Duncan Shearer fears Caley Thistle could be stripped bare if administration takes their key players away alongside a 15-point punishment.
Inverness are understood to be in a pre-administration phase, with accountancy firm BDO, who oversaw the liquidation of Rangers, set to take charge of the way forward alongside consultant and former chairman Alan Savage.
Ex-Inverness forward and assistant manager Shearer knows ICT, who dropped down to League One this year, face crunch times on and off the park, with jobs on the line too.
He said: “It’s concerning for everyone. Administration can be brutal – they could rip the guts out of the club.
“You hope there might be some kind of understanding, although there’s then the SPFL rules and a points deduction (likely to be 15 points).
“This could set Caley Thistle right back. If all goes through, they would have to go part-time.
“When Motherwell went into administration, they had 11 players on long-term contracts. We benefited by taking goalkeeper Mark Brown here at the time.
“I don’t think Inverness have players on long-term contracts on lots of money, so hopefully (administrators) might let them carry on. But they might say their highest paid players have to go.
“If you are taking key players from the club as well as a points deduction, it could be absolutely catastrophic for them.
“If, for example, a player such as Billy Mckay was free to find another club if it came to it, they have their own futures to think about, with bills to pay. He could take a two-year contract at the likes of Raith Rovers or Falkirk in the Championship.
“Vultures will be hanging about for two or three of these players and we will have to watch what happens over the coming days.
“It’s a brutal time, but hopefully they can even find a way to stay in League One until next year.”
ICT could face recruitment hurdles
Inverness are sixth in League One with nine points, and a 15-point hit would leave them bottom of the table.
Shearer fears Inverness would be in the same boat as League Two Elgin City should they ultimately drop to that level, with the absence of full-time football putting ICT out of many markets.
He said: “If they go down again, they will find it really difficult to get back. They will be like Elgin City.
“The attraction for good players here has been full-time football. If that is taken away from Inverness and that route to full-time professional football, as a former Premiership club, these players will get themselves trades and day jobs and sign for Highland League clubs.
“Elgin have lost numerous players over the years due to this, and I believe Caley Thistle have already faced that situation – even as a full-time side.
“It has taken a lot of work by a lot of people to get Caley Thistle to where they reached – Scottish Cup winners just nine years ago and finalists in 2023. It has been dismantled year by year and bit by bit. It’s heartbreaking.
“You feel for the staff. It’s looking bleak, after Alan Savage said administration would be the last resort.
“Staff have been at the club for many years, but there is not as many as there have been. It all depends on the plans if they go part-time. Does the club shop open only on Saturdays, or maybe Friday and Saturday? It’s worrying times for the staff.
“The city of Inverness will also be affected by this news – hotels and pubs over the years have made quite a few bob over the years with Caley Thistle being in the Premiership.
“Teams would stay up here when they were in the Premiership and lots of fans were coming up here and staying for the weekend. It will hit the local economy.”
Nobody ‘put the brakes on’ spending
Shearer believes too much emphasis might have been placed on failed off-field projects as a means to try and keep ICT afloat.
He added: “While there is no point blaming anyone now, people must have known over the last two or three years that this was on the cards. Nobody stood up and put the brakes on what they’ve been spending.
“People who were in charge of the finances have let this happen. Maybe the club were too reliant on the (potential income) from the battery farm proposal to make the club money. That project failed and they are now not getting that money.”
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