Raith’s lamentable relegation lays bare the truth about Yogi

PERHAPS now we can finally lay to rest the myth — the damned and damnable lie — of John ‘Yogi’ Hughes, footballing genius, tactical mastermind, leader of men. Having pushed a proper community football club into a life-threatening situation, it would be unfair for the perpetrator of such a vile calumny to escape unscathed. Even those who previously paid homage to Hughes’ occasionally entertaining street philosopher ‘wisdom’ must now see this self-created character for what he is. No better than a mediocre coach. Boasting a one-size-fits-all approach to man management that melts down when circumstances demand a degree of nuance. In taking Raith Rovers into the third tier of the Scottish game, itself only a misdemeanour unlikely to keep a majority of neutrals up at nights, Hughes has done serious harm to a club whose directors must now rue the day they were ever taken in by his promises to ‘rescue’ them from the vague — but hardly pressing — threat of relegation. On the day when Yogi took the helm, as friends and colleagues will testify, your Sportsmail columnist — with an obvious vested interest in the outcome — declared to anyone who would listen that: ‘The … (redacted on legal advice) is going to take us down.’ As bad as Gary Locke’s reign had been, following him by appointing Hughes — a man who took no responsibility for failings, who gave the distinct impression that he was doing Raith a favour by dropping down to their level — was always likely to end in disaster. Still, it’s not Yogi’s problem. He was always only filling in on a shortterm basis. Killing time until the next ‘proper’ offer came in. While jobs are lost and cuts are made across the board at Stark’s Park, then, he’ll wander off in search of some new lot of suckers eager to swallow his spiel. At his next job interview, he’ll talk about mentality and bravery, about boiler suits and community. Certain chairmen lap that kind of nonsense up. Meanwhile, a good and very decent organisation must make tough choices about how to share out the financial pain caused by relegation. They’ll pay for their mistake. If anyone at Raith is willing to listen to some free advice, incidentally, they shouldn’t be sucked into this instant reaction demanding that the club remain full-time. Seriously? Employing players on a full-time basis in League One? Not if it means one member of the office staff losing their job. Not if it means one ‘necessary’ cut to youth or community budgets. All of this is now officially Somebody Else’s Problem, with Hughes (left) having departed — accompanied by a terse one-line statement including none of the traditional ‘thanks for all his efforts’ nonsense — in the wake of Saturday’s penalty shoot-out loss to Brechin City in the Championship Play-off semi-final. You just know he couldn’t wait to get out of Stark’s Park. To rinse off the scent of failure, spray on some of that Teflon confidence, and go to work schmoozing his way into another gig. Perhaps, on behalf of one beloved club he’s left in the mire, we should circulate a warning to all teams vulnerable to the earthy charms of a man with a cheeky catchphrase for every occasion... proceed with caution.