Caley Thistle boss Duncan Ferguson has revealed he is now working for free to help the cash-hit Highlanders.
League One side Inverness confirmed this week they need to secure an income of £200,000 this month in order to avoid going into administration.
They also need up to £1.6m before the end of the season to survive and could see the balance sheet losses rise to £3.8 million by next summer.
It has led to the club launching a crowd-funder, with an open meeting for worried shareholders and fans arranged for this Monday at Caledonian Stadium.
Ferguson, whose team would be hit with a 15-point deduction in the event of administration, has already taken a wage cut from his inital wage of £3,000 per week when he came to the-then Championship club to £2,000 per week last year.
In August, it was revealed he had accepted another wage cut to £1,200 per week. .
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of facing Arbroath on Saturday, Ferguson said: “I’ve given up my wage to try and help the club. I’m now working for nothing.
“That’s by the by, it’s my own decision to try and help the club get through this.
“The players are worried. They have contracts to fall on, but it is the people around about the stadium, everyone’s jobs are on the line.
“When the players have come to me, I’ve just told them to crack on, get yourself fit, ready and motivated for Saturday.
“I think you know since I’ve been here I’ve taken cuts and reductions.
“Now, when I realise the position the club is in needing to raise £200,000, I decided I don’t need to get paid my wage.
“I’ll work for nothing for just now to try and get them through this.
“The plight of the staff was in my mind. It always is.
“I like to think I’m a caring person and I like to look after my staff and people around about me.
“At the moment, I’ll get through as best I can and try and keep putting petrol in my car and food on the table.
“It was a decision I took last night when we got the message coming through about the £200,000 the club needed.”
Ferguson offered his ‘wage to the pot’
Ferguson explained that his contribution felt completely like the best thing he could do in the circumstances.
He said: “I felt it would be appropriate for myself to offer my wage into that pot. They can look for a bit less than £200,000 now.
“That will continue. I’ll give my wage to try and help the club. Hopefully that helps.
“I’m not going to ask anyone else to do what I’ve done. It is everybody to their own.
“I’ve done my bit and I’ll continue to do my bit for the football club. Everyone who knows me knows that.
“I’ll do it as long as is needed before the people at the club come up with some money to save the club.
“Obviously, I can’t go without a wage forever and ever, because I need to put food on the table myself.
“But at the moment it is needs must – I’m making sacrifices.”
‘I will always fight for my players’
The former Everton first-team coach, who replaced Billy Dodds in the Inverness hot-seat last September, is focused on banking much-needed League One wins to kick-start their season after relegation from the Championship in May.
And Ferguson says he feels settled in the Highlands and will fight for the cause.
He added: “It’s not an easy time for the club and I’ve made the decision.
“Everyone knows I’ve enjoyed my time here, enjoyed the city.
“I keep telling people that. I like Inverness and rarely go back down the road, down south (to Liverpool).
“It is a great club, a great fan-base and they’ve always been good to me, but I care about my players and the staff around about me.
“I’ll always fight for them and that’s why I do this.”
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