MAURICE MALPAS had a long-standing agreement with Terry Butcher that they would leave Inverness Caledonian Thistle together.

The only variable was whether they would be headed for a glorious new challenge or merely trudging wearily towards the local job centre plus. Fortunately for both it was the former as - despite a weekend of intrigue to the contrary - one of Scottish football's most complementary couples reconvened at Easter Road this week.

As witnessed by their travails when on their own - Butcher at Sydney FC and Brentford, Malpas at Motherwell and Swindon Town - the pair have always been worth more than the sum of their parts, and that is why the former Scotland full-back was only ever going to answer in the negative when Kenny Cameron, the Inverness Caledonian Thistle chairman, offered him the chance to succeed his pal in the Highlands.

While Inverness confirmed their current superiority on the field on Saturday afternoon, Hibernian offer something which Inverness never could when it came to intangible factors such as fanbase and facilities. "The chairman asked if I wanted to be manager and, virtually straight away, I said 'no'," said Malpas. "I had been thinking about it but I just felt that was the right decision, my gut feeling. The opportunity to come here was far greater than my desire to be a No.1 again.

"The potential here appeals to me. The facilities excite me, too. Some mornings up at Fort George you're lifting goals and your hands would stick to the goalposts. I walked out of my office this morning on to a training ground and I hadn't done that in 20 years of coaching. That might seem simple and trivial but it's a massive thing to me.

"Caley Thistle have got a great chance [of winning a trophy] this season but I just felt the potential here is far greater. I'm a guy who likes being on the training field and the facilities here are unbelievable. If we can get the stadium buzzing as well then that would be fantastic. With all respect to Caley Thistle, they couldn't give me any of that stuff. That's why as soon as Terry asked me I said yes."

As straightforward as the decision seems to have been, it still came at the end of a week of soul searching and tearful goodbyes to a club with the emotional closeness of a family. "The uncertainty of the last week was difficult," conceded Malpas. "I didn't know what was happening. Terry was in discussions from Wednesday but I didn't know if I was going or not, whether I would get a chance to go or not, or whether or not I would get a chance to be manager if I didn't go. You just had to go on automatic pilot. The team talk on Saturday lasted about two minutes, Richie Foran said most of it. But we started like a house on fire so the game took care of itself.

"I was choked after the game but I was determined to say cheerio to the players. I've been in a situation where you're kicked out a club and you never see the players for years. But when I came to Inverness with Terry we always said we would leave together, whether that was getting kicked out or moving. As soon as he said it was done and dusted it was an easy decision for me."

While Malpas tends to be regarded as the coaching brain and Butcher the motivator, the assistant offered an insight into methods that begun with Jim McLean at Dundee United. For the record, the duo are not always compatible with that age old imperative to play 'the Hibs way'.

"I hear people saying you've got to play the Hibs way," said Malpas. "For me it's about playing to win. Jim McLean was the first person to drum into us about doing this or that but you had to win the game otherwise everything else was a waste of time. Why play well but get beat? That's the mentality we've got to get into the fans, the players - it's all about winning. There will be days when we're flying and it's great to watch. And there will be days when it's absolute drivel but we still expect to win. That's the mindset we've got to adapt. If I hear any player say they can't do it then they'll get a size eight boot up the backside."

While Malpas's role is part coach, part player liaison/estate agent, part "going about the club annoying people and getting them to liven up", Butcher "demands from players what he demands from himself: give it your lot" and is capable of inspiring even Malpas on the rare occasions when he is flagging. "He is good at what he's good at, I'm good at what I'm good at and the two of us seem to gel," said Malpas. "We like a carry-on."