Seeing as the season is now officially over and we have been crowned League 1 winners, I will post this now so that you guys can let me know who's under contract for next season.

It can also be used to post the list of retained and released players once that has been announced 👍.

Finally, it can also be used for transfer rumours and signings. On that I'll start with one from Everything Caley's Instagram who seem to suggest we are after Ruth's Dylan Smith. I also see on Twitter from The Scarf that Alfie Bavidge is signing permanently 😱👍.

After a 2nd successive relegation, there are likely to be a large number of the County squad either being shown the door or eagerly escaping through it. Some of those may be keen to stay in the Highlands and join a bigger club. County's failure is probably more to do with poor management and coaching than the quality of their squad, so there may well be some who would be a real asset at a club which has better coaching staff and a great sense of togetherness.

According to our stats on here, only four players still under contract.

There are also a number of players down as 'initial 1 year contract'

PLAYERS ALREADY SIGNED UNTIL END OF 26/27

DANNY DEVINE

LUIS LONGSTAFF

ADAM MACKINNON

CALUM MACLEOD

updated 11th May

2 hours ago, tm4tj said:

According to our stats on here, these are the players still under contract.

There are also a number of players down as 'initial 1 year contract'

SQUAD ALREADY SIGNED UNTIL END OF 26/27

DANNY DEVINE

LUIS LONGSTAFF

ADAM MACKINNON

CALUM MACLEOD

REMI SAVAGE ❌

Don’t think Remi Savage is signed for 26/7. He is one of those that were announced as an “ initial one year deal” according to the club website

2 hours ago, tm4tj said:

According to our stats on here, these are the players still under contract.

There are also a number of players down as 'initial 1 year contract'

SQUAD ALREADY SIGNED UNTIL END OF 26/27

DANNY DEVINE

LUIS LONGSTAFF

ADAM MACKINNON

CALUM MACLEOD

REMI SAVAGE ❌

Not sure that Remi is already signed for 26/27 as he was one of those who signed on an initial one year deal. Hopefully the end result is the same and he signs anyway.

Thanks Ken. We have this on Remi's bio on CTO. We don't always get the correct info and sometimes we are left to read between the lines. Will keep an eye on this one.

'Remi joined Newcastle United from Liverpool in July 2021 for £250,000 and has featured for their Under 23 side in the Premier League 2 during 2021/22, 2022/23 and this season.

Remi has signed on again for our season of turmoil in League 1 for 2024/2025. Length of contract was 1 year.

After a great admin season for Remi partnering Danny Devine at centre back, he is back for more having signed an initial 1 year deal...Good business by the club, takes him up to the summer of 2026'

Here's hoping as he has been great this season!

1 hour ago, tm4tj said:

Thanks Ken. We have this on Remi's bio on CTO. We don't always get the correct info and sometimes we are left to read between the lines. Will keep an eye on this one.

'Remi joined Newcastle United from Liverpool in July 2021 for £250,000 and has featured for their Under 23 side in the Premier League 2 during 2021/22, 2022/23 and this season.

Remi has signed on again for our season of turmoil in League 1 for 2024/2025. Length of contract was 1 year.

After a great admin season for Remi partnering Danny Devine at centre back, he is back for more having signed an initial 1 year deal...Good business by the club, takes him up to the summer of 2026'

Here's hoping as he has been great this season!

No worries, let’s just hope he signs anyway.

Hopefully any talk of G.Shinnie returning can be nipped in the bud, he's well past it now.

7 hours ago, DoofersDad said:

After a 2nd successive relegation, there are likely to be a large number of the County squad either being shown the door or eagerly escaping through it. Some of those may be keen to stay in the Highlands and join a bigger club. County's failure is probably more to do with poor management and coaching than the quality of their squad, so there may well be some who would be a real asset at a club which has better coaching staff and a great sense of togetherness.

From a BBC article which has confirmed Kelltewell is staying at County but John Robertson has left:

“Five out of contract players have been offered new deals but experienced campaigners Ross Laidlaw, Alex Iacovitti, Jordan White, Jay Henderson, Declan Gallagher and Uche Ikpeazu will depart, as well as eight players who were on loan, including goalkeeper Trevor Carson.”

2 hours ago, Satan said:

Hopefully any talk of G.Shinnie returning can be nipped in the bud, he's well past it now.

He could still do a decent job for us in the Championship…

Remember that most Ross County players were on completely unaffordable packages probably including SPFL wages partly funded by Parachute payments. Laidlaw and Whyte are probably the only resident players.

22 minutes ago, CELTIC1CALEY3 said:

Remember that most Ross County players were on completely unaffordable packages probably including SPFL wages partly funded by Parachute payments. Laidlaw and Whyte are probably the only resident players.

Allegedly one was on 4K a week and rumours are he is signing for us.

Looks like he will need a job in the mallard every 2nd Saturday to supplement his wages. With the squad rotation we were using this season a word in Kellachers ear they could sort a rota out.😀

I am sure Savage will be conscious of the errors that got us into the mire and will be managing finances carefully, so any new players will be on deals that fit into the wage structure that will be in place for next season.

We know a number of players were on deals which allowed the club to exercise an option for next season if we got promoted, with them getting a pay rise. We just don’t know which ones for certain they are.

19 hours ago, CaleyCanary said:

He could still do a decent job for us in the Championship…

He was at the Hamilton game on Saturday. He also stays in Nairn. Read into that what you like.

This off-season I certainly trust Kells, Charlie, and Alan Savage far more than previous incumbents to make the best and most affordable choices for ICT. If they can put together a squad that finishes mid-table next season, then this should be good for most of us.

If we find a few gems then who knows, we could be in the promotion mix, but priority must be to avoid the drop and rebuild the foundations we once had. Premiership can be the ultimate goal, but being a solid Championship side first is more important IMHO.

2 hours ago, Scotty said:

Premiership can be the ultimate goal, but being a solid Championship side first is more important IMHO.

And I think that is our level - solid Championship team with hopefully the occasional foray into the Premiership.

Recognising this would I think prevent the freefall experienced by our neighbours after the shock of relegation from the Premiership, which they considered to be their rightful place.

1 hour ago, buckett said:

And I think that is our level - solid Championship team with hopefully the occasional foray into the Premiership.

Recognising this would I think prevent the freefall experienced by our neighbours after the shock of relegation from the Premiership, which they considered to be their rightful place.

Yup agree and, apologies for going off topic, help to cement our position when everyone at SPFL HQ finally sees sense and reorganises our league structure.

15 hours ago, buckett said:

And I think that is our level - solid Championship team with hopefully the occasional foray into the Premiership.

Recognising this would I think prevent the freefall experienced by our neighbours after the shock of relegation from the Premiership, which they considered to be their rightful place.

If I remember rightly that's pretty much what Alan Savage was saying through, and coming out of, administration.

He'll obviously want to remain in the Championship but I think only on a sustainable budget. I'm sure in the long run he'll have designs on being back in the Premiership, but I think that'll be a long term goal. Stability and a platform to build on is more important than a short term house of cards scenario.

Dont forget our kids.

Out of our loanee players how many can progress to the next level?

Robbie Thomson,

Sam Thomson

Shae Keogh

Etc.

How many of our current youth team go out for another year on loan at the next level?

How many new youth players transition into this group?

And unfortunately how many move on.

This is the area of the sustainable club transition I am most interested in.

Until we see their contracts we don't know anything or it's difficult to comment. As far as we were aware most if not all were on 1 year deals when stepping up.

Who will make the grade???

How long is a piece of string?

Edited to add: I presume the percentage of our youth to become successful is fairly low, like most clubs. It's a difficult area to break into the big time when most if not all clubs need ready made players now and either loan in better players or if they can afford it buy them in.

according to Courier only 4 players in contract: https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/sport/caley-thistle-consider-future-of-22-players-out-of-contract-434616/

Only four players, Danny Devine, Luis Longstaff, Calum Macleod and Adam Mackinnon have contracts which secure their services at the club for the 2026/27 season in the Championship.

Chairman Alan Savage has said that he will be looking to increase the budget for next season and offer deals for current players to remain at the club.

Cheers Scotty. We did have him down as 25/26 so I knocked him off the list but it seems that he had extended it in May25 to take him to the end of 26/27. I thought that was the case but the wording in his bio said differently.

Terrifying to think only four players are signed for next year.

It will be like kells starting all over again with a completely new team.

3 minutes ago, Moogthurso said:

Terrifying to think only four players are signed for next year.

It will be like kells starting all over again with a completely new team.

The majority from last year will sign. They played for a virtually bankrupt club with a 5-point penalty in Division One, so I'm sure many will be delighted with a healthy Championship club.

Apparently Stephen Robinson has (unsurprisingly) changed the Dons’ stance on the two Alfies and is going to offer them contracts. Surely they will keep them on the books and loan them back out to us next season to see how they perform a level up as would serve all three parties well.

I think alfie bavidge will be the bigger loss if that is the case.

We have quality midfielders like Calum, Adam and Alonge but a striker will be very hard to find especially when Zimba is probably moving on and Billy is getting on.

According to the P&J we are in advance talks to sign Graeme Shinnie.