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I am really sad that he has left the club. The personal integrity and effort he made during covid supporting others around him was incredible and self destructive. He has the second best winning record of any manager behind Duncans short tenure so far . He was instrumental in finding and securing multiple players over the last 6 years and the majority were OK but poorly utilised under dodds. I feel sorry for stfu who's personal bitterness will be feeling vindicated but that's no way to live. I am hopeful that on future match reports the personal vindictiveness about an employee will not be brought up again and we can get back to football not bitterness impacting on every great update from match attendees.

Totally agree with this. Gardiner employing someone to highlight his and the boards isolation and shortcomings?, zero chance of that. Gardiner still needs to go before our club returns to caring about and engaging with its fans.

Best wishes to the man. Did excellent when in the managerial chair. Personal problems caused him stress and grief that none of us would have liked to go through. However, at the end of the day, he was drawing a wage that none of us could see and reason for.

Club Press release 15 mins ago: Statement Begins The club can confirm our Sporting Director John Robertson is leaving the club to pursue other opportunities in the game. Chairman Ross Morrison said “John has served the club incredibly well over a number of years, both as a successful Manager and more recently as Sporting Director. His football achievements here in the Highlands are outlined below and his astute transfer dealings brought in significant funds across his time in charge and throughout that period he was always a brilliant ambassador for the club. His drive to establish the new 10-acre Hub for the ICT Community Trust working with Highland Council, Sport Scotland and the SFA and his input into accessing six figure grants for our Community Trust in particular has gone unseen by almost everyone out with the football club. We wish him well in his future endeavours and he will always be welcome at the Caledonian Stadium.” John first joined the club in December 2002 as he was appointed the club's manager following Steve Paterson's departure to Aberdeen. He then led the team to a 4th place finish in 2002/03 and beat Celtic 1-0 in the Scottish Cup Quarter Finals to set up the club's first ever trip to Hampden. The following season the team went on to win the First Division (now the Championship) title and Challenge Cup double during a remarkable 2003/04 season. In November 2004 Robbo left the club to join Hearts. Upon the club's relegation to the Championship, Robertson would return in June 2017 when he was appointed Manager for a second time and John had to totally rebuild the squad, winning the Challenge Cup against Dumbarton at McDiarmid Park. The following season saw him lead the team to a 3rd place finish and into the play-off places and once again lead the team to Hampden for a Scottish Cup Semi-Final against Hearts, losing 3-0. Caley Thistle were beaten in the Premiership Play-Off semi finals by Dundee United. John had the team sitting in 2nd place during 2019/20 and in the Challenge Cup final when the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The season would be ended with us in 2nd place and Caley Thistle and Raith Rovers would be confirmed as joint winners of the Challenge Cup. The 2020/21 cinch Championship season would begin at the later start of October and only with major restrictions. John was granted compassionate leave following a family bereavement in February 2021. Robertson returned back to the club in June 2021 as the club's first ever Sporting Director. Honours/Achievements at ICTFC Scottish First Division title - 2003/04 Scottish Challenge Cup - 2003/04, 2017/18, 2019/20 (joint with Raith Rovers) Scottish Cup Semi Finals 2002/03, 2003/04 and 2018/19 Statement Ends

Ayr Do for Dunc Ayr United are next up for big Dunc as his salvage operation gathers pace after a great away point at Tannadice last week. We're not quite at the Big Dunc's revolution stage, more of an evolution but we are heading in the right direction after a poor start to the season. Ayr come up North on Saturday for a 3:00pm start sitting in fifth place on goal difference with 14 points looking to get back into the top four. We could strike a crucial blow to their aspirations should we come out on top as we are five points behind them with two games in hand. It's a six pointer this early in the season! Big talking point this week in the Highlands is the departure of Sporting Director John Robertson as he leaves to "pursue other opportunities". All the best to Robbo in his new venture and one can't help but imagine that might free up some wages for a player or two. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match Ticket Info & Lest we Forget John Robertson Leaving ICTFC Cowdenbeath Cup Date Confirmed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue for H2H v Ayr Utd Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 24 10 11 3 39 26 +13 Away 26 12 6 8 47 32 +15 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 50 22 17 11 86 58 +28 Only eleven defeats overall versus Ayr United but they held the upper hand over the last two encounters both home and away. We have had some tremendous games against the Honest Men over the years with five, six and even seven goal games an occasional feature of these clashes in bygone days. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Ayr Utd 0 - 1 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 2 - 2 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 2 - 2 (H) Ayr took the points in the first encounter this season at Somerset Park 0 - 1>>> Pointless: Notable absentees for Ayr were last seasons Championship top scorer Dipo Akinyemi who has gone to York City and long time servant Michael Moffat who spent eleven years over two spells at Somerset Park scoring 77 goals in 263 appearances. Dodds was without Roddy MacGregor and Lewis Nicolson with knee injuries. Sean Welsh has a groin injury and also missed out again as did Austin Samuels and Max Ram. Adam Brooks returned to the bench and Danny Devine replaced the missing Wallace Duffy. New sensation Keith Bray started with Inverness down to only six on the bench. Injuries starting early this season already it would seem with six missing.. Ayr got off to the perfect start after just eight minutes when Francis Amartey, Dempsey and Sam Ashford combined for Amartey to slot home the opening goal. Mark Ridgers saved on his line from Nick McAllister as Ayr looked to double their lead. Keith Bray was blocked going into the box and from the follow up Albinson saved from David Carson at the expense of a corner. Plenty of half chances for both sides to score in the first half with Devine going close for the visitors but Albinson tipped over. Longstaff also went close on the break but his shot bounced just wide. Billy Dodds fell foul of the referee on the interval and had to watch the remainder of the game from the stands. (See how he likes it!) HALF TIME: 1-0 Longstaff saw his header saved ten minutes after the interval as Inverness looked to get back into the game. A spate of substitutions on the hour for Ayr and Harry Lodovica replaced Bray for the visitors before a Jake Davidson cross found Nathan Shaw, but his effort came back off the post. With twenty minutes remaining Shaw was blocked in the box as we chased for a leveller. Substitute Aiden McGeady shot wide approaching the final ten minutes and Cammy Harper failed to hit the target at the other end. Aaron Doran fired a free kick wide from a tight angle and McGeady missed again as time was running away from us. Ridgers tipped over from Pendelbury in the 90th minute and as so often, the game slipped away from us to leave us bottom of the table with Arbroath. FULL TIME: 1-0 Another defeat leaves Inverness pointless at the foot of the table with Arbroath as Ayr got their first win of the campaign thanks to an early goal from Francis Amartey. Not for the want of trying, but Inverness could not find an equaliser and that will pile more misery on under fire boss Billy Dodds. Our injury situation seems never-ending and we could only muster six on the bench. Dodds watched from the stand in the second half and will now know why we are concerned... The natives are no happy on CTO with many asking for a total clearout from top to bottom, questioning the length of contract offered to Billy Dodds. The buck stops at the very top and that is a massive concern for all. Top scorer Billy Mckay was a forlorn figure and was not best pleased at being subbed. Something is wrong that's not right. Sort it now before we leave this league at the wrong end of the table. Thankfully things have changed somewhat. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Last Time Out Big Dunc fashioned us into a squad prepared to dig deep at Tannadice and it paid off as we came away with a credible draw against the League Leaders. A wonderful team goal manufactured from inside our own box all the way down the left wing before Harper crossed for Shaw to drill home from fifteen yards. Total football, great goal! The Arabs levelled five minutes later when Holt thundered in a bullet header to share the spoils. Some outstanding performers on the day with Ridgers making crucial saves, defenders putting their bodies on the line, midfielders helping out at the front and the back whilst remaining creative, and strikers.... erm still missing plenty, but also tracking back to help out. Last Five Results: L W D W D Ayr United are without a win in their last three games and were pegged back by Queens Park last Saturday in a 2-2 draw. Two first half strikes from Anton Dowds had Ayr cruising, but Bannon scored after the break and five minutes into time added on Paton claimed a point for the Spiders in a dramatic finale with his sixth cincher goal of the season. Last Five Results: W W L D D <<< There's your top scorers in the Championship ahead of Friday nights encounter between Dunfermline Athletic and Dundee United. Brian Graham has almost scored as many goals as the Caley Jags have in the Championship (8). That's something that Ferguson needs to address if we are to climb the table into a challenging position (at the top end). Nathan Shaw is our top scorer this season with three Championship goals to his name. Despite netting his 102nd goal with a penalty in the 3-2 loss to Airdrie in the League Cup group stages, Billy has only netted once in the Championship since then at Arbroath some five games ago. He has three goals in total, two in the League Cup group stages. That's not a great return from your top striker. Latest Team News We are still without any of our half dozen longer term injured players. Sean Welsh missed out again last week along with Luis Longstaff. Wallace Duffy returned from the bench to replace an injured David Carson who is a doubt this week. Danny Devine and Morgan Boyes started at Tannadice after being out for a couple of games. According to our stats, Mark Ridgers should make his 250th appearance for his home town team. Another clean sheet would be most welcome. Ayr did settled down after an inconsistent start and still have Logan Chalmers. We know what he is capable of. Anton Dowds netted twice last week and he is their top scorer with 5 strikes. Former Motherwell player Jamie Murphy and ex-ICT loanee Chalmers have four goals apiece. Ayr team v Queens Pk: Dowds Mutch Ahui McGinty Stanger Reading Chalmers (Senga 75) Young Syla (Smith 45) Murphy (McGeady 79) Rose (Bryden 64) Dowds (Amartey 75) Subs not used: O & F Ecremont, McKenzie, McAllister Apparently their bench was full of Ecremont. Well, that's what I thought he said Lest We Forget: With this game being played on Remembrance Day, the club will be offering Free Entry to UK Forces personnel, past and present. One Adult & One Child per application. (home or away support) FORCES GO FREE

The club has not lacked vision with the appointment of big Dunc as manager but still lacks vision when listening to the fans who are their customers!

It's a tick box exercise to pretend we have an SLO. Gordon doesn't remotely perform the recognised functions of the role. With Robbo's departure, presumably the CEO will have even less time to address the concerns of fans. But this gives the club a real opportunity as there is the potential to reallocate some of Robbo's salary to a dedicated SLO. Even if on a part time basis with some volunteer support, there is so much an SLO could do in liaising with the fans and addressing some of the many issues identified by the Supporters Trust's Matchday Experience survey. Not only were a lot of issues identified, but respondents made a lot of very constructive suggestions too. All it requires is a bit of vision and a bit of common sense on behalf of the club. OK. So it's not going to happen.

All the best to Robbo, few could argue that you generally served us very well.

Even a voluntary role for an effective SLO would be a start? Can't see the CEO bring overly keen though

I wish Robertson all the best and I am sure he gave ICT a lot of help, be that in his community efforts,or finding raw talent for the club. He was big enough to shout for help when he needed it personally and that was a sign of his character and integrity. Let's move on and consider using the salary to pay for an SLO,who can really break down barriers between club and supporters and can make it his or her mission to encourage more people to the Caledonian Stadium. Many clubs have a full time SLO who can do any amount of add on roles.

Apologies for the odds, just post them as per the above and I'll work it out when doing the results - 2.5yrs working in Ladbrokes in my younger years should hopefully help, certainly won't be through winning bets

Robertson Leaving "His drive to establish the new 10 acre Hub for the ICT Community Trust working with Highland Council, Sport Scotland and the SFA and his input into accessing six figure grants for our Community Trust in particular has gone unseen by almost everyone out with the football club. We wish him well in his future endeavours and he will always be welcome at the Caledonian Stadium.” At the end of the day he was drawing a wage and we were not seeing the benefits of this. More often than not seen at Dingwall on match days. I doubt many will shed a tear, but let's no forget the good moments he had at the club and it's only since the introduction of the Sporting Director role that he has incurred the wrath of a section of our support. I for one will always be grateful for his efforts as manager and work in the background, however, throwing money away had to come to an end sometime. All the best Robbo.

A big Friday night game: https://ictfc.com/tv-selection-dundee-united-h-12-01-2024/

ICT please, 2.25

Following from Gringo kindly posting in decimals, I'll honor the odds I posted if they are higher as I've noticed one or two differences. You'd think by now I would have the hang of it

It's entitled: One down, one to go...

Gutted

End of the day he took a wage that none of us would've turned down. Can't hate him for that. If the BBC was offering him more wages to be at Dingwall every 2nd Saturday then in all seriousness I can't blame him for that either! You look after number one. It's just a shame that it came out of the clubs pocket but that's our Chairmans and CEOs fault not Robbos. I honestly wish him all best and hopefully we can put his wages to better use. He's still a club legend to me and I still appreciate all the work he's done for the club and the community as a whole.

Announced officially now. On club website and SM sites

Crystal Palace. Jesus wept, there’s two of them now. Go for who put the O and Y. The tune is “What shall we do with the drunken sailor” which is probably meaningless to anybody under 50…