Allan Preston reckons Caley Thistle struck double gold by securing the services of Duncan Ferguson and Gary Bollan.
The capture of former Scotland, Rangers, Everton and Newcastle United striker Ferguson, 51, on a three-year deal made the headlines across the UK and beyond.
It didn’t work out this year for Ferguson at troubled League Two club Forest Green, but Inverness swooped recently to offer him the chance to be the successor to Billy Dodds, who was sacked after a nine-match winless league start.
Days later, Ferguson moved to bring in his ex-Livingston, Airdrie, Forfar Athletic and Cowdenbeath boss Bollan as his assistant.
Long-standing BBC Scotland pundit Preston was team-mates with both men at Dundee United and with Bollan at St Johnstone, so knows them well.
Bollan is ‘perfect foil’ for Ferguson
Preston, who also works as a football agent, believes Bollan’s knowledge of the SPFL will be a massive asset to Ferguson, who spent almost three decades working south of the border before this switch north.
He said: “In the past year, Duncan has been very prevalent in Scottish football through Gary, in that he’d come up and look at players when he was a Forest Green. Gary was doing a lot of scouting for him as well.
“Gary has got a wealth of knowledge of the Scottish game. I felt he was harshly treated at Livingston (when he was sacked in 2012), and it was always going to be difficult at Cowdenbeath (who he left in October 2021).
“Duncan has been away from Scottish football for almost 30 years and Gary is someone he can lean on. He’s the perfect man for that.
“Sometimes they say you have ‘good cop, bad cop’, but here you have ‘bad cop and extremely bad cop’. I don’t think there will be any slacking from the squad, that’s for sure.
“However, in all seriousness, they are two very good guys. They will want to do well for the club. No stone will be left unturned.
“Without a doubt, this is a shrewd bit of business by Inverness to bring Gary in to assist Duncan. He’ll be a great foil for Duncan.”
ICT can be ‘force to be reckoned with’
Four points from their first two games in charge lifted ICT from bottom spot, although they are only in front of Morton, who they face next weekend, on goal difference.
Preston, who is also a former manager of Livingston, sees no reason for Caley Thistle not to still be considered as promotion contenders this season.
He said: “You must set targets and Duncan and Gary will have their eyes on catching Ayr. They won’t want to look behind.
“In the last two years, Inverness have played the final games in Scottish football with the (2022) play-off final and the Scottish Cup final and the players have not had a lot of time off.
“Billy Dodds didn’t play as many pre-season games this year to allow the players a little bit of rest before they went straight into the Viaplay Cup group stages. That was difficult.
“They’ve had Sean Welsh, Wallace Duffy and Roddy MacGregor out, but once they get their regular players fit, they will be a side to be reckoned with.
“If they can get away from the bottom of the table, the promotion play-offs, although they’ve a long way to go, are not out of the question. It will take some run to get there, but they can still make it.”
‘Close-knit’ squad at Inverness
Preston, who is related to ICT’s 2015 Scottish Cup-winning boss John “Yogi” Hughes, is confident the Inverness squad can deliver success under Ferguson.
He added: “Inverness have always had a really good group of players. Yogi is my big cousin and I’ve known from his time onwards, they’ve always had that about their squads, all on to Neil McCann and Billy Dodds most recently.
“They are a close-knit group at Inverness. They are not shy of hard work, so any changes to their working week won’t faze them because they want to be successful.
“Duncan also wants to be successful, and he realises this is a good opportunity for him. When Duncan played, he was a fit lad. Look at him now, he looks as if he could play. He loves his fitness and his boxing, so he’ll carry that on. They are in for a good time.”
