No pre-season friendlies for Inverness Caledonian Thistle as chief executive Gardiner confirms players will be kept on furlough as long as possible
Inverness Caledonian Thistle will play no pre-season friendlies before returning to competitive action in October.
The Championship club has decided to keep its entire playing squad furloughed until mid to late September in a bid to minimise financial losses arising from the Covid-19 crisis.
The decision means the Inverness team will approach Scottish League Cup matches proposed for October 7, 10 and 14 without having played any warm-up games.
Lockdown during the pandemic has hit club finances heavily across Scotland, although some clubs below the Premiership have indicated they intend taking players off the government support scheme in late August.
But Caley Thistle’s chief executive officer Scot Gardiner believes saving a month’s worth of squad wages on the 80 per cent subsidy could make the world of difference to his club’s financial recovery.
Rather than play the customary three preparatory games, manager John Robertson will treat the cup matches as if they were pre-season friendlies.
Gardiner said: “Furlough ends at the end of October, with the season due to start for Championship and League One and Two clubs on October 7 in the League Cup.
“We’ll be looking at that strictly as pre-season.
“Other clubs are intent on bringing their players back in late August, but we simply can’t afford to do that.
“If we began pre-season training then, we’d have to take them out of furlough and the fact is a month’s wages could make all the difference in us getting through this difficult spell.
“We’re going to keep the players on furlough for as long as possible.”
League Cup group games are usually scheduled for July and divided regionally in an attempt to limit travel requirements.
This year, for the first time ever, participation in Scotland’s second cup competition will be optional as a result of Covid-19.
All Championship and Premiership outfits have said they will take part, while the lower two leagues have been given time to consider whether they want to.
The Inverness club’s decision on a return date has implications for manager Robertson’s fitness regime. Under the furlough scheme, players are not allowed to formally train or take instruction from coaches.
But Robertson, Gardiner and club doctor Derick Macleod have pooled together to create a voluntary wellbeing scheme to ensure players remain in good physical and mental health.
Gardiner stressed: “We’ve put together a programme for the players, a mental and physical wellbeing programme.
“It’s entirely voluntary and nothing to do with football. They can attend different talks and activities, but it is a voluntary scheme in relation to their physical and mental health.
“A lot of them played their last match on March 10 and then were told they wouldn’t play until October.
“There was a real worry that they would either overcook their bodies because they’re bored and going out running every day, with the risk of doing their knees in running on the roads, or they would suffer mentally.
“We felt it was important we gave the guys the option of using this programme as we can’t train or work them on anything else. It is something they can do, within government guidelines.”
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