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Craig Brewster

Craig James Brewster (born 13 December 1966) is a Scottish association football manager and former player. He is currently manager of Inverness Caledonian Thistle. He made his name in a long and successful career playing as a prolific centre forward for numerous clubs in Scotland, and for Ionikos in Greece.

Playing career

Early career

Brewster was born in Stobswell, Dundee and grew up a Dundee United supporter. He signed for the club as a schoolboy, but was not offered professional terms by then manager Jim McLean. Unable to find a senior club, Brewster dropped into junior football with Dundee Stobswell for a while, before signing for Forfar Athletic in 1985. At this time, his regular playing position was in midfield. His form at Forfar prompted the attention of Raith Rovers, who signed him in 1991. At this time he converted to striker, and formed a prolific partnership with Gordon Dalziel that helped Raith to the First Division title in 1993.

Dundee United

In 1993, Brewster returned to Dundee United, signing for the Tannadice club for a fee of £250,000. After a slow start in which he struggled to adapt to Premier Division football, Brewster's first season at Tannadice culminated in his greatest moment as a player, scoring the winner for United in the 1994 Scottish Cup Final against Rangers. However, the club was relegated a year later. Brewster helped them towards promotion back to the top flight in 1995–96, scoring four goals in one match against Dumbarton, but when his contract expired at the end of the season he decided to further his career elsewhere. With the Bosman ruling having just come into force, Brewster was entitled to move abroad on a free transfer, and he decided to take advantage of an offer from Greek club Ionikos.

Greece, Hibs and Dunfermline

While other Scottish players who moved to Europe at this time mainly returned home soon afterwards, Brewster remained at Ionikos for five seasons. His time in Greece included another national cup final appearance, but Ionikos lost the 2000 Greek Cup to AEK Athens. Brewster returned to Scotland the following year, signing for Hibernian, where he formed a productive partnership with a young Garry O'Connor. Due to budget cuts by Hibs, Brewster joined Dunfermline Athletic in 2002. He enjoyed some of the most consistent form of his career playing alongside Stevie Crawford, who had a been a youngster at Raith during Brewster's time there. Despite some clamour from fans and the media for Brewster to be called up to the Scotland squad, this never materialised.

Aberdeen

After spells as player-manager at Inverness and Dundee United, Brewster joined Aberdeen in December 2006, signing a contract until the end of the 2006–07 season. He linked up again with Jimmy Calderwood, who had been his manager at Dunfermline. Brewster made his debut for Aberdeen as a substitute in a goalless draw with Hibernian on 2 January 2007, and he scored his first goal for Aberdeen with a header in a Scottish Cup tie against the same opponents eight days later.

On 13 January, however, Brewster suffered a dislocated shoulder in a draw against Inverness. Doubts were cast over his playing future, but Brewster returned in early March and he signed a six-month extension to his Aberdeen contract in May 2007. This contract was cut short, however, when he returned to management with Inverness in August 2007.

Management

Inverness CT (first spell)

In November 2004, Brewster accepted the job of player–manager with Inverness Caledonian Thistle. He helped to establish the club in the Scottish Premier League after John Robertson had left to take the position at Hearts, albeit with a squad mainly put together by his predecessors Steve Paterson and Robertson.

Dundee United

The promise Brewster showed at Inverness led to speculation of a return to Dundee United in a managerial capacity. This came to pass in January 2006, when he was appointed to the player–manager position back at his hometown club. Brewster's return to United yielded little success, however, as despite going unbeaten in his first three games, the remainder of the 2005–06 season brought just one win against Livingston.

Brewster had to wait four league games into the 2006–07 season for his second league win, and oversaw only two league wins in his nine months at Tannadice. On 29 October 2006, after a 5–1 defeat to Falkirk, Brewster and assistant Malky Thomson left by "mutual agreement". After leaving Dundee United he was linked with several managerial vacancies, including those at former clubs Dunfermline, Raith and Ionikos, but he returned to playing with Aberdeen instead.

Inverness CT (second spell)

Brewster returned to management with Inverness in August 2007, after previous manager Charlie Christie had resigned. Inheriting a team that was bottom of the league with no points, the team went on a good run of form culminating in December 2007 with a remarkable 3–2 win over Celtic, despite having been 0–2 down and having a player sent off. However, intense pressure began to mount on Brewster in early 2008 when the team went on a run of seven consecutive defeats, amidst rumours of disharmony among the playing squad. Brewster stuck to a tough but unpopular stance regarding player discipline and contracts at this time, and results eventually improved with the team finishing 9th in the league.