In the summer, when talk was not focused on the staggering events at Ibrox and attention was turned onto the forthcoming SPL season, a growing number of pundits and fans alike shared in the opinion that this would be the year that Inverness Caley Thistle would lose their place in the top division.
However, heading into mid-season, all of those doom mongers should be reaching out for the humble pie as the Highlanders have silenced their critics. They sit proudly in second position of the SPL.
And it’s all happened under the guidance of Terry Butcher, a man with a chequered past in football management which has seen him dumped at Coventry City and Sunderland.
The former 77 times capped England international began to rebuild his reputation as a semi-decent manager following a four year spell as the Motherwell boss, only to experience failure again this time at Brentford and Sydney.
So when he pitched up at Inverness in 2009, expectations were mixed as to what this likeable giant would achieve.
Inheriting a poor squad he had the misfortune to see his team lose their fight to stay in the top flight but a successful First Division campaign saw them return to the top flight in 2010 and in the last two years ICT have finished in seventh and tenth positions consecutively.
Perhaps fearing another struggle of a season, following last season’s low finish, Butcher took the radical step of breaking-up a squad made up mainly of local based players to introduce new faces with a real lack of experience of playing in the SPL.
And it certainly looked like another season of struggling to avoid a battle against demotion back down into the First Division was on the cards. A stuttering start to the campaign saw their fans having to wait until their eighth match of the season to see their team secure their first victory.
A mini unbeaten run followed, which was abruptly ended by a rampant Motherwell side who romped to a resounding 5-1 win at the Tulloch Stadium in mid November.
But since then it has been smooth running for the Inverness. An impressive five game unbeaten run kick-started with a famous 1-0 triumph at Celtic Park has seen Butcher’s men shoot into the lofty heights of second place.
Butcher was a winner as a player, with a heart of a lion and his infectious spirit has rubbed off on his charges. Witness their incredible comeback from losing three goals in the opening ten minutes of last week’s clash at Tannadice.
At the heart of the ICT glory run has been the Ulsterman, Billy Mackay whose fifteen goal haul is catching the eye of a number of suitors up and down the country.
Whether or not the men in blue finish the season as runners up to the inevitable champions Celtic is debatable. But it cannot be denied that Terry Butcher can be guaranteed as much of his favourite red wine to be poured free of charge in his favourite Inverness hostelries, if he continues to lead this relatively new club to more positive results.
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