Yogi plea for Caley to keep key men
JOHN HUGHES believes the Inverness Caley Thistle board must act urgently to reverse the trend of losing the club’s best players on an annual basis.
The manager insists he understands the financial constraints under which the club operates, but is urging chairman Kenny Cameron and his fellow directors to stem the exodus of talent each summer.
Hughes is clearly unhappy with the protracted nature of talks to tie up on-loan Swindon Town striker Miles Storey on a fresh deal for next season and midfielder Greg Tansey on a contract extension.
Tansey, linked with Aberdeen earlier this season, has another year to run on his contract but Hughes wants a new deal thrashed out to secure the Liverpudlian for longer, describing him as ‘integral’ to how the team play.
And he claims losing Storey would be a comparable blow to the loss in recent seasons of Ryan Christie, Marley Watkins and Graeme Shinnie.
Ahead of today’s final fixture of the season against visitors Dundee — with both clubs vying to finish seventh and grab the extra prize money that goes with it — Hughes vented his frustration at Caley Thistle being a perennial feeder club.
He said: ‘We have contracts out to (Aaron) Doran, (Lewis) Horner, (Danny) Devine, (Iain) Vigurs and (Owain) Fon Williams. That would take us up to 13 players.
‘You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that is still short. We want to go with a squad of 20. Beating Dundee and finishing seventh would hopefully see a bit extra come back into the budget to try to get us a better quality of player — and maybe keep one or two more here.
‘The first thing I would be doing would be (re-signing) Greg Tansey and Miles Storey.
‘I’d be telling Swindon Town that I want to keep Storey because we know what we’re getting.
‘He has played in every game for us this year. At the start of the season, it was a problem for us that we didn’t have that pace up front. Storey brought that to us.
‘Tansey gets on the ball and makes us tick. But I don’t know where we are with (his contract). If you get caught sleeping, you may find you could lose out.
‘It is about protecting your assets and trying to keep building the squad — keeping the kind of quality the fans deserve.
‘I understand it in terms of finance — the budget is the budget. But there is a frustration that goes with that because you see so many good players come and go.
‘You don’t always want to be a feeder club for everyone else.
‘The fans and the players who have committed to the club, deserve to see quality coming in and to keep the quality we have.’
Hughes also wants to keep attackers Andrea Mbuyi Mutombo and Jordan Roberts.
But he indicated there was unlikely to be a future at Inverness for David Raven, Nat Wedderburn and Liam Hughes.
The Inverness boss is anxious to come out on top today against Dundee. He added: ‘We’re coming off a good win on Wednesday (against Hamilton Accies) where I felt we were very good in the first half. It got a little bit interesting towards the end but we were resolute and showed great spirit to keep the clean sheet.
‘It sets us up for the Dundee game where the winner earns seventh place. It’s all to play for.
‘I’m sure Dundee, like us, know the financial situation and what it carries.
‘I still think we were very unlucky not to make the top six, but there are no excuses — we are where we are.’
Meanwhile, Darren O’Dea has urged Dundee chiefs to keep defensive partner Paul McGinn at Dens Park.
The 25-year-old full-back’s contract expires after today’s game. He has already been linked with a move to Hibs, where he would link up with younger brother John.
There has also been speculation that Dundee manager Paul Hartley is lining up Hamilton’s Ziggy Gordon as his replacement.
But O’Dea reckons Dundee already have a player with the potential to become even better — and urged the club to tie him down.
The former Celtic centre-back said: ‘When I first came here, I thought that Paul was a decent player. But the more I’ve seen of him, I now realise he is a very good player. I’d like to think the club are doing their best to keep him because he’s a player who will only get better.
‘He’s also a great lad who is really liked in the dressing room. I hope he is here next year, but that’s down to the club and him.
‘There is speculation linking him to Hibs, so maybe he is considering that because he doesn’t have a contract offer here.
‘Paul has to consider that possibility because he has to look after himself.
‘The reason I’ve stayed here is because this club is certainly moving in the right direction. They are ambitious and have tied down a number of players, so I just hope Paul remains.’
Dundee can land themselves a £52,000 bonus if they beat Caley Thistle and pip them to seventh.
But O’Dea knows his side will have to produce a better display for longer than they managed in Wednesday night’s 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock.
‘Inverness is always a tough place to go and they are a good side,’ he added.
‘We’ll need to be as good as we were in the first half against Kilmarnock on Wednesday — and better than we were in the second.
‘There is plenty at stake in this game and that is a good thing at this stage in the season.’
“You do not want to be a feeder club for everyone else”