Inverness boss John Hughes announces his departure

Manager John Hughes has announced his departure from Inverness after a two-and-a-half-year stint in the Highlands.

It was widely expected that Hughes would leave owing to tensions over the budget available to him, and he and the club spoke about the split on Friday night.

"I will look back on my time at ICTFC and in the Highlands with a genuine fondness and warm affection for the club, the area and the community," Hughes said on Inverness' official website.

"The welcome I received from the fans and the response I got from the players throughout my two and a half years there will live long in the memory as will everything else we shared in some of the ground-breaking successes we all enjoyed together during that period.

"I can honestly say I enjoyed every minute of my time at the club and I would like to sincerely thank the Inverness directors for affording me the privilege of managing what is a fine football club. My gratitude goes out to every member of staff who also offered me so much personal support in my time there.

"I can readily assure my successor that they will inherit an excellent group of players and to each and every one of them could I also say a huge thanks for making my time with them so successful and so memorable - I wish them and the club every success in the future.''

Hughes signed a new contract on December 1, which committed his future to the Ladbrokes Premiership club until the summer of 2018, less than two months after Inverness refused Dundee United permission to speak to their boss.

But relations between the former Hibernian manager and his board have become strained in recent months.

After midfield pair Danny Williams and James Vincent rejected extensions and signed pre-contract deals with Dundee in March, Hughes claimed his budget for next season would be in the ''bottom two in the league".

Hughes spent much of the season asking for help from his board amid an ongoing injury crisis which saw him without a full team of players at one stage.

But the board released a statement in April stressing that "it is the responsibility of the management team to replace them and the board have provided the finances required this season to enable this".

In the final weeks of the campaign, Hughes consistently asked for help from the club in securing new contracts for his players, last week stating that his priority was to extend Greg Tansey's deal beyond next summer and tie up loan player Miles Storey, their top goalscorer this season.

After losing the likes of Graeme Shinnie, Marley Watkins, Ryan Christie, Billy McKay and Edward Ofere over the past 18 months - all but one of whom ended up at Premiership rivals - Hughes claimed the fans were being short-changed.

He said last week: "As a manager I think I have a right to fight my corner and make sure we can bring the best players to the club.

"I'm honest enough to say, over the last two years, we have lost too many good players and I don't think we have really replaced them with the quality the supporters deserve."

A statement signed by the Inverness directors on Friday said: All of us at ICTFC would like to take this opportunity to thank John for his contribution since joining us in December 2013 and specifically his coaching skills and commitment, which helped deliver our successes, and in particular lifting the Scottish Cup for the first time in the club's history as well as our first foray into European club football.

"John will be remembered here at ICTFC as a member of a great winning team and we wish him every success going forward."

Hughes led Inverness to fifth, third and seventh-placed finishes in the Premiership and guided them to their first piece of major silverware last season, a year after they lost to Aberdeen in the League Cup final.