RICHIE FORAN rubs his hands with unbridled enthusiasm and says he’s ready to rock and roll when asked if our chat can begin.
It was nice to see. This is the Foran I’ve known for many years. Someone with a love for life, football and, especially, talking at a mile a minute in an accent which remains utterly Dublin. Always with a smile, never a frown. Football management, however, can take its toll on even the most positive.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle, the club 36-year-old Foran captained and then became manager of last May, are bottom of the Scottish Ladbrokes Premiership having won only three from 25 league games. It’s a position they have occupied for most of the season.
Tonight they entertain Rangers. A win would take them above Hamilton, for a day at least, but even victory on the back of an excellent point at Tynecastle would still mean relegation being real possibility for the Highland capital’s team.
This was always going to be a test for the rookie Foran. It seemed to have got to him a few months back, when in a television interview, he looked beaten as he admitted to feeling he was letting down “everyone.”
He might not agree but from the outside looking in he's seemed more like himself in recent weeks. He does feel the team has improved, that a run of wins is peaking around a corner and is absolutely adamant he is the right man to steer his club, and that’s what it is, to calmer waters.
“I would not have taken any other job,” Foran says when looking back to when he was a surprise choice to replace John Hughes. “I knew what was in the dressing room and in the boardroom. This is a great job. It really is.
“Saturdays can be frustrating and I do take it to heart. My kids were born in Inverness, my wife is from Inverness. This is a special place for me and it’s a special football club, so I take it personally.
“It’s all on me. In society we all look to blame someone else when something happens. I would describe it as this; your wife will make a cup of tea, you will carry it from the kitchen to the living room, spill it, and blame your wife because she maybe put too much in. You won’t blame yourself.
“Maurice Malpas said something years ago and it stuck with me. We were beaten in a game and he said; ‘Go look at yourself in the mirror. Strikers don’t blame the midfield, midfielders don’t blame the defence. Look at yourself.’
“I’ve never forgotten that. Too many people in life and football look to blame someone else and make excuses. I’d like to think I’m not one of those. I take most of the responsibility for us sitting bottom of the table.”
Managers take far too much blame for defeats and way too much credit for wins. So it is not all on Foran.
And his passion cannot be questioned. This is an intelligent guy, someone who is difficult not to like, and he lives and breathes Caley Thistle.
“Inverness has given me the best eight years of my life, on and off the park,” said Foran. “The people are great, respectful. The club has been fantastic to me. I was having a difficult time at Southend, Terry Butcher got the job here, asked me to come up and I haven’t looked back since.
“I will retire here no matter what happens. We will live here for the rest of our lives.
“The supporters have been great to me over the years. They still are. I don’t think I would get that at any other club. To where we are sitting, to be backed to hilt by them, the chairman and the board, it’s a special place to me.”
Foran first arrived in Scotland in 2004 when he joined Motherwell where he did well before moving way down south. For a Pad who feels and thinks like a Jock, this was a mistake.
“I’m not racist in any way at all but I didn’t particularly enjoy southern England when I was at Southend,” he says. “They are different people. Scottish people are very much like the Irish. I like them a lot.
A series of injuries meant the final few years of his career was spent watching rather than playing, Foran, however, managed over 500 games and while not a world beater, he was a player you would want in your team.
“I’d say I was a grafter with an eye for a goal.”
Nah, you were more that.
“Ach, I would say technically I wasn’t a great player. I could spot danger. I could get into the right areas to finish off a chance. I put my body on the line for my team and the club. It was a privilege to play football. I have never taken it for granted.
“I’m blessed because I have my health and my family has their health. We are going through a sticky patch but that’s all it is. It’s not life threatening. We will get ourselves two wins and challenge for the top six.”
And you believe him as well. Foran talks me through what was going wrong; no natural goalscorer, defenders being too attack-minded and a fault throughout the team of failing to get back quickly enough.
He believes in the dressing room and you can tell he fancies taking something from a Rangers team which no opposition should fear.
“People have asked about getting nervous of whether I feel pressure. Listen, pressure, real pressure, is dealing with a terminal illness. But it can be tough, the frustration can get to you.
“I remember my first defeat, to Partick Thistle, I was drained, let me tell you. I was in bed at 9.30 that night. I like to think I’m quite mentally strong. I am a very positive person and that gets me through it.
“My best attribute, I think, is that I lead from the front. I’m a one-in, all-in character. You back your team-mates up. For all the doom and gloom, the defeats, all of us have kept our positivity. That has run through the whole club.
“We haven’t been booed off. We are sitting bottom of the table, not won for few months, and against Dundee we don’t get booed off half-time at 2-0 down. What does that tell you?”
It tells you that the good people of Inverness still believe.
“I know I have the players with me,” said their manager. “I see how good they are. I can’t fault them Monday to Friday. We will get there. I’m telling you. I do not expect to be relegated. Not at all.
“We need a couple of wins to get near the top six. We haven’t had our run yet. I honestly believe it’s about to happen.”
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