Caley Thistle are poised to appoint their new manager on Tuesday morning, nine days after sacking Billy Dodds.
According to Sky Sports News, former Everton and Scotland striker Duncan Ferguson has agreed a deal to become the new head coach.
Ferguson left Forest Green Rovers in July after just six months in charge of the English League One side after being unable to save them from the drop, a battle he faced when he arrived.
The 51-year-old is, however, a well-connected, fully qualified and widely respected coach and has been in interim charge of top-flight side Everton on several occasions. It would be a big-name appointment by ICT, one the board hope would be a winner.
Chairman Ross Morrison, chief executive Scot Gardiner and director and ex-player and director of football Graeme Bennett have been working through the interviews.
The objective is to have the man in place with a few days to spare before Saturday’s crunch Championship game at in-form Arbroath, with ICT currently bottom and winless after their first six fixtures.
The Highlanders’ prime target, Celtic B coach Darren O’Dea pulled out of contention on Sunday night, with sources saying he was “flattered” to be wanted.
Caley Thistle need first league victory
Caley Thistle’s wretched run of form continued on Saturday when they fell to a late 1-0 defeat against Dundee United under the guidance of interim bosses, former managers Charlie Christie and John Robertson.
In league and cups, they are now winless in their last 10 fixtures, picking up just one point in the Championship, leaving them three points below Morton and five points adrift of Ayr United.
The bookies have closed the betting on the job, with Inverness now within the interview stages and close to making an appointment.
Promotion push remains the goal
And it’s a crucial stage for the club, which will be celebrate its 30th anniversary next year. Dropping down to League One is not in the board’s thoughts as they look upwards.
After working through the divisions, John Robertson and Donald Park then led ICT into the top-flight in 2003/2004.
It was a five-year journey as Inverness soon looked the part, but relegation came in 2009 when Terry Butcher and Maurice Malpas could not save the team after arriving in the January. They took the fight to the wire.
Butcher and Malpas guided Inverness back to the top-flight in one stunning season and the club enjoyed many years at that level and, of course, won the Scottish Cup under John Hughes in 2015.
Since being relegated from the Premiership in 2017, Inverness have battled to get back up, but they’ve never got over the line.
Dodds experienced highs and lows
Dodds had just over two years in charge at Caley Thistle and it was a rollercoaster ride for fans, which included a brush with promotion to the Premiership at the end of the 2021/22 season.
In that first year, the former Ross County assistant boss recovered from the an 11-match winless run, to get back on track, with the team seeing off Partick Thistle and Arbroath in the play-offs before running out of steam against St Johnstone in the final.
Injuries to key players were a major feature last year and a period of eight fixtures without a victory threatened to cost them.
However, once squad numbers rose, results improved and only a final-night defeat against Ayr United cost them a second successive top-four finish as they had to settle for sixth.
A run to the Scottish Cup final was an incredible ending to the campaign.
Reinstated to the competition after Queen’s Park, who had beaten them, were expelled for fielding an ineligible player, ICT went all the way to the showpiece before losing 3-1 to treble-winners Celtic.
The board opted to reward Dodds with a new two-year contract in June, but a dreadful start to this season proved too much, especially last week when their 1-0 loss at Raith Rovers put them 12 points away from the top.
The new head coach will be focused on helping Inverness get their first Championship win on Saturday at Gayfield then overtaking Morton and Ayr before setting their sights on a drive towards the top four.