stuff after Pele. Even beating Celtic at TCS, we were dire to watch (but maybe we were just spoiled). But those days seem like a dream now.

To use a cliche, I'd take winning ugly right now as all we're doing is losing ugly.