'My future was never discussed' - Caley Thistle manager John Robertson reflects on winning manager of the month
MANAGER of the month John Robertson never had any discussions about his job being under threat after Caley Thistle’s slow start to the season.
The ICT hierarchy understood the need to bring stability to the club, in the wake of swingeing cuts brought about by relegation.
Those early struggles included Robertson delivering an impassioned speech after the Dumbarton game which raised questions over his own future.
However, their turnaround in form throughout October, which saw them finish unbeaten without conceding a goal, has been rewarded by league sponsors Ladbrokes with a double award. Robertson scooped the managerial gong while Carl Tremarco, who has yet to concede since slotting in at left-back, was named player of the month.
Murmurings of Robertson’s second tenure being a short one were premature, something that was also put to bed by chairman Graham Rae in an interview with the Courier in the week after the Dumbarton defeat.
“We’ve never had a conversation about my job being under threat. They knew what we were doing and the plan was quite simple – we needed a team that could compete on the pitch and would bring stability to the club for the next two or three years,” said Robertson.
“We needed to get the wages down. They’re still on the high side just now but they’re manageable. We couldn’t afford to spend the money we did last time in the Championship and over a million pounds was cut from the budget from last season.
“The next aim was to compete for promotion. There’s still a long way to go but we’re heading in the right direction. It’s been hard, make no bones about it, but myself, Brian Rice and Scott Kellacher have stuck at it. The players are good enough and they’re starting to prove. Thankfully over the last six matches the results have started to come.”
The foundation of the team’s recent success is well-documented. They have not conceded in 567 minutes and can break a club record against Falkirk tomorrow in the Irn-Bru Cup, should they shut the Bairns out for 50 minutes.
However things at the season were not so rosy, particularly when the Caley Jags were hovering just above bottom club Brechin.
Given the turnover of players during the summer, some early tribulations were to be expected.
“When things aren’t going well, that’s when a manager earns his corn,” said Robertson. “When things are going well, you go through the same things.
“We brought in 13 new players and a lot had not played first-team football. Some maybe thought the Championship was going to be an easy standard for them and there were those who were relegated last season who were maybe still feeling the hurt.
“The encouraging thing for us was that in a lot of our games, we played good football and created a lot of chances. Our Achilles heel was not taking chances at one end and conceding goals at the other. We’ve worked on rectifying that.”
Addressing the dual award win – Caley Thistle’s first such feat since August 2014 – Robertson was quick to attribute praise to all facets of the team.
“It’s about the players. They’ve put hard work in training since Dumbarton – six clean sheets in this league is fabulous,” he said. “You could have picked any of the players, not just the defensive lads, and they’ll have been equally worthy.
“It’s a massive boost for Carl coming back into the team. He’s played a huge role after such a long time out injured.”
Feliticiano Zschusschen, Collin Seedorf, Aaron Doran and Zack Elbouzedi will sit out tomorrow’s game. Jake Mulraney is on Ireland under-21 duty.