David Sutherland talks to CaleyThistleOnline.com about all the recent rumours surrounding Inverness Caledonian Thistle, including the talk of Stadium relocation and the spectre of more mergers...

David Sutherland, when I spoke to him last, agreed to set the record straight and answer some of the questions that had arisen on the message boards and in rumours throughout the town over the last few weeks.

We thank the Chairman for taking time out to keep us informed. This article IS an official answer from the Chairman to these rumours/speculation. Wage Cut Inverness Caledonian Thistle have taken the lead in the sense of the impetus of a wage cut to assist us in our aim to balance the revenue books. This impetus came from Pele Paterson and the players, whose spokesman was Bobby Mann. A Tremendous input from our captain! Scottish football is indeed in turmoil and I think it is a case of watching this space over the next few months as a great number of clubs, particularly the full-timers in the First Division, are on "the brink". Stadium As I explained at our AGM the Stadium move idea was as a result of a brainstorming session which addressed a number of issues and analysed our position viz: -

• We are in our highest placed position ever within the Scottish League system.

• The team are exciting to watch.

• The quality of football is 1st class on the park.

• Many teams dread a visit to the Caledonian Stadium.

This then poses the question - why do we not generate larger crowds? A city the size of Inverness should have a home support of at least 2,500 and the larger games do bring the supporters out at levels above the level of 2,500 so this then led us on to consider various components of our structure: -

• The price?

• Cold/exposure?

• Apathy?

• Location?

• Lack of real quality competition?

• Any merger hangovers?

On price we follow the SFL recommendations but perhaps this should be examined carefully. The new enclosure, to be opened on 12th January, weather permitting, will be named the Kevin Bissett enclosure and a big thank you to everybody here who helped. The enclosure certainly helps to break the wind and we hope to be able to extend the depth of it in the close season. [note from Debbie Ross -- Once again, for the next Home Game (12th January) Season Ticket holders will be permitted a guest at no extra charge with their season book]

Apathy - maybe we have the market as it stands in Inverness but we then need to address the next generation of supporters and fans ie youngsters. [another note from Debbie -- The Club are looking at developing the fanbase, and to this end, this is why they have attempted different things, such as the FREE Busses going to Tomorrow's Cup Game in Arbroath ... still time to book via the club.] Location is an issue and I think I all accept that the Stadium, with hindsight, could have benefited from design enhancement but this then forced us to address the location problem? This is where we really examined our product and dilemma and I have to say, in view of the Directors, it is an issue in that the fan who walks to the Stadium has a torturous route to follow. This is why we have provided a free bus service on match day from the city centre and that is perhaps a service we need to advertise more widely. Nevertheless we decided to ascertain if a better location existed within the city boundaries and this is how the question of stadium location was born with no hidden agenda and a simple exploration of the opportunities available. Merger Could I start by saying that there is no masterplan. Debate with Ross County has not occurred and I did qualify the AGM statement by saying that one or two grenades would be thrown to demonstrate how deep your board thinks about the options available to it. Two teams, one better than the other (Inverness Caledonian Thistle of course!) struggling to make ends meet in the same market - in business the logic would be simple - merge and eliminate one layer of cost. BUT, Hold on, this is not so easy in football as you have the vital ingredient of the fan base, and without fans you don't have a club. Look at the economics pre merger in Inverness and if you add Thistle and Caley fan base divide by two you have the answer ie merger creates alienation and dilution of support. Merging two problems in football doesn't mean you solve the problems, it means you reduce the problem to one problem ie I think the route cause of the malaise is not the two clubs tackling too small a market more that the football business in total is in need of revamp throughout Scotland and the First Division in particular. As with the football academy we will, however, continue to explore methods of saving costs with Ross County and others but, as you state the academy has not been a good example and partnerships never work if unfairness creeps into the position. If we have an ambition to encourage youth however to develop under our system we will also need outlets to develop the talent and to ensure that grooming does occur to enable youngsters to move through to the first team so, don't write this off yet. To sum up therefore merger has been born out of the dialogue above and I have stated, publicly, that it can't happen for the reasons outlined. If however Scottish football continues its path to meltdown, and the opportunity emerged for one outfit from the Highlands, say, to gain membership of a revamped SPL or whatever the league might be, this would be a different ball game because clearly at present the two clubs are in a position where they could not meet the criteria for membership. That then begs another questions in terms of the criteria for membership of a higher leagues but again we then meet the next hurdle which is the wage rates which in turn we cannot afford. I hope that gives you some insight into how we emerged from our AGM with these high profile issues on the agenda but I assure you and the fan base that these appeared on the agenda simply as discussion topics rather than proposals. Through your excellent site could I wish all loyal fans and supporters a good new year. Please keep supporting us as it is hard being on the bridge with all the icebergs around football at present and keep enjoying football at the Caledonian Stadium.