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Getting back on topic, I’ve had a look at the “ins and outs” on the BBC Sport app. There is no mention of Tom Walsh leaving us so maybe he is still under contract or has agreed an extension? It fits with his photo still being on the club website. However, mixing up topics, it would be good if the club communicated the position.

So just to be clear the Chairman didn't know what an Supporters Liaison Officer is or is supposed to do, nor that GF is advertised publicly as such. Yet doesn't agree that there's any kind of disconnect between fans and the club's senior management?

Are you really now saying that a man in his mid-thirties, just doesn't really know or understand what he is saying is a defense? A man who lets not forget has been around this 'environment' all his life and been involved in several incidents of this nature, yet doesn't know (or hasn't learned) whats right or wrong? But so long as there's no 'hatred' (although discrimination in modern society is deemed hatred) that's ok, because its just playing up to an audience? In your position as a moderator, would I get banned or sanctioned on here for discriminatory language (I'd hope so)? Would you then rescind and defend me if I then said I was only joking and have a pal who is **insert offended sub-group** Would it be expected that everyone else would just say 'Aye, no bother its banter'? Football wise, he may be a good foil for Billy or a smaller striker, but his best days may be behind him. Target man with experience - perfect for Doddsball but his off-field reputation and behaviour will unlikely bring much positive column inches in the press and could put off sponsors and fans alike.

Chairman Rae was an exceptional Chairman - always friendly, spoke to fans and held a few open meetings with fans if I remember correctly. He replied to my emails, invited me to Boardroom, and to this day acknowledges and chats to fans whenever he’s around. Our CEO would do well to do the same.

So its OK to be discriminatory if its deemed 'banter'. Shocking news - this isnt the 70s anymore.

Whoever told you this is having you on lmao. If we were playing Leeds, the club would be stupid not to advertise and cash in on it...wait...

Thanks for all contributions to this thread.We as fans think communication is key.Whilst I don't think it would be right to lay down here what the conversation with the Chairman was yesterday,I can say I suggested they were in a bubble and disconnected,which he disagreed with.I worked out that SLO was Supporters Liaison Officer myself and he is listed as this on the Web site with his own Email.I had to look up the role of SLO to see whst it was about and to let one aspect of my chat with the Chair slip,he was up front and said he wasn't aware Gordon's role was listed as SLO.and he asked what a SLO was. He told me that Gordon had never heard from me or received an Email from me,yet after I sent the first one outlining I had sorted my online problem, but felt compelled to highlight the poor communication,a named lady from the club Emailed and said Gordon had asked her to get in touch. It is my personal opinion only,however I am convinced after these few weeks and conversations had,that the board are further disconnected than I thought. On hindsight my mistake was actually going to the Chair when I should have contacted the CEO as he has day to day governance but again I tried a few Emails using @itfc and I never got a response. Maybe the SLO will phone before 4pm on Monday when the early bird season tickets stop. If not I'm off.

Maybe but if it was my name given as the SLO, even if the job was delegated to someone else I’d want to know what e-mails were coming in and also that they were being dealt with promptly and professionally. The club should have targets for dealing with correspondence and monitor how they perform against those targets. That’s what customer focussed businesses do.

The Nairn game is £5. Tickets are available on their website: https://nairncountyfc.co.uk/fixtures-results/

I think the club should take a leaf out of Elgin City Web site, fans get first class attention and updates. For a club in the lowest league they put us to shame.

Typical 'Boys Club' signing Broadfoot. He is Dodds brother in law.

It’s good that we are a club with a chairman willing to pick up the phone to a concerned fan - but it really shouldn’t have come to that if the basic communication and customer service processes were at the level they should be.

That’s not remotely what I said, as I think you well know. Just saying that someone who married a catholic and went to mass is unlikely to have deep seated hatred of Catholics and is more likely to be plain stupid with the sectarian stuff he came out with. At ICT games have you ever felt you are in the presence of hundred of racist gypsy haters? The outdated, ill advised and illegal outcome is the same but I don’t think the underlying hatred is really there, at least I hope it isn’t.

I think this sums up exactly what the club thinks about the fans and their issues. If Gordy is only a name on a bit of paper for a tick box exercise and not an actual active SLO we really are never going to get any sort of fan engagement.

I remember several seasons ago there was a meeting up in the function suite, with John Robertson and Chairman Rae where all supporters who wanted to attend could come and listen to what their plans were for the coming season, and supporters could ask any questions or topics that were concerning them. Maybe that's what's needed again, a reset between club and supporters?

Not being facetious but has anybody ever received a response from the (alleged) SLO since the days of Andy J?

I've been keen to visit this impressive stadium for a couple of years now, and have booked travel for the August game already. Flight up, overnight coach back! I'm ridiculously excited!

Word has it, Billy has signed on. No word if its to his demands or the clubs, but its not coming from the keyboard of Mr Inverness, anyway

Trying to get any response from Scot Gardeningleave and/or the club itself is nigh on impossible. Once in a blue moon will you recieve a reply from the club (when they're not posting the Season Ticket prices every day), and Scot doesn't seem to do anything bar like tweets by some dodgy political don. Everyone and their dog has asked the club and Scot for x, y and z, the basics, when are we getting kits, whats the case with Billy etc etc, but its just flat out radio silence. Comms are literal beans, and if anything we need to look at the way the team did it before a certain tweet got put on the club feed (ykiyk). At least back then you could actually expect someone from the club to respond, not have to either sit assuming or waiting for another fan to tell you.

I presume you are unaware that that he married a Catholic? Seems more likely that he is just a bit stupid and over-exuberant in giving certain fans what they want, rather than having genuine sectarian attitudes.

I don't think anyone is questioning footballing ability. Did we learn nothing from the Gardyne situation and the dangers of signing players with a disruptive history?

I really can't believe the ongoing lack of anything from the club. Surely someone at the club looks at their fans forum, to see what the mood of the support is and to try and give them some positive information at a time when selling season tickets is at its most important. Maybe they do, and they are so far out of touch that they don't care. I am on a few Facebook sites relating to various football teams, Championship, Highland and North Caledonian leagues, and when I was a boy, I took teams from every Scottish and English and followed how they got on. I still look for their results, and more often than not they have information about their team, pictures and players who've left and who had signed, and even Fort William has a better promotional side than us, a second tier Scottish Championship. No word about Billy Mckay, no word that I can find that Allardice has left apart from him being paraded on the county page. This is truly turning out to be the worst close season for apathy from the club I can remember. It certainly doesn't bode well for the mood around the club, with the new season rapidly approaching.

Unfortunately as you know, Jay was not ours to deal with and we don't have the spare cash to splash. Will do a job for County I'm sure. Good wee player who helped turn our season around.

Buses booked for all away league games for season 23/24. Leaving times etc will be posted nearer the time. We are keeping our fares to £20 a seat - where else can you find such bargain prices?

The role of SLO is one which all clubs competing in UEFA competitions must have under article 35 of the UEFA Club Licensing&Fair Play regs. Interestingly,I had a call from the Chairman today and I advised of my own concerns re communication and that of other fans.I didn't say I would print what was said,so to be proper I will not go into detail here.We had a robust honest exchange of views and he listened to what I had to say.He said he would take on boards my points and he directed me to Gordon Fyfe, SLO. I covered my issues with the person covering this role also and I am now waiting a response from the SLO. Suffice to say I haven't renewed my season ticket yet until I hear what the SLO says. As it stands I am not convinced there will be change soon.

A Highland League club can give its supporters more info than we can muster about our pre season games.

Broadfoot was, without doubt, a very good signing for us. Maybe he was signed on footballing merit?

He definitely had charm, but that was the only thing that set him apart from the current incumbent. Let's not forget that it was he and the rest of Muirfield Mills who started the club on the descent it currently finds itself on.

There definitely was.

I don't remember this much consternation when Kirk Broadfoot - who was given a 10 match ban whilst a Rotherham player for sectarian abuse of James McClean - signed for us. Just saying, like.

Nathan Austin has joined East Fife from Kelty. As mentioned on the squad thread Jay Henderson is now at County. Kai Kennedy has been released by Rangers.

You’ll all be glad to hear that Lafferty was at the ground this morning finalising his deal…

I hope to God that this isn't true especially if the rumours are accurate that were being fussy about contract lengths with Billy which would be ridiculous. Laugherty is the appropriate level of staunch though for the current administration. ETA - physicality is one thing but there's only so physical you can be from the physio's office. It's reassuring to hear (as someone with a Catholic father and other family) myself that his sectarianism is just a wee misjudgement and that publicly saying to somebody he thought was a Celtic fan 'pack of fenian ********' was just a slip of the tongue. My enthusiasm to renew my ST is dropping by the day.

I keep hoping so as no other club has announced his signing yet

He's a bigoted sectarian *****......that's proven. Just the kind of guy we want around the family club we are supposed to be.

Reading between the lines, it sounds like the call didn't go that well, especially if it didn't do anything to convince you that things would change.

To be fair, we’d have fared better last season if we had a player like Lafferty, Graham or Whyte. We’ve lacked a physical presence up front for years.

Hello Alan, I have taken time to digest what you say regarding true fans. I understand your point where you ‘support your team though thick and thin’, but stop and disagree at ‘No matter the circumstances’! - I have followed football as a fan boy and man going on over 60 plus years simply because it thrilled and excited more than any other sport! It extended beyond a simple sport to include and represent the community, people and town /area I lived in. For the most the people in control of the clubs I followed were from the town the club resided and were woven into the ethics and ‘sole’ of the supporters. In essence the club and team represented the supporters. In todays football society the connection between the club hierarchy [+team] and the support has been diluted as money overcame every aspect of the game to where the supporters connection has been reduced or diluted to ‘customers’, or to put it in more financial terms ‘cash cows’ via aka season tickets and sale of merchandise. What I have observed at ICT since we won the Scottish Cup has been a slow and somewhat painful decline both on and off the field. Excluding the Covid period and a fortunate cup run, the performances and direction over past two seasons with the team and CEO / Board had been alarming to watch and read! I feel the current club hierarchy do not have the same connection with the fans and community I mention above. I hate saying transient hierarchy but that’s where I am just now. This disconnect is most tangible in the almost bewildering and belittling regard of the fans worth and communication. So Alan, I have reached the point where I don’t want to continue with the current arrangement where I pay to receive more of the same ‘service’. As OCG eloquently put ‘it’s the only power we (fans) have’. To get the powers to pay some attention is to show that in their pocket, (Money again)! So to end my spiel, bring a true fan in my book depends on your interpretation on what you think is best for your team, and what you do to bring that into effect, (and loose). I respect your view but you don’t have a monopoly on what constitutes a fan. bc

I am a long time season ticket holder who also goes to a lot of away games but have decided that this season im just not renewing my season ticket. Ive renewed year after year, even though with not living in Inverness I tend to only be able to make games on a Saturday. So, with with missing Friday/Midweek games, it usually costs me more for my season ticket than if I just did pay as I go. With the season tickets going up by 10% and the feeling of being totally unappreciated by the club as a fan, I'm going to save a few pounds and just pay for the games I can get to. So I will carry on supporting the players on the pitch but refuse to be taken for granted by the powers that be who only communicate when they want us to renew season tickets. If this makes me any less of a supporter then so be it! .

I renewed my season ticket yesterday after giving the matter serious thought. And I consider myself a true supporter. I am appalled by how this club is being run, or not in our case. Especially the lack of communication with fans. I am, or was, involved in sponsorship of two players and have decided not to renew this. I shall be telling the club my reasons when the inevitable e mail is received. With training due to start on Monday we still don’t know what’s happening with Billy McKay. Are we really so lacking in ambition that we will let him go to another club who will be one of our main rivals for promotion?

Jay Henderson signs for County, another sickener!

I kind of agree with Alan to an extent. I only go to away games but that wouldn’t change regardless of how we are playing. What he’s getting at is why are fans downing tools just because of what is going on off the pitch? I’ll still be there regardless of how much information comes out of the club. The only news regarding the club I look out for is on this forum and it’s usually all fan driven.

I’ve been waiting for my annual letter from ICT asking me to renew sponsorship. For many years I’ve sponsored players, started with goalies gloves, then players boots (sometimes two players in one season) as these were all I could afford as an OAP. ICT website (mostly out of date) states that sponsors will get invitation to attend player sponsor events, photo opportunity with sponsored player at end of season and gloves/boots sponsors receive a Club gift. As ICT have reneged on these arrangements this past season, no photo, no ICT gift, nought, can I assume ICT don’t want sponsorship from fans, only big companies etc and we, the day in day out fans, are considered not worth bothering about and likewise not worth contacting to explain.

nope, communication should not be dependent on membership of anything. However, if the trust can reach a tipping point where it has a significant membership, seen to be representative of the support then they really do need to listen if the Trust speaks with a representative voice. Whether they do or not is another question. I would wager that many of those who don't get a response or who are grumbling may be shareholders. I for one would be happy to proxy my miniscule holding to the Trust for any meetings in future. If you have a few hundred more like that then you take the 10% voting share they already have and make it a little more. That just might be noticed. If we do manage to make it back to the premiership then it is also worth considering that our current method of communication - or lack thereof - may not stand up to UEFA club licensing criteria.

He signs when he wants or He sings Orange songs

Lafferty has signed.

Now that I like . We've finally managed to get the 'c' out of ICTFC and the eagle has flown, leaving just the thistle and ITFC

They also did that at the start of the 16/17 season when Foran got to layout his plans. More attacking style football as he said. Funnily enough he didn't plan for relegation and our ever increasing spiral downwards and becoming County's feeder club!!