Inverness Caledonian Thistle midfielder speaks about huge achievement of the club to avoid relegation from League One after going into administration
PAUL Allan says it is an incredible achievement by everyone at Inverness Caledonian Thistle to avoid relegation saying they faced a mountain to climb after going to administration.
When Inverness went into administration in October, the club were deducted 15 points which sent them to the foot of the table.
They went 16 points behind Annan Athletic in ninth place after they lost their first match in administration 3-1 to Dumbarton.
However, Inverness improved as the season went on, going on to win 14 out of 25 matches since Scott Kellacher was appointed as head coach.
Inverness finished the campaign in seventh place, seven points clear of the relegation zone as they leapfrogged Montrose after their 2-0 win at Links Park on the final day of the regular season on Saturday.
Midfielder Allan, who scored one of the goals in the 2-0 win, said the mood in the dressing room at the end of the campaign was unrecognisable compared to the club going into administration in October.
He said: “It has been a tough season for everyone involved, to go through administration and be deducted 15 points.
“The challenge at the start of the season was to get promotion and then the focus changed to just staying in the league. I am glad that we have managed to do that for the club.
“It was a tough place to be, boys lost their jobs, the manager and staff lost their jobs, we got the points deduction which put us bottom of the league at the time.
“But when Kell and Billy took over they kept things positive, despite the challenge changing from gaining promotion to staying in League One.
“We set targets every couple of months and it has managed to get us safety so it worked.
“It did seem like a mountain to climb at the start, Dumbarton went through the same thing going into administration, so we definitely thought we could at least get ninth.
“But the aim was always to catch the teams above us. The first game in administration, we lost to Dumbarton and ended up 18 points behind them in the league.
“It was a mountain to climb, but since that game against Dumbarton, we have been brilliant. I admit there has been hiccups along the way, and there were games that we really wanted to win to get the job done a lot earlier.
“But there is a feel good factor at the club again that we are safe.”
As a result of going into administration, transfer restrictions were placed on Caley Thistle where they were only allowed to bring in players on loan under the age of 20.
Among those players which arrived on loan included Alfie Bavidge and Alfie Stewart from Aberdeen, Ben Brannan from Kilmarnock along with goalkeepers Aidan Rice and Marcus Gill from Celtic after regular number one Musa Dibaga suffered injury.
Allan says winning 56 per cent of their league matches since being placed in administration was an excellent return given the limitations that was enforced on them.
He said: “To win 14 out of 25 matches in administration is good going with the squad as narrow as it was.
“The club couldn’t really strengthen the squad the way that it wanted or the way Arbroath did this season and as a result went on to win the league comfortably.
“The group of boys we had stuck at it when we were training and did well.”
Allan is among the majority of first team squad players who are out of contract this summer, with it revealed over 75 per cent of players are set to be released unless they are offered new deals.
It was revealed last week, Inverness are allowed to offer current players in the squad new deals but can’t bring in new players until the club is out of administration.
It is hoped Inverness will soon be out of administration on Thursday, May 22 when a vote on the Company Voluntary Agreement takes place which would see Alan Savage take over the club.
Allan, who arrived at Inverness on season-long deal in August, is not sure where his future lies, but says he has enjoyed the number of first team opportunities he has received this season.
Speaking about his future, he said: “Everything is up in the air and I don’t really know. But I am happy with this season and I have enjoyed my football.
“I played the majority of the games which is all I can ask for. Now I just want to go on my holiday and see what happens after.”
