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We get flurries of communication every now and then, but it often tells us nothing and is just noise. Proper fan engagement, unless you're a pet podcaster or kindergarten 94, is non existent, and the fan experience is the worst it has ever been. Where's the kids meet and greets, the big game they were promised, the xmas party, end of season awards night? These are the very basics. Customer service is also poor, as already documented by others. They rely too much on fan loyalty, but everyone is losing patience and that is diminishing. Complain and you get the 'poor us' we're a small team and doing our best. We have more employees than we ever had, and are somehow struggling to a greater extent?

You may be right Yngwie,but I kept the post short rather than bore people with all the details.In my letter to the Chairman I highlighted the poor communication issue and the disconnect between the captain of the ship as it were, his bridge and those of us in the engine room. In all my different employment and management roles I learned the key to a good team and working relationship was communication.Those at board level know this so why not try and improve it. Have a section on Web site called ICT news in brief and have a printed version for those without computers. Have quarterly 'meet the board'meetings. Have fans representation at key meetings. Have suggestion boxes at the stadium.All these kind of measures would make a difference. The Director for fans representation and I believe comms, has not answered any of the Emails I sent him on this very topic.A Journalist and PR Specialist. So bottom line,poor comms,poor customer service and no respect shown for genuine fans.

Why are ICT board and club so poor at the very basics.A club will not exist without a fan base.They are the very assets every Club needs, so you have to ensure you protect your assets and build on them. Those at ICT rarely answer the phones as Highlighted by many of us.They have seven extentions and the seventh one has not existed for some time. Prior to cup final it took me six days to get a response from anyone about an online problem I had and then I got a response because I tried every extension and got someone at the Academy who was most apologetic about the clubs comms. It took me 10 days of trying to make contact about ICT posting my tickets to me. I rarely complain,but I wrote to the Chairman and the fans rep on the board highlighting the poor club communication and to date I have not had a response from either.

I renewed my season ticket yesterday and received my new card. Lovely lady member of staff, always friendly, chatty, efficient and a valuable member of ICT staff. It was a pleasure to chat with her.

I have to say that I had to phone the club as had a problem renewing my season ticket on line, now a senior citizen. Phone answered first time and problem sorted by a very friendly and efficient female staff member.

Pile of people align with your views and frustration Douglas. It’s not went unnoticed how much you resisted publishing your views as you were at pains to not denigrate the club and make simple but practical, easily adoptable, suggestions that would go a long way to engage the fan base better. I sincerely hope your message doesn’t fall on deaf ears. Sometimes however the gap is too wide, time will tell. For me it’s leopards and spots. Need some new cats.

I’d class those issues you’ve listed as very poor “Customer Service” rather than “Communication” which to me is more about the club providing fans with relevant information. Communication in that regard has also been a failing of course - although I would say it has been noticeably better in the last few months albeit from a point where it couldn’t have been much worse. On the Customer Service failings, obviously this was a busy period and they struggled to cope, but you are absolutely right to make the club aware of how bad it was.

Fantastic achievement from the U14's...

Thanks for the update, that helps me understand where things are on the matter. By the sound of it, the numbers of returns have proved how important the club mean to the fans and can be considered a success in undertaking it. It’s an artery that may demonstrate that the (core) fan base consider the recent communication channels (i include the supporters trust ) between the club hierarchy and core fans is deficient and needs reviewed. I’m sure there will be a pile of recommendations from the survey for the club to consider, (from the team, management, youth teams, contracts, ground, relationship between club / fans), from the unrealistic, worth considering and yes no-brainier. As ever it comes down to money, but there has to be a “will” beforehand. So good luck with the review and filtering of the survey returns. I realise the constraints with only two people working on the task, but there is a risk that its findings (report) is diminished if it is released long after the survey was undertaken. Ie mid season in December. (Maybe the club could put forward a admin person to help)? I also realise it’s Zip to do with me, but I always hesitate and question the merit in the club officials seeing the findings before the fans. I don’t know if the club has the power to influence what is finally published, however given the, (let’s call it strong) views of a lot of fans with the board/CEO’s past record, the survey final report may fall into a similar mindset by some fans if this is the case and hence loose it ultimate objective of better communication. I hope that outwith the simply offensive, all comments ( ones not selected for the final report) will be available to view somewhere I want to close by saying well done to those running the survey (and the two poor souls collating the findings). bc

A lot of effort has gone into this survey so I sincerely hope the club listen to any criticisms, suggestions and advice.

Many thanks for asking. And, no. You haven't missed it! There are two of us working on it. There is no specific date for its release. We are trying to work through it as quickly as possible but it is a lot of work. The Supporters Trust initiated, wrote and ran the Survey and will control the data and the distribution of the survey report. I am no longer on the Supporters Trust Board, but when they are happy with the final content, I would expect them to share the report with the Club first before it is distributed more widely. The hope is that report will lead to some constructive engagement between the Club, the Supporters Trust and other relevant groups and individuals. There has been some brilliant feedback and ideas from supporters in the free text and the report will include several direct (anonymised) quotes from supporters in the text. I appreciate it has been a while since the survey closed, but I hope you will think the time and effort going into the report has been worth it when you finally see it. I would hope the report can be released to all by the end of July, but I can't promise that, I will be sure to update folk on here if a release date is decided or if there is going to be any delay.

We cant force players or their agents to accept our contract offers, nor to negotiate them when they are coming to an end. The days of Jim McLean style contracts have been over for decades. Its a sad reality but given how we also lurch from year to year financially, offering longer term contracts is also not feasible whether we like it or not. Even if we were in a position to offer long term deals, if a player doesn't want to commit to that length of contract there's not a lot we can do about it. Unfortunately, I agree. As much as it sticks in the throat, players going to County or Killie is currently an upward step. Higher wages, higher level of competition etc. We cant put that ridiculous situation right until we can get out of this division (in the right direction).

He has went to play at a higher level and get coaching from (in my view) a far more structured and professional level than he could receive at ICT. So whilst we don’t like it, there is ambition I would suggest!