Club Statement on Player Departures

[+Fraz]

I thought we'd want to keep Hogg - maybe we did but there was too big a gap in the salary expectations? Not surprised about the other departures confirmed today.

We all had high hopes of Gil when he arrived, but what a let down. Delighted Rossco is entitled to stay, but I wonder what would have happened if he hadn't triggered that clause?

This is rumour of course but I heard that Hogg's missus wanted to move elsewhere, but maybe he wasn't offered a contract anyway.

[Tichy_Blacks_Back]

Rooney - 18 goals GOING??

Foran - 7 goals

Hayes - 6 goals

Odhiambo - 5 goals GOING

Munro - 4 goals GOING

[hislopsoffsideagain]

Hogg offski? I'm staggered - unless he didn't want to stay.

I wish we had taken a chance on keeping Sanchez.

[+Tree]

Hogg offski? I'm staggered - unless he didn't want to stay.

I think Hogg made it quite clear in his recent interview that he only saw us as a stop gap.

[mikeyrob73]

so at the moment we will have NO recognised centre halfs for next season ! Butcher better have something up his sleeve or i fear the worst for next season

[+Fraz]

I'm struggling to see what TB is doing, particularly offering Duff a contract and not a couple of the others (GM & RD)! We are very short of cover from experienced players particularly in defence. As far as I know no-one has signed a pre-contract aggreement with us and therefore even if Terry has people in mind for certain positions there are no guarantees that they will come up here,.Unless perhaps he has some kind of 'gentlemans aggreement' with them and is staying quiet?

Ultimately a club on a very tight budget like ours will struggle to attract players of a much higher calibre than we have (lost) as unless there is an injection of cash. I's not likely the bright lights of Inverness will be enough! To me that means chancing on up and comers or older players/fringe players.

I dunno, maybe Terry can use the lure of yet another Tesco to shop at as an incentive.

Hope I'm wrong.

[PullMyFinger]

Butcher has positioned himself in a favourable place prior to the transfer window opening. He knows what he needs to improve the team and probably how much he has to spend. Whether we like it or not, this is a business decision and not about personalities.

Good luck to all those who will be moving on.

[+MrCaleyjag]

Can't say that I am too surprised with the latest names to be added since I last posted except for Hogg but if they guy doesn't want to stay as has been rumoured before then not much we can do to keep him. Guess it's not just a club we're trying to sell to players but a completely different area to live in, unlike playing in the central belt where the commute can take you anywhere easily in a relative short space of time.

Could TB and MM be planning a comeback as our central defence next season?

[Doofer]

I know that the club has to freshen up in the bid for a coverted top 6 place next season and to do this players need to be released for new ones to come in. However, i am surprised at Duncan, Munro, Hogg and to a lesser extent odihambo not to be offered a new deal. Duncan and Munro have been great players for inverness and wish them all the best in where they go next. I think we will be facing a few familier faces next season

[davieB]

Little bit disappointed that we didn't give Sanchez a proper chance, as I reckon he brings something different to the team. And despite being highly critical of him over the seasons, I'd like to have seen Duncan offered a new contract.

Other than that, I'm not surprised about the others, and I feel we can get much better players in to replace. Suppose the shock is Grant going, but to be honest, I'm not overly surprised. I think he's lost some pace, and his overall game has declined in the last few years. Unfortunately, there's no room for sentiment in football these days, and we offer contracts on the based solely on where the player's from, and how long they've been at the club.

Intereseting summer ahead I think.

[+DoofersDad]

Having initially reeled from the shock of this I decided to try to see things from TB's perspective. I opened a bottle of wine and have gone through a couple of cycles of glass full, glass half full, glass half empty, glass empty and am now at the the glass and bladder full stage.

Much as I am sad to see the likes of Munro and Duncan go, I accept that there is probablty a brutal logic in this. The aim of the club must be not just to stay in the SPL but to move us on to the top 6. This needs to be done on a static budget. So what are the options?

Status Quo? No chance. Some players in that scenario will not progress and we simply cannot afford players on fairly significant contracts if they do not have what it takes to step up to the next level. That applies both to legends like Munro and Duncan and younger players like Blumenstein and Odihambo who have been given a chance and who have not made the grade.

There are others who have made the grade or who the manager feels have the potential to step up. Of those who are staying are a number of youngsters with real potential. Not just Ross and Sutherland but Cox and Rooney as well who we sometimes forget are still very young. Some of the emerging talent such as Shinnie and Morrison will presumably not be costing the club a lot but are keen to stay because they see the club as a great place to develop and to showcase their talent. When they move on they should be able to maximise their earnings. This leaves a small number of quality players who the manager is keen to keep and who the club can afford to offer better contracts to in order to encourage them to stay.

This still leaves a gap - a big gap, but I think Butcher sees this being sorted by short term contracts and loan deals. He has stated before that the club is attractive to players who have undoubted talent but are not quite realising their potential elsewhere. He feels some players see Inverness as a good location for rejuvinating careers and players will come on short term contracts to gain confidence and put themselves in the shop window. Better still are loan deals where clubs want to have players getting regular competetive football to help develop them. In this way we can, on a short term basis, get the services of players we could not otherwise afford to sign.

By making the statement before the end of the season, Butcher is giving players released the best chance of attracting attention from elsewhere but I don't think he and the club are doing that just to be decent. I doubt that they would be letting these players go if they were not pretty confident of getting decent players in on loan or short term deals. There may also be one or two more significant signings in the bag.

So a mix of a small number of proven players on good contracts, emerging youngsters and players brought in on short term deals/loans seems to the way forward and will be the pattern for the future. With very limited resources, this may be the only sensible option. I doubt anyone at the club has taken any pleasure from the hard decisions taken but they could well be the correct decisions. Yes, I'm sure we all have views on who we would have kept and who we would have let go but we have to back the manager on his decisions here . The proof of the pudding will be in what emerges at the start of next season and the time to judge him will be this time next year. It is certainly the start of a new era and should be interesting!

[PullMyFinger]

Lots of stuff

Good reasoned post and not far off the mark from where I see it.

[kencar]

Half those leaving are Butcher signings so he is far from infallible identifying talent. He'll need to unearth a few more Hayes rather than Blumenshtein's

[BornCaley]

Butcher clearly has the vision that others have lacked in the past. While sad to see such a large cull, im in 100% agreement with him on the players released. I dont want to see the team i love finish between 7th-12th every season in the SPL. We are not a 1st division team anymore ( despite the 2009/10 season) and i want to see ICT break up the stranglehold that other clubs have on the SPL in terms of where they finish season after season; and i dont just mean the OF.

Butcher is our own Jim Maclean IMO; and i can see that he wants to remain a permanant fixture in the SPL, so lets kick some arse! Im f***ing fed up with being a diddy team in other supporters eyes. The time is now to show them all that we can mix it up.

[Row S]

The big question now is will TB be able to attract new players up here to fill the big gaps in the squad? No doubt he's got a few targets but things are getting tougher out there and with a bare squad and the inevitable new SPL set up we will struggle to stay in the top flight never mind break into the Top 6.

[AJS]

Only one that suprised me was Hogg but heard he was looking to go back South so nothing can be done there. I'm dissapointed about Sanchez but i think he will benefit from a fresh start.

All that can really be said is that this is a massive gamble taken by Butcher and i sincerely hope that it pays off. We've let go a real combination of players here. Just hope its the right thing to do.

[Scarlet Pimple]

Well, that's quite a clear-out and the wages "saved" will therefore be considerable to use to bring in others.

Terry surely MUST have identified prospects which he is sure that he can arrange to transfer to ICT otherwise his actions are a huge gamble.

Based on the news to date what will the score be on Wedneday night I wonder?

Or does that matter now?

[Sorted]

Half those leaving are Butcher signings so he is far from infallible identifying talent. He'll need to unearth a few more Hayes rather than Blumenshtein's

Kencar is spot on and has highlighted a huge worry for me.

Whilst it is correct that TB has signed one or two gems, his conversion rate is shocking. How many players will he have to go through to replace those (those who made a contribution that is) that he has released? Going by his current track record I would suggest around 16 to fill 4 places. How much will this cost in comparison to at least keeping low cost (which they are in today's market) options like Granty and Peds? If he has aspirations, like all of us, to make the top 6, them maybe these guys don't play every week but are part of the squad. Can he get better value? I doubt it.

The other major concern is that of those he has offered a contract to how many will accept? It scares me that Rooney won't. It scares me even more that Duff will..........

For every Hayes how many Blumenshites, for every Foran (and it wasn't as if he was unearthing some unknown gem here!) how many Stratfords?

All very well to clear out but let's hope he has a very cunning plan, after all it\'s not as if every single free player, and their agent, won't know that we are absolutely desperate for bodies as we have no one!

[starchief]

Tuffy

Stratford - Innes - Hogg - Gillet

Hayes - Cox - Duff - Doran

Foran - Odhiambo

A team of entirely Butcher's signings (I know there's a couple not included). Looks pretty decent to me but one or two things stick out:

• RB is not good enough, although we had McCann for a while (Tokely's needed)
  
• Central defence is made up of experience, not rookies (so Munro useful)
  
• Centre-mid is just not strong enough (Duncan or another experienced def mid required)
  
• Attack, even considering Blumanshtein, McDonald or Sanchez, is shocking - Foran doesn't often even play that position now
  

I don't believe Munro going is anything to do with finances. As the club says, it's a footballing matter. What exactly that means, I'm not sure. I could guess but it probably puts the onus on one or another, so I'd rather not.

[Huisdean]

I think a major difference here, in terms of the quality of signings mentioned by some posters, is that this time Terry has had a fair bit of time to identify what is required and who is available. I may be wrong but i think the decision on the majority of players freed was made some time ago, and being honest, most supporters would only disagree on maybe a couple of those freed if they were honest. It does seem that TB has the ambition, maybe lacking from previous managers, to move us from a bottom six to a top six club and that will be a gamble and hugely dependant on who is signed. I do think we need to wait before passing judgement on what has just happened as some of the posts on here have been ridiculous concerning what "might" happen next season. Everyone needs to get behind the team for the remainder of this season and the start of next. If things do start to go wrong, then we can moan but at this moment, get behind the team and manager.

[AJS]

P&J says Rooney has only been offered a 1 year contract. Seems a tad short sighted to me.

[ICTPaisley]

P&J says Rooney has only been offered a 1 year contract. Seems a tad short sighted to me.

If hes going to sign of course he will only sign for 1 year, this is a good idea IMO. The chances of him signing at all are quite slim and the one year option gives him another year to improve his footballing skills before moving on to bigger things.

[old caley girl]

P&J says Rooney has only been offered a 1 year contract. Seems a tad short sighted to me.

Have to agree unless the short contrat suits both parties.

[mainstander]

P&J says Rooney has only been offered a 1 year contract. Seems a tad short sighted to me.

Have to agree unless the short contrat suits both parties.

Realisticly is Rooney going to sign up for more than a year here?

[bdu98196]

TB has my full support

yes some stalwarts of the club are leaving, but they are all the wrong side of 30 and apart from Russell are any of them in a position to improve the team and move it forward? As for others players like Eric & Dani have had a chance, they were in my eyes average D1 players when we were there and have failed to step up the way we needed. Others havent performed consistent enough.

I hope with the money saved we can bring in some quality in terms of signings & loans, retain younger players like Rooney, Hayes, Sutherland & Ross on longer deals. The nucleus of a competitive squad is here, now we need TB to bring in a spine & some flair.

Its not just ICT who are having big culls or clear outs - Hibs, Hamilton, Dons have already started, D Utd have a good few players out of contract and I expect many otehr clubs to follow - Scottish football is feeling teh financial squeeze so its all about VFM - harsh as it may seem, TB is doing the right thing IMO