Caley Thistle manager Billy Dodds insists he will handle the stick – and urged his young side to cut out the mistakes and deliver the win to put smiles back on fans’ faces.
Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Airdrieonians dropped Inverness to the foot of the Championship, with zero points from their first three league fixtures.
Including the Viaplay Cup group stage, Inverness have now lost six successive matches and sections of the support are calling for change.
The boss bolstered his options on Monday when he signed former Scotland under-21 midfielder Max Anderson from Premiership Dundee on a season-long loan. A defender is also on the wanted list before the transfer window shuts on Friday.
Dodds, who led ICT to the Scottish Cup final in June, was handed a new two-year contract in the summer and is determined to make this the season his team secure a return to the top-flight for the first time since relegation in 2017.
While this looks a tall order right now, a victory at home to Dunfermline Athletic on Saturday would stop the rot ahead of their SPFL Trust Trophy tie at Arbroath the following week.
At the weekend, an own goal inside the opening minute and slack defending led to Airdrie flying into a 2-0 first-half lead.
Nathan Shaw’s reply was as close as Caley Thistle came to a comeback against their hosts, who played with 10 men for 40 minutes after a red card for Adam Frizzell.
Accepting his team have not been coping with the demands of trying to land their first league win of the season, Dodds knows criticism is flying his way.
‘I don’t care how much stick they give me. They have paid their money’
He said: “We must realise some teams don’t handle pressure well and we are a bit like that. But when we are doing well, we come on leaps and bounds.
“We are a streaky team, but we must be more consistent as we have been beaten by the odd goal every game – and we must flip it the other way.
“I said to the boys get the fans off your back and get them onside. The fans were brilliant for us at Airdrie.
🎥 | The goals from today's cinch Championship match against Inverness CT . Full DiamondsTV highlights will follow tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/ZhnHu7ez89
— Airdrieonians FC (@AirdrieoniansFC) August 26, 2023
“I will take the stick. The fans tried to help the team to get the equaliser. They feel it and I feel for them. I don’t care how much stick they give me. They have paid their money.
“We have to do better. We can’t expect them to travel all the way to Airdrie and give away the goals we are giving and miss the chances we are missing. It has got to happen soon.”
‘The boys are trying their best, but they’ve got to stop making mistakes’
Dodds says cannot fault his players’ efforts, but know all eyes are on the results rather than the graft as the pressure mounts.
He added: “We’re a young team and you can see the confidence is lacking. We just need something to get us started.
“We’re a good team, but we’re not getting results.
“It’s the nature of the game – it’s a results-driven business.
“The boys are trying their best, but they’ve got to stop making mistakes.
“It is sucking the life out of the fans, us (the coaching staff) and you can see that transferring on to the pitch.
“There is still a lot of fight, desire and guts in there. I am sure when we get the win, it will be the platform to build on.
“We’re bleeding and, when you bleed, it drains the confidence, but they have got to be bigger than that.
“They have got to be men. They have got to say: ‘I’m not going to make those mistakes today’.”
More ruthless edge also required
Dodds is urging his attackers to play their part in the final third to ensure, if opponents are kept at bay, they take the the chances to put rivals away.
He said: “We must be mistake-free, keep a clean sheet and we will win the game.
“Apart from the recent 1-0 defeat at Ayr, we look capable of scoring goals.
“It is a collective thing – the mistakes are easy to see, but we still need to be more ruthless at the other end.
“We are creating quite a lot, but not taking enough chances.
“But if you make mistakes and you’re down 2-0, it puts pressure on you to get goals and then there’s desperation.
“You could see it towards the end of Saturday’s game where we are desperate to get the equaliser, but we are doing daft things, while trying to score. One bit of quality might have done it.”
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