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I think most people realise that the club's finances are not good at the moment but I fail to see anything in the Chairman's statement that could reasonably be interpreted as though the situation has significantly deteriorated. Instead, the Chairman has used phrases such as "making solid progress", "beginning to pay dividends" and "are making good progress on achieving our targets." Had the position deteriorated we might have had "continuing to develop solutions", "actively working with others" and "making concerted efforts to address these challenging issues" etc. Having said that, I have little doubt that progress made is not as great as the Board would have liked. After all, how often have we heard the club state that they were finalising the gift of the stands from Tullochs? What is perhaps interesting is that the chairman puts the word "gift" in inverted commas. It would be nice to know a little bit more. Perhaps the Chairman could communicate a bit more frequently and/or in a bit more detail. But if we had an effective fans group which engaged with the club and reported back to the fans then that would be our route for information. What the statement brings home to me most starkly is the utter failure of CJT to carry out it's role. It is clear that the club needs the support of fans now more than ever and therefore action needs to be taken to reconstitute CJT as a genuinely representative organisation and for it to actively engage with fans and the club alike.

If players are being paid “generally” at a certain level, that is their market value. TV deals with different kick off arrangements aren’t evidence that players are paid above their market value. TV deals are one component of what gives footballers their market value.

Imagine what league we would be in if we said 'well the Highland rugby club only pay a tracksuit and a free bar at the end of the year, so that's what will we offer you to play for us'. Think until Hughes was in charge and the exception of Marius have we overpaid players for their worth in the current market. Hence why the talented players move on to bigger wages elsewhere.

Unfortimately it's that kind of insular attitude which has contributed to landing football in the state it's in - a general state of paying players far too much, often for not doing a geeat deal, which in turn is one root cause of ICT's current specific predicament. Has it not occurred to posters who have been calling for a "sugar daddy" for ICT, just how bizarre it is that there should be some kind of institutionalised expectation that wealthy people should subsidise businesses which are loss making because they pay employees way above their market value? Football shouldn't assume that it is owed a living by rich people simply to keep turnstile prices down. And yes, 5:15 on a Sunday is a daft KO time, but it's simply a consequence of inflated wages creating pressure to do TV deals. If football would only wake up and sniff the coffee, it might actually learn something from the other sports which organise their affairs in a far more sustainable manner.

Every investment into a Scottish Football Club is a charitable donation, it's a money pit. The only people I am aware of who made big bucks from their investment were Fergus McCann, Craig Whyte and Charles Green and I would hesitate before calling the latter two investors.

I thought it started out as speculation, and ended up virtually as a call for the replacement of the current board. So I wouldn't have given it as much time as you did

I do think we have to be careful into reading too much into the figures reported in the statement and from comments from the armchair accountants on social media. Undoubtedly we are suffering financially by being in the Championship and our crowds have taken a worrying sharp decrease, possibly due to the lack of travelling support from most Championship clubs. However, as usual, the general public of Inverness seems to have deserted the club when it most needs them. Some will argue that is the fault of the club given the poor start to the season, some poor on field performances etc but if we want the club to survive and prosper again, then we have to turn out. I am probably of a generation of fans who will turn out regardless but we seem to be becoming the minority in terms of supporters.

Very worrying that financially the Club is still in such an insecure state. New money is still required to come in from external sources to enable the Club to even remain solvent. The current board admit that to be the stark reality of the current financial situation. Take of the gloss of the statement and it can be viewed as akin to waving the white ( financial ) flag. Is this an admittance that they have done all they can, invested all they have / all they are willing to. Frightening times indeed. Those fresh sources of money seemingly have to see their new money go into ICTFC and then work within the current Muirfield Mills board + structure. Unless that prospect changes I find it difficult to imagine it to be an attractive investment to anyone, especially bearing in mind that any investor will definitely not receive any return on their money. Reasonably deep pockets will be required to have the Club operating on the current business model. I would say the fresh money must come from sources with an affinity for the Club, perhaps even a previous history with the Club. Would any potential investors have the financial muscle to pay off the Muirfield Mills investment?? ( circa £200k ). This pay off before a penny goes into Club and a new board formed to move it forward. As I say frightening times for the Club indeed.

My mistake. I thought I heard that 3 qualified for final. Perhaps that was only for semi final qualifying. Still, 4 disqualifications and one other crash out in her last 5 Olympic races does not sound like just bad luck too me. Let's see what she can do in her last race next week, assuming she is fit enough. Great to see our lady tin tray sliders do so well with gold and bronze.

If we can't afford to sustain the club on the current tv deal and gate receipts then of course the players are being paid above the market value. I would much rather have the standard drop in football in Scotland than pay over the odds for players to try and compete.

I would imagine it would be because a suggestion like that would be laughed off by the club buying the player.

Totally agree with this. Our home crowds in this competition so far have been 930 (Peterhead) and 1,078 (Falkirk). That shows how little people care about the competition regardless of the fact that tomorrows match is a semi final. If we get over 1,000 we'll be doing well. These low crowds are symptomatic of the competition.

Not quite. Football generally pays its players above, sometimes well above, their market value - hence creating, among other things, the need to bankroll that through TV deals with arrangements like 5:15 Sunday kick-offs. One of the main reasons Caley Thistle is on an unsound financial footing is that it latterly paid its players even further above that market value (ie compared, relatively, with the rest of football) in a failed attempt to remain in the Premiership.

And maybe the match will be a cracker, to go with the crowdie.

This is the least attended competition in Scottish football, it’s an age since we qualified for the semis, it’s live on television, kick off is at a terrible time, there’s going to be a tiny away support. It’s going to be a shocking crowd, no point in going all pearl clutchy about it.

Serves them right for being shyte at fitba if you ask me.

It would be appreciated if someone in CJT could give us an update.

Better Still, we need an effective and efficient youth system that produces a player we can sell on for a decent fee at least every couple of season. The fact that we have only 'home reared' one player that we have been able to sell on for a substantial fee in almost a quarter of a century is a sad indictment of what we've done st youth level over the years

Yogi was also on Radio Scotland this morning saying his achievements at Falkirk and Inverness made him the best man for the job. You can't help but love the way he talks, but Scotland needs a manager where the performance on the park is more entertaining than the manager's post match interview. With Yogi it would be the other way round.

Sadly, this all just goes to show the level of mismanagement by previous boards. I know the current board is trying to turn things around and are probably the most business orientated board we have had. Let's all hope we can turn HMS Sneck around and sail into a bright future.

Who cares about any other sports, how they train and what they are paid? How is that relevant to Inverness Caledonian Thistle performing in the championship.