Read the full statement HERE

"We have been working for a number of weeks on a comprehensive restructuring plan for what we believe is the best way forward for ICTFC, details of which will be announced in the next few days, but following last night’s Board Meeting, I can confirm that the club will remain full-time next season and I thank everyone in advance for showing some patience as we make sure that plan is finalised".

 

Key Points from initial Statement (only 3 days late)

• Club to remain full time
• Focus on long term stability
• More news to follow. (this must be the tip of the iceberg!)

So far, this is not the news the we on Caley Thistle Online wanted to hear. Pleased that we will still function as a club, disappointed that resignations have not been offered yet. Keeping fans waiting in silence for three days is unforgivable and relationships are drifting further apart than ever before. Silence is not the way forward, we deserve better.

5 minutes ago, tm4tj said:

Read the full statement HERE

"We have been working for a number of weeks on a comprehensive restructuring plan for what we believe is the best way forward for ICTFC, details of which will be announced in the next few days, but following last night’s Board Meeting, I can confirm that the club will remain full-time next season and I thank everyone in advance for showing some patience as we make sure that plan is finalised".

 

Key Points from initial Statement (only 3 days late)

• Club to remain full time
• Focus on long term stability
• More news to follow. (this must be the tip of the iceberg!)

So far, this is not the news the we on Caley Thistle Online wanted to hear. Pleased that we will still function as a club, disappointed that resignations have not been offered yet. Keeping fans waiting in silence for three days is unforgivable and relationships are drifting further apart than ever before. Silence is not the way forward, we deserve better.

What a well considered and worded statement - couldn't do better myself. To me this is clearly ALL about the Battery Farm outcome - and nothing will change at the top until then. And then we will see the fireworks 💥💥

It says nothing. At least we remain full time for now. Changes need to be made. If we start the League One season with the same people in charge than I fear we'll fall even further. The sad/bad times are here for a good while yet I fear.

It leaves more questions than answers.

Are there changes to the Board?

Will we retain a CEO?

What about the Manager, Assistant and Coaches?

What about the other staff employed by the club, many of whom must be quite low paid.

How big a squad will we have?

What happens to the Academy?

etc etc.

1 minute ago, Robert said:

It leaves more questions than answers.

Are there changes to the Board?

Will we retain a CEO?

What about the Manager, Assistant and Coaches?

What about the other staff employed by the club, many of whom must be quite low paid.

How big a squad will we have?

What happens to the Academy?

etc etc.

Hence the bit about further announcements to come. 
 

People are going to be losing their jobs and you wouldn’t want them to find out about it in a press release would you?!

6 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

Hence the bit about further announcements to come. 
 

People are going to be losing their jobs and you wouldn’t want them to find out about it in a press release would you?!

No, I have a very good understanding of Employment Law so know the process companies need to follow.

However the restructuring was made public at the Fans Meeting in early April and to take effect from the start of the new financial year on 1 June. For that date to be achieved, they should be well through the consultation process by now.

Personally I want to understand how the plan, whatever it is, achieves sustainability, particularly if the Battery Farm does not get the go ahead, and how we avoid a repeat of the current cash flow problems.

 

9 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

People are going to be losing their jobs

Yup, clear out of supporting & admin staff no doubt, followed by requests for volunteers to help run some match day support functions. Typical cost cutting moves in most organisations - start chopping at the bottom I'd suspect

11 minutes ago, bdu98196 said:

Yup, clear out of supporting & admin staff no doubt, followed by requests for volunteers to help run some match day support functions. Typical cost cutting moves in most organisations - start chopping at the bottom I'd suspect

Yes and you can bet we will still have a fulltime CEO to oversee it all.

7 minutes ago, Robert said:

However the restructuring was made public at the Fans Meeting in early April and to take effect from the start of the new financial year on 1 June. For that date to be achieved, they should be well through the consultation process by now

When you say “the” restructuring it was actually just “a” restructuring they announced back then. The cost cutting needed for League 1 is obviously far more severe than for the Championship. 

Ferguson’s done it hasn’t he. He’s going to be staying and we’re going to get the same insipid bollocks week after week. But now on plastic pitches. 

13 minutes ago, bdu98196 said:

Yup, clear out of supporting & admin staff no doubt, followed by requests for volunteers to help run some match day support functions. Typical cost cutting moves in most organisations - start chopping at the bottom I'd suspect

Indeed. We have a core of good staff at the sharp end and they will almost certainly be the ones that suffer either by losing jobs or by being expected to do more with or for less ... it is at the top end where the skills are blunt and fingernails will cling to power as long as they can. Anything less than an announcement that the first two people to go are Gardiner and Ferguson will be utterly wrong. I am not sure we can afford to pay them off as I don't know their contracts, but for the sake of the club, its ethos, its community, or what is left of it, I am not sure we can afford NOT to do it. 

 

11 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

When you say “the” restructuring it was actually just “a” restructuring they announced back then. The cost cutting needed for League 1 is obviously far more severe than for the Championship. 

Indeed it is, but I’d expect there to be plans prepared for both scenarios, with the relevant one then taken forward.

Anyway, we are both in the same boat here, wanting our club to survive and prosper.

17 minutes ago, Robert said:

Indeed it is, but I’d expect there to be plans prepared for both scenarios, with the relevant one then taken forward.

Anyway, we are both in the same boat here, wanting our club to survive and prosper.

Aye Robert we are all in the same boat and it looks like it will be the same Captain and crew sailing the same course unfortunately.  I will wait and see what further announcements are made later in the week.

6 minutes ago, Scotty said:

Anything less than an announcement that the first two people to go are Gardiner and Ferguson will be utterly wrong. I am not sure we can afford to pay them off as I don't know their contracts, but for the sake of the club, its ethos, its community, or what is left of it, I am not sure we can afford NOT to do it. 

 

Daft question perhaps given ghe lack of financial transparency in recent times but do we have any insight on ST sales projection vs actuals within the clubs budget for full time status during 23/24 ? Irrespective of whether we do or don't that is one imperative, along with boycotting official club merchandise,  we as a collective can utilise to drive home the demand for change at the top highlighted in the excellent trust statement.

The fan base need to consider rallying to make the club sit up and take note how many long term supporters do not intend to renew (or if ex ST holders return) unless they agree to fall on their swords (metaphorically of course)  A list if it could somehow be collated would have more impact than individual emails. 

To those who say this is harming the club I would contest do we shock the patient in the hope of a positive response or await the inevitable. 

I purchased a ticket for the covid season to support the club because I was lucky enough to be able to & never saw a ball  kicked in anger whilst it is now apparent Gardiner bedded in his authoritarian regime back stage. Those at the top have subsequently taken the goodwill of the dwindling fan base post covid as a given whilst completely taking it for granted. They have fixated on vanity projects, disappeared repeatedly down rabbit holes, mis representing OUR club in the process and completely taking their eye of the nuts and bolts of running OUR football club. 

Now they issue this statement after 72 hours of radio silence. Talk about not reading the room. 

Renew our hope & we'll renew our commitment.. 

Rant ends 

 

 

 

13 minutes ago, Leaky Blinder said:

Daft question perhaps given ghe lack of financial transparency in recent times but do we have any insight on ST sales projection vs actuals within the clubs budget for full time status during 23/24 ? Irrespective of whether we do or don't that is one imperative, along with boycotting official club merchandise,  we as a collective can utilise to drive home the demand for change at the top highlighted in the excellent trust statement.

The fan base need to consider rallying to make the club sit up and take note how many long term supporters do not intend to renew (or if ex ST holders return) unless they agree to fall on their swords (metaphorically of course)  A list if it could somehow be collated would have more impact than individual emails. 

To those who say this is harming the club I would contest do we shock the patient in the hope of a positive response or await the inevitable. 

I purchased a ticket for the covid season to support the club because I was lucky enough to be able to & never saw a ball  kicked in anger whilst it is now apparent Gardiner bedded in his authoritarian regime back stage. Those at the top have subsequently taken the goodwill of the dwindling fan base post covid as a given whilst completely taking it for granted. They have fixated on vanity projects, disappeared repeatedly down rabbit holes, mis representing OUR club in the process and completely taking their eye of the nuts and bolts of running OUR football club. 

Now they issue this statement after 72 hours of radio silence. Talk about not reading the room. 

Renew our hope & we'll renew our commitment.. 

Rant ends 

 

 

 

What a pathetic statement and it took a whole 72 hours to come up with all that dribble .Great about staying full time Thats a plus but unless the useless failure of the CEO gets away from our club there is going to be a very empty stadium and following . Not hearing any support for Gardiner . He is the core of all that is wrong with our club and has to be pushed. Failure after Failure with him at the helm . What’s the next failure coming from him . Rumoured to be on 100k a year . At 10k a year it would be too much . Are fans going to renew season tickets knowing some of that money is going towards paying his wages ? Won’t be my money that’s for sure . 

The reality is that (I imagine) we currently cannot pay Ferguson off. Unless he agrees to go he is staying and we have to build next season and like it or not. 
I think we go for it next season to win league one and if he isn’t producing after 6-8 games he will walk. 
Gardner on the other hand… who knows how, what and how long he is being paid for…

2 hours ago, Robert said:

Indeed it is, but I’d expect there to be plans prepared for both scenarios, with the relevant one then taken forward.

Anyway, we are both in the same boat here, wanting our club to survive and prosper.

I expect the restructuring to consist of getting rid of things and people who are good for the club and retaining those responsible for getting us into this mess.

It's time for the other directors to make a stand and prove me wrong.

1 hour ago, Leaky Blinder said:

Daft question perhaps given ghe lack of financial transparency in recent times but do we have any insight on ST sales projection vs actuals within the clubs budget for full time status during 23/24 ? Irrespective of whether we do or don't that is one imperative, along with boycotting official club merchandise,  we as a collective can utilise to drive home the demand for change at the top highlighted in the excellent trust statement.

The fan base need to consider rallying to make the club sit up and take note how many long term supporters do not intend to renew (or if ex ST holders return) unless they agree to fall on their swords (metaphorically of course)  A list if it could somehow be collated would have more impact than individual emails. 

To those who say this is harming the club I would contest do we shock the patient in the hope of a positive response or await the inevitable. 

I purchased a ticket for the covid season to support the club because I was lucky enough to be able to & never saw a ball  kicked in anger whilst it is now apparent Gardiner bedded in his authoritarian regime back stage. Those at the top have subsequently taken the goodwill of the dwindling fan base post covid as a given whilst completely taking it for granted. They have fixated on vanity projects, disappeared repeatedly down rabbit holes, mis representing OUR club in the process and completely taking their eye of the nuts and bolts of running OUR football club. 

Now they issue this statement after 72 hours of radio silence. Talk about not reading the room. 

Renew our hope & we'll renew our commitment.. 

Rant ends 

 

 

 

The club has never been very forthcoming about ST sales although I think Scott Young may have given a figure recently at a Supporters Trust meeting.  I think it was somewhere in the region of 1300 but hopefully someone can give a more accurate figure.  Inevitably there will be some who will not renew in any case,  simply because we are slipping down a level .  Also, I assume there will be a price reduction at the lower level.  So, for the sake of argument, if the average ticket price was £250 and 1000 people bought season tickets, there would be an income of £250k from season tickets.

I have always been in the camp of saying that a boycott would harm the club.  I'm really not so sure now.  There are clearly a lot of people saying they will not renew whilst the CEO remains in post.  Collectively we have the power to withhold his wages till he is gone.  Hopefully the Board will come to their senses before a boycott is necessary but if not, a season ticket boycott could be a powerful tool to knock some sense into them.

Be careful.  Quite a few people came at me for boycotting spending my money with the club over the past season.

It’s a statement that has more questions than answers sadly. I really hope this restructure is going to benefit the club and secure our future and not just benefit certain individuals. Youth is the way forward. 

1 hour ago, STFU said:

Be careful.  Quite a few people came at me for boycotting spending my money with the club over the past season.

 

How'd he get one of Big Dunc's positional coaching charts?

i plan to buy a season ticket now for next season to help keep the club going 

 

 

11 hours ago, DoofersDad said:

The club has never been very forthcoming about ST sales although I think Scott Young may have given a figure recently at a Supporters Trust meeting.  I think it was somewhere in the region of 1300 but hopefully someone can give a more accurate figure.  Inevitably there will be some who will not renew in any case,  simply because we are slipping down a level .  Also, I assume there will be a price reduction at the lower level.  So, for the sake of argument, if the average ticket price was £250 and 1000 people bought season tickets, there would be an income of £250k from season tickets.

I have always been in the camp of saying that a boycott would harm the club.  I'm really not so sure now.  There are clearly a lot of people saying they will not renew whilst the CEO remains in post.  Collectively we have the power to withhold his wages till he is gone.  Hopefully the Board will come to their senses before a boycott is necessary but if not, a season ticket boycott could be a powerful tool to knock some sense into them.

From the note of the February Fans Meeting, Scott Young said there were 1459 season tickets and a further 50 half season tickets. 

25 minutes ago, Robert said:

From the note of the February Fans Meeting, Scott Young said there were 1459 season tickets and a further 50 half season tickets. 

I'd bet my mortgage they are all not paid STs 

You have to assume that the club has been working out what our 'backers' can afford to write off and what guarantees they can extend for the forthcoming season before making moves in terms of staying full-time, changing manager, impact on non-playing roles etc.

It's also worth noting that full-time football is no guarantee of promotion.  Queen of the South have been fulltime since they got relegated and finished seventh this season, behind a lot of part-time teams.  Falkirk and Dunfermline have both had extended stays in the third tier as full-time clubs in recent history.