The dismissal of Craig Brewster following a run of defeats that has left the club rooted at the bottom of the table makes Brewster the first SPL manager this season to get the sack.
Brewster was in his second managerial spell at the club, having re-joined Caley following spells as manager of home-town team Dundee United and as a player with Aberdeen. Inverness, who finished 9th in the table last season are one of only four clubs in the SPL never to have been relegated, but the teams performances this season has made many in the stands wonder if this is the year that that statistic will change.
A promising start to this season was made with the teams first ever win away at nearest rivals Aberdeen, but Brewster’s men made hard work of the League Cup wins over Arbroath and Morton, while in the league results where hard to come by. Never able to settle into a steady routine, Inverness have not managed to record back-to-back wins this season and before Brewsters departure the team had lost seven games on the trot, beginning with the defeat at Parkhead in November and ending with the game on Saturday at Hamilton, a game lost with a similar scoreline, 1-0. The slide down the table was confirmed when following their 3-2 defeat away at another struggling side, Motherwell, Inverness took up residence at the foot of the table. Despite the Scottish Cup win over Partick Thistle, disenchantment with Brewsters reign in charge had begun the grow, with the protests of the supporters becoming more vocal, in particular following the defeat at home to Rangers (3-0), culminating in the chants of ‘Brewster Out’ following the defeat at Hamilton. With the team winning only five games at home all season, the board clearly felt that a change needed to be made.
In thanking Brewster and his assistant Malcolm Thomson – who also paid the price for Caley’s poor form – Chairman George Fraser reiterated that the decision was not made lightly, but that it served the best interests of the club, underlining the fact that SPL survival is the clubs overriding aim this season. Certainly, compared to last season, Inverness fans have had little to cheer about. Last season, the club’s form was almost a mirror of this season, with several winning runs that saw them defeat both Edinburgh sides, Dundee United and Celtic in a 3-2 thriller at the Caledonian. At this stage last season, Brewster had lead his team to 10 wins, 1 draw and 9 defeats and where in 7th place with 31 points. The lead they had built up in the middle of the season allowed the inevitable slump that followed (in which Caley lost 7 games in a row) to not cause too many hearts to flutter. It also helped of course that Gretna where making bottom place their own (even without the points deduction) and that Kilmarnock and St. Mirren where having terrible seasons of their own.
One of the problems facing Inverness Caley is that for one, there is no Gretna in this seasons competition, and that the teams against whom Caley should be measured – St. Mirren, Falkirk and Kilmarnock – are all having strong seasons. Inverness finished above all those teams by May of last year but there has been little seen so far of the form that saw Caley have a reasonably good season. The loss of hitman Marius Niculae was precipitated by the player being on show during last years European Championship. His return to his first club Dinamo Bucharest was a virtual certainty once chairman Allan Savage resigned, making it hard for the club to pay the Romanian internationals wages – the £500,000 offer was gratefully accepted. Brewster brought in Andy Barrowman from Ross County (the top scorer in the Second division last season, his 24 league goals helping County back to the First division) but his two goals so far in only 18 appearances this season has been disappointing. By far the best purchase this season has been Adam Rooney, signed from Bury. The young Irishman has scored five goals so far and is showing some promise, hopefully making up for the loss of Niculae earlier in the season.
Chairman George Fraser has said that the search for a succesor has started but, realistically, who is capable of taking the club and moving it forward – with survival high on the agenda? Some names have already been thrown into the ring, and Caley would be wise to go for experience over popularity.
Terry Butcher, currently assistant to George Burley with the Scottish National side is one option. Butcher saved Motherwell from relegation and lead them to the 2005 Scottish League Cup final. While Butcher certainly has the fighting spirit and experience with teams on limited budgets, the question remains whether the SFA and Setanta, for whom Butcher is an occasional pundit, will let him go.
Colin Calderwood, formerly manager of Northampton Town and Nottingham Forest is available, but has never managed in Scotland. He’s also a target for Norwich City. In his favour, he has lead both sides he’s managed to promotion following indifferent starts to their seasons.
Dick Campbell has Scottish management experience managing, although this has been mainly in the lower leagues, notably with Dunfermline, Ross County and Partick Thistle. However, Campbell recently took up the vacant position at Forfar, so any move for him would incurr a financial penalty.
Charlie Christie would be a hugely popular choice. Christie is a local boy, having started his footballing career in the town with Caledonian, before moving to city rivals Inverness Thistle. When the two teams merged to form Inveress Caley Thistle in 1994, Christie ended up playing 158 games for the new club, scoring 11 times. He took over the managerial role from John Robertson when he left to manage Hearts. Christie resigned after one season at the Caledonian Stadium, but would certainly be a popular manager, should he return.
John Robertson was in charge when Caley won promotion to the SPL, but left in 2004 go to his hometown Edinburgh to manage Hearts. Sacked by the Jambos (despite finishing 5th), poor spells at Ross County (left by mutual consent) and Livingston (sacked) followed. In his favour, he did save Derry City from relegation but was dismissed following a boardroom sweep.
Paul Hegarty, currently at Livingston might be looking for a way out of the troubled club and back into SPL management where he’s had experience managing both Aberdeen and Dundee United.
Another possibility is St. Johnstone’s Derek McInness, though he’d be wise to hang on at high-flying St. Johnstone. Mind you, should Caley survive and the Saints lose out on promotion, he would be kicking himself. A tough choice …
Other candidates whose names have appeared in the press include Brian Irvine (too inexperienced) and Duncan Shearer, a former Thistle player who has had indifferent spells as assistant to Steve Paterson at Aberdeen and who was last seen managing Highland League outfit Buckie Thistle, where he was sacked in April of this year.
Possible player-manager options include Ross Tokely, a long-time servant of the club, but the step-up to management, especially management of a club in danger of relegation would be seen as a high-risk venture.
Whoever the board appoint, the new manager has a tough task ahead of him. Caley face Hearts on Saturday, and the remaining bottom sides all play each other this weekend. A poor result, coupled with results elsewhere could see Caley slip behind even further. Should that happen, the task of keeping Caley in the SPL would be all that harder, making some potential candidates for the job run for cover.
