The chief executive of Inverness Caley Thistle, Scot Gardiner, has resigned but remains with the club for the time being to work his notice period, according to board member Graeme Bennett.

Mr Bennet said: “Listen, Scot has had a fair bit of grief and stress through the relegation process but we need to stick together and find a way out of this – everybody has to pull together for the sake of the club.

“Scot Gardiner has resigned but I have asked to help us out and he was good today at a meeting of the staff, he is working his notice and doing everything he can for Caley Thistle.”

He added that no interim-chairman has yet been appointed either because given the current predicament nobody wants the job while it is not one he seeks for himself.

“Nobody really wants that mantle,” he said. “I am a director, ex-player, etc – I just want to do my best for the club and it is very hard to entice people to join the hierarchy given the predicament we are in. It is not my forte.” - Inverness Courier 

 

1 hour ago, caley100 said:

He would build a jetty opposite the stadium, Open a beachcomber bar and call it 'Johnnies'

Sounds like great crack!

Just a quick note to say that Sportsound on BBC Radio Scotland will be running a discussion on Caley Thistle round about 3:30 tomorrow (Sat) afternoon.

Gardiner should have been sacked long ago.  The Board have created a problem for themselves by trusting Gardiner and allowing him to have far too much control in the running of the club.  Gardiner's management style is of the control freak variety.  He has never wanted anything done without his say so.  There are things which should have been delegated but which he would keep to himself.  As a result, I suspect there genuinely are a lot of things which realistically, only he can do.  For instance, we are due a club AGM and this had previously been administered by the Company Secretary.  We haven't had a Company Secretary since April last year and I would imagine that it has been the CEO who has taken on the Company Secretary roles.  There may be nobody else in the building that would know what to do, where to find the relevant files etc.

On the other hand, the Board also know there are people who do not trust Gardiner and who will not put a penny into the club until he is finally out of the door.  They will be aware that of all the loose ends to be tied up, he is the biggest.  I would assume he has at least 3 months notice to work, but if the club is to move forward quickly in a meaningful way, he needs to be away before then.  The Board therefore need to identify what "loose ends" there are which Gardiner needs to action and give him a clear timescale to get them sorted.  They need to identify who will now carry out his former management roles. They then need to identify what information he has which needs passed to others to allow the club to function, and make sure it is passed to the relevant people.  That should not take more than 4 weeks at the most.  After that, he should be away on gardening leave for the rest of his notice period.

Of course, if Gardiner was even a remotely competent manager, none of this would be necessary because he would have trained his staff properly and kept relevant staff appropriately appraised of issues.  This should be routine practice in order that other staff can seamlessly take over the reins in the event of unforeseen absence.  There should have been no reason for him to stay in the building beyond the day he resigned.

24 minutes ago, Charles Bannerman said:

Just a quick note to say that Sportsound on BBC Radio Scotland will be running a discussion on Caley Thistle round about 3:30 tomorrow (Sat) afternoon.

Last weeks one was pretty explosive do looking forward to this week's 

Looking forward to hopefully getting more ICT playing/non playing staff on the pod now the clown is gone! 

Thing is he's not gone, he's hanging on like a dried on skid mark on a toilet bowl. He's created a situation where he's held so much control that everything has to go through him and he's the only one 'able' to much of the processes. DD about has expressed this much better than I can. 

My red line is as it has been for months, no ST until he's gone. He's still there slithering around. 

10 hours ago, Charles Bannerman said:

Just a quick note to say that Sportsound on BBC Radio Scotland will be running a discussion on Caley Thistle round about 3:30 tomorrow (Sat) afternoon.

Will this be the informed opinions of Mr dodds with irrelevant input from Miller and bonner?

Maybe it will be a half season ticket this year if it takes that long for the club to let Gardiner go . Does resigned not mean resigned as in HE resigned ?   Would you really want him to work his notice ? Would the board trust this guy after his continuous poor management.? I’d have thought Not but then again it’s Caley .Even the circus will probably pull out of using the car park this year knowing we have our own one going on at the moment . 

10 hours ago, Fraz said:

Thing is he's not gone, he's hanging on like a dried on skid mark on a toilet bowl. He's created a situation where he's held so much control that everything has to go through him and he's the only one 'able' to much of the processes. DD about has expressed this much better than I can. 

My red line is as it has been for months, no ST until he's gone. He's still there slithering around. 

That's a bit harsh ... on skid marks. Nobody wants to be compared to him.

15 hours ago, caley100 said:

Are you mad woman????? 😆

He would build a jetty opposite the stadium, Open a beachcomber bar and call it 'Johnnies'

Fanny. Where have you been Mee

 Johndo, I've missed you! 

I did win the lottery, reckon me and Yngwie can maybe go halfers?

It's still there.

Like the sticky, stinking something you get on your shoe, and can't shake off!

3 minutes ago, buckett said:

It's still there.

Like the sticky, stinking something you get on your shoe, and can't shake off!

Courier headline: "Ketan Makwana says no changes at the top at Inverness Caley Thistle until he knows ‘what’s working, what’s not working’".

If he can’t see already what’s not working, what’s gone wrong and why, then he’s in the wrong ball game!

When I seen this thread bumped up earlier I thought he might have gone but no such luck 

37 minutes ago, CaleyCanary said:

If he can’t see already what’s not working, what’s gone wrong and why, then he’s in the wrong ball game!

Absolutely.  Not rushing into anything, but instead making a careful assessment of these things and of the staff employed is good management if you are simply moving into a new management job.  If that assessment shows that the enterprise is a lost cause, then you are free to look for a job elsewhere.  It is different if you come to the enterprise as a result of making a major investment in order to become the owner - if the enterprise is a lost cause, then you lose your money.  Makwana should not be investing his (or somebody else's) money in the club unless he has already done as thorough an assessment as possible of why the club is in financial crisis and of the potential for future improvement.  As a general rule, you will not want to risk your investment by retaining for a day longer than necessary, those responsible for the enterprise being in financial crisis in the first place.

 

Does anyone in their right mind think he will immediately remove the LinkedIn buddy that is offering him the keys to the kingdom??

Time for the ST to male it crystal clear to the new 'owner' that Gardiner remaining = no fanbase. 

1 hour ago, Duke of Inverness said:

Time for the ST to male it crystal clear to the new 'owner' that Gardiner remaining = no fanbase. 

I think it pretty certain that the Supporters Trust will have made the views of supporters very clear to Makwana.  But let's get real here.  If Gardiner stays, there will still be a significant fanbase.  It is a small minority of fans who are currently boycotting games and withholding money.  Attendances this season are clearly down a fair bit and some of that will be due to fans boycotting, but some will also be down to a drop off of enthusiasm following relegation.  The reality is that most fans who want Gardiner gone will still come and support the team.  It is of course true, that as long as Gardiner is in post, the club is losing out on a not insignificant sum of money,

Makwana has said then when the deal is finalised, he wants to sit down and talk to everyone at the club and look into the whites of their eyes as part of an audit.  If he is being thorough, that will include the Board of the Supporters Trust and perhaps reaching out to former staff and local business.  If he does that, he will realise (if he doesn't already) that Gardiner is almost universally disliked and distrusted, and has alienated a huge number of people in the wider club community.  He will also hear of numerous examples of bad decision making and poor treatment of people.  He will learn that whatever positive attributes Gardiner may have do not compensate for the negatives.  

There is huge potential for development of the club within its staff, fanbase, local businesses and the wider community.  That potential will not be realised if the club is fronted by a CEO who nobody trusts or wants to engage with.  Gardiner is a millstone round the neck of the club.  Makwana needs to realise that the club will not prosper whilst Gardiner remains at the club

 

21 minutes ago, DoofersDad said:

I think it pretty certain that the Supporters Trust will have made the views of supporters very clear to Makwana.  But let's get real here.  If Gardiner stays, there will still be a significant fanbase.  It is a small minority of fans who are currently boycotting games and withholding money.  Attendances this season are clearly down a fair bit and some of that will be due to fans boycotting, but some will also be down to a drop off of enthusiasm following relegation.  The reality is that most fans who want Gardiner gone will still come and support the team.  It is of course true, that as long as Gardiner is in post, the club is losing out on a not insignificant sum of money,

Makwana has said then when the deal is finalised, he wants to sit down and talk to everyone at the club and look into the whites of their eyes as part of an audit.  If he is being thorough, that will include the Board of the Supporters Trust and perhaps reaching out to former staff and local business.  If he does that, he will realise (if he doesn't already) that Gardiner is almost universally disliked and distrusted, and has alienated a huge number of people in the wider club community.  He will also hear of numerous examples of bad decision making and poor treatment of people.  He will learn that whatever positive attributes Gardiner may have do not compensate for the negatives.  

There is huge potential for development of the club within its staff, fanbase, local businesses and the wider community.  That potential will not be realised if the club is fronted by a CEO who nobody trusts or wants to engage with.  Gardiner is a millstone round the neck of the club.  Makwana needs to realise that the club will not prosper whilst Gardiner remains at the club

 

Well said Sir. You obviously have more time than me. 😀

Couldn't agree more DD

6 hours ago, DoofersDad said:

I think it pretty certain that the Supporters Trust will have made the views of supporters very clear to Makwana.  But let's get real here.  If Gardiner stays, there will still be a significant fanbase.  It is a small minority of fans who are currently boycotting games and withholding money.  Attendances this season are clearly down a fair bit and some of that will be due to fans boycotting, but some will also be down to a drop off of enthusiasm following relegation.  The reality is that most fans who want Gardiner gone will still come and support the team.  It is of course true, that as long as Gardiner is in post, the club is losing out on a not insignificant sum of money,

Makwana has said then when the deal is finalised, he wants to sit down and talk to everyone at the club and look into the whites of their eyes as part of an audit.  If he is being thorough, that will include the Board of the Supporters Trust and perhaps reaching out to former staff and local business.  If he does that, he will realise (if he doesn't already) that Gardiner is almost universally disliked and distrusted, and has alienated a huge number of people in the wider club community.  He will also hear of numerous examples of bad decision making and poor treatment of people.  He will learn that whatever positive attributes Gardiner may have do not compensate for the negatives.  

There is huge potential for development of the club within its staff, fanbase, local businesses and the wider community.  That potential will not be realised if the club is fronted by a CEO who nobody trusts or wants to engage with.  Gardiner is a millstone round the neck of the club.  Makwana needs to realise that the club will not prosper whilst Gardiner remains at the club

 

A balanced and fair viewpoint DD from a footballing perspective. If I thought Katwana’s interest was solely in the interests of the club I might be tempted to align / agree with you. But let’s also be realistic here and accept Kahwana is here to line his pockets and the club is third or forth in line behind getting rich on the back of whatever asset or people can facilitate that aim. He admits never even knew ICT existed until one of his fellow money mates pushed it under his nose.

Keeping or dumping SG will be calculated on the ability of him being able to help Kahwana achieve this.
Bear in mind SG has a watertight contract and will not depart until he gets what he thinks he can get.  

You will get platitudes and nice words by the bucketload, but what the fans think will hardly register with Kahwana imho.

Edited August 7, 2024Aug 7 by big cherly

3 hours ago, big cherly said:

Bear in mind SG has a watertight contract and will not depart until he gets what he thinks he can get.  

 

Of this I have no doubt, people like this are always self-preserving, pity this outlook wasn't attributed to his day-to-day work and contracts/applications signed on behalf of the club/put forward on behalf of the club were as watertight.