Ross Tokely reckons Caley Thistle were the strongest team in the Championship despite finishing sixth.
And the club’s record-appearance holder says Inverness will be disappointed not to have secured a few more wins which would have taken them to title glory.
However, the former ICT star insists Billy Dodds’ Scottish Cup finalists should look at the positives then get themselves in peak shape for facing Scottish champions and treble-chasing Celtic on June 3 at Hampden.
Friday’s 2-1 home loss against Ayr United, which Tokely watched from the stands, saw ICT miss out of the promotion play-offs.
Ayr’s win took them into the runners-up spot behind Dundee, who clinched the league crown by beating title rivals Queen’s Park 5-3 at Ochilview.
That meant the Spiders slipped to third and they and Partick Thistle are this week battling out over two legs for the right to face Ayr in the semis.
Morton’s 2-1 victory at Cove Rangers relegated the Aberdeen side and saw the Ton move fifth, two points ahead of the Caley Jags, although both missed out on the play-offs.
This was ‘great opportunity’ for ICT
Inverness finished eight points away from Dundee and back-to-back defeats to second-bottom Hamilton within four days in February were seen as crucial slip-ups before the side went on a late season surge, winning eight of their 10 league games prior to last Friday.
Tokely, who played 589 times over 16 years including in the top-flight, said: “Sixth place isn’t good enough. I’m not being disrespectful to the other teams in the league, but Caley Thistle’s starting 11 were the strongest team in the division.
“Dundee have won the league and congratulations to them, but I don’t regard this as being one of the strongest Championships this season.
“I did see it as a really good opportunity for Inverness to win the league. It’s a hard one to take and I’m sure Billy and his staff will analyse it.
“They can take some time off and recharge the batteries ahead of the Scottish Cup final, which they should be really looking forward to.
“Those two swift Hamilton defeats will be seen as a real kick in the teeth for Billy and the team. Those games set them back a little bit.
“Amid the disappointment, there are positives to be taken from the season. Look at Cammy Harper, for example.
“He struggled for consistency the year before, but he’s gone on to have a strong season and has settled into a number of positions, including left-back.
“Nathan Shaw had a slow start after joining, but really came on to a game and was a big player for them.
” I always like to always take the positives from it and it’s not all negative. There have been many good performances throughout the team this season.”
‘Massive summer’ for ICT board
Caley Thistle stand to land around a reported £1million for reaching the Scottish Cup final.
Before then, the board plan to talk contracts with Dodds and his staff and players, whose deals are also up next month, including Danny Devine, Robbie Deas, Scott Allardice, Billy Mckay, Austin Samuels and Lewis Hyde.
Tokely hopes the unexpected windfall will help retain and recruit over the next month or so.
He said: “It’s a massive summer for the board. They have the manager, I think the sporting director (John Robertson), and a whole load of players all out of contract.
“I have been in a situation where there have been a number of players out of contract at the end of the season and it is a bit unsettling in terms of some players don’t know what they’re doing next, while others will be attracting more interest than others.
“The good thing is they’ll have made a good bit of well-needed money (from the Scottish Cup run) and they can clear some debt, so that’s another positive. It will be an interesting summer.
“The club always seems to find hidden gems every year, so hopefully that will happen again.
“I watched (bottom Premiership club) Ross County beat Livingston 2-0 on Saturday and you consider whether they will drop down to the Championship, which would mean a return for the Highland derby. It will be interesting again in the north of Scotland this summer.”
🏆 The Final of the 2023 Men's Scottish Cup will kick-off at 5.30pm on Saturday, 3 June.#ScottishCup
— Scottish Cup (@ScottishCup) May 3, 2023
Players don’t want 5.30pm kick-off
With a 29-day gap between the Ayr game and the Scottish Cup final, Inverness are considering a short sunshine break, possibly in Spain, to find friendly opponents and get some training in the heat.
Tokely reckons that would be money well spent for the players who will need one final push for the Celtic showdown at the national stadium.
He added: “Fixing up friendlies in Scotland would be very limited. Teams are now finished their seasons or coming to the end of their seasons.
“Going abroad might well be an option to get some high-tempo games. It will be good for the players to have a little time to recharge and switch off this week before coming back to prepare for a very important game in the shape of the Scottish Cup final.”
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