Duncan Ferguson revealed he avoided the dentist’s chair to take a call about the Caley Thistle manager’s job.
Ferguson has filled the struggling Championship club’s hotseat as the successor to axed boss Billy Dodds.
The 51-year-old former Scotland, Rangers and Everton forward this week penned a three-year contract with the Highlanders and will hope to get them polished up quickly to scale the table with a win at Arbroath this Saturday.
Ferguson, who has targeted a return to the Premiership for Inverness during his tenure, explained how Caley Thistle’s call pulled him from the jaws of an unpleasant procedure.
He said: “As it happens, I was stepping into the dentist when Scot Gardiner called me.
“I was going in to get a root canal done – he saved me from the root canal.
“Inverness were interested in speaking to me. I wasn’t in a job, I listened and came up the road as soon as I could.
“It has been a busy few days and in between times I have been to Stranraer, been to Stirling and been to Liverpool to see my dentist.”
Inverness ‘a big chance’ – Ferguson
Six months at Forest Green Rovers earlier this year didn’t go to plan for Ferguson, with the club plunging into England’s fourth-tier before he left in July.
Why did Inverness feel like the right step back into the game?
Ferguson said: “It was about getting back into management. I left my job only a few months ago.
“This is a big chance for me. I want to continue my management career. I am not scared of a challenge.
“I have managed in the English Premier League (with Everton) and League One, now I am here in Scotland.
“I am a serious coach and serious person – that’s why I am here.”
Caley Thistle have ‘good history’
Dodds was only one win away from the top four last season and guided ICT into the Scottish Cup final, where they lost 3-1 to treble-winners Celtic.
Ferguson knows, despite only being 29 years old, his new club have tasted many highs, including winning the Scottish Cup in 2015, and he is keen to create more special moments.
He said: “Inverness has a lot of good history and a lot of good cup runs recently. They’ve been in three cup finals in recent years. They lost the cup final against Celtic, but have a good tradition.
“They are a good club and I know about their history. It is a wonderful opportunity to be coaching this great club.”
Opportunity to return to Scotland wasn’t a factor in Ferguson’s thinking
Ferguson left Scottish football behind in 1994 when he left Rangers as a player to join Everton.
He insists the opportunity to return to his homeland to work almost 30 years on was a secondary concern, and his primary motivation for moving to the Highlands is to prove himself in the dugout as a manager in his own right.
He added: “You have to prove yourself every day in any job you do.
“It is nothing to do with Scotland, or where I am.
“I want to prove myself with my work ethic and the way I work and my ability as a coach, I am here to try and improve myself every single day.”
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