Out of the Blue

Duncan Ferguson has been appointed as the new manager of Inverness Caledonian Thistle nine days after Billy Dodds contract was terminated. It's a bold move by the Caley Jags who languish adrift at the bottom of the Championship with one point from their opening six games. Out of the League Cup at the group stages with only one win in their three matches and dumped out of the Challenge Cup by Arbroath, this needed to be a crucial appointment of the highest order. Despite some respected names being bandied about as potential managers, out of the blue and making a late charge on the rails came Big Dunc who was out of a job after failing to keep Forest Green in League One less than six months after taking the reins at New Lawn with a disasterous run of only one win in eighteen games in charge. That sounds familiar! So much so that our board have offered Big Dunc the job. Not many will argue with Ferguson as his past history is well documented elsewhere gaining him the Duncan Disorderly tag. We'll stick to his abilities on and around the park. A Scottish international making seven appearances, Duncan started getting noticed at Tannadice where he scored 28 goals in 77 appearances. Three years later he moved to Rangers scoring twice in fourteen games. He then moved to Everton on loan in 1994 and then signed on at Goodison until 1998 scoring 37 goals in 116 games. A move to Newcastle United followed and the goals kept coming, 8 from 30 over the next two years. He ended up back at Everton to end his playing career with another 23 goals from 123 games. That's a total of 98 goals from 360 appearances at the top level. Duncan Disorderly is also no stranger to red cards having been sent off nine times in his career, a record breaking achievement for the big man. He had been a coach, interim manager and assistant manager at Everton since 2014. It has now been confirmed that Gary Bollan will be the new assistant manager. Good luck guys!

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Official Statement from ICTFC

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The club is delighted to announce the appointment of Duncan Ferguson as the new Manager of Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club. The Everton legend joins us on a 3 year deal following an extensive recruitment process which involved some truly excellent candidates. Former Dundee United, Rangers, St Johnston and Livingston, player Gary Bollan now confirmed as Duncan's assistant. He has managerial experience at these clubs:

 

 

Gary Bollan Stats >>>

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Livingston		14 August 2009	5 February 2012	108	62	22	24	57.41

Livingston: Scottish Third Division: 2009–10 Scottish Second Division: 2010–11

Forfar Athletic: Scottish League One play-offs: 2016–17

Cowdenbeath: Scottish League Two play-offs: 2017–18

"It is fantastic. A lovely part of the world but we’re here to get results, not just look at the scenery."

Duncan Ferguson on the ‘great ambition’ that saw him take over at Caley Thistle and his hopes for the season ahead pic.twitter.com/jxy32f9MW9

— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) September 26, 2023

There's a mixed and stunned reaction to this appointment on CTO:

1. No doubt that he is a good coach, but there’s no evidence that he is a good manager! It’s a bold move. 
2. I'm officially resigning as a member of the happy clappy caley thistle cheerleaders. Please don't tell Dunc. 
3. I hope I’m wrong but this will end in tears. 
4. Expensive disaster written all over it. 3 people on long contracts sitting doing nothing by new years. 

5. One win in 18 matches for Forest Green prior to their relegation !!! . . . Sounds like just what we need !! 

6. Can he still play? 

7. It’s a gamble of an appointment, a big gamble, but one I’m quite positive about. 

8. Forest Green is full of vegans. That in itself should exonerate Dunc from any blame in that shambles. 

9. It’s a pity we didn’t appoint him in the summer, we’d have sold more season tickets, attracted better players and might not be bottom of the league! 

10. A bold appointment for three years I hope it works out 

A Huge Community Trust welcome to new @ICTFC manager Duncan Ferguson pic.twitter.com/KNV3s0cbmQ

— ICTFC Community (@ICTFC_Community) September 26, 2023