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Bye bye I will stay and support ICT

Too late for the board to resign now, the time for that was 8 months ago when it was obvious we were headed for relegation and they were doing nothing about it. They've got us into the mess we're currently in and they must stick around and get us out of it. Sadly though, I have absolutely no reason to believe they're capable of doing so.

I keep reading about demanding the current board resign. What is the plan then? Unless there is a credible replacement ready then how does this improve things? Don't get me wrong. There is little so far from the board which gives confidence about their ability to progress a strategy to move forward, however unless a better and clear Plan B exists it is simply a fact that we will have to give time for the current board to progress forwards and the reality is that the current team is not capable of challenging for the title this year (and unless new investment comes in this may sadly be the case for some time to come). It is easy to demand new investment but this needs a willing investor. Otherwise a bottom up rebuilding needs to be implemented and this will take time.

I think we need to lower our expectations, we are likely to be in the bottom rather than the top half of this league, JR needs time to bed in what is almost a new team, find a system that suits it and coach some of the bad habits out of players. I don't think the playing squad of any other side in this division has undergone the disruption that we have. I don't expect an instant return to the SPL we need to rebuild so that we have a team which can stay in the SPL and I doubt the current squad are capable of either.

How depressing, despite only 2 league games in. I'm coming round even more to the view that the whole set up is a conspiracy by the Board to take us back into the lower leagues because there isn't any money to sustain us at a higher level? It all seems to have started by telling Hughes there was no significant funds to kick on from our Cup win and 3rd spot in the Premier League. The way must be paved for Savage and/or McGillivray to return to the fold or we face oblivion.

Politics aside - they need to start using OFW and Raven. We ain't going to sell them as no one is looking at buying. They are being paid so use them.

It's all new at board level and at team level, let's give a bit more time before we hang them out to dry!

Rich and powerful people don't treat football clubs as charities, but as vanity projects and marketing exercises. Surely Roy MacGregor isn't the ONLY man in the Highlands with a wallet and ego big enough to want to call the shots at a Senior football club.

Time for some to stand up and be counted........and more to get their heads out of the sand or own arses......that was totally unacceptable????

Less than 13 months ago, we went there and won 5-1. May 2015 seems an ever longer lifetime ago.

On the positive side the steak Bridie was outstanding

Robbo is doing his best with limited resources. Those posh twats in the boardroom need to start answering some bloody questions and soon. Sack the board!

Think you've misunderstood what O was saying - I'm not happy about Draper going to County or the way the whole saga was unfolding...just saying that dwelling on it isn't going to change anything..County are a Premier league club, we aren't! Agree with RiG about the culpability of the board in all this too...I'm not meaning to come across as a 'happy clapper' , just making the point that Draper isn't gonna miraculously re-sign because we are all up in arms about it.. We really do need to move on...

Aye maybe. For me, the main thing is that it's another sorry episode in a summer of face palms and all round minters.

As Josh McDowell once said to me in a Psychotherapy session - "No matter how devastating our struggles, disappointments, and troubles are, they are only temporary. No matter what happens to you, no matter the depth of tragedy or pain you face, no matter how death stalks you and your loved ones, the Resurrection promises you a future of immeasurable good."

Many of us have had our say but unless we move on now in unison and adopt a positive attitude we will not help get the club out of the tangle it is in. Chums, if you think the management (the Board) is going to get down on bended knee , beg for forgiveness from the fans, answer all our constantly repetitive questions and say "Meah Culpa" a dozen times, whilst genuflecting in rhythm with your claims and advice, then I do not see that ever happening. That's why I say let's move on out of the whirlwind where our emotions will continue to overwhelm us and address the real issues now confronting the club. If for no other reason than the fact that the steady new Manager needs the fans to get behind him and his efforts and allow the Board to reflect, change course and be more flexible and communicative in the future. Remember they are human too and if they are all we have for the time being, and maybe for the rest of the season for all we know, then we have to allow for that even if it hurts like heck. At this stage we are darned lucky to have a steady hand like J.R's on the tiller and he needs us to be onside too otherwise from whence does he draw his own positive emotional energy? If we don't support him 100% then he will end up crushed, which is not good. I want to turn over a new leaf and set a new course on the compass because the past isn't going to change no matter what we say.

Forget letters to the Chairman and social media - this forum included - I think it's time for a good old fashioned open letter in our local rag. If the club doesn't respond to that then I think many of the loyal fans will walk away.

See above post from ICTChris which sums things up really well.

Mr Finlayson. If you read this All ICT supporters are waiting to hear from you. Can you tell us when we will receive some words of comfort on our clubs future?

Mulreany is an attacking player yet in nearly 40 appearances for us he hasn't scored or had an assist. He has pace but needs to use it to create chances, he doesn't do that at the moment.

Mulraney is nowhere near as good as he thinks he is.

Can't really disagree with your summary apart from Mulreany who seemed to be in one of his "I'm not in the mood" performances. If he he moaned less and applied himself consistently he would be an automatic pick. The defence was shambolic and easily brushed off the ball. We needed a strong defensive midfielder to help break up the Dunfermline attacks but that's another story. Wedderburn did that job well for Dunfermline. I believe that every team needs a strong spine with a solid keeper, centre back, midfielder and striker. What have we got? A spineless team. it's going to be a very long season.

I reckon after a while it would have clicked for Foran. No one will ever come close to his love for the region and the club. We seem to be worse off without him. Bring OFW and Raven back into the team (despite what I've said about Raven in the past, he's clearly the better option here) as the longer you keep them out, the more their want to play for the club diminishes.

Abysmal today. Leaving Raven out of the starting XI and leaving Fon Williams out of the squad is inexcusable. Seems like a penny pinching exercise to me. If Robertson has any sense he'll walk away from this situation. Terrible.

How many charitable donations did the club receive over the last fifteen years, thirteen of which were played in the top flight and the other two saw us win the division that we are now playing in?

What is there to say thats not been said already?? Right time to put Quality over money Raven sitting most of game on bench yet Chalmers stays on is madness explain that Mr Roberston? Ridgers has had enough time to tell me he is a donkey time to put OFW back between the sticks i actually think he would do well in Championship. Baird on for 90 minutes?? WTF that all about i seriously dont think he will score a goal all season. Im actually feeling sorry for Vigurs tonight having to captain that shambles. Off out on the Toon the night if i see any of that lot out drinking they will get full barrels!

Sat 12 Aug 2017 Scot Premier D Imrie (Hamilton 3 - Dundee 0) SL 2 R McAllister (2) (Peterhead 3 - Elgin 0) Eng Championship F Morais (Millwall 1 - Bolton 1) S Winnall (Sheff Wed 1 - QPR 1) Irish Premier C Allen (2) (Ballimallard 1 - Glentoran 2) Highland League A Greig (Fort William 0 - Brora R 4) D Gillespie (Fraserburgh 4 - Rothes 2) S Soane (Keith 3 - Forres 5) M Finnis (Nairn 1 - Clach 1) Eng Northern Premier league L Cox (Farsley Celtic 3 - Coalville T 1)

And replace it with???

I'm off to support Clach - they have more chance of winning something.

Simply not good enough ? The board have an easy decision to make !! Invest in the team and squad or stand aside?? You've gotta wonder if they're actually Supporters of the team or on an EGO trip??

We need to get baird off and bring on Bell. He has more about him. Raves needs to be on for Chalmers.

Chalmers must be one of the worst defenders ever to play for us closely followed by elsdon

Yet more confusing messages coming from the club over this saga. I think it's time for fans to get proper honest answers, particularly if the situation continues to affect results on the park.

oh well looks like I'll need to hope for a lucky draw unless you sell your insiders story to the Highland News ?

A club in meltdown

The inept duo of Elsdon and Chalmers playing and Raven on the bench? What a joke and not a very funny one.

Looks like Ridgers should have stopped that. We are a shambles at the back

That will be easier on your arm jagster

Almost certainly the reason that they asked Draper to request the move relates to contractual position around the transfer fee or other aspects of amounts due. In circumstance when players request a move they normally forfeit rights to various fees or %s for sell ons, etc. It seems pretty clear that Draper wanted the move. The rest is business and bluntly in our current circumstances we need to look after ourselves and players who want to stay with us. As IHE noted on another thread, we seem at the moment happy to slag off our current players but laud those who have moved on for whatever reason.

Aghast at the number of posters that seem to want to defend the club come what may. The fact is the last 6 weeks (and longer) have been utterly shambolic from start to finish. I actually think we'll do OK this seaon. I'm not in the doomsayers camp re: successive relegations etc however there needs to be a massive improvement at board level. At the moment i'll give them the benefit of the doubt and put it down to inexperience of the new members rather than incompetency or deceitfulness. At some point there does need to be some form of realisation of what supporters expect of them- to work for the best interests of the club, community and supporters. Unfortunately, at the moment it sounds like too many of them are there for ego driven reasons. Nothing like shaking hands in a boardroom for furthering personal business interests eh?

As the Bard once said to me in the Shakespeare Arms in Stratford-Upon-Avon " Johndo son, Now is the summer of your discontent. Prepare ye for a glorious winter with the new ICT; And all the clouds that lowered upon your forum, in the deep bosom of Scottish football will be buried"

Finmack and Gringo very much echo my own concern. On the day John Robertson was unveiled as the new manager and on other occasions, the Chairman made a definite commitment to improve communication and extend openness. Since then, the huge, pre-existing need to do this has actually increased but absolutely nothing of substance has emerged - apart from (at least?) four spectacular Public Relations own goals. (An utterly crass statement about season tickets, the incredibly poor handling of the sacking of Duncan Shearer, the totally unnecessary highlighting of Porngate and the equally unnecessary highlighting of the Ross Draper transfer request leading to the embarrassment of two conflicting versions of same going head to head in the public domain.) When the commitment to improve is made, the need to do so increases but still nothing is done about it, it is inevitable that, in its search for an explanation, fans and the public will include worst case scenarios among their thinking.

What a mountain over a molehill some folk are making over the Draper transfer! What has happened here is that County put in an offer for him which the club were not willing to accept. Draper knew about that. If he had wanted to stay with ICT he would have said so and the club would have told County that he was not for sale. That would have been the end of it. However, Draper clearly was interested in a move to County as it would mean he could continue in the Premiership and would not have to move house. Presumably it would also mean bigger wages. Given Draper's interest in the move, County's initial bid will have been turned down but they would have been told that Draper was interested in moving and ICT would be willing to sell him if County were prepared to meet the club's valuation. After at least one more rejected bid which Robertson thought would be County's final bid, County this week came up with an offer which ICT felt was a good offer , Robertson is quoted in the Courier as saying the offer was "a very substantial offer which I didn’t think they would go to". Two things are crystal clear from this. Firstly, Draper wanted the move to County. Secondly, the club were only prepared to sell him if their valuation was met. With regard to the transfer "request", this is just semantics. Draper had already informally made it be known that he wanted away and so when an offer came in which the Board was prepared to accept, they asked him to put in a "transfer request" which in reality is simply asking Draper to formally confirm that he is willing for his current contract to be terminated so that the Board can progress with finalising the transfer. It is surely good practice that before a club sell a player to another club, they have the player's formal consent. Maybe Draper thought it a bit strange, but if it is simply confirming in writing what he has previously expressed verbally and which is being acted on, what's the problem! The Courier headline is typical media sensationalist nonsense. It says "Caley Thistle boss John Robertson in the dark over claims club's board forced Ross Draper to submit transfer request". Absolutely nothing in the article remotely backs the claim up. Robertson is quoted as saying " Once Ross had tabled his transfer request it would have been futile to keep a player who had his head turned. The board and I discussed it and the transfer request was put in - that was the final part to draw a line under it and move on. We could have said no but then we’d have a very disgruntled player who wants to play in the Premiership." In other words, Draper wanted the move, Robertson discussed the latest offer with the Board and they agreed they wouldn't stand in his way. Putting in the "transfer request" was a simply a necessary formality which clearly Robertson was aware of. The suggestion of Draper being forced to request a transfer is clearly nonsense. That would imply, for instance, that an offer had come in which was so good that the club put pressure on the player to move against his will. Clearly this is not the case. Indeed it is clear that the opposite is true - the player wants to leave and the club have reluctantly let him go. The Board can, in my view, be rightly criticised over a number of issues but not regarding this. In the past when the Board generally received praise from the fans, the one recurring criticism was that we consistently failed to get decent transfer fees (or any at all) for our departing players. It is ironic that at a time when the Board is generally receiving criticism, it is being slated for what is perhaps one of the better bits of business the club has ever done in the transfer market.

I think Draper saying that it was an easy decision for him to make to swop ICT for County is a bit of slap in the face for the club that resurrected his career. He won a Scottish cup winner's medal, league cup runner's up medal, played in Europe and was loved by the supporters. It might not have been the smoothest of transfers, with both parties coming out with different accounts of the deal, but he could have thanked the supporters and the former management teams for the great seasons he had with ICT. I liked Draper a lot but was very disappointed in his statement.

You make some good points there AJ, especially about the ages of the new group, which is a positive point, although I had hoped Draper with be the experienced man that sticks everything together. However we have to move on; without the sugar daddy that Ross County appear to have (although they couldn't keep Boyce), we have to act like the club we are, a small team with a low fan base in a league than earns pennies not millions. At least we got a transfer fee for Draper, I don't know whether a combined fee and alleged saving in wages of £200K indicates that we are in a bad way debt-wise or just represents sensible business. The glory days of success cup final appearances and top six SPL finishes are for now gone, the team and the 'spirit' that gave us that virtually gone. Hopeful there is enough potential in the lads we have brought in to become something decent over time and bond together as a group. Importantly many are on contracts longer than one season, and probably one or two will give a transfer fee when they eventually move on.

The club is nothing without it's supporters. Once the board realise this and adopt a more progressive attitude towards the fans they will reap the rewards of higher gate receipts, more positive vibes around the ground, and better results. Let's look at the positives ... A) We have a good and experienced manager B) We have signed a few rough diamonds over the summer C) We lost Draper but at least have a bit more money to help us develop a young squad further D) We may not get promotion for a few seasons but we will have a young squad that has grown together - in the SPL when you don't have buckets of cash floating about this strategy is the next best way to promote survival. E) When we started 23 years ago everyone wrote us off because we would never get the gate receipts to make it pay - let alone stay in the league. F) There are clubs with a history 5 times longer than ours that haven't seen a sniff of silverware for longer than we have been around. WE ARE A REMARKABLE CLUB - LETS GET BEHIND THE MANAGER AND PLAYERS AND SHOW THE BOARD JUST HOW MUCH THEY NEED US!

There is no reason why fans should expect "loyalty" from players in the sense that we feel betrayed when they take a decision to move on. Why on earth would Draper choose to play in the Championship when he has the opportunity to play in the Premiership? Why would he turn down the offer of earning more money somewhere else. If Draper was on £2,000 a week then that may sound a lot to some folk, but being a professional footballer is not something you do till you start receiving your old age pension. Players only earn good money for a few years and after that they need to find other work till they get their pension. Sure, the top players get silly money, but players at our level need to maximise their earnings when they can in order to provide some level of security for their families. If players choose to stay at the club rather than move on then that is fantastic (as long as we want them to stay!) but it is wrong to expect that kind of loyalty. What we can expect from players is for them to play for the shirt when they are here. Ross Draper did that for several years for this club and I salute him for that. Have we sold him on the cheap? No. I don't think so. It has been well known that Draper was available if the price was right and if no club has come in for him for more than County were willing to pay then I would suggest that what they are paying is his market value. Whilst a good ball winner, Draper scores very few goals for a midfielder and is not a very creative player. Getting £100k and saving his wages is a significant boost to pretty empty coffers and I would imagine that Robbo will be looking to use some of that to bring in a combative midfielder with a more attacking mindset. I'm not sure Draper really fits in with Robbos approach to the game, and whilst I'm sorry to see him go, we might find more positives than negatives come out of this.

I spotted two scorers tonight (8 Aug), David Davis for Birmingham in a 5-1 win over Crawley, and Stuart Armstrong for Celtic in a 5-0 win over Killie.

I'm lifting the pints as therapy hospital said I had to use it