Jump to content

Worst summer in the clubs history


ictchris

Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, DALNEIGHCALEY said:

What experience does Danny Macdonald have of running a club ?

 

What experience does he have of managing any business with a seven figure turnover ? A real wasted opportunity to bring in fresh blood and badly needed new ideas, come to think of It, any reasonable ideas at all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Goodness me !  I feel really depressed after reading the above.  As a blow-in to the Highlands ( I arrived in 2009 )  I probably don't hurt as much as many of the very  loya ICT l fans do. 

I remember a long time ago how my boyhood team Bury went through a phase not much different to now at ICT ,  Selling  or losing good players to neighbours Bolton.  The owner losing all his wealth speculating on the stock exchange. ( his creditors seizing his financial  assets in payment )  '  The High court saved the club by ruling that the ground could not be sold to Tesco or anyone else because of a 19th century  covenant ) ,  

The fans bought the club  which was later re-sold to a consortium who had enough cash to acquire the famous Carrington training ground.

My only highlight on Saturday was going downstairs at half time to the bar  behind the stand to see the top item  on the TV , Bury 1 Walsall 0.

I ask you all to  as The Buddha-Said,  "“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”" -  It is the only way. 

True !  season tickets cost a small fortune, about 30p short of £280 - and that is a concession for a very senior person. Now in his 75th year. If like someone said , ICT will be out of the big time for years, I probably won't be around to see  the improvement, so I will live for the present and hope the gaffer can turn things around to make the 50 mile round trip from my home in Boat of Garten  worthwhile 

I still feel very depressed -  I thought the original post on this topic  by ictchris  to be one  the best diatribes I have ever read on this forum,  s/he is the be complimented  on the way s/he has presented   the situation for people like me who do not follow events at the club very closely, who just like to see a game of football, and do not understand exactly what is going on at the club in general.

added  later -  I now realise ictchris is male, only when I read his profile did it dawn on me.

Edited by Laurence
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, ictchris said:

 It's been said that lots of this stuff was done by volunteer but you could employ a 16 year old media student and they'd do a better job. 

.... probably including any of the 33 out of 33 that Inverness College seem to have managed to get to fail their Higher Media Studies over the last two years.

But for the moment to turn to Chris's OP - what a swingeing and well articulated condemnation of a summer of chaos within a club which just two years previously was displaying the Scottish Cup and playing in Europe. Apart from the extent of the decline, its rate has also been eye watering. The only part of Chris's precis with which I might differ is on players and management. Given the extreme lack of funds, I'm not sure if appointments and recruitment could be expected to be any better. I retain an element of cautious, albeit necessarily limited optimism in this department. We really must also wonder just how close to the wire - electric fence even - finances have got in recent months; and to what extent has paying silly money to poorly motivated mediocrity been responsible?

Returning now to public relations and communications , I despair no less - indeed even more now - than I've done for several years. This is something I've been trying to make clear to them for a long time but I've seen neither the capacity nor the will to do anything about it - nor indeed even any concept of the need to win friends and influence people and the attendant role of communication. Quite frankly, a few cheesy, happy clappy tweets (and even these have now disappeared) don't begin to pass muster here. Communication and PR have been dreadful, awful, pathetic, abysmal and God knows how many other adjectives out of the same stable. Worse still, the deficit has been obscured behind a firewall of happy-clappy complacency. Chris rightly highlighted Seasonticketgate, Shearergate and Porngate. These are all toe-curlingly embarrassing foul ups of the highest order but are also simply the continuation of a long established trend.

However the most revealing feature of this thread has been the rate at which it has grown even within a couple of hours. It's telling as well as distressing, to see so many Caley Thistle fans who are regular, articulate and respected posters on this forum spontaneously echoing what the OP has rightly said. When you get such unanimity among so many contributors with proven track records for commenting on these things, you see in the starkest of terms the situation the club is in and the deep concerns of its supporters.

As for the Draper issue, not only is this another reflection of the relative status of the two Highland clubs, it's also the latest example of Roy MacGregor being in a position to rub Caley Thistle's noses right in it. And having had to endure "Always In Our Shadow", "Pride Of The Highlands" etc, it's difficult to criticise him for this.

Edited by Charles Bannerman
  • Like 2
  • Agree 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a very sad state of affairs at the moment and fair play to County in signing big Drapes. 

A lot of fans have seen the decline of our club manifested in a number of ways and have actively voiced their concerns to those connected to the club both privately and publicly. It's been a huge frustration for us and it's only because we're hurting that we are so passionate.

We, the fans, are fickle and if Robbo can do something this season we will return in numbers because that's the way it works. Being dramatic on this forum and with our fellow fans helps put pressure on those in charge but since we are in a period of managerial flux then it is wasted energy at the moment until we see how things play out. In summary, lets cool off and see what the current setup yields. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The sad and hugely embarrassing fact is that the club representing by far the largest centre of population in the Highlands

 is being out performed and eclipsed,who's in who's shadows now, in every single aspect of running a professional football club both on and off the pitch by a club based in what is little more than a large village on our doorstep. A shocking and unacceptable state of affairs.

Those who ought to be custodians of our club have let down we the fans and are continuing to let down we the fans very badly indeed.

Edited by Kingsmills
  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Kingsmills said:

The sad and hugely embarrassing fact is that the club representing by far the largest centre of population in the Highlands

 is being out performed and eclipsed,who's in who's shadows now, in every single aspect of running a professional football club both on and off the pitch by a club based in what is little more than a large village on our doorstep. A shocking and unacceptable state of affairs.

Those who ought to be custodians of our club have let down we the fans and are continuing to let down we the fans very badly indeed.

In the interests of balance, the disparity of resources could perhaps also be pointed out, but I don't think that detracts too much from the point being made.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm trying to think of a time I was more disillusioned with a football club than I am with ict now......... I can't. 

Even in Highland League days both Thistle and caley, and clach, were a much more professionally run outfit than the current ict shambles. Decisions and non-decisions taken over the last two years have severely wounded the club. Hopefully these wounds will not prove mortal?

The fans have been taken for granted, ignored when voicing their opinions, and unheeded when making known their desire for decisions to be made / actions taken. Yet today the latest action at ict is to sell its prized asset to its local rivals for a pittance when fans have been so vocal for keeping Ross Draper. We are ignored yet again. What would happen if the boot was on the other foot (pun intended) and its fans decide to ignore the club......... doesn't bear thinking about does it?

  • Agree 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I cant disagree with anything seriously posted. Big big concern for this season ahead, it feels like we have just conceded the league after one league game.

Believe Robbo will get us safe from relegation, but hey, I thought that this time last year too.

Cant understand how far and quick its fallen apart, but I strongly believe that John Hughes, although he brought us our first major national cup success, he was also the start of our downfall

Lets hope all our doom and gloom is wide of the mark. Maybe Coutinho has always wanted to play for the team he supported as a young lad, and will accept a little less than Draper did

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, finmack said:

 I will be criticised by Scotty and IHE for my comments again. 

Where exactly have I criticised you before ? I may disagree with posts or opinions but unlike this post I dont recall making it personal. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At the end of last season, end of the final game we (the fans) were publicly told by the then manager we would have 11 of those players that day still at the club and be making an effort to push for promotion. While he was dismissed (rightly so) nobody has ever come out and said this was a false statement and significant costs needed cut - even original ST renewal was SPFL prices. Some will defend the club and state they cant control players staying/leaving which I partly agree with as some may be out of contract or others may be sold - this I dot have an issue with but those being released to free up wages? 

Over the past few seasons the club has wasted significant money on jobbers - guys like Anier, Horner, Wedderburn, Boden, McCart to name a few and then there's the crocks who have history of injuries everywhere they have been - McNaughton, Doran - how much have these guys cost us? This season seems no different except we now lack the quality from previous years - the guys brought in are poor at best - some will argue to give them time but reality is many are just not going to be good enough to get us promotion. 

We have no youth players coming through, signing journeymen and still have 5 keepers on our books - the club looks to be directionless. Last season the board picked the 'cheap' manager option, since then he's departed, players left or paid off and relegation - how much has that cheap option really cost us  in terms of finance, reputation and also fan support? 

Are we watching the demise and implosion of our club, its clear its not just relegation but more behind the scenes that's falling apart. Its right what was said above - although a small club with a small fan base we are established Premiership our history shows that however right now both on and off the field we look further away from that than I can ever remember. 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Scotty said:

Where exactly have I criticised you before ? I may disagree with posts or opinions but unlike this post I dont recall making it personal. 

Sorry Scotty, Apologise for taking my bad mood out on you

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, wynthank15 said:

No, it was a very poor management decision that led to where we are now. Yes we are a small club, our attendance is not even the best in the championship. I would argue that Dundee Utd, St Mirren, Dunfermline, Falkirk all have potentially larger supports than us assuming they were PL teams.

Sadly I'd imagine those clubs have a bigger average attendance than us as Championship clubs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like many have previously said I think this very good summing up of how I think many of us feel at the moment. As such I think something along these lines should be brought to the clubs attention as being the collective view of some fans.

To see a photo in the paper this morning of Draper who captained our side on Saturday at Victoria park in county attire at last nights game tells you all you need to know and is a new low. This clearly didn't come out of nowhere and on the back of the Kevin Fraser fiasco seems like another case of a complete lack of planning.

I feel there is not only a total disconnect with the board, some of whom waddled past me at Dens at the end of last season and couldn't even raise an acknowledgement to an ICT fan amongst a heap of home fans, but with the team. Raven and Tremarco are amongst the very few who seem to appreciate our support and have a passion for the club. We may not be the most dynamic or vocal fans but we are the only ones their likely to get at this rate and are paying their wages. I for one felt happy with the football and effort on saturday although clearly disappointed with the result however only Raven and Ridges bothered acknowledged the north stand. Butcher may have had his faults but he was very good on this front unlike Hughes and things have deteriorated again since.

The club shop as many have said is a joke and rather than being helpful and welcoming you are often made to feel that your presence is an inconvenience. I called the club to ask is you could pay cash at the turnstile at Pittodrie near the end of last season and was told we haven't heard from them. If thats the best you can do when we're fighting for our lives and someone wants to travel thats simply unacceptable.

We appear to have consistently good youth teams but are unwilling or unable to progress homegrown talent. I for one would be far happier to try and build on this relatively economic resource than bring up mediocre players from elsewhere. Clearly its a gamble and we have to accept the risks but given our present situation I dont think we have a choice.

On a positive note I think we all need to support John Robertson and Danny Macdonald in their new roles and give then help including offering to organise some kind of platform to allow fans to make their views heard and become more involved. As many on here pointed out at the time It was obvious by mid season that things were badly wrong with some players simply not trying and a Manager who was clearly out of his depth however nothing was done. This is now water under the bridge but cannot be allowed to happen again.

 

  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, Angus Davidson said:

...The club shop as many have said is a joke and rather than being helpful and welcoming you are often made to feel that your presence is an inconvenience...

Don't disagree with a lot of what you say but I can't agree with this. Any time I have gone into the shop, whilst it is pretty embarrassing, the folk in there have always been polite and helpful. I've never felt like I was an inconvenience at all.

  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, RiG said:

Don't disagree with a lot of what you say but I can't agree with this. Any time I have gone into the shop, whilst it is pretty embarrassing, the folk in there have always been polite and helpful. I've never felt like I was an inconvenience at all.

No agree! The club staff are always polite and helpful. I dont think we can reasonably expect them to know about what happens at other clubs. I always ring the away club direct as find that works better. 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A few things,

Open Day -  'An open day pre season for a chance for season ticket holders to meet with players (current and new), Management and Directors'

Above line taken from statement from Willie Finlayson on club website on 13th June. Did I miss this event? Don't think so. This reeks of lack of organisation and/or not caring for people when you make a promise and fail to deliver it. Why has this not happened? Not the most difficult thing to organise I would say. 

Front page of ICTFC website - How long will Ross Draper remain on there wearing the new away strip, with Owain (what the hell is happening with him?) Fon Williams, beside him?

 2017 Calendar - in the recycling bin this morning. This was out of date by April. Turn to September's page. 'Cracking picture' of Ross Draper!!!!

Edited by Guest
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Caman said:

A few things,

Open Day -  'An open day pre season for a chance for season ticket holders to meet with players (current and new), Management and Directors'

Above line taken from statement from Willie Finlayson on club website on 13th June. Did I miss this event? Don't think so. This reeks of lack of organisation and/or not caring for people when you make a promise and fail to deliver it. Why has this not happened? Not the most difficult thing to organise I would say. 

Front page of ICTFC website - How long will Ross Draper remain on there wearing the new away strip, with Owain (what the hell is happening with him?) Fon Williams, beside him?

 2017 Calendar - in the recycling bin this morning. This was out of date by April. Turn to September's page. 'Cracking picture' of Ross Draper!!!!

Hahah Re the Calender, I threw my sons in the bin when I turned over to August and seen Richie Foran! Talk about a slap in the face :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Renegade said:

I've said it before and I'll say it again, one of the main reasons crowds have fallen and people have drifted away is that they just didn't feel wanted.  Look how often the club plug hospitality and look at the state of the shop, the state of the toilets, the state of the tannoy, the state of the bar, the state of North Stand and it's facilities.  The club believe that appalling bad facilities is what we deserve.  We are the little people and all we are are walking chequebooks for the old boys club in the boardroom.

People don't come at all or have drifted away because they didn't feel wanted and they didn't feel welcome.  The chickens have come home to roost.

Fantastic post

Absolutely bang on. Highlights everything that is wrong with the club. They(Boardroom) think that can just throw open the gates every second Saturday and supporters will turn up regardless of how sh*te the facilities are. Think they could be sadly disappointed with probably our biggest attendance already achieved for the season thanks to the travelling DUFC supporters. 

Witnessed a spectacular mismanagement  of the club at board level over the last couple of years with absolutely no investment from our finest years of top six finishes  and cup finals. Cannot believe anything we made from selling the likes of  Ryan Christie, Billy McKay  Butcher going Hibs etc  has all gone with nothing to show for it.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I accept that finishing 3rd and winning the cup is probably around as good as it gets for a club our size and appreciate that we will not always be able to maintain that, but the complete complacency shown by the board since winning that has now come home to roost. Rather than build on the cup win the club saw key players depart and not sufficiently replaced.

The same can be said for the club facilities. They're maintained at a basic running level. Just enough to be usable and then fans get fed up. They put up with substandard facilities to a point when there's product on the pitch but when there is neither they stop attending. Then the crowds dwindle, meaning less money to invest in better players, and less to upgrade facilities.

the caledonian stadium has always been treated, in my eyes, as a temp fix by the board and that it will do "for now" meaning that we haven't made, as a club, a substantial effort to make it a home in terms of getting it up to scratch - they can't even sort a tannoy!  That's farcical! 

Now I'm not going to completely slaughter the board because in other terms, for a long while they managed to balance the books, keep us solvent, whilst being able to let the manager put a competitive team on the pitch. They've done a relatively good job of that over the years.

It just seems that there's no real direction this summer. Relegation is something that as an ict fan I accept is always going to be a possibility. What I don't accept is the club seemingly having no plans for it. We were rock bottom for most of last season. Contingency plans should have been put into place. And now fans are that worried that they fear fighting relegation again. I could accept having to rebuild. Maybe not going straight back up but that's something we shouldn't have to contemplate. 

You only imagine the real reason the club have had no open day is that they realise if fans knew the Board of directors were there it might turn into a protest at this summers shambles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really feel each individual director should be asked the following questions

1: What were the reasons for you wanting to become an ICT board member?

2: What were your objectives and have these been achieved ?

3: Were you elected to the board?

4: How much have you invested in the club and how many shares do you hold?

5: What are you doing to improve our on and off field performance?

Has anyone got more questions?

 

  • Agree 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, Council Juice said:

... if fans knew the Board of directors were there it might turn into a protest at this summers shambles.

So why not organise something for the next home game?  Keep it positive - "please tell us the plans for team and club".

Another suggestion might be to arrange a meeting yourselves, and invite the Chairman, COO, manager, etc.  Although I acknowledge that there would be difficulties in keeping it under control.

Is there still an official Supporters' Club?  Its officials and a few representative members could seek a meeting with the club.

Just a few suggestions from 550 miles away.  

"It doesn't have to be like this
All we need to do is make sure we keep talking
"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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!

 

  • Like 1
  • Agree 1
  • Facepalm 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Jockdoonsouth said:

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!

 

Point E, fair enough. The rest of it though... :laugh::laugh::laugh:

Edited by TopSix
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. : Terms of Use : Guidelines : Privacy Policy