Clachnacuddin chairman Alex Chisholm says they will assess all of their options as they look to appoint a new manager.
The Lilywhites dismissed boss Jordan MacDonald and assistant Michael Mackenzie on Sunday following their 8-0 loss to Huntly in the Breedon Highland League.
Clach’s only win this season came in the Scottish Cup. They have drawn two and lost six in the league and also been knocked out of the North of Scotland Cup and GPH Builders Merchants Highland League Cup at the first hurdle.
Player-coach Martin Callum and Blair Lawrie, who joined the coaching staff after hanging up his boots in the summer, are in interim charge.
Clach chairman on manager hunt: ‘We’re open to any options’
Clach are seeking applications for the job, and chairman Chisholm said: “We’re open to anyone if we feel they’re the right person.
“There’s a bit of urgency because we want to give someone every opportunity to get their feet under the table and get going.
“But it’s also got to be the right appointment for the club and the person.
“With what we’ve got, I’d hope it was an attractive position.
“We’ve got our reserves in the North Caledonian League to try to help bring players into the first-team.
“As a club we’re all keen to try to bring players through and get them in to push the first team on.
“Jordan and Michael gave a lot of players a chance and the opportunity will be there for the new manager to do that.
“We’re not going to go out and spend cash to buy players – we know we need to bring players on and take them through.
“At the same time, we’re also aware we need experience in our team.
“We’re open to any options and we’ll look at them all.”
Tough call to make change
Chisholm also said the decision to end MacDonald’s tenure after three years in charge wasn’t taken lightly.
He added: “It was a very difficult decision.
“We’ve been really supportive of Jordan and Michael and everything they’ve done in terms of where the club was and where they’ve taken it to.
“Unfortunately things haven’t worked out this season.
— Inverness Clachnacuddin FC (@clachfc) October 2, 2023
“It was a hard decision to make, but performances and results speak for themselves and we came to the hard decision.
“We’ll speak to Blair and Martin about how we can support them. We all know what we need to do, but it’s getting there that’s the hard bit.
“We need to regroup and refocus and start putting in better performances.”
Abuse of officials won’t be tolerated
Meanwhile, both Clach and Huntly have moved to condemn abuse from supporters towards an assistant referee during the weekend clash at Christie Park.
A joint statement released by both clubs read: “At half time on Saturday, both clubs were made aware by the match referee of verbal abuse being directed towards an assistant referee.
“Once being made aware both clubs reacted together and had club officials visible in the area that the abuse was reported.
“This also followed tannoy and social media announcements that unacceptable language or abuse would not be tolerated, we wish to reiterate that point.
“Both clubs try very hard to make our grounds welcoming, safe and inclusive places to come and enjoy watching football matches.
JOINT STATEMENT pic.twitter.com/XUDWUGBgvC
— Inverness Clachnacuddin FC (@clachfc) October 2, 2023
“It only takes one individual to behave in such an unacceptable manner to ruin the experience for everyone else.
“We would encourage anyone who witnesses any unacceptable behaviour within football grounds to report the issue to club officials as soon as possible so that it can be dealt with promptly.
“It is vital that all match officials are treated with respect when carrying out their duties.
“There is a national shortage of match officials and recruitment has proved difficult.
“This situation is certainly not going to be helped by episodes of verbal abuse like this.
“The clubs will deal with the matter internally and will be making no further comment.”
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