Caley Thistle captain Danny Devine on 'dark times' club have avoided with League One survival

Press and Journal

21-05-2025

Captain Danny Devine thinks Caley Thistle avoided 'dark times' by winning their League One survival battle.
The centre-half, who has agreed a two-year contract extension, is looking forward to the club coming out of administration – all going to plan – on June 5.
And if head coach Scott Kellacher can build a competitive squad, there's no reason why the Highlanders cannot challenge for promotion back to the Championship next term – two years after being relegated from the second tier.
They will, however, begin the new League One campaign on minus-five points due to the impact of their financial turmoil in the recently-concluded season.
The situation, though, could have been far worse – had Inverness not successfully battled back from the 15-point penalty they incurred in 2024-25.
Devine, who along with striker and assistant boss Billy Mckay and winger Luis Longstaff agreed deals last week, admits the prospects for ICT looked bleak heading for winter.
Speaking on The Wyness Shuffle, he said: 'If you go down, you're in League Two and you're probably talking part-time football – where does the club go from there?
'There was a real danger of that happening, but we've come through the other end.
'If you are relegated from the Premiership into the Championship, I feel like it's not as severe as you can probably maintain your full-time status.
'It would have been dark times had it actually happened. There would have been a lot of changes at the club.
'I'm just grateful we managed to do it (stay up).'
Devine, 32, also spoke about when administrators had to let the club's management and players go earlier in the season.
Boss Duncan Ferguson, assistant Gary Bollan, goalkeeper coach Stuart Garden were all shown the door, as Kellacher moved into the hot-seat.
Adams Brooks, Cameron Ferguson, Flynn Duffy, Wallace Duffy and on-loan goalkeeper Jack Newman were all released, with the squad waiting for news amid anxious times.
He said: 'We didn't know who was going or staying.
'It was pretty brutal, to be honest, with boys just getting pulled right, left and centre then coming back into the changing room and, before you know it, they're out of a job.
'I really felt for those boys. I said at the time, we were the lucky ones – still with jobs and being able to go on the pitch and play football. We could still do what we love to do.
'We're just happy we were able to pay the club back.'
Circumstances meant plenty of players aged 21 or under joining the Caley Thistle first-team group during the 2024-25 campaign.
One of the remaining older heads, Devine thinks it was unfortunate, if necessary, for so much 'pressure' to be piled on the youngsters, and said: 'It was tough for the young boys. They needed time to develop in their own way and be in their own environment, mess about and do what young lads do.
'That pressure was put on them and that freedom was taken away from them. It was dire straits and we needed as many bodies as we could get at that point.
'We heard rumours of what might happen (in terms of administration) and then those rumours came into fruition. It was tough.
'Similar to Billy Mckay, I was one of the older ones. We tried to set the best example we could to those young lads and to instill that wee bit of professionalism in them.
'It was a case of 'results really matter now – it's not youth football anymore. If results don't go our way, certain things can happen and people can lose their jobs'.
'It was a different role (for us) – but it's one we handled well.'