A Guide for Managers

First published January 2006

Ain't it typical? Another manager walks away from the club to take over what's touted as his dream job. It's getting just a teensy bit exasperating now. We're nobody's fools and don't deserve to be treated like some kind of managerial supermarket by other clubs. And perhaps now we won't be after David Sutherland's tenacious negotiations in our behalf. However, we're still in the irksome position of having to find yet another new manager, all the while gargling on some extra strong Listerene to take away the foul taste left in the mouth by the latest managerial goings-on to hit our club.

You see, it's not the loss of our manager to his boyhood heroes, or even the fact that he's now in direct competition with us, that riles so much. It's the way in which it happened. Not two months ago Mr. Brewster was quoted as saying that he still had much to learn as a manager, intended to stay with us for some time to come and believed it was important for a manager to show loyalty to his club. *Cough! Cough!* That would explain why, six weeks later he decided to jump ship to Dundee United after a paltry fourteen months in charge here. If there's one thing that winds up football fans more than important players or management leaving their club it's the feeling that someone has not been totally straight with them or that they've not been told the whole story about something. We always knew that United would cast a glance in our direction when they inevitably needed yet another new manager. However, we always believed that Brewster wasn't going to be interested at this stage of his (still fledgling) managerial career, and would wait until some point a few years down the line, when he would have more experience under his belt. We should, perhaps, have been more wary and less trusting. After events of recent years I no longer believe anything that anyone in football says, or at least, I no longer take it at face value any more, but for some reason I still believed what Brewster said and allowed myself to be lulled into a false sense of security. So much for that, then.

There are echoes of the situation a few years ago when Paterson and Shearer walked out on Caley Thistle after giving assurances of their commitment to the club. Although Brewster never pretended to sign a five-year contract and would no doubt protest that his motives were pure, his previous comments and protestations have unfortunately come back to haunt him and to succeed in provoking the ire of the majority of Caley Thistle fans. Now, however, we have to get on with things and hope that the next incumbent of the manager's office at Caledonian Stadium doesn't drop us in it. Because that would be really aggravating.

So, in short, how to irritate Caley Thistle fans? Let us feel that you love and care for Caley Thistle, assure us of your commitment, and then decide you're leaving for a rival club already. Oh, and plan to take some of our best players with you too. We really love that. :-7

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