Caley Thistle legend David Raven admits boss Billy Dodds has a tough task on his hands as he aims to turn the club into Championship title-winners next season.
Inverness fell at the final Premiership play-off hurdle on Monday when, after being level at the end of three halves of the two-legged tie, they were blown away in a four-goal blitz by St Johnstone.
The Highlanders finished third in the Championship during the regular season, eight points below champions Kilmarnock and six adrift of Arbroath.
They saw off fourth-placed Partick Thistle, then Dick Campbell’s part-time big-hitters to reach the play-off final, but the sore score against the Perth Saints leaves them facing a sixth successive season in the second-tier.
Liverpool-born Raven, who is now assistant manager at Warrington Town in the Northern Premier League, had six largely enjoyable years in the Highlands, with the 2015 Scottish Cup win the icing on the cake.
He retains a keen interest in his old club and was willing them on to do the business at McDiarmid Park at the start of the week.
Even Liverpool dipped in title hunt, Raven points out
Head coach Billy Dodds wants next season’s squad to cut out inconsistencies which robbed them of a title chance in 2021/21. A three-month, 11-match, winless run from December to March proved to be costly.
Raven wants Inverness to take the step back up to the Premiership – but insists even the top clubs reflect on areas for improvement.
He said: “Even Liverpool had a dip – they will look back and say if they hadn’t dropped points at some stages, they would have beaten Man City to the league title.
“It’s just part and parcel of managing teams. Unfortunately for Billy Dodds, he’s got a relatively small squad.
“When lads need a rest or he needs to chop and change it, he might not have too many options.
“That’s the balancing act for Billy to try to get around. It’s not an easy job.”
No issues with short summer
Caley Thistle players will get just over three weeks off before returning to work, with the competitive season starting in early July in the shape of the Premier Sports Cup – meaning pre-season games before that.
In their Scottish Cup-winning year, ex-defender Raven and his team-mates had a similarly late start and early finish as they geared up for the club’s first Europa League qualifying campaign.
He said: “The short break was fine for us after we won the cup. Yes, it wasn’t much of a break, but we were getting ready to play in Europe.
“The current lads can do nothing for the next few weeks then build up again.
“When you’re playing football for a living, there should be no complaints. You’re on to a good thing – it’s not the worst job in the world.
“We only had two-and-a-half weeks and, don’t get me wrong, it does take its toll a bit when you get to the second part of the season and pick up niggles and injuries.
“That’s why you need to get a break when you can and get away from football. Relax and let your body recover.”
Inverness were ‘really unfortunate’
Raven felt Inverness were in with a fighting chance against St Johnstone, but admits they were just beaten by the sharper side in front of goal in the end.
He added: “Caley Thistle were great throughout the play-offs and they very nearly got there.
“I watched the game on Monday and, for the first 45 minutes, they were by far the better side.
“Two goals so early in the second half were sucker-punches and completely took the wind out of their sails, although they still almost created openings when they again went forward.
“Eventually, just that little bit of quality showed in the end. There was not much to choose between the sides. They were really unfortunate.”
Six-game route is ‘not right’ – Raven
Raven, who netted the unforgettable winner against Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi at Hampden seven years ago, added his voice to the growing opinion the six-match play-off route for third and fourth-placed finishers in the Championship is wrong.
He said: “It was always going to be tough to come through six games, especially given what happened in the semi-final at Arbroath.
“It’s not just the physical side, it’s also about the emotional side of it.
“St Johnstone were going into the final relatively fresh, albeit after a bad season. Inverness were going into their sixth game within three weeks.
“That’s not right – and it needs to be looked at again, because it’s too heavily weighed in favour of the Premiership side.
“If that’s what they (the SPFL) are trying to do, they’ve been successful at it.”
Conversation