Cinch Championship latest: Sound of silence is far from golden for Inverness Caley Thistle manager Billy Dodds
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Billy Dodds is convinced Inverness Caley Thistle have to get “noisy and nasty” on the park if they are to find peace and harmony off it.
Away from football, the former Rangers and Scotland striker enjoys the quiet life as much as anyone.
After a difficult start to the new campaign, though, the Championship club’s manager finds silence far from golden on the field of play.
Dodds is eager not to be misunderstood when he talks about noising up his players and instilling a bit of nastiness within the squad persona.
It is not thuggish on-field behaviour the craves, but a bit of good old-fashioned passion and vocal communication.
After five straight defeats in the League Cup and first two league outings, Dodds stressed: “I’ve got good players. They are a quiet bunch, but they are good lads.
"I just need that wee bit of nastiness at times. When we're not playing well, we must still get the job done.
"We have to give ourselves a foundation.
"At Ayr United, a point apiece would have been fair but ultimately we lost three points.
“We're not far away, but we must have the attitude and desire whereby, if we're not playing well, we still pick up something, whether it's one point or three.”
Dodds was certainly reared in an era where, within dressing rooms and on fields of play, frank talking and a bit of anger and volume was the norm.
He admitted: “It’s a dying breed. I was at a coaching course in Edinburgh at the weekend and spoke to coaches who told me they have exactly the same problem.
“It’s harder to get leaders on the pitch these days.
“It’s more a society issue than just football. It’s frustrating. Just shouting can lead to some being even more quiet.
“Kirk Broadfoot, when he was here, demanded a lot of team-mates on the park and some boys didn’t like it – it was a culture shock, but really lifted us.
“Kirk was intent on winning and it was football talk, not personal. Outside of football, some people take it personally.
"The one thing you need to be able to do as a footballer is speak on the pitch.
“Sometimes players on the ball can't get their heads up to see what's there and who to pass to.
"Sometimes they can play the ball blindly if they get a shout. I'm trying to get that across to the players.
"You have to keep chipping away because there is a way of putting it to the players.
"Yes, there are loud characters and there is bravado but sometimes there's a dying breed of players with a wee bit of nastiness, a desire to win, a wee edge that gets you over the line.”
In-form hosts Airdrie ran Ross County close in the cup last week and Dodds added: “We have to go there and produce what I know we’re capable of.
“It will be tough. They’re a good team.
“But we have to give ourselves a foundation to get our season started.”
While the need for points and to kick-start the campaign is obvious, Dodds knows there is no value in pressing the panic button after two league matches.
He said: “That's the predicament we have put ourselves in. We should have had a point or two on the board, but we haven't and that's the reality.
"We have to go to Airdrie and do what I know we're capable of. We need to give ourselves a base by getting a point or three on the board. That would give us confidence.
"We have shown in the past we're a good team, but maybe a streaky team. After going these five games without a win, we're more than capable of putting together a number of games where we're unbeaten.
"I don't want it to become five, six, seven, eight, nine games. Let's cull it and make sure the most we ever go without winning is two or three.
"Those high numbers have cost us in seasons gone by.”
