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Maintaining the 2015 SC team together was financially impossible. As with any club that is smaller & successful whether in Scotland, EPL, or Europe it gets asset stripped very quickly - if other clubs start offering your players double or triple salaries you can either overextend to keep them or they leave and you are back to recruiting within your own economic pond. Our situation was worse by the fact we let contracts expire due to the policy of short (1 or 2 year deals) to preserve our financial commitments & risks therefore rarely receiving and transfer fees. We'd all have loved to see that squad stay together and see what it could have achieved going forwards but it was inevitable that would end. The combination of factors all aligning to bring forwards another crop like that and develop success has low probability - so many examples out there. It does not mean mistakes were not made and the club should be in a better position with recruitment, finances and player development.

In the back door We have arrived at the Tony Macaroni via default. We sort of came in by the tradesman's entrance after Queens Park were eliminated from the Scottish Cup for fielding an ineligible player. Step forward Euan Henderson who has now been inducted into the Caley Jags Scottish Cup Hall of Fame alongside some famous legends. Legends like Josh Meekings, James Vincent and Jamie MacDonald. Of course, all of this on the anniversary week of our Scottish Cup exploits in February 2008. Yes, that's the one that spawned the SuperCaleygoballisticCelticareatrocious headline that rocked the Scottish Football world back in the day. Of course since then we now get to keep Celtic by virtue of putting them out of the Scottish Cup on three separate occasions (2000-2003-2015), but it was February 8th 2000 that set the ball rolling. Saturday's opponent are auld enemies Ferranti Thistle, or Meadowbank Thistle or as we now know them, Livingston. Our first fixture against them was the first time they used the name Livingston back in 1995. Many a tough encounter in the lower leagues over the years. Surprisingly our last two encounters were in the group stages of the League Cup and the Scottish Cup where Inverness prevailed in both fixtures. Ahead of the game it was announced the Inverness had won two awards. One of these awards was fully merited, the other is the subject of much discussion and mirth from those that know. So we have the Manager of the Month in Billy Dodds and Player of the Month in Billy Mckay whose five goals in January included a hat-trick at Cove. He is now on 92 goals, only ten behind Sir Dennis Wyness. In fairness to Dodds, he had nothing to do with the voting. Congratulation to both recipients. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ticket Info & Supporters Bus Championship Awards Billy Mckay Half Price Kit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Over the years Inverness have edged these fixtures but there's not been much between the sides and Livi have now been able to sustain Premiership football since the start of season 2018-2019 and currently sit fourth in the table. Venue H2H v Livingston Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 19 9 4 6 32 25 +7 Away 21 8 6 7 32 32 0 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 40 17 10 13 64 57 +7 Deja Vu: The last time we met Livingston in the Scottish Cup was also a 5th round tie, this one was in the Highlands on Feb8th2020. An even first half where both sides had efforts cleared from the goalmouth produced no goals with defences on top. The wind was causing as much havoc as the officials. Sean Welsh fired just wide at the start of the second half, but he made no mistake with a free kick on the hour to open the scoring. Plenty of huff and puff thereafter, but no further scoring and it's the Caley Jags that go into tomorrows draw for the next round. Last 10 Competitive Meetings 2 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 1 - 3 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 2 (A) 3 - 0 (H) First ever competitive meeting with Livingston ended in 0 - 3 defeat: Report by Ian Broadfoot: This was Livingston's first league game after their name change from Meadowbank Thistle and they dominated it with their pace and class. They took the lead in 3 minutes when Lee Baillie headed home a Young cross. Home keeper Mark McRitchie got down well in 10 minutes to smother a Young shot but in 32 minutes it was 2-0 when he palmed a McLeod corner into his own net. In 55 minutes it was 3-0 when Baillie headed home a Duthie free kick. Caley Thistle's best chance came in 67 minutes when Christie and Mitchell combined well to put Mitchell through with only Stoute to beat - he tried to flick the ball into the corner but hit the post. Mitchell's frustration showed 6 minutes from the end when he swore at a spectator within earshot of the stand-side linesman. The red card was inevitable. Caley Thistle were disappointed at the result but knew they had been outclassed. Biggest Victories Jan 14th, 2006 League (H) 3 - 0 Jan 22nd, 2005 League (A) 4 - 1 Mar 18th, 2000 League (H) 4 - 1 Heaviest Defeats Aug 7th, 2004 League (A) 0 - 3 Apr 3rd, 2001 League (A) 1 - 4 Aug 12th, 1995 League (H) 0 - 3 The last meeting between the sides was a League Cup group stage match at Livingston last July where Inverness won 2 - 1: Lions Tamed: Livingston had the better of the opening exchanges and Nouble had the ball in the net but was flagged offside. Ridgers was the busier keeper early on but a swift counter attack saw Austin Samuels open the scoring after 37 minutes. Inverness held that advantage until the break. Daniel Mackay bundled in a second shortly after Max Stryjek was sent off for felling Austin Samuels in the box. Jason Holt pulled a goal back late on then proceeded to miss a penalty three minutes later as Inverness saw out the game to win 1-2 and go top of Group G. Last Round: Inverness sneaked through after losing 0-2 to Queens Park. Euan Henderson played and the rest is history. On the field Queens Park were superior to us but off the field they never did their homework and subsequently were removed from the event as Henderson was not signed prior to the original date of the postponed fixture. Livingston eased through after coming from behind to beat Stenhousemuir 1-3. Nicky Jamieson headed Muir in front in the first half but three goals in seven minutes eased Livi into the next round. Scott Pittman and two from Steven Bradley clinched the tie in their favour to set up this game against Queens Park Inverness CT. Livi have only lost one of their last eight games whilst winning four and drawing three. The only defeat was at Parkhead on 1st February. Other than that, they are unbeaten since December 24th when Hibs beat them 4-0 at Easter Road so are on a good run at the moment. Latest Team News It's probably a game we could have done without, however, we are still in the Cup and will have to give it a go. Sean Welsh missed the Morton match and Max Ram has been out for a month. More importantly Austin Samuels, Roddy MacGregor, Shane Sutherland and Tom Walsh have all been out for months and Robbie Deas has a broken leg to get get over. No quick fix unfortunately but on the bright side, Scott Allardice and Cammy Harper have now taken part in three games without any reaction....... hopefully. Ben Woods is a couple of weeks away with an ankle injury. Lewis Nicolson, Ethan Cairns and Robbie Thompson are cup tied for this match. Livi used human battering ram Joel Nouble against Killie lately and he scored the opening goal in a 3-1 win. We had bother with him when he was on loan at Arbroath last season. However, he is just one of a number of powerful players at Livingston that has seen them climb to fourth in the Premiership table. Striker Bruce Anderson is another who seems to have developed well whilst at Livi and is top scorer this season with six goals. Midfielders Scott Pittman and former Ross County player Stephen Kelly make for a powerful engine room at the Tony Macaroni. Former Inverness player Andrew Shinnie could feature in the Lions squad on Saturday. Something that won't feature is VAR. Livi don't think it's worth the hassle of using it as it's not a requirement outside of televised games in the Premiership. Hearts are the first club into the draw for the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup after a 0-2 win over a battling Hamilton Accies last night. Goals from Humphreys and Devlin secured the win. Media Luvvies Darvel can be seen on TV on Monday night against Falkirk. Whilst we are on Cup duty this weekend, there are a couple of Championship games to keep an eye on. SATURDAY 11TH FEBRUARY (3:00pm) Morton v Queen's Park SUNDAY 12TH FEBRUARY (2:00pm) Dundee v Cove Rangers

The accounts due at the end of February will relate to the financial year ending 31 May 2022. The last AGM was in September 2021 when the accounts to 31 May 2020 were discussed. There has therefore been a very big delay for a meeting to discuss the accounts relating to the 2020/21 season. Whilst it is a legal requirement to submit audited accounts, I don't think there is a legal requirement for the club to hold an AGM each year. However, in the spirit of openness and engaging with shareholders and the wider fan base, it is clearly good practice to have an AGM and to hold it as soon as possible after the accounts are published. Failure to do so inevitably leads to concerns that the financial position is not good. Bear in mind that any financial implications for the club from the concerts will be a matter for the accounts relating to the year ending 31 May 2023 and therefore won't be due to be submitted at Companies House until around this time next year. That of course does not mean that the Club can't discuss the matter with shareholders. In September 2021 the Chairman and CEO were telling shareholders how the concerts would be a great money making venture for the club. Now that the the concerts have taken place, they should be just as forthcoming about the outcome of those concerts and what the ongoing financial strategy will be in the light of that outcome.

In most cases, improvements are made from the vantage point of strength and success, but we actually got weaker after our most successful period in our history. That, to me, was the start of our decline to where we are now. Our success in winning the Scottish Cup, finishing third and playing in Europe should have attracted a higher calibre of player that came to the club to replace Shinnie, Watkins, Ross and Oferee, but we got Webberburn, Lopez and Co. The dip in quality was woeful, and that was down to a disastrous scouting policy that Hughes had. If we could have kept that cup winning team together for another season, who knows what would've happened, but that, and Hughes throwing his toys out of the pram, kick started our sorry path to decline. Having him on gardening leave for several months, and having to recruit from within the club (Foran), was where it all started to unravel, giving him such a long contract and not relieving him of his duties early enough compounded the ever growing problems at the club. It was a series of blunders that are still having the ripple effect to this day.

For me we peaked when we finished third in the league and won the cup in 2015. Our fortunes have certainly changed since then! Two years later we were relegated and we’ve never recovered. We did not maintain the quality of player in the squad when that team started breaking up. Butcher, for me, attracted players who became a great team. Hughes largely inherited that but his recruitment let us down. Foran was a popular choice to replace him but, as Scotty has eloquently said, it didn’t work and we didn’t make a change quickly enough. Unforgettable nights like 8 February 2000 were part of the great journey we were on as we climbed the leagues, but I’m with Satan and RiG, they were not when we peaked.

The concert company was discussed at the last AGM. It was the Club Board that took the decision to set up a legally separate company with the purpose of providing an additional income stream for the Club but without the Club being liable for any losses. As Fraz implies, the Board may well not volunteer any information about this, but it is perfectly reasonable to expect the Board to answer questions from shareholders about the outcome of their decision, particularly as the company went into voluntary liquidation in November. They can try and hide from the shareholders all they like, but at the end of the day, the only way they can avoid answering to the shareholders is to stand aside for a new regime.

In fairness to Hughes he had the admirable aim of trying to keep the likes of Shinnie, Watkins etc on longer deals. I seem to recall him saying something like he wanted ICT to stop losing players for nothing and keep them for longer or at least on deals that meant when they did move on the club could benefit financially. Unfortunately this wasn't straightforward and whilst Butcher was pretty decent at "recycling" the squad whenever we lost important players Hughes was, as discussed already, pretty shambolic in the transfer market. Ibra Sekajja anyone? Yikes!

Its alright, with so much apathy around, no-one will read it

Congratulations Scotty, the Guinness Book of Records have just confirmed that this is the longest post ever on a football forum.

It was not his best move, but I don't think one single thing/event started our spiral. It's a combination of factors. There was a deterioration in the relationship with Yogi after that but look at his career and perhaps you might think that was inevitable. He does not stick around too long anywhere. Thats for another discussion. To me, Kenny's biggest mistake was listening to others (including fans) and appointing Richie Foran, who every one of us wanted to succeed, then not being ruthless when it was clear things weren't working. The change came too late, and we got relegated. I know that cut him to the quick as I was there as his guest on the final day of the season, with my son as mascot on the day he resigned. Lots of things happening to the side and in the background throughout those good times and the bad times. For me, the real rot started with the regime that followed. Kenny (and everyone before him) made some poor choices, but always made them with the best interests of the club in mind trying to push us on. He listened to fans and tried to communicate with us. Kenny may have left us relegated but he did leave us in a strong position financially and organisationally (assuming we could bounce back quickly). The next lot were a whole lot more insular and seemed to take the attitude from day one that everyone at the club - staff and volunteers alike - were there for what they could get from the club, not what they could give to the club. Thats a pretty sh***y stance to take when you (have always had to) rely on volunteers, many of whom have served the club for decades in various roles on a matchday. In my humble opinion, perhaps they were looking in the mirror a bit too much. They tore up a load of processes/things that were working, replaced them with more expensive procedures or services that didn't and soon made that strong position a lot weaker. They left behind a mess still being cleaned up now. I personally have no axe to grind with the current custodians of the club. They had an almighty mess to clean up. I believe the chairman does have the best interests at heart but I also know that many people have made comment about making suggestions to the club that were ignored or brushed off and that has a touch of the last regime about it. Thats not good, and neither is the communication level from the club. Given our precarious financial position we do seem to be pretty top heavy in terms of (presumably) high earners in non-footballing roles but I am no longer as close as I once was so dont have an idea of the value each of these positions bring to the table. If we are paying our CEO '£X.xx' and he is bringing in '£X.xx' * 3 in revenue or cost savings, then it's worth it. If however, the value is negative then its not. It should be a simple cost/benefit analysis on any financial aspects. The concert debacle also really hurt us I feel. We may be isolated from financial fallout but the whole thing is so murky that we are absolutely 100% affected by the moral fallout and no-one seems to have sought to address that. This is where we fall down BIG-TIME and a club that doesn't seem to care about its fans will soon find itself devoid of fans... which brings us right back to the word apathy in the title of this thread.

We have had a number of quite capable managers with the reputations and personalities to draw in more capable players. Is it not simply that we went for the cheap option, took a huge gamble on Foran and dropping out of the top league was the death knell which we have rarely looked as if we could climb back up. As for this season we have to keep the current regime in place for purely financial considerations. Any change at this time may be critical. I understand that we may have interested onlookers considering a major takeover. That would lead to placing another figurehead at the helm, local and loyal senior crew members initially in support and looking at journeymen to take us to the promise land. I sense a resurrection of HMS Sneck sailing into the horizon.. .

It’s hard to disagree with any of that, but here’s the timeline that’s stuck in my brain, and if there’s any of it needing corrected, fairy nuff: DUFC approach ICT in October Chairman refuses permission Yogi takes the huff Yogi and the board grudgingly coexist for a spell Yogi comes out of the huff long enough to sign a new (4 year?) contract Yogi re-enters the huff and parts company at season’s end, apparently on ‘gardening leave’ and full pay until finding a job at Raith, approx 9 months later The board appoints Richie for 2016-17 (was he actually the fans’ choice and that of the board, or were we that short of cash that we couldn’t advertise the job, due to paying off Yogi, and attract a high calibre of applicant, being an established premier club?) The rest is, ehh, history. We know Yogi doesn’t stick around, as you say, but all the more reason to move him on (with compensation) while in a position of strength. Further to all that, to those of us who went to Alloa in the LC where we went out to a team 2 levels lower, under Richie, it was obvious that we were in trouble, and that was August 9th. Certain others, notably CB, assured us that this wasn’t in fact the worst result in our history, as we had lost heavily before to the likes of Morton and Airdrie. But these were just blips which occasionally happened, even when we had a good side under Pele. We were effectively relegated as early as January 31 as anybody who was at the six-pointer in midweek against Hamilton will tell you.

Here is the updated spreadsheet for now.

All in all though, it's a very sad story of the rise and fall of our club. Wonder if we'll rise again. Or was that it?