Sorry, but Hibs are too small a club for Terry

When managers do well at small clubs, it’s inevitable that bigger clubs come calling.

That’s why I’m surprised Terry Butcher has been the front runner for the Hibs job because I don’t think it’s big enough for him.

That will doubtless annoy Hibs fans, but there’s no offence intended.

For my money Terry is more than ready for a crack at another job down south. It’s as simple as that.

Everything he’s done at Inverness up to now has proved how good he is.

With a tiny budget, in a distant part of the country that’s far from attractive to players, he’s created a series of excellent teams.

He did it again in the summer and again Inverness are flying high.

I’m just not convinced Hibs is enough of a step up for such a talented manager.

Fair enough, they’re a bigger club with a bigger budget, but they’ve been comfortably outgunned on the park by Inverness in recent years.

In that sense, you could even say a move to Hibs is a step down for Terry, though he won’t see it that way.

He’s a man that views everything as a challenge and I should know.

We were team-mates together at Ipswich for six years before I signed for Spurs in 1983 and he’s still a hero to the punters there.

In fact, before Martin O’Neill got the Republic of Ireland job, and there was talk of current Ipswich boss Mick McCarthy taking it, I felt Terry would have been a perfect replacement.

I understand that he loves life in the Highlands and that he’s created a really good working environment at Caley Thistle, but he’s English to the core.

That iconic picture of him playing for England covered in blood is as relevant today as it was when it was taken.

He’ll feel he has something to prove as a manager in his own country after disappointing spells at Coventry, Sunderland and Brentford.

He was sacked by the first two, despite steering them both away from relegation, and left Brentford after the fans turned against him.

The Inverness job offered him a chance to repair his reputation away from the limelight and to rediscover his love for football in general and he’s certainly done that.

As a result, it was only ever going to be a matter of time until a club with real stature came knocking at the door.

For me, Hibs aren’t that club, but fair play to them for asking, because in Terry they might just have landed a manager who’s on his way to the very top.