What's all this about then?

 

Seems the key message is that it is unsustainable to run a full time club on part time revenues, getting revenues up and a supporting business model in place that will yield more money and ht attract investors, but without that surely the begging bowl is really out and the club wholly dependant on the whims of sugar daddies ?? Maybe the truth is public  apathy / low crowds will force the club to operate on a financially  realistic level, and Im afraid that may well be operating on a part time basis ? 

Edited October 3, 20196 yr by robgob
spelling

Anyone doing live updates?

Completely off topic, but Greg Tansey has announced his retirement... 

On 10/2/2019 at 8:22 PM, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Same thing happened to me but I bought the cigarettes. 

And we know what happened then?

Small bit on STV news. Chairman said it was a good meeting and more optimistic and a lot of people offering help. 

No new funding announced yet though. 

Be interesting to hear from anyone who attended. 

I wasn't there but from the tit bits I've read / heard whilst we are okay(ish) financially (any talk of admin is, at this stage, well wide of the mark) but if we continue to ply our trade in the Championship these ongoing losses, were no action to be taken, would result in us having to look at areas to make cuts. The youth setup would likely be canned or heavily scaled back and / or cuts made to the first team playing budget. If we want to maintain our current setup then we need more money invested in the club and getting more fans through the doors as well (this doesn't seem to be happening any time soon). Basically the club had budgeted for two seasons in the Championship (at a push three) before they would need to look at cutting back on costs and that's where we are now.

I'm no fan of Scott Gardiner but these financial issues have been well known for some time and well before he came in. Can't say I have too much faith in him being able to resolve matters however.

For a club that's done so much right on the pitch in a short space of time it's staggering how abysmal we have been off the pitch over the years. We have never gotten it together and it seems like we never will.

It appears that the plan is to change nothing, hope people throw even more money at us, pray we get promoted and/or can buy enough time for us to become the live outdoor music venue of choice (for 1 month a year), change the sports bar into a cafe and tap into the millions of electric car drivers doing the NC500 (which is pure genius as it doesn't even pass the stadium).

£500,000 shortfall for remainder of the season, not including youth.  £250,000 is secured, which includes the new chairman getting a sub of his Dad.

I'm a lot more confident now.

Just thinking...would loaning all the youngsters, or anyone who heads through the ranks, to Clach or Fort William (maybe Nairn too), cut down the costs on Youth Development, or only increase the costs?

Cos, like with our 9 players at the Fort, it's benefiting both sides. The players are getting game time/training they need, and the club is improving...

Was anything mentioned about how the club plan to actually try and get more supporters through the gates?

17 minutes ago, RiG said:

Was anything mentioned about how the club plan to actually try and get more supporters through the gates?

I assume that will be a topic at tuesdays meeting? 

Also can I encourage everyone who can manage to come to the social club at 7.30pm next tuesday to hear from the CEO and chairman how fans can help. All welcome. Please share news of this meeting to those not on social media 

42 minutes ago, Jack Waddington said:

Just thinking...would loaning all the youngsters, or anyone who heads through the ranks, to Clach or Fort William (maybe Nairn too), cut down the costs on Youth Development, or only increase the costs?

Cos, like with our 9 players at the Fort, it's benefiting both sides. The players are getting game time/training they need, and the club is improving...

Or cut the first team, save wages and play the youth (wonder how much a month could be saved per annum with some of those 9 replacing experienced bench warmers) - with the plan of long term financial stability and hoping we retain Championship status and continue to build. Unfortunately as the club finances are descending we have yet to hit rock bottom - as for footfall, if the message is we are on our arse then those who are already apathetic won't be bothering to flock!!!

Inverness Courier take on the EGM findings.

“We wanted to get a sound financial foundation for the rest of the season, to get the funds together so we don’t have to worry every month.

“We’re going to have to look at what we’ve got at the moment in youth development.

“The first thing we have to make sure is the normal football activity in the first team is protected. That’s the figures I gave tonight.

“Then, we have to see what we can do with the youth academy.

“It is survival of ICTFC on the park every Saturday and then we have to look at the luxuries of the youth development side.

PERHAPS WE SHOULD ALL BE GETTING BEHIND THE BOARD INSTEAD OF LAMBASTING EVERY MOVE - We need starlings not vultures

My contacts are suggesting that Orion will be putting up the 250K "Bridging Loan". And a mini "takeover" at Fort William would provide a "feeder" team.

1 hour ago, RiG said:

Was anything mentioned about how the club plan to actually try and get more supporters through the gates?

Flogging a dead horse with that one I fear. Even winning the Scottish Cup and playing good football doesn't entice folk away from the settee sadly. Stadium location, parking, all seater stadia = no atmosphere (and those that do try are given grief), pathetic stewards etc etc are all a put off in attracting new blood.  Costs too are a big factor but there's not much the club can do about that. Tough one. 

Pressures all on Robbo then deliver or the door club can't afford another season down here in the doldrums

45 minutes ago, Gringo said:

Flogging a dead horse with that one I fear. Even winning the Scottish Cup and playing good football doesn't entice folk away from the settee sadly. Stadium location, parking, all seater stadia = no atmosphere (and those that do try are given grief), pathetic stewards etc etc are all a put off in attracting new blood.  Costs too are a big factor but there's not much the club can do about that. Tough one. 

So for starters we'd like a town centre stadium, with decent parking and safe standing areas for atmosphere.

?

Did anybody at the meeting ask how we managed to maintain the playing budget and youth programme into the new season in spite of these massive losses?

That's what doesn't add up for me. We're into our third season in the Championship and we've got rid of the dregs of the Premiership wage bill - everyone contracted at the club will have signed on Championship terms. We know what being in this league means for our turnover and yet.....

....we still felt able to recruit 5 experienced players over the summer without making cuts to the youth programme or accepting bids for existing players. 

The previous chairman felt secure enough to make those decisions, presumably in the knowledge that he wasn't putting the future of the club at risk.

Perhaps there is a 'knight in shining armour', and maybe this EGM was only an exercise in transparency to the extent that it ensures everyone is privy to the distress of our 'fair maiden' before he rides in to the rescue.

6 hours ago, RiG said:

 

For a club that's done so much right on the pitch in a short space of time it's staggering how abysmal we have been off the pitch over the years. We have never gotten it together and it seems like we never will.

Whilst I agree with the majority of your post I think this last couple of sentences are  a bit harsh.  Blaming it all on the board is too easy.  The basic problem is the apathy of the 'support' from the Inverness area. Ok, there are probably things the Board might have been able to do to improve things, but if the majority of the potential fanbase would rather jump on buses every week to support the ugly sisters, the Board are on a hiding to nothing.  

Tell you what, if I was a potential investor (read donor) and took time out of my busy life either running a medium to large sized business (which is what you need to be doing to inject the levels of capital the club need, let's face it) I'd think twice after seeing some of the posts and disdain that "we" seem to have for the board, their motives for doing what needs to be done, the way they run the club etc.  The cynicism in quite staggering - and I can do cynicism - but some seem to chip away at everything without making any suggestion as to what they would perhaps suggest.  We could maybe do with damping things down for a bit and thinking how we could perhaps look to pro-actively assist in our clubs future.  Or is schadenfreude the way forward when we go part-time, run out of money, sell th eground and we can sit back and say "See, told you so", fiddling whilst Rome burns.  Jaysus.....

I thought the way ahead this season would be a cull of deadwood or more politely bench warmers we no who they are Traff White etc sign a talisman i.e. Storey and fill out the squad with youth saving money and giving us something to build on long term most fans enjoy seeing young bucks from the youth teams get a run out! How to attract more fans is gonna be tough for the fair weather fan with a couple of kids a pricey day out to see the likes of Arbroath pity the poor bugger tasked with selling ict to the area!

How about running a business that has nothing to do with football,  but channel the revenues  from said business into the footballing side of the business...perhaps another 'division' of ICTFC Ltd...?

If there are entrepreneurs interested in coming on board then maybe this is something that can convince them to get involved - using their acumen to generate funds for the club as well as profits for the business...

1 hour ago, Caley Stan said:

Did anybody at the meeting ask how we managed to maintain the playing budget and youth programme into the new season in spite of these massive losses?

That's what doesn't add up for me. We're into our third season in the Championship and we've got rid of the dregs of the Premiership wage bill - everyone contracted at the club will have signed on Championship terms. We know what being in this league means for our turnover and yet.....

....we still felt able to recruit 5 experienced players over the summer without making cuts to the youth programme or accepting bids for existing players. 

The previous chairman felt secure enough to make those decisions, presumably in the knowledge that he wasn't putting the future of the club at risk.

Perhaps there is a 'knight in shining armour', and maybe this EGM was only an exercise in transparency to the extent that it ensures everyone is privy to the distress of our 'fair maiden' before he rides in to the rescue.

Can I refer you to the post by A sofa in San Tropez on page one of the Chairman resigns thread. Explains exactly how we are keeping doors open prior to soft loans being written off. I think what club are saying is this is unsustainable in the Championship long term. 

If you are local come along on tuesday and ask exactly that! 

41 minutes ago, old caley girl said:

Can I refer you to the post by A sofa in San Tropez on page one of the Chairman resigns thread. Explains exactly how we are keeping doors open prior to soft loans being written off. I think what club are saying is this is unsustainable in the Championship long term. 

If you are local come along on tuesday and ask exactly that! 

The post you're referring to implies that the providers of said loans are preparing to take control of the club. Why then, this EGM and the dramatic language that surrounds it? Is it just a PR exercise to prepare the ground for them to scale down the youth system when they come in?