A year ago this day

[Guest Mahonio]

As this is 0104 on the 27th January 2010, this marks Terry Butchers 1st year as Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager so i thought i would ask how you feel his 1st year went?

[Council Juice]

Well he took us down after managing to get us 5 clear with 2 games left and has fail to sustain a strong title challenge in the 1st half of this season, however our form has improved in the last 6-7 weeks and he has signed several promising young players whilst working on a very tight budget.

So in terms of overall results, could have done a touch better but he's an improvement on Brewster and has done well in parts.

[Renegade]

Could we add a poll to this thread?

Anyway, to me, he's been a disappointment. He started well but blew the safety chances just for his own ego when he replaced Esson with Fraser, along with that bizarre starting line up for the final game of the season. Of his signings, they have been a bit of a mixed bag. Some have been good (Foran, Cox, Hayes), some have okay (Odhiambo, Bulvitis, Sanchez) and some haven't worked out at all (Eagle, Stratford).

Perhaps the oddest thing is that some players just seem to have disappeared under Butcher. Hastings had still a part to play at this club, as does Roy McBain now, but the disappearance of Iain Vigurs for me was the biggest blunder of his time so far. From what I could see, Vigurs was a good player and a good passer of the ball, and had the potential to be the new Black, maybe through time he could be even better. Butcher didn't play him because he "was a good player but wasn't Butcher's kind of player". Seriously, unfathomable stuff.

So that's my short run down of Butcher's year in charge, I doubt he'll be here to celebrate his second year in charge.

[starchief]

Mixed feelings. Short-term: good. Medium-term: below average. Long-term: good potential.

Gave us a tremendous boost when he came in. We looked dead and buried but Butcher gave us a chance of survival. Tokely had been playing very well at centre-back (look at the match reports on here), so it wasn't a surprise to see him continue there. I don't blame Terry at all for relegation. There were far more positives than negatives under his reign and I don't think we would have amassed as many points as we did under Brew.

He was left with a mass cull (mostly not of his own doing) in Division One. Of his signings, only Stratford has looked poor throughout. Have a look at pre-season games and Eagle was probably the stand out from them. He's still young so could come good again.

That said, results haven't been great. The biggest drawbacks we have had have been centre-back (no money to replace Mihadjuks with a finished article), left-back (Hastings let go too early in favour of Golly and LDZ) and attacking midfield (where Vigurs could have done the Sanchez role). So we could have done better.

Over all, there's a young team with potential in there. Give the best of them a contract and get Butcher tied down long-term too and I'll be happy. Otherwise, start talking to CC, Robbo and/or Pele NOW about the future to come up with an alternative long-term plan and I'll be even happier. Both of these scenarios could see a definite return to the good times. Instead...

...the Board backed Brew when the league was all but gone. The manager is being asked to work on a very short time-scale whilst the players are being asked to perform with no job security. This short-termism is immensely damaging. If we're going bust, tell us so we can do something. If not, then get some planning going.

[Johnboy]

I wouldn't dispute any of Renegade's comments, but I would add that, up until the departure of Bulvitis, there were signs that TB was actually starting to get the hang of this management business. The way he set out his stall for the Motherwell game was exemplary - he even succeeded in making them look like the Div 1 side. I felt that a serious challenge for the title might have been about to happen, but the poor guy must feel like the rug's been pulled from under his feet now, with the board's inability to sort out a deal with Bulvitis's club.

If TB can somehow keep the good run of recent results going, he will rise dramatically in my estimation.

Let's face it - what kind of future job offers in football management will he get if ICT, don't at least make the Number 2 spot by the end of the season?

Edited January 27, 2010 by Johnboy

[Renegade]

Tokely had been playing very well at centre-back (look at the match reports on here), so it wasn't a surprise to see him continue there.

True, and it would've made sense to play him there against Falkirk, had a natural right back such as David Proctor slotted in next to him, but that's not what happened. He isn't played Mihadjuks out of position, IMO was too big a risk to take.

[caley100]

He would only cite financial strangulation that prevented him from succeeding at his job at ICT.

Bulvitus will not be back, Rossco will play Middle, proc at RB, which i hope will be ok, but i dont have any real issues with Butcher as has signed players that would not be here if Robbo got the job ( the good ones)

Edited January 27, 2010 by caley100

[AJS]

We were a goal-line away from staying up, thats how close he got us. He put some confidence back in the team but unfortunately it wasn't enough.

On a tight budget he did very well to secure most of our squad on new deals which i think is a credit to him. Cox, Sanchez, Hayes and Bulvitis also have proved very astute signings in the transfer market.

As it says in recent weeks we have really started to look like more of a team and i can only hope it stays like that for the rest of the season, i seriously doubt we will win the league but if we can prop ourselves up a few places Terry can be relatively pleased with his achievments.

[Council Juice]

It is kind of a mixed bag. He might do better if he knew what players he was going to keep beyond the summer at the club and if he would still be here himself. Players might find it easier to know they have their immediate future sorted.

[DALNEIGHCALEY]

We were a goal-line away from staying up, thats how close he got us. He put some confidence back in the team but unfortunately it wasn't enough.

On a tight budget he did very well to secure most of our squad on new deals which i think is a credit to him. Cox, Sanchez, Hayes and Bulvitis also have proved very astute signings in the transfer market.

As it says in recent weeks we have really started to look like more of a team and i can only hope it stays like that for the rest of the season, i seriously doubt we will win the league but if we can prop ourselves up a few places Terry can be relatively pleased with his achievments.

Care to name them ?

[Renegade]

I think what he meant was those who contracts were up at the end of last season and the ones the club wanted to keep ie - Foran, Djebi-Zadi, McBain, Proctor etc.

[AJS]

Proctor, Foran, Odhiambo. He did his best to keep Morais and Kerr as well. Thats what i was referring too.

Djebi-Zadi was ok to keep and McBain should be used more.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

As this is 0104 on the 27th January 2010, this marks Terry Butchers 1st year as Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager so i thought i would ask how you feel his 1st year went?

Or a year to the date that the Muppets practically admitted that their adherence to Brewster was crass - perhaps two years later when we should have ejected the feckin lot of them.

As far as I am concerned nobody can judge Butcher as he inherited a doomed and downtrodden team going into financial strife.

[TopSix]

His first and only year. Reckon he'll be offski at the end of the season. League's looking more promising - if we win at the weekend and results go our way..... It certainly would do his management stock no end of good to leave with a positive record, even promot... I'll stop there.

[Pele_Is_God]

Given the circumstances, he has done an excellent job and has potential to be best gaffer since Pele. I would be interested to see his win ratio compared to previous managers.

[Stevie]

I'm not a Butcher fan, but credit where credit is due , the team are now looking more solid than earlier.

Butcher got off to a flyer, although as we all know in football a change of manager nearly always sparks a stale team to life.

Like many others, I would rate the general player changes as poor. That we don't have Vigurs now is very disappointing, why the hell McBain doesn't feature is truly staggering.

Johnny Hayes & Sanchez are decent footballers, don't rate Stratford or Eagle, and Cox losses possesion too much.

I know folk get sick and tired of hearing it but I'd of rather we'd have Robbo at the helm.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Given the circumstances, he has done an excellent job and has potential to be best gaffer since Pele. I would be interested to see his win ratio compared to previous managers.

I would agree - except I think his tactics dropped us out of the SPL - but perhaps that was a blessing in disguise. And what about the prospect of Robbo and Butcher with financial back up.