I hear there is going to be an announcement next week. Does anybody have idea what it's to do with?

Everytime someone brings up the topic "How did we find ourselves in this situation I just think of The Specials song," Too Much Too Young".

I hope the announcement is just saying a tighter budget for next season as we fail to get our Rlreturn to top flight and btw heres a special edition jersey to mark 25 years. No Doom and gloom please.

Edited April 23, 20188 yr by LairdMattie
Meant to say "Specials"

There is no doubt whatsoever that, even with the savings that have been made, we are running at a loss that is unsustainable probably in the medium term, let alone the longer term.

However, is that the fault of the current board or the previous regime who saw fit to trust JH with a new contract that made him the highest paid manager in our history with, by a margin, the highest player budget and then, after sacking him but still paying him that substantial six figure salary, appointing a completely unproven and inexperienced manager on a five year contract and then failing to take decisive action when it was increasingly obvious he was out of his depth ?

The current board and manager have made mistakes but took over amid utter chaos. The ship has been steadied on the pitch,. It would not be surprising, however,m if the deeper financial waters remained much more turbulent.

8 hours ago, CaleyD said:

Would that be previous board members who have given the current board £300k...that we know of...this season? Why would they do that if the plan was to run things down?

Fair point. I can certainly think of one previous board member who donated £250,000 to keep the club afloat several months ago - and that despite the abuse he got from some off the back of the £6M he previously arranged for his former company to subsidise the club by over a period of years.

What must be said of the board which was in place on relegation is that, despite acknowledged mistakes, they did their honest best to keep the club in the Premiership despite its fundamental lack of capacity to earn enough to do so. But it's strange how credit so seldom seems to be given for that.

Deal for the stands fallen through?Perhaps our old benefactor has pulled another of his tricks to 'save' the club.......

Charles I think you're vastly overstating people's objections about the Tulloch deal and to say there was 'abuse' seems like hyperbole, I certainly never saw any of that. Are the people concerned about the Tulloch deal even the same as those concerned about MM? 

Much of these issues come from a systemic lack of communication with the fans (or in some cases downright bad communication e.g. the season ticket renewal letter). We will make judgements of the available information. Often it's based on rumours, second hand information, and half truths or in some cases you have different 'factions' saying different things. 

GR started well enough, renewals aside, with positive ideas and talk at the fans meeting at the beginning of the season but that disappeared quickly. Perhaps that was linked to the shift in roles for Danny? 

 

It seems to me that the individuals with commercial nous, significant capital and an interest in the club are David Sutherland and Alan Savage.

Unfortunately and probably  largely due to a clash of egos, they were unable or unwilling to work together in the past.

Whilst I appreciate it is unlikely to happen, it would be ideal if they could put aside those past differences and work together for the sake of the club that seems important to them both at this time of impending crisis.

2 hours ago, Hiro said:

Deal for the stands fallen through?

Could well be. How long has it been since the transfer of ownership was announced and how many times have we been told that it was just a question of finalising the paperwork!  The saga of the stands is indicative of serious issues behind the scenes. 

2 hours ago, Fraz said:

Charles I think you're vastly overstating people's objections about the Tulloch deal and to say there was 'abuse' seems like hyperbole, I certainly never saw any of that. Are the people concerned about the Tulloch deal even the same as those concerned about MM? 

 

I'm not so sure about that, Fraz. Over the years, there have been regular derogatory remarks about the recent donor of £250,000 who is still the man dismissed as "the builder", and also much cynicism about his former business concern whose £6M has, over the years, variously staved off financial collapse, bankrolled progress to the SPL and provided the wherewithal to comply with its requirements. Now the flak is turning to the MM-controlled board, MM having donated over £0.5M, including £150,000 over the last year as part of the summer bailout. If the club is looking for "investment" - a useful euphemism for donations - then it really is going to have to hope that prospective "investors" don't scrutinise CTO or listen too much to "the word on the street", since they will be presented with plenty of reasons to place their money in places which will give them much less grief.

It's understandable that people are disappointed about relegation and now also that the playoffs suddenly look so much more unlikely. However a lot of the focus seems to be on trying to criticise what has been got wrong rather than highlighting the great amount which has been got right over the years. It's my belief that it was a minor miracle that ICT reached the SPL in ten years and a major one that it stayed in it for 12 of the next 13. This is because I believe that what we have is a product which is fundamentally loss-making in its market environment. In other words, especially with a heavily subsidised competitor 15 miles up the road and with increasing competition from other activities, not enough people are prepared to part with around £20 to sit outside in the cold watching an hour and a half of entertainment of quality which is no more predictable than in the rest of football - and that's before you even consider the added difficulties of being 150 miles detached from other sectors of the market. This is the intractable situation that successive board have wrestled with - and largely done a good job of staving off for as long as possible.

Edinburgh and especially Dundee have had difficulties sustaining two top flight football clubs in recent years. Glasgow could well be losing one of its three and Aberdeen has at times sailed perilously close to the wind with its one. So where does this leave the two clubs so close together in the sparsely populated inner Moray Firth, on the extreme periphery of national football? (One very possible answer to that question now being "playing Highland Derbies in the Championship")

As we approach the 25th anniversary of the election of Caley Thistle and Ross County to the SFL, I have been benefitting greatly from hindsight to the extent that I am now wondering if it was all that good an idea after all that both local clubs got into the league; and also - although I still believe that it was the "least bad" solution in the mid-90s - whether the siting of the Caledonian Stadium has now for some years been a significant liability?

Edited April 23, 20188 yr by Charles Bannerman

14 minutes ago, DoofersDad said:

Could well be. How long has it been since the transfer of ownership was announced and how many times have we been told that it was just a question of finalising the paperwork!  The saga of the stands is indicative of serious issues behind the scenes. 

It was mentioned at the fans meeting near the start of the season. First I heard of it was then. 

Latest update was 2 months ago stating the council has passed the transfer. 

http://ictfc.com/news/club-news/2138-stadium-green-light-is-welcomed

5 hours ago, Kingsmills said:

There is no doubt whatsoever that, even with the savings that have been made, we are running at a loss that is unsustainable probably in the medium term, let alone the longer term.

However, is that the fault of the current board or the previous regime who saw fit to trust JH with a new contract that made him the highest paid manager in our history with, by a margin, the highest player budget and then, after sacking him but still paying him that substantial six figure salary, appointing a completely unproven and inexperienced manager on a five year contract and then failing to take decisive action when it was increasingly obvious he was out of his depth ?

The current board and manager have made mistakes but took over amid utter chaos. The ship has been steadied on the pitch,. It would not be surprising, however,m if the deeper financial waters remained much more turbulent.

ffs why dont you just let your hatred of jh go.

8 minutes ago, Fraz said:

It was mentioned at the fans meeting near the start of the season. First I heard of it was then. 

Latest update was 2 months ago stating the council has passed the transfer. 

http://ictfc.com/news/club-news/2138-stadium-green-light-is-welcomed

Agreed in principle.  I could agree in principle to give the club £10 Million if I win the Euromillions jackpot....doesn't mean it's likely to ever happen.

1 minute ago, caleyboy said:

ffs why dont you just let your hatred of jh go.

Whereas you yourself retain a spirit of benevolence towards all involved in the governance of the club over the years?

lets not beat about the bush guys. for the club to progress or even remain at this level of football our financial mess needs sorted and that is the responsibilty of our current board. like it or not cb.

12 minutes ago, Charles Bannerman said:

Whereas you yourself retain a spirit of benevolence towards all involved in the governance of the club over the years?

your interest in my comments seems to becoming  an obsession Mr Bannerman. Chill ffs.

Edited April 23, 20188 yr by caleyboy

You'll never find the source of a fire if you're not able to look beyond the smoke.

The need for investment is without question - although the term donation is, of course, more accurate.  How many of us, really, would be willing to part with hundreds of thousands of pounds safe in the knowledge you would never recover any of it and the most gratitude you are likely to get is abuse for backing the wrong horse or not putting enough in?  Regrettably, Uncle Roy is a Staggie but I agree if we could get Messrs Sutherland and Savage to stop chest beating and measuring their respective whatevers and see the club as the main priority???

What has happened in the past was an omnishambles but progress - on the park - has been made in my opinion.  I agree with CB with the area/ economy struggling to support two clubs in the SPL and have playfully sparked heated debates after a dram or two by saying that the solution is to merge and create a highland superpower as it were.  But as we know, it would take 5 generations before the deep wounds of merger vs takeover would begin to fade.  And I say this firmly tongue in cheek from a footballing angle, but from a business perspective.....

I do think communication needs to be improved.  We are (technically) still in it but there has been nothing of Facebook/ Twitter etc since the game and we are missing a trick.  Unfortunately, I have always felt that a hangover from the Highland League exists where some of those who take up board positions are doing so for their own benefit and not that of the club - some who took up post when the club were admitted to the league had never set foot in either Telford St or Kingsmills as a paying fan in their lives but it suited them to get a slice of the pie.  Not all, I hasten to add as there are some stalwarts who give freely of their time week after week with only the clubs advancement as their reward.

We need bums on seats and this is the biggest challenge the club face - more fans means more revenue but more fans also means atmosphere which in turn should bring more fans to the games.  Surely as a player if you have a decent home support this will inspire a better performance and suddenly then we start to gain some traction?

On the whole I think we need to plug these "leaks" where rumours of a rumour start emanating from the stadium and those who are responsible should be removed from post.  The club need to be smarter in their delivery of fact much quicker to the fans.

 

Sorry, rambling now - newbie on here but have to say it seems quite healthy.  Mostly...

1 hour ago, caleyboy said:

lets not beat about the bush guys. for the club to progress or even remain at this level of football our financial mess needs sorted and that is the responsibilty of our current board. like it or not cb.

Don't agree entirely with this. Sure the board does have to have a plan, financially, for the club but given the huge variable that is the fans who turn up week to week, that is difficult. We all know we need more fans to attend each week but nobody has worked out how to do this. The board cannot make people attend, and it is unrealistic to expect them to continue using their own money to subsidise the club unlike over the bridge. Where however the board need to do some work is improving fan engagement/involvement as only by doing that can we have any attempt to grow our fan base. Fans need to play their part too as do we, as fans, need to look at a community owned club in future as the way forward?

2 hours ago, Charles Bannerman said:

It's understandable that people are disappointed about relegation and now also that the playoffs suddenly look so much more unlikely. However a lot of the focus seems to be on trying to criticise what has been got wrong rather than highlighting the great amount which has been got right over the years. It's my belief that it was a minor miracle that ICT reached the SPL in ten years and a major one that it stayed in it for 12 of the next 13. This is because I believe that what we have is a product which is fundamentally loss-making in its market environment. In other words, especially with a heavily subsidised competitor 15 miles up the road and with increasing competition from other activities, not enough people are prepared to part with around £20 to sit outside in the cold watching an hour and a half of entertainment of quality which is no more predictable than in the rest of football - and that's before you even consider the added difficulties of being 150 miles detached from other sectors of the market. This is the intractable situation that successive board have wrestled with - and largely done a good job of staving off for as long as possible.

Edinburgh and especially Dundee have had difficulties sustaining two top flight football clubs in recent years. Glasgow could well be losing one of its three and Aberdeen has at times sailed perilously close to the wind with its one. So where does this leave the two clubs so close together in the sparsely populated inner Moray Firth, on the extreme periphery of national football? (One very possible answer to that question now being "playing Highland Derbies in the Championship")

 

Constantly looking across at RC and deeming ICT success by being 'better' than them, being 'pride of the Highlands' and all that utter bullshit is pitiful and sad. The fact we are a loss making organisation makes us no different to most football clubs, the problem is that

a) the previous regime CHOSE to chase success and financed JH and other managers with lucrative contracts and player budgets - too often on here people blame the manager, where the initial blame really has to lie with those who gave the budgets to start with. In some respects with those amounts provided that manager produced results in excess of what should have been achieved and where RF failed it can be argued the board put him in that position. 

b) the marketing strategy of the club through the levels, capitalisation on success and increasing foot fall has been poor at best. The crowds are no better than 20 years ago, perhaps worse and while social reasons can be partly cited so an the lack of engagement from the club with the local community and the lack of focused marketing and drive to improve. Any product to be a success has to evolve, find new marketing avenues and look at ways to compete or beat the competition - doesn't matter whether its ICT & RC or Tesco and Asda. 

This new board for all the love that seems to be towards them from many quarters have yet to deliver on many promises ranging from better communication to improved stability throughout. They cut the club costs yet are still running a huge loss, ultimately we ended up with a weaker team who struggle to compete for much of the season - that's acceptable if costs were cut right back and we were almost profitable but that's not the case. We haemorrhage money on legacy contracts and poor decisions and choose not to gamble on investing for promotion - leaving us in a no-mans land of mediocrity. 

The time is now for the board to start to talk and engage before new ST go on sale - while some will just blindly buy or renew regardless, I would like to know where the club is going and what's happening the money regarding a longer term plan to balance the books? A business is nothing without its customers and right now rather than encouraging new supporters the club is doing its upmost throughout to alienate and **** of those already committed - from the ST renewal fiasco last summer, the public mis-treatment of players, petty letter written in riddles about fans & behaviour and general failure to deliver on the promises made other than through rumours and leaks.  

Edited April 23, 20188 yr by bdu98196

it's going to be hilarious when the announcement is a new away strip or something banal like that.

Nah, they are painting the main gate a different colour!

11 minutes ago, ictchris said:

it's going to be hilarious when the announcement is a new away strip or something banal like that.

I believe both strips are changing in the summer. Again. 

It'll be a "No Statement" statement that repeats everything they've promised and not delivered all season.

That will inevitably be followed by something the complete opposite of what is said.

1 hour ago, Huisdean said:

Don't agree entirely with this. Sure the board does have to have a plan, financially, for the club but given the huge variable that is the fans who turn up week to week, that is difficult. We all know we need more fans to attend each week but nobody has worked out how to do this. The board cannot make people attend, and it is unrealistic to expect them to continue using their own money to subsidise the club unlike over the bridge. Where however the board need to do some work is improving fan engagement/involvement as only by doing that can we have any attempt to grow our fan base. Fans need to play their part too as do we, as fans, need to look at a community owned club in future as the way forward?

i agree that encouraging more fans to buy season tickets and get more paying at the gate would help but this has always been a problem for us. you are right about connecting with fans but every board, since inception, has failed in this area. Maybe the Inverness public just don't want /deserve a full-time football club.

I have been guilty of throwing out the "Inverness don't deserve ICTFC because...." line myself in the past, but it is a bit BS-like.  It's about what the fans deserve and whether that's a part-time or full-time team (in whatever division) they should be treated with a lot less contempt than they are being at present.

3 hours ago, caley100 said:

Nah, they are painting the main gate a different colour!

Painting it at all would be a start.