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Ross was very well-intentioned and deep-pocketed, but he delegated and deferred, when action was needed, until it got so bad that I'm sure all the enjoyment (and spare change) had gone. Sliding doors with a different CEO sadly. Seven key ICT staff resigned in early 2019 protest of the previous CEO's behaviour (Yvonne Crook). The answer to all that? Scot Gardiner! To be fair to Ross, those hirings were under Graham Rae's 'stewardship', but was on the board and the rancour continued after he departed. Whatever happens next - the board have a simple choice. To do what is easy, or do what is right. To drop the partisan stuff and choose real sustainability and community - at the best level of football that allows, or keep gambling scarce resources on the short-term 'Premiership-at-all-costs' approach through two people who have no discernible ability, or particular affinity to ICT, and who treat clubs like bon-bons. Time will tell.

I hope his CEO contract is as watertight as all the ones he was doing for the club.

The Board must surely understand that the club has no future without the fans and that the fans feel betrayed. They must recognise that the failures which Achfary so eloquently summarises in his latest post, lie with the Board collectively and not just with the Chairman, and that therefore they have to take responsibility for resolving the crisis they created. They must surely understand that there is a need to reach out to the fan base if solutions are to be found. The first step would be to issue some brief communication to let people know that somebody is still in the building. I am sure we all appreciate that to reverse the Kelty deal and to relieve any employee of their duties may involve difficult negotiations and legal advice and that therefore they may be severely limited on what they can say. But there is no good reason to say nothing. Why can they not put a simple holding statement out? This might simply:- Officially confirm that Ross Morrison has stood down as Chairman. Confirm whether Morrison remains on the Board or not. Confirm who is interim Chairman. Clarify the position regarding the overdue 2022/23 accounts. Acknowledge the strong feelings and concern amongst the fan base and that fan engagement will be important moving forward. State that discussions are taking place around the Kelty plan and the positions of certain employees, but that detail clearly has to kept confidential at this stage. Confirm that the Board are committed to resolving issues so that we will be able to field a competitive team at Annan on July 13th. Agree to provide regular updates. Do they not understand that the longer the silence goes on, the angrier and more disillusioned the fans become?

The club is on its knees and surely administration is likely. If The club survives 🙏 surely it’s now time to start playing the local talent with a core of good experienced players around them and let us the fans get behind them. Surely Duncan Ferguson does the right thing and walks. Hopefully the club can get a feel good factor back and engage with the fan base. As soon as Gardiner leaves I’ll be buying a season ticket.

It was Kelty that brought it forward by a month: '...due to the loud negative opinions from the fans to the idea of moving to Kelty, I feel that bringing this forward might be better timing' Another of the ex-Chairman's Evel Knievl logical leaps there. fans...and... Alan Savage, Roy MacGregor, former players, staff, ex-staff, Richard Gordon, Tom English et al It wasn't an idea, it was announced and agreed They weren't opinions - more like sound and reasoned arguments and reservations “Hearing fans saying they would prefer administration to training the first team in Kelty sent a shiver down my spine". Aye, a shiver because of ex-Chairman's director loan account and other assets, I'll be bound. The depth of feeling, and lack of alternatives/consultation from the board, led to such extremes. No doubt, that'll be his mantra when it happens. Quite aside from the actual plan itself --announcing Kelty without any consultation with A N other was - and remains - an act against the club --Announcing as 'delighted to...' was massively crass in the extreme --Announcing and agreeing it without having checked that Fife Council were even aware/had agreed was amateur and gross dereliction When administration does come - the Kelty smokescreen will recede, and the late accounts, neglect of professional football's basics in favour of failed speculative gambles, mismanagement of contract and application writing, treatment of fans with disdain and contempt, partisan infighting, throwing scarce resources away needlessly at unqualified and incompetent CEOs and managers, to the extent that ex-players were having to buy the footballs, will be the legacy.

It's certainly been a lot busier from a Snr Mod point of view. Constantly keeping an eye on you all. As mentioned in another thread, you're all so well behaved despite to inner anger and frustrations. Well done. Keep it up. Thank you.

A boat. On top of a mountain. Must be another one of Gardiner's great schemes?

If only Google paid in bitcoin instead of peanuts 🙂 Yes, more traffic (about 825K page views in the last 28 days), but the google algorithm ensures the increased traffic does not equal exponential revenue growth. I might be able to chip in with Ryan Christie and purchase another football. Think the graph below illustrates when events happened quite clearly. Fully expect less traffic next season though as we try and navigate League One. Have to make the revenue from today stretch to cover the next 12 months #FiscalResponsibility 😉

proposing to watch Clach is a distraction/not an option and they(Clach) are milking it playing the local team card. with respect its not the same product. We need to concentrate on saving our team .

Hopefully there will be some clarity from the club today. At the time of writing, we have no chairman, our accounts are overdue and a major income stream from Statkraft has fallen through, while we don't know which players have been offered new contracts (or if any actually have been offered new deals) and any player recruitment is surely on hold until Keltygate is resolved. I suspect - and hope - that Alan Savage is positioning himself as the club's saviour, or at least as the figurehead for those who might step in and rescue the situation.. His youth academy gesture has got him some credit with the support, and he's publicised his disgust with the Kelty plan and with Gardiner. But the outgoing board will want some of the money they've put into the club back, and their replacements will not want to give them a penny because of the mess that they wlll have to clear up. The longer it takes to sort that out, the weaker our position will get and the more likely administration becomes.

100% agree, and today the (majority of) fans want and understand the need for that, however this has been said before and met with negativity from plenty. Too many hark back to the 'glory' days of cup finals, premiership football and Europe citing that it was done before with journeymen players so why cant we do that again (repeatedly) and this for many remains the bar of expectation. There is limited realism within areas of the fanbase and its pounced upon if there is the slightest suggestion that a) the people of Inverness in the majority do not care, so lets stop looking at us being a big city and assuming we 'deserve' to have a top level club on that sole basis & b) that our fanbase, footfall and income all aligns with low end Championship or League One (now we are there lets see how long before dissent comes that we are not progressing enough)

40 days to sort out the mess the club is in off the park and find the money to sign players to put a team on the park. Given everything that's happened there's no way the board can trust Gardiner to play any part in that.

The footballing God was very sad and angry, and decided to send a flood of grief and misery to the ancient kingdom of Sneck. After one of the recent Board meetings God announced that he was going to ensure that all business proposals made by the disciples of the devil would be summarily rejected and the threat of doom and gloom would continue to flow through the kingdom of Sneck for 40 days and 40 nights until the new season began. But God also commanded MacNoah to build a vessel to protect the loyal fans of Sneck. So a new HMS Sneck was built and the fans trooped on two by two. It was going to be a long and arduous voyage.

If there ever was a time for fan investment, it would be under a new and trusted Chairperson following a clear out of the duds on the board. Perhaps that’s not far away at all. I wonder what a fan investment offer would look like? How much is needed to buy another year of solvency? Who communicates what’s needed? I commend the ST for the lobbying work that has no doubt contributed to meaningful change so far. I hope the ST are strongly involved going forward whatever happens. In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity!

The captain saw the iceberg looming ahead in the distance, so plotted a course 136 miles south. However, this sparked a mutiny and he was made to walk the plank. The mutineers then set the ship back on course, so that they can see the iceberg close up.

It might be difficult to achieve but amongst the fans are some very experienced and talented individuals who almost certainly would offer voluntary service on bodies set up by the Club to help consider proposals e.g. moving training to Fife, making profit from potentially providing concerts, leasing a piece of land, applying to the Council for planning permission. If the Trust had a board member or two it could possibly vet selected persons to assist the club. That goodwill surely exists and anyone helping the Club, well would be helping the club. Just a thought. Being objective, the current model has not worked.

Tomorrow’s headlines “Ex-pat tech millionaire rescues home town football club” 😀

Totally agree. I had some sympathy for him before this but to just walk away and say it’s your mess now, you deal with it is ridiculous when he’s allowed it to get to this point.

It would, but I can't imagine there'd be many purchases until we get word that Gardiner has been thrown on his arse out the front door

If the Kelty move is off due to fan pressure, they need to let people know so that people can arrange to buy season tickets. This whole shambles could be an opportunity to galvanise the fanbase, re-engage them. As it stands, we don't know who the chairman is, we don't know what players have been given deals, we don't know if the manager is going to stay around, we don't know if we are going into administration.

I'm shocked we haven't put out the club shop opening hours! Something must be badly wrong. 😮

I would suggest Administration is more likely with the plan than without it. Not a shred of any argument has been given as to why we would get a better team through this plan or why targeted players would choose us over central belt teams. And because players are not locally based, it is inevitable that a lot of fans would increasingly lose interest.

I'll renew my season ticket when Gardiner and Ferguson go and the move to Kelty is scrapped

Taken from the Moray Firth this afternoon.

A very large iceberg lurks dead ahead but we don’t even know if the Captain has seen it. In fact all we know is that there’s no longer even a Captain…. and even that we’ve had to find out for ourselves.

He is a secured creditor regardless of status as a director. The only difference is that he is in a worse position now, as he cannot influence board decisions that might impact repayment of his loan.

When Boris Johnson gave the now former MP Rory Stewart a senior cabinet post, he gave him the Africa brief. Rory wanted and expected Middle East, justifiably - he had been deputy governor of Iraq, director of an NPO in Afghanistan, and spoke Dari and Urdu fluently. His puzzlement at getting Africa, a continent he'd never set foot in, was explained to him by a colleague as thus: some leaders won't choose people for roles in which they have a knowledge advantage over said leader It's normalised that fans are to be kept at arm's length - but it is just absurd at non-profit making ones. The fact that the ICT boardroom has been like the bat cave for years is a choice, evident by the hurdles/shutters Ross et al put up to stymie the Trust's proposal At ICT, there are a number of very relevantly-skilled professionals that would volunteer, of course many have done so in the past, but CEOs and MDs eventually alienated them. Hopefully a stronger and emboldened Supporters Trust and fan-led new media will sharpen consultation/scrutiny of future choices of stewards?

Does not surprise me in the slightest after my own personal experience with that woman. Lots of stories to tell on that one as I am sure there are on the current incumbent.

Inverness What a mess!

Gardener is already in the departure lounge. He knows his time is up, it’s just a matter of when!! He will have (some weeks now I expect), contacted his lawyers to see his contract is watertight to squeeze every penny he can from what is left from the club. It’s his common base self-interest line and always will be. So I expect what is left of the Board have told him his time is up and to look for a safe exit route without damaging what’s left of the club and their reputation. I expect unless he gets his considered pay off fee he’ll get the lawyers involved to drag it out! I hope the remaining board members have started knocking on doors for both chairman and CEO replacements, (take the time and get it right for once in a decade), as the next step will dictate what we do for the next five or so years imho. Administration may or may not be the route we’re on, but it shouldn’t prevent those key players with the clubs interest and future at heart to look at each scenario. A reset with the fans would be a simple and welcome first step.

My thoughts exactly. Gardiner is the problem. Always has been. He treats fans with contempt. He has failed so many times that I have lost count, and yet he is still there. In the real world, the levels of incompetence shown by Gardiner would have had him out the door a long time ago. Hopefully, now his little orange buddy has gone he will follow suit. Dunc took a paycut, and who knows he might come good at a lower level, he wasn't a million miles away in the championship given that Dodds gave those around us an 8 game head start. Maybe a season in League 1, a weak looking League 1 at that, might be just what we need to regroup and rebuild. Hit the Championship running the season after, same thing again build and consolidate.

In other news, Clach have put their season tickets on sale. £150 for adults, £75 for concessions of 60+... ...just incase Mr Gardiner's stubbornness prevails and Kelty goes ahead

Yes, an interesting read. Nice to hear some common sense from a former Chairman. Someone who would like to see the club become a football club again.

The club shop! Is that where you can buy the club at a discounted rate?

Beeb suggesting it could be - board meeting tonight? Just read Alan Savage’s piece in the Courier. Doesn’t pull his punches about the imbecilic move and how he needs to ringfence his financial support and won’t deal with Gardiner. Ryan Christie bought footballs last year because there was no money? What kind of priorities has the board had? Crazy.

I was reminded of David Cameron after the Brexit referendum.

Absolutely spineless to walk away and tell the board that's left that Gardiner is their problem. No acceptance of accountability from beginning to end.

Not sure the fans want administration. They probably want a properly run club with a sensible plan to go forward. It says a lot about the club that administration is preferable to the current plan.

Of Morrison, Gardiner and Ferguson, Morrison was the last one I wanted to resign. Gardiner should have been fired and Ferguson should have had some dignity and walked.

Or poor contract writing not to have the use of the car park secured in the deal.

Latest deal/ money making venture falls through/ straw breaks camels back ?

Kelty is the only place we will not be running a bus to, unless matters are resolved satisfactorily.

I’m wondering if HMS Sneck actually needs to be renamed the Marie Celeste…. because it very much looks as if there’s no one there.

The play-off final was on May 18th, and the Kelty story broke on the 24th. Picking up again now with Morrison going. All clearly shown on the graph. Thanks, Scotty!

Worth adding that 30 May was his last day as a director, which was last Thursday.

I note from Companies House that Morrison has resigned as a Director as well as Chairman. This has clearly been posted promptly and electronically. That rules out any chance of the accounts having been lost in the post.

Ideal for the turncoats

We're now eleven days on from the Kelty announcement and five days on from Ross Morrison's dialogue with the Wyness Shuffle and subsequent board meeting. Despite confirmation from Alan Savage that he/Orion will finance the Academy moving forward and then a flurry of rumours on Friday past we're pretty much none the wiser where we stand and getting ever closer to pre-season in what is undoubtedly a make or break season for the club. Is it too much for the people entrusted with the running of the club to give us an update as to where we go from here? It's an absolute farce and yet, to the best of our knowledge, we continue to pay the wages of our alleged CEO who presides over the whole pantomime with complete and utter disregard for the fans, players and club staff. It's an utter omnishambles from top to bottom and we need answers now.