John Hughes wants Inverness to be ambitious in transfer market
Inverness boss John Hughes says it is time Caley Thistle went up through the gears with their signing ambitions.
Inverness boss John Hughes says it is time Caley Thistle went up through the gears with their signing ambitions.
Hughes - Premiership manager of the month for April - believes the Highlanders have lost too many talented in years gone by.
And now he says chairman Kenny Cameron must decide whether he wants to invest to get the club motoring back up the table or risk putting the brakes on their progress.
Hughes, who admitted he would be keen to bring former striker Billy McKay back to the club as he spoke ahead of Wednesday's trip to Hamilton, said: "We're at a situation now where we've got to decide do we go and buy a Mini or do we go try and get a Merc?
"Do we spend our money now or do we save it and go get the Merc, the quality this club needs?
"We have lost too many quality players in my time here and not replaced them. I think the fans deserve some quality players here to excite them and hopefully that will be the case.
"I think we need to move the club forward. You either stagnate or you move forward. There is a wee bit of toing and froing to what direction we're going to go in."
Hughes also wants to ensure the backbone of the squad he currently has remains in place.
He has opened talks with a number of players and is keen to see the club hold onto Greg Tansey after the midfielder's flirtation with Aberdeen in January.
"I think there's five hopefully we can get done in the dressing room," he said. "Iain Vigurs, Danny Devine, Owain Fon Williams and then the reins are on it terms of what else we're going to do.
"If league position improves then the finance that comes with that will hopefully go on the budget.
"I think it is imperative we keep Greg Tansey. He's a big part of it."
Hughes was named manager of the month after his team picked up three wins and a draw during April.
But he redirected the praise to his playing staff, saying: "I'm the recipient of the award but it's the players who earned it.
"For the last six weeks they have been absolutely outstanding. That run has come at the right time.
"We were unlucky not to get into the top six but once we missed out, it was important we got points on the board and make sure we did not get caught in the relegation dogfight.
"So all credit to the boys for showing a real desire to get the job done. The award will go right into the player's dressing room."