Inverness Caley Thistle: Neil McCann agreement always temporary, explains Scot Gardiner

McCann moved Caley Thistle away from relegation trouble but they fell short of the play-off places

Inverness Caledonian Thistle tried to persuade Neil McCann to stay on but always knew he was moving on, admits chief executive Scot Gardiner.

McCann stepped in on a temporary basis when manager John Robertson was granted compassionate leave in February.

Robertson is returning to Caley Thistle as sporting director but McCann intends to take up a football agency position.

"It would have been wrong of us not to ask 'are you really sure?'" Gardiner told the club website.

"He has loved it here and I'd be lying if I said we didn't ask him the question again."

Former Dundee boss McCann steered the Highland club from eighth to fifth in the Championship, losing just three of the 14 league games he oversaw, as well a knocking local rivals Ross County out of the Scottish Cup.

"When people saw John was returning but not as manager, they automatically assumed that Neil would be taking over and in other circumstances that may well have happened," explained Gardiner.

"But Neil and I had an agreement in February. At that stage he was just about to take up a new role at a football agency and the agency was kind enough to allow him to take a step back for a couple of months. It was always on those terms."

Gardiner says it has been "humbling" to receive so many applications for the head coach's position and has been "bowled over" by the number of foreign coaches showing an interest.

Stressing that the successful candidate will need to live locally, he said: "We will keep an open mind. We will be looking at up and coming coaches, who perhaps see this as a stepping stone to bigger things and at at those who have been assistant managers looking to step up."