With Terry Butcher finally being unveiled as Hibs manager yesterday, the Highland club are now on the search for a new manager.
It won't be an easy task replacing the Englishman who leaves Inverness Caledonian Thistle sitting second in the Scottish Premiership and with a second successive League Cup Semi Final against Hearts to look forward to in February.
However, the answer for Inverness could lie with a manager that was tipped at first to take over from Pat Fenlon at Hibs- Kenny Shiels. The Northern Irishman has been out of work since being controversially sacked by Kilmarnock in June but he has been keen to get back into a job and is surely more than capable of keeping Inverness flying high.
Butcher was a man who got the best out of his players by instilling a great team spirit within the dressing room and Shiels did likewise at Kilmarnock. He led the club to a memorable League Cup triumph in 2012, which was the clubs first trophy in 15 years and somewhat impressively, it was done without conceding a goal. And since 1997, only Livingston and Hibs had won the trophy outside the Old Firm duo, showing how hard it is for a smaller club like Kilmarnock to come through the pack.
Shiels also loved to play good passing football at Kilmarnock, something Butcher's players got well used under him. At home in particular Caley Thistle were strong under Butcher, winning five out of their six home games this season. Whilst Shiels only led Kilmarnock to five home wins last season, that shouldn't put Inverness off. This group of players have shown they have a will to win and will believe in Shiels's philosophy and tactics of quick passing and pressing high up the pitch.
And last season did include a memorable win over Celtic, Kilmarnock's first since 1955 at Parkhead. And Shiels also led Kilmarnock to two wins over Rangers during his tenure, showing that he doesn't have any fears of leading smaller teams out against the Glasgow giants, just like Butcher did during his reign in the Highlands. I'm not sure I can imagine the defensively minded Craig Levein doing that or former Caley boss John Robertson either who are also contenders for the hotseat.
Terry Butcher was a manager who somewhat surprisingly came to absolutely adore life in the Highlands and showed this when he turned down a move to Barnsley earlier this year. If Shiels's reign in Kilmarnock is anything to go by then he would do the exact same. There are reasons outwith football as to why a significant section of Kilmarnock fans want Shiels back- it's mainly because in his own words 'he fell in love with the club'.
Sometimes, this admittedly went over the score but on the whole I didn't think Shiels did anything wrong in his passionate backing for the club, the town and the community. Infact, more managers should be like Shiels and Butcher and make sure their clubs are represented positively in the press. Shiels even went as far as saying his clubs League Cup triumph in 2012 made his side the club of the year, despite Celtic reaching the last 16 of the Champions League.
Agree or disagree with his comments, Shiels once again was showing his love for the club and you can well imagine him saying things about Inverness's budget and how they are miles away from the hub of the Central belt of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Again, would a Levein, Robertson or even Paul Hartley be as outspoken as Shiels?
For me Shiels ticks most, if not all the boxes if Inverness want to continue their remarkable rise up the top league in the future. Inverness Chairman Kenny Cameron should be ringing Shiels's number without any hesitation.
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