John Rankin

[Johnboy]

So... a little hint here then that DP and CB don't always see eye to eye....  :017:

Surely not a very healthy state of affairs for the club....  :024:

[L_G]

Okay read what you want between the lines. Rather than suggest CB and DP don't get on I was merely trying to suggest that there are no signs of a fall out between JR and DP.

I believe JR and CC had words and JR may have suffered as a result, but as far as I know it's all back to a clean sheet.  Why is everybody so keen for there to be fall outs?

[Johnboy]

I don't believe anyone wants to see fall outs....

There have been many threads and posts recently suggesting something, somewhere is going badly wrong at ICT....

You and I were both at that supporters trust meeting when it was clearly spelled out that DP would be remaining in his position as Number 2 - no matter who was going to get the manager's job.

Didn't you think at the time there might be problems with that....?

I think it's been pretty well established over the years in footie circles, that whoever is appointed team manager gets to appoint his own Number 2 and backroom staff....

[Scotty]

not sure who CB's dream team would be any more ... considering that Levein retained most of them !!!

[Johnboy]

not sure who CB's dream team would be any more ... considering that Levein retained most of them !!!

CB did get rid of several overpaid, under-performing players at Utd.....

Fortunately no one at ICT comes into that catagory....  :023:

[Scotty]

I was talking about the backroom "dream team" ...... when Brew was fired, Malky was also fired, but the others he took with him stayed.

Also CB's clearout at DUFC had a lot more to do with the grocer's wishes than his own .... the whole DUFC environment at the time was very messy and not comparable to ICT (i hope).

[L_G]

I don't believe anyone wants to see fall outs....

There have been many threads and posts recently suggesting something, somewhere is going badly wrong at ICT....

You and I were both at that supporters trust meeting when it was clearly spelled out that DP would be remaining in his position as Number 2 - no matter who was going to get the manager's job.

Didn't you think at the time there might be problems with that....?

I think it's been pretty well established over the years in footie circles, that whoever is appointed team manager gets to appoint his own Number 2 and backroom staff....

CB has worked with Parkie before and they get on well.  I would suggest that CB would have been happy to have the continuity and experence of Parkie. Grassa did say at the meeting that if the new manager was to want his own no.2 that would form part of the negotiations and even if that was the case Parkie would have been retained and given another coaching role with the youth teams for instance. DP is a highly respected member of staff at the stadium so I wasn't surprised they wanted to keep him.

[CaleyD]

That meeting the club had with the fans following the resignation of CC and prior to the appointment of Brewster was right up there with the all time biggest PR feck-ups ever made by ICT.  It was billed as a chance for the fans to come along and have their say and the club would listen, but turned out to be nothing but an exercise in them (the club) building their case for a decision that had already been made.

Every question/comment that came from the floor was answered in defence of a scenario where Brewster would be coming in as manager and points which were used to argue for Brewster were turned on their head and used to argue against other names which were being thrown around.

The point was made by the panel that the Manager was the #1 priority in everything, he was the man who made decisions and called the shots and getting the best manager available was top priority.  This didn't fit with the retaining Park as Assistant so I asked the question, that if a top manager showed interest but only if he brought in his own assistant, would the club turn them away because they wanted to retain the services of Park and how did that stance fit with the fact that they wanted the best available, and if looks could kill I would have dropped dead on the spot.  My question was twisted to make it look like I was in some way wanting rid of Park and the whole point about whether or not retaining Park was a major deciding factor in who would be appointed was lost.

The meeting was brought to a close shortly after...and it is my opinion that it was closed because the panel didn't like people picking holes in their case which was about as watertight as a pair of fish net stockings.  I resigned myself to the appointment of Brewster after that meeting, but I also resigned myself to the fact that we had a board operating with little regard for the thoughts of the fans.

The meeting only served to build on the negativity of those who didn't want Brewster back, and if the club were so confident that he was the right person for the job then why cloak it in such a veil of secrecy for so long.  Why act like you have something to hide and go so overboard in your denial of the situation that it comes across as covering up something that you think people won't like.  How long will it take for the current board to learn that the truth always gets out and it's better to manage that positively instead of trying to block smoke up our @ss and make themselves look like idiots when it goes so far that they are left in a situation whereby they can no longer deny it.

In short, Brewster may or may not have been the right or best option available at the time, but the boards handling of the whole thing only served to increase the pressure on the guy when he took the reins and to focus everyones attention on everything he would do from the off.

A few months on and we continue to see decisions being made which seem to have more grounding in personal attitudes and egos than in doing what is best for the team.  As the saying goes - there's no smoke without fire - and (in large) the fans of ICT are not stupid or naive.  We all know something is going on behind the scenes and we can all see with our own two eyes that it's having a negative effect on the club and the team.  We hear snippets of rumours, and perhaps they do grow arms and legs, but it's hardly surprising that people start to draw their own conclusions on events when the club are working so hard to disguise the truth.

The current situation with John Rankin is only one in a series of events in the past 10 months which leaves us all wondering just what the **** is going on and how long it is going to continue before someone at the top realises the damage it is doing and the hole it is sending this club towards.  Our squad hasn't changed dramatically since last season, it's still the same players out there doing the same job, but much of the spirit seems lost.  It's team spirit which played a large part in getting us where we are today, and it doesn't matter how much discipline Brewster dishes out, or how many extra days Park comes in to work with the lads for additional training, if the current set-up is sapping our biggest asset (team spirit) then it needs to be put right, and it needs to be put right sooner rather than later.

We're no stranger to OG's on the park this season, but they are nothing in comparison to the OG's this club has shown capable of producing off the pitch.

[Johnboy]

It's team spirit which played a large part in getting us where we are today, and it doesn't matter how much discipline Brewster dishes out, or how many extra days Park comes in to work with the lads for additional training, if the current set-up is sapping our biggest asset (team spirit) then it needs to be put right, and it needs to be put right sooner rather than later.

Great post - absolutely spot on with that (above) comment....  :clapping03:

[Sir C the 3rd]

As much as some people may want to speculate otherwise.  It is a family reason that he'll be moving on for.  Its not really my place to say what the family reason is, but its 90% certain he'll leave, so i'm led to believe.  More than likely to be in January otherwise it will be a loan till the end of the season then a permanent transfer I would have thought.

[FuriousGeorge]

Sounds like you may have the inside track on whats happening with JR. I guess the first definite sign will be if he puts his Inverness house on the market and  is seen viewing properties in the central belt. If it's really personal non-club related reasons that force the decision on him, then it's a shame but understandable. Either way, the Club must handle the whole thing positively, so that it doesn't leave a sour taste if he eventually goes.

If it's true, do we play him to get the best of him before he leaves? - or do we continue to select the team as if he's already gone?

A quality player like him? - He would be missed.      :sillywave:

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Family reasons my feckin erse - more corporate / management excuses. This club is being MISMANAGED - Full feckin spot.  :33:

If Rankin went becos he was playing well and stepped up a ranking  :001: I would not bicker.

"It's team spirit which played a large part in getting us where we are today, and it doesn't matter how much discipline Brewster dishes out, or how many extra days Park comes in to work with the lads for additional training, if the current set-up is sapping our biggest asset (team spirit) then it needs to be put right, and it needs to be put right sooner rather than later."

SPOT FECKIN ON - AND WHAT I HAVE BEEN SAYING SINCE THE START OF THE FECKIN SEASON.

[Sir C the 3rd]

Well whatever you think,  its up to you.  But what I said is a fact and nothing to do with the club/football and if he played for Aberdeen or in England he'd be doing the same.

[CaleyD]

Moving for "family" reasons is as acceptable an excuse as anything else that has been said so far because as far as most people are concerned it's all just rumour and speculation.

However, a player looking to move on for "family" reasons doesn't go in to the Managers office to talk to him about why he's not getting a game and whether or not he is likely to feature in future if his mind is already made up that he wants to go.

So, if there's any truth in the family reasons stuff, then I'm guessing it is a result of Brewster not giving him a clear idea of where he fits in to the squad, be it now or in the future, and it is that uncertainty that has swayed him into deciding to move on elsewhere.

IMO, whichever way you paint it, the decision comes down to one over uncertainty regarding his future.  Whilst I agree that no player has the right to expect to walk into the squad and must earn it, there is a reason Rankin is being kept out of the team and that has nothing to do with "family commitments".  If, as seems to be the case, it is non-footballing reasons then the blame for us losing one of our better players lies squarely on the shoulders of the club and whoever is making these decisions.

I for one do not blame Rankin for putting himself and his family first, especially when he is faced with what looks like a brick wall from the club with regards to his future.  All players need to be managed, whether they are regular squad players or not and it doesn't look like this is happening to any great effect when you have players of Rankins caliber being practically frozen out of the team and being considered for loan deals.