Former Inverness Caledonian Thistle boss Billy Dodds says he is ready to return to management – or an assistant role – within Scottish football.
Speaking to The Press and Journal, the 54-year-old revealed his spell bossing Caley Thistle has given him back his enthusiasm for the game.
Originally brought in as assistant to interim boss Neil McCann two-and-a-half-years ago, as manager in his own right, Dodds guided ICT to the brink of Premiership promotion in 2022, with his side beaten in the two-legged play-off final by St Johnstone.
Last season, the Highlanders were one victory away from finishing third in the Championship, despite a catalogue of injuries, while there was also the major achievement of reaching the Scottish Cup final in June, where they went down 3-1 against Ange Postecoglou’s treble-winning Celtic.
Dodds left Caley Thistle in September – following a start to the season which saw the club drop to bottom of the second tier – to be replaced by Duncan Ferguson.
Despite this setback, Dodds was galvanised by his time at Inverness and is keen to get back into a coaching role if the “right job” comes along.
The ex-Aberdeen, Dundee United, Rangers and Scotland forward said: “I have been doing media work, which keeps me ticking along.
“It has been great to also get some down-time, which was needed. I feel good as I’m refreshed and raring to go.
“You have to be patient when it comes to your next job. For some, it can just be a few months out, for others it can take years – there are not many jobs that are realistic for me.
“I do want to get back into it, but it must be the right job.
“My time at Inverness gave me real energy for the game again. I really enjoyed being a manager and making decisions.
“Although we never won anything, we were close to success (in terms of a play-off promotion final in 2022 and reaching the 2023 Scottish Cup final).
“I have a real passion for it.”
Number two position might appeal to Dodds
Dodds was an assistant to Jim McIntyre at Queen of the South and Ross County – with the duo leading the Staggies to League Cup glory in 2016.
His first choice would be to be a boss in his own right once more, but he isn’t closing the door on being a number two again in the future.
Dodds said: “I would like to be a manager again, but I’d never rule out anything if it’s the right opportunity.
“It might well be a club you could not knock back – whether you’d be a manager or not.
“I know how to manage people, but I know how to coach as well, so you would never rule anything out in terms of the jobs available within Scottish football.”
Dodds embraced the tough times – and would do it all again at Inverness
Dodds still talks with enthusiasm about his time in charge of Caley Thistle, and said, even when the going got tough, he embraced the challenge and remains positive about his time at ICT.
He added: “I’d sum up my time at the club as a rollercoaster. You can go to clubs for many years and get no rewards – but there were plenty of rewards from my time at Caley Thistle and that’s the biggest thing I take from it.
“I am a positive person and there were genuine reasons, such as massive injury numbers, for the dips in results we had when I was there.
“I don’t even think about those harder times.
“The hardest thing to do in football is to turn it around and we managed to do that twice (to compete for promotion). You say: ‘How do we pick this up?’ and it’s all part of being a manager.
“Even amid those hard times, I loved being the manager of Inverness and I have nothing but good memories.
“I still live in Inverness – and I have grown to love the place.
“Football is never plain sailing. You must navigate things.
“We had a really good coaching team. One thing we had as a staff was a real bond.
“We were really tight and that helped us through the harder periods.
“To reach the Scottish Cup final, and get to within 45 minutes of the Premiership, was some achievement.
“One thing I’ve always had is structure and that helped guide us.
“I still keep in touch with a lot of the players.
“Would I do it all again? Absolutely.”
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