Higgins reaches peak to win the Players

John Higgins hailed the best week of his snooker life after demolishing Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-3 to win the Players Championship title in Milton Keynes. Higgins’ win – which he wrapped up with a 127 clearance to black in the final frame – completed a remarkably dominant week for the 45-year-old Scot in which he dropped just four frames in four matches.

It earned Higgins, pictured left, his first ranking title in three years and made him the oldest winner since Doug Mountjoy won the Mercantile Credit Classic at 46 in 1989.

Higgins said: “Without doubt this is the best week I’ve had and the way I’ve felt out there has been a brilliant feeling.

“The way I’ve played and the way I’ve felt in control has made me think I’ve got that monkey off my back and there is no reason why I can’t go on and win more titles.”

Despite compiling two centuries including tournament high clearance of 144 in the eighth frame, O’Sullivan – who has now lost four ranking finals in a row this season – was simply outclassed.

O’Sullivan likened Higgins’ performance to Tiger Woods’ US Open win at Pebble Beach and admitted: “I don’t think anyone has dominated a tournament from start to finish.

“He beat four highly-ranked players ridiculously easily, so it’s probably like when Tiger won (the US Open) by 15 shots – I just got peppered like everybody else.”

Four-time world champion Higgins had cruised into the final on the back of a series of remarkably dominant performances, beginning with a whitewash of newly crowned Welsh Open champion Jordan Brown.

In the quarter-finals he restricted Mark Selby to just seven points in another 6-0 win, before summoning five breaks over 50 as he swept aside Kyren Wilson 6-1 in the last four.

Higgins started the final in the same fashion in which he had swept through the week, galloping into a 3-0 lead including a break of 92 in the second frame. While O’Sullivan rallied somewhat, the six-time world champion simply could not keep pace with the magical Wizard of Wishaw in such sublime form.

It has been an emotional, eventful week for Caley Thistle. First of all, I pass on my regards to John Robertson, who has taken a period of compassionate leave from the club.

A man who has become synonymous with the club deserves as much time as he needs away from the game.

In the midst of this week, they had a game against Alloa Athletic and then after a topsy-turvy 2-2 draw, they announced Neil McCann would take over as temporary manager while Robertson is away from the club.

McCann had been out of the game since leaving Dundee in 2018, with the Dark Blues troubled by relegation. Prior to that his only coaching experience came at Dunfermline under Jim Jefferies, when the club had to deal with administration.

It was hard to gauge the barometer of McCann’s appointment, particularly with the context of it being an interim one with the club stressing Robertson remains their manager.

A 1-1 draw with Championship leaders Heart of Midlothian on Friday night was an encouraging start.

Chief executive Scot Gardiner stated he wanted someone who knew Scottish football and had experience working at the highest level.

There were a few names which came to mind before McCann before there seemed to be a collective nodding-of-heads on social media from Caley Thistle supporters.

Robertson is held in such high regard by Inverness fans.

He delivered top-flight football to the club in his first spell in charge, winning the First Division title in 2004. While his move into the hot seat at boyhood club Hearts did not work out afterwards, his reputation in the Highlands never diminished.

Since he returned in 2017, he has had to oversee a drastic cost-cutting programme, as fallout from their relegation from the Premiership.

Robertson has regularly had the club challenging in the play-off places in the Championship with hopes of promotion, as well as numerous cup runs.

It was going to be awkward to find someone to step in to fill Robertson’s shoes, even on a temporary basis.

His absence is for an indeterminate period of time, so it could be a few weeks or a few months.

The Caley Jags do need to get promoted. They are four years outside the Premiership now and risk being cast aside as a regular Championship outfit.

That Robertson kept them in play-off contention while losing his best players and reducing his budget is testament to his work.

If McCann comes in and enjoys a successful stint, the decision will have worked.

If it does prove to be for the remainder of the season and McCann manages to deliver promotion, then it will be a masterstroke.

Because ultimately, if that is how long he is going to be in charge for, that will have to be the aim.

If it is shorter than that, the goal must surely be to leave Caley Thistle in a better place in the league than he found it.

Intriguing times lie ahead at the Caledonian Stadium.

IN COMMAND: Neil McCann got off to an encouraging start with a 1-1 draw against runaway league leaders Hearts.