Caley Thistle boss Billy Dodds has signed a new two-year contract with the Scottish Cup finalists.
Just days after leading his team into Scottish Cup final action, which ended in a 3-1 defeat to treble-winners Celtic, the Championship club have announced he will the staying at the helm until the summer of 2025.
In a statement, ICT said: “In his first full season as head coach at ICT, Billy led the team through a rollercoaster season which ultimately saw us in a thrilling play-off run which only ended in heartbreak in the second half of the Premiership play-off final in Perth.
“Our second year under Billy saw the squad struck by unprecedented injury to almost the entire team, but once again culminated in a thrilling end to the season which saw us facing Premiership champions Celtic in another historic Scottish Cup final, the club’s second in only eight years.
“A heroic performance followed from the team which saw us in the game right up until the final minutes of injury-time.”
It’s understood first-team coach Barry Wilson and goalkeeper and first-team coach Ryan Esson await news on their deals, which expire at the end of the week, while assistant boss Scott Kellacher is contracted into next year.
Former Scotland, Aberdeen, Rangers and Dundee United striker Dodds, 54, was given plenty of praise for the way in which his team went toe-to-toe with Celtic in Saturday’s final.
Dodds’ side made life tough and restrictive for the Hoops, with more endeavour in the second half leading to a goal from on-loan Hibs ace Dan MacKay.
That brought the scoreline to 2-1 with just five minutes remaining, before Portuguese star Jota calmed any Celtic nerves with a third goal to wrap up the silverware.
Injuries wrecked Caley Jags’ season
Caley Thistle finished sixth in the Championship, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.
The 2022/23 league campaign was riddled with key injuries.
Shane Sutherland and Tom Walsh, who were injured at the tail end of last season, didn’t feature at all, while at times Dodds had as many as 12 senior players sidelined.
The situation got so tough, they had to field 10 youngsters in a starting line-up, supported by goalkeeper Mark Ridgers, in their 2-0 SPFL Trust Trophy defeat at Hamilton in December.
With options limited, Dodds’ side endured eight Championship games without a victory from mid-October until they thumped Cove Rangers 6-1 on January 2.
As more key players returned to the fold, such as defender Robbie Deas – who has just signed for Kilmarnock – midfielder Scott Allardice and striker Austin Samuels, the team’s results improved.
In fact, after back-to-back losses against Hamilton in February, they lost only one game in 12 before a last-day 2-1 defeat by Ayr United denied them a place in the promotion play-offs.
Scottish Cup run one to remember
The Scottish Cup journey to the final was a remarkable success story, once they were reinstated into the competition at Queen’s Park’s expense.
The Glasgow club fielded an ineligible player when they won 2-1 at Inverness on January 31, which led to their expulsion.
In came ICT, and they defeated in-form Premiership Livingston 3-0 at the Tony Macaroni Arena, came from a goal down to beat top-flight Kilmarnock 2-1 and then saw off League One Falkirk in the semis to reach Saturday’s final.
With 13 players out of contract, talks are ongoing with many of the squad this week, although defender Robbie Deas – as he confirmed he would on Saturday night – has left the club. He has signed for Derek McInnes’ Kilmarnock on a two-year contract.
The Caley Jags have confirmed, however, “exemplary professionals”, forward Steven Boyd and midfielder Ben Woods, have now left the club.