With the news that Imrie and Barrowman have been transfered to Hamilton Academical and Ross County respectively i was wondering if fellow fans think the re-building process is under way already?

I am a wee bit undecided because i would say yes because we have got rid of players who don't get a game or just to free up cash but i would also say no because we haven't got our management situation for next season sorted out and also only 4 players signed up for next season and maybe Duff if he comes so i need your help to help me decide.

Edited February 2, 201016 yr by Mahonio

Any other club would be looking to confirm the managers position before dealing with the players and I can't see Butcher staying for SFL1 football and tight budgets. Trying to put the cart before the horse.

My immediate concern is the treatment of Tokely, he should be tied up for another couple of seasons at least.

With the news that Imrie and Barrowman have been transfered to Hamilton Academical and Ross County respectively i was wondering if fellow fans think the re-building process is under way already?

I am a wee bit undecided because i would say yes because we have got rid of players who don't get a game or just to free up cash but i would also say no because we haven't got our management situation for next season next season and also only 4 players signed up for next season and maybe Duff if he comes so i need your help to help me decide.

No, that would be planning for the future(dont make me laugh with this current board)

All we have done is get probably the 2 highest earners off the wage bill and tied up Bully(til the end of season i dont know). We still need another defender and probably now another midfielder so i dont know why we havent taken a kid on loan from the old firm yet?

With the news that Imrie and Barrowman have been transfered to Hamilton Academical and Ross County respectively i was wondering if fellow fans think the re-building process is under way already?

I am a wee bit undecided because i would say yes because we have got rid of players who don't get a game or just to free up cash but i would also say no because we haven't got our management situation for next season next season and also only 4 players signed up for next season and maybe Duff if he comes so i need your help to help me decide.

No, that would be planning for the future(dont make me laugh with this current board)

All we have done is get probably the 2 highest earners off the wage bill and tied up Bully(til the end of season i dont know). We still need another defender and probably now another midfielder so i dont know why we havent taken a kid on loan from the old firm yet?

I would expect this to be Stuart Duff.

With the news that Imrie and Barrowman have been transfered to Hamilton Academical and Ross County respectively i was wondering if fellow fans think the re-building process is under way already?

I am a wee bit undecided because i would say yes because we have got rid of players who don't get a game or just to free up cash but i would also say no because we haven't got our management situation for next season next season and also only 4 players signed up for next season and maybe Duff if he comes so i need your help to help me decide.

No, that would be planning for the future(dont make me laugh with this current board)

All we have done is get probably the 2 highest earners off the wage bill and tied up Bully(til the end of season i dont know). We still need another defender and probably now another midfielder so i dont know why we havent taken a kid on loan from the old firm yet?

I would expect this to be Stuart Duff.

Im hoping its Duff. he did well in the 3 or 4 games he played for us before. Unless ofcourse our magnificent bard decide to offer Vigurs a pre-contract seeing as his deal runs out in the summer. on second thought it is our board after all... :angry:

Im hoping its Duff. he did well in the 3 or 4 games he played for us before. Unless ofcourse our magnificent bard decide to offer Vigurs a pre-contract seeing as his deal runs out in the summer. on second thought it is our board after all... :angry:

Thought Vigurs signed an extension?

If by "re-building" you mean "asset stripping" then yes, yes it is well under way and going according to plan :angry:

Once this flash in the pan season is over we will have a serious bit of re-building in the summer.

Unless miracles do still exist and we win the league, but that would leave having to review everything i think about modern football, life and the universe.

I would be careful before making accusations like that Jay.

The ownership of the stadium and leaseholding may be as clear as mud but what is clear is that they are not the clubs assets to strip.

Before the club can rebuild there needs to be a foundation to build upon, we need a management team under a longer term contract and key players signed up for continuity in the squad.

I would be careful before making accusations like that Jay.

The ownership of the stadium and leaseholding may be as clear as mud but what is clear is that they are not the clubs assets to strip.

Before the club can rebuild there needs to be a foundation to build upon, we need a management team under a longer term contract and key players signed up for continuity in the squad.

You mean "not the clubs assets to strip... anymore". What about the playing assets that have been effectively stripped from the club as a result of entirely incompetent contract management?

The rebuilding will hopefully start when the new manager arrives.

At this moment in time, i woulnt be disappointed to see Terry still on the bench next season. Whether this is to do with the latest run of form i dont know. But keep it up and id be happy to see him stay. He knows he would have to take a cut in wages, and a whole different contract negotiation, but this is expected from a division 1 club.

I think until the league is clear cut and everyone knows whats going to happen, no deals will be offered for the time being.

Any other club would be looking to confirm the managers position before dealing with the players and I can't see Butcher staying for SFL1 football and tight budgets. Trying to put the cart before the horse.

My immediate concern is the treatment of Tokely, he should be tied up for another couple of seasons at least.

What do you mean by that?

I'm happy with the current squad, We are still very much in with a chance of winning and I would say that we have a SPL quality team so we don't even need to do much if we get promoted.

Dundee on the other hand will probably sell/release a lot of their players as a way of thanks, if they get their club promoted and will be replaced by even more expensive players. so for their players success is failure.

There's one flaw in your logic 12th Man....you're assuming none of our squad will sign pre-contracts in the next 3 months to secure their future if that security can't/isn't being offered at ICT. So even if by some miracle we won the league many could well be heading off anyway.

Any other club would be looking to confirm the managers position before dealing with the players and I can't see Butcher staying for SFL1 football and tight budgets. Trying to put the cart before the horse.

My immediate concern is the treatment of Tokely, he should be tied up for another couple of seasons at least.

What do you mean by that?

We are his only adulthood employer and his contract runs out at the end of the season, he hasn't been approached to the best of my knowledge and is weighing up the possibility that he'll have to move on. He is also now contemplating that a move could be better for him anyway as he could get a team at a higher level. St Mirren regard him highly you know.

At this moment in time, i woulnt be disappointed to see Terry still on the bench next season. Whether this is to do with the latest run of form i dont know. But keep it up and id be happy to see him stay. He knows he would have to take a cut in wages, and a whole different contract negotiation, but this is expected from a division 1 club.

I think until the league is clear cut and everyone knows whats going to happen, no deals will be offered for the time being.

With current form this COULD be a possibility and then he can find decent players through his contacts if the ones that are here at the moment decide to leave which is a good thing because i am not sure if any other manager could do this on our budget.

I want Buchanan but know this will NEVER happen, in fact why did i say this because the window is shut and its way to early to start wishlists

It doesn't seem as if the club is actually on a predetermined course of re-building. Perhaps more like knee jerk reactions, still,to developments as they arise--thus leading to moves like Doogie's and Andy's.

Frankly, this does not surprise me in the least. After the debacle of demotion, the turmoil and financial chaos that followed, how can a vigorous plan be in place when the funds simply are not there to do anything at all?

Someone has just said that Terry Butcher may be around next sesaon. At this time that would, IMHO, be a positive thing for ICT. His maturity and desire to be successful could be the stabilising factors that allow ICT to recover , as they are doing right now, and gradually pull themselves up by the bootstraps.

Of course he would understand, particularly if things were going well, that a cut in wages would definitely be on the cards in the relative short term for him but future bonuses for WINS and PROGRESS might just win him over to think that a viable future awaits him at Caley Thistle.

I just don't get the impression that he is a quitter and it is , again IMHO, unlikely that he would walk away from ICT and leave them in the lurch just for more money. I think Terry is a man with a heart and a man with heart so let's wait and see --- after we are promoted at the end of this Season.

Yesssssss! : :

What I cannot understand is the curreent lack of information from the board (make that direction as well) over what will happen at the end of the season. We are still in with a chance of promotion but if that fails, and we lose a lot of players, we could seriously put at risk our chances of promotion next year as a lot of new players would need to be brought in and they would take time to gel.

Surely the board can see this but the silence is deafening and also very worrying. I am not a shareholder and don't know when the next AGM is but would hope that shareholders and the Supporters Trust bring this up. Could an EGM even be considered?.

One of the main reasons we survived in the SPL when we were first promoted was that we had very few changes to our team in the first few years when quite often, the newly promoted side changes many of their playing staff with, quite often distasterous results. Conversley, we are probably where we are now because we didn't start to change the team early enough and move players out and new ones in.

It's a funny old game.

Thought Vigurs signed an extension?

He hasn't signed it yet according to RC fans on P & B.

I think it would probably be of benefit to either offer Terry and Mo a new 1 year extension now (on reduced SFL wages) or line up a new manager now and ask them who they want to try and keep.

I'd offer Tokely a new 2 year extension.

I'd assume Foran would have no interest in 1st division football again so that would be up for Terry or new guy to decide.

On the subject of Vigurs, as far as Im aware no extension has been signed. Or at least he wasn't listed among those who had done when I was reading the paper. Gary Wood has, I noticed that much.

reading between the lines of Caleyrule's posts we are going to have new owners in place soon and that's why no contracts have been offered and no further investment is being made into the club...

... maybe Terry's going to spend his vast amounts of media revenue on a takeover bid :024:

Going by recent results , is it 7 games undefeated ? Our team seems to have at last gelled together & we've got a bit of momentum going

I'd be really happy to see Terry & Mo stay for another season & at least try & hang on to the backbone of our team

Although i like Grantie i think next season Tokely should become captain

What about the playing assets that have been effectively stripped from the club as a result of entirely incompetent contract management?

I take it you mean Fraser, Black, Cowie, Dargo, Rankin and Barrowman?. I added the last one in because I think i'm funny.

I take it you mean Fraser, Black, Cowie, Dargo, Rankin and Barrowman?. I added the last one in because I think i'm funny.

Funny indeed. In all seriousness though, add Niculae to that list and you have the "How not to handle football contracts" best seller by best selling author G. Bennett.

It doesn't seem as if the club is actually on a predetermined course of re-building. Perhaps more like knee jerk reactions, still,to developments as they arise--thus leading to moves like Doogie's and Andy's.

I think you are spot-on.

Frankly, this does not surprise me in the least. After the debacle of demotion, the turmoil and financial chaos that followed, how can a vigorous plan be in place when the funds simply are not there to do anything at all?

I can understand why we are in a predicament financially because we have lost more income than many of us might appreciate .... SPL money, sponsors revenue, TV money, advertising, even revenue based on hospitality, season ticket and match ticket prices. However, I would question whether we managed our finances particularly well over the last 5 years in the SPL? and how we are managing them now? There are loads of rumours flying around right now about our finances, and not just on this site, but in Inverness in general. Some are true (according to sources), some may have a grain of truth in them but have been embellished (sometimes wildly), and some are just pure speculation or guess work, but one thing I have heard time and time again in the last couple of months is about how we needlessly frittered cash away (at times) during our SPL years and how we are now scrambling around to try and make ends meet. The exit of Imrie and Barrowman may ease that burden somewhat as they were both on a decent wage (excessive some might say in the case of Barrowman) but bottom line seems to be that the cupboards are bare and we dont have much leeway to fill them up again short of a bailout package !

I mentioned on another thread that I would like to see the current board come out and show us an honest plan for turning things around. It might be painful, it might contain things we didnt like (such as an extended stay in Div1) but if they did that and showed that they had a plan, be it a 2 year, 3 year or 5 year plan to get us back to the SPL, I think they would have the fans backing. If they also cleared up the stadium ownership question at the same time, perhaps we could get back to talking football and pulling in the same direction.

Someone has just said that Terry Butcher may be around next sesaon. At this time that would, IMHO, be a positive thing for ICT. His maturity and desire to be successful could be the stabilising factors that allow ICT to recover , as they are doing right now, and gradually pull themselves up by the bootstraps........

I just don't get the impression that he is a quitter and it is , again IMHO, unlikely that he would walk away from ICT and leave them in the lurch just for more money. I think Terry is a man with a heart and a man with heart so let's wait and see --- after we are promoted at the end of this Season.

Right now, I would be happy with Butcher continuing beyond the end of the season if both he and Malpas were happy with a salary commensurate with 1st division status (maybe with an incentive of a big bonus for getting us back to the SPL). Its taken a while and there have been a few bumps along the way but finally the additions to his squad seem to be gelling. We have not lost in 7 games, we are not leaking goals so badly and if one or two players who have made glaring misses recently can start hitting the net then we might even start winning the odd game by more than a single goal. With Dundee faltering a little, if we can keep momentum going and win our games in hand we are right back in it. In all of this, we also have to remember that its been "bedlam, bedlam, bedlam" behind the scenes so fair play to him for trying to keep himself and the players focussed on the task in hand.

What I cannot understand is the curreent lack of information from the board (make that direction as well) over what will happen at the end of the season. We are still in with a chance of promotion but if that fails, and we lose a lot of players, we could seriously put at risk our chances of promotion next year as a lot of new players would need to be brought in and they would take time to gel.

Surely the board can see this but the silence is deafening and also very worrying. I am not a shareholder and don't know when the next AGM is but would hope that shareholders and the Supporters Trust bring this up. Could an EGM even be considered?.

One of the main reasons we survived in the SPL when we were first promoted was that we had very few changes to our team in the first few years when quite often, the newly promoted side changes many of their playing staff with, quite often distasterous results. Conversley, we are probably where we are now because we didn't start to change the team early enough and move players out and new ones in. It's a funny old game.

I am disappointed but not surprised at the silence coming from the boardroom. Any time there has been a crisis or a perceived crisis at the club, its been a case of manning the barricades and making sure no-one pops their head above the parapet, you just need to look at the calls for Brewster's head for another prime example.

I know that many of the board members are succesful businessmen, and although we all think we could run the club better, I very much doubt it is as easy as we would like to think. It may very well be the case that they are the right people to take the club forward but right now it doesnt seem so. They are not showing either of the two qualities that I as a fan (and shareholder) expect of the people elected to run our club ... Leadership and Direction.

C'mon Mr Fraser, you have been anonymous as a chairman through several major incidents in the last few years - Brewster hiring, Brewster firing, relegation, Niculae transfer, staff layoffs, questions about stadium ownership, and now questions/rumours about finances ..... If you had stepped up to the plate for any of these and played a leadership role you could have minimised the effect of them, nipped things in the bud, or corrected any misinformation that is out there.

The board as a whole also have to be ultimately responsible for the current state of our contracts. Our DoF may do the negotiations but he too needs direction and agreement from the complete board as to what is available and what his budget is. With AB gone, I think that now makes it 3 players who have a contract beyond the end of the season. That is preposterous. These guys all have committments, be it families, mortgages, rents or just normal living expenses and for them not to know what is going to be happening come the end of May is not only dangerous (in terms of losing them to other teams) but also, in my mind, irresponsible and immoral. Get it sorted. Like TB/MM, offer them a contract for D1 with nice bonusses for winning the title but also build in something that allows the contract to be renogotiated should we ultimately win the title and be promoted. some might not go for it but at the very least they will see they do have some form of job security if they choose to accept it .... right now they have nothing and if any leave it is fully and squarely on the board's shoulders not the players.

I will end my rant with a direct and honest plea to the board as I am sure this will be another thread that is printed off !!!

Gentlemen ... PLEASE. I know most of you loathe this website and many of the posters on it but NONE of us would be here if we did not care DEEPLY for OUR club. We know that most of you have done good work in the past and we know you can do it again in the future and most fans would like to work TOGETHER with you to make that happen. However, to do that we need some leadership, direction, and honesty. We know its a tough time, the drop out of the SPL has been devastating for all both emotionally and financially but by burying heads in the sand and saying nothing whilst providing no leadership or direction things are only getting worse.

Will someone (anyone) be the man who will step up and have the balls to say "ok, we screwed <insert incident> up, but here is our plan to fix it"? Will someone take the criticism on the chin, admit to mistakes (your only human after all) and then move forward showing that lessons have been learned? Will someone take the bull by the horns and start working with the fans, be it supporters trust or some other body, to move the club forward? Lets hope so ... because ICT has always been a club which operates far more effectively when all of its parts - Board, Players, Management, Staff and Fans work as one team pulling in the same direction.