David Raven’s Caley Thistle career is at an end after manager John Hughes confirmed he will depart this weekend, and he could be joined by club captain Richie Foran.
Raven, who scored the goal which took Inverness to the Scottish Cup final a year ago, will be joined in leaving Caledonian Stadium by midfielders Nat Wedderburn and Liam Hughes.
All three are out of contract and have not been offered new deals. Despite being under contract for another year, midfielder Foran will have talks with chairman Kenny Cameron and Hughes about his future after being reduced to a bit-part role this season.
He is considering asking for his contract to be cancelled so he can move on after today’s final match at home to Dundee.
The departure of Raven, a huge favourite among supporters who have supported him vigorously in recent weeks, will not be a popular decision.
The possible departure of Foran would be another blow but the midfielder is ready to end his seven-year association with the club after growing weary of his lack of game time.
Foran said: “I’ll review my situation next week and see what I want to do. I don’t want to be sitting on the bench all next season, so I’ll have to speak to the manager and the board and see where we’re going.
“I won’t be calling it a day – I have another year on my contract. I’m not getting any younger but I want to keep playing. I believe I’m fit enough and strong enough and have enough quality to play in this division.
“I’ll have to have a chat with the manager and see where I am in that department. I’ll also have a word with the chairman and the board to see if it would be possible to get out (of the contract) a year early, if that is the way I’m going to go. There’s a lot to talk about next week.”
The departure of Raven and uncertainty surrounding Foran is indicative of the environment at Caledonian Stadium with the manager and board having differing opinions on the changing of the guard.
Hughes has expressed his frustration at seeing key players depart the club and bemoaned the quality of player he has to replace them with while chairman Cameron has insisted Hughes’ budget has been the highest of any manager in the club’s history.
The Inverness board also backed Hughes in the transfer market, allowing him to run with a 25-man squad due to injury problems, but the squad number will be reduced for next season.
Hughes said: “We deserve to see quality coming in and to keep the quality we’ve got.
“We need to change the trend and start to keep what we’ve got and add one or two quality players instead of quantity.
“We’ve lost too many quality players and not replaced them.”
