Inverness Caley Thistle’s young squad told to “go and make memories” by achieving a survival feat that would rival the 2015 Scottish Cup triumph
Scott Kellacher believes defying a 15-point deduction and dodging relegation would be a feat comparable to some of the greatest moments in Caley Thistle’s history.
The 30-year-old club, having famously humbled John Barnes’ Celtic in February 2000, went on to win the Scottish Cup, play in the Europa League and finish third and fourth in the Premiership.
With more than two decades of ICT service already, Kellacher lived and worked through much of that heady success, savouring the wonderful campaigns that gave way to years of financial turmoil and administration this season.
But the new head coach says overturning the 15-point gap at the foot of League One would be “like winning a trophy” given the huge odds stacked against them.
Kellacher, determined to bring back the goals and attacking football some say was lacking in the Duncan Ferguson era, was inspired by the travelling fans’ stirring reception for him and the players after defeat at Dumbarton last weekend.
Returning home to play in front of what could be a larger than usual Caledonian Stadium attendance tomorrow against Kelty Hearts, he pointed to what he hopes will inspire the ICT players in 25 remaining matches.
“I’ve said to the lads, what this club has done in its short history of 30 years is quite incredible,” Kellacher said.
“Winning the Scottish Cup, playing in Europe, a League Cup final, some special semi-finals, great finishes in the Premiership.
“But I said to the players ‘go and make yourselves a memory’.
“Go and create for yourselves a memory that you’ll talk about for the rest of your lives.
“If we manage to stay in this league, which I really hope we do, we’ll be talking about it for many years to come.
“We still talk about moments we had like Nick Ross scoring (against Hearts in stoppage time) at Easter Road (League Cup semi-final February 2014). What a day that was.
“How big an achievement would it be to stay in the league? Massive, like winning a trophy - that invisible trophy we’ll never see.
“People haven’t given us a chance. It is a massive task, we all know that, but it would be huge to achieve it.
“I’d put it up there against anything we’ve done as a club so far.”
A number of past administrations have been catalyst for the blossoming of young talents who might never otherwise have been given a chance.
Kellacher, who is now assisted by veteran striker Billy Mckay, views that as another source of inspiration for his young group of players.
“They have the chance of a lifetime and it is the same for us all,” he stressed.
“I’m getting this opportunity myself. I’m desperate to do well for the football club.
“I know all these boys who have come through the youth system and they have the same mindset. They will give it everything they’ve got, but it will be tough.
“I came up the road after the game at Dumbarton on Saturday and I probably should have been down and dejected.
“But going over to the fans I thought ‘they want this as much as me’. I want this as much as them.
“It is galvanising us all, getting us back together again as staff, players and fans, being that family again.
“We need to get back to being that underdog and embracing that siege mentality, like we always did.
“It was just great to see them last week and it gave me a massive lift. I went up the road more positive, more determined to try and get it right for them.”
Kellacher is promising more attack-minded football, with the aim to unleash a bit of freedom in the forward-thinking players while still being canny defensively.
“That’s the way it is going to be,” the 43-year-old Invernessian and former Celtic youth said. “Fans come to games to be excited and I want to see exciting football.
“I want to play football the right way, get into the final third, get crosses into the box, shots at goal - that’s what gets the fans on their feet.
“That was one of the big things last week and why we really appreciated the fans at the end.
“It is not often you go to a game of football, get beaten 3-1 and the fans give you the response they did.
“I thought it was really important we went over and thanked them for that. They are going to be absolutely crucial for us going forward, getting behind the boys.
“I appreciate we didn’t win the game last week, but I think the fans appreciated us wanting to go and play football.
“We’ve worked a lot on that this week, the boys have been excellent. And we just need to be a little bit cuter in terms of shutting the back door.
“We know it is a massive task ahead of us. We can’t get carried away saying this or that is what we’re going to do.
“It is important we just try to take each game as it comes.
“We know Kelty will be a hard game like every game is in this league.
“We just need to look to win the game of football. If we can get a result on Saturday, we’ll look to the following week.
“We have to appreciate that every game is going to be a cup final. That’s the way we have to look at it.”
Caley Thistle only saw five players depart at the behest of the administrators, which was a relief.
But Kellacher acknowledged that avoiding injuries and suspensions would play a part in efforts to recover lost ground.
“We still have a good squad, but we’re going to have to rely on the younger ones to step in at times,” he said.
“Last week a couple of younger lads came in and did great. We’ve got 25 games to go and they will all play a part. We’re going to need everybody.”
