Duncan Ferguson takes huge Inverness wage cut as boss lifts lid on brutal decisions to swerve administration

Duncan Ferguson has taken a massive 40 per cent wage cut to help protect staff jobs at Inverness Caley Thistle.

It is understood, in total, the Everton legend and former Rangers and Newcastle striker has voluntarily accepted a reduction of almost two-thirds of an initial £3000-a-week pay packet on replacing Billy Dodds last September. The backdrop to the slashed wages, as Ferguson spelled out, has been working under the “toughest conditions I’ve seen or ever heard of in football” amid the League One club’s financial chaos.

Just two days after his arrival at the then-Championship club, it is believed Ferguson was asked to accept £2000 instead of the £3000-a-week promised by past chairman Ross Morrison and ex-CEO Scot Gardiner. And in the last couple of days, with club consultant Alan Savage hammering out a deal to stave off administration, the 52-year-old volunteered another 40 per cent cut, taking his pay down to £1200 a week.

The club – who last night signed Ross County defensive prospect Connall Ewan on a season-long loan – was relegated in May and there were rumours of Ferguson’s wage being cut as a consequence. But he said: “I didn’t have to do anything and it had nothing to do with relegation.

“I have taken a big pay cut of 40 per cent in the last couple of days to help the club and, more importantly, to help the staff. It is a big reduction on my wage to try and help out. I’ll always be here to help the staff at the club and I’ll always try to help the club, 100 per cent.”

Ferguson experienced a culture shock on arrival at Inverness, despite having most recently been at another troubled outfit, Forest Green in England. He has never previously spoken about the shortcomings at the club, but with a new regime now