Leaderboard

If fans were to put anything in just now it would be spun to look like a show of confidence in those still at the club and nothing could be further from the truth.

The board made a conscious choice to not keep up with medical insurance for player injuries. It did, however, forecast enough to pay Ferguson a quarter of a million a year, for multiple years. Ask the 8-ball stuff. [edit: Knee ligament repair (ACL) surgery cost is 7-8k, not much more than a week's wage for Ferguson]

Some people only want to hear one narrative, others are open perspectives they might not previously have considered. Do we want discussion forum or an echo chamber?

I'm not sure now that the club can exist. Even if it does then how can we ever trust or respect anybody who has been part of the silence.

I am sorry but I find it truly disgusting that Aaron, who has been with the club for 14 years, may have to fund his own operation because the club has cancelled the insurance it had to cover such eventualities. He hasn’t even had his testimonial match. Have the Board no shame? Just when I think the club can’t go any lower in my estimation. The club might be in financial difficulties but surely our successful directors have a conscience and a sense of moral duty towards a long time player who was injured on the playing field.

Following the expiry of many contracts on Sunday, and the comments made by Mark Ridgers, Cammy MacKay and Wallace Duffy, the Supporters Trust has issued a press statement thanking all out of contract players for their contribution to the club, and is shocked and dismayed by the lack of contact made with them by the club regarding their position. The press statement has been e-mailed to all members, and can be viewed here: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/post/out-of-contract-players We will continue to work on behalf of our members and the wider fan base, and we would welcome further members. Anyone joining now will have their membership apply until the end of July 2025. You can join using this link: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/join-us Many of you who supported our Stronger Together initiative indicated (understandably) that you would not contribute as long as the CEO was at the club. You can use the link below to contribute to this initiative, either through a subscription or by making a donation. As confirmed before, the Trust Board will only use this to purchase shares in the club when it is has sought and received commitments from the club Board on behalf of the Trust's members: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/stronger-together

Why would anybody buy a season ticket just now? We have no idea if there will even be a team to watch next season, and the likelihood is that the money would basically go straight into the administrator's pockets as their fee for winding the club up? What the Board and insolvency advisors need to know is that there is a willingness from the fans to buy season tickets and spend money if administration can be avoided with new management at the helm. The Supporters Trust's recent survey demonstrated there is a significant sum available. I, and no doubt many others, will be happy to put more money into the club than the sum I indicated in the survey. Fans are more than willing to dig deep to support our club, but first, it is vital that the club is under new and far more competent management.

With Gardiner still here . Good luck with that one . He needs to be miles away from the club before I contribute anything that helps to prolong him being here .

I don't share that confidence in handing over a large sum of money at moment

Today is yet another very sad day, embarrassing for the club and everyone who has treated the players so disgracefully should hang their heads in shame. I’d like to join others in showing my appreciation for everything those leaving have done for the club. We know about Mark Ridgers, Cammy Harper, Wallace Duffy and Cammy MacKay. Best wishes to each of them and all other players in the same situation.

So proud that Shane has stepped up here and of our fans who are donated. Completely and utterly ashamed of my club treating folk like this.

Probably why they felt the press was needing to be warned off. Whether the business case is sound, the moral case isn't - and together with the legal case, these are touchstones of any strategy. It's clear none of these have been developed by SG or the board. The wider ramifications of Kelty, Cammy, Ridgers, Doran, Ferguson's wage etc.- all played out in the media in the last few days- are that sympathy for the plight of the club must be ebbing away, among neutrals, and if Wednesday brings news of administration, and an appeal for season ticket money, such stories do little to help a call to arms. Death by a thousand cuts.

Shane Sutherland's set up a gofundme in response to this, in order to get Aaron's treatment sorted. https://gofund.me/4dce6b2f

We have complained about the club being tight lipped before over many years - not just in the here and now - when difficult subjects came up, but the sheer level of silence to staff, players, and fans right now is utterly mind-blowing. It pains me to say this, but at this moment in time, I don't think we will have a club taking to the field for the 2024/25 season and there are quite a few people who will need to look in the mirror and ask themselves about their part in that. They can blame the fans, or the lack of sponsors, or the failure of various Walter Mitty schemes dreamt up by the CEO, but in the end, I hope they can feel proud of themselves when our club dies. They will go down in infamy. ICT (2025) to be reborn from the ashes? The Eagle and the Thistle rising from the ashes like a Phoenix under fan ownership and backed by the community and the city? Lets hope so.

If the club survives (and I think it's the less likely option at this point) all the people who've been involved in this need to go. The entire current board are complicit in what has happened and what is going on.

No idea - but it's safe to assume there's no live medical insurance for Doran. Yes, it may be that the club never had such insurance - true - and just paid as they went (or not as is the case). I think assumptions -within a logical framework - are still allowed, that professional sports clubs either have insurance or a plan B? But if there was no insurance, and no money was ring-fenced for such eventualities - then there was no duty of care, and this idea that the ex-Chairman was a "fan Chairman" can be binned. But yes, let's pick holes.

Appalling. Aaron is absolutely decent.

I said last night that those making decisions at the club should hang their heads in shame. Today’s news about Aaron simply underlines that. I’m speechless at some of the actions they have taken in recent times. Well done Shane, and it’s great to see the support being given to Aaron. Its so sad that Shane felt the need to make this wonderful gesture. I dread to think what tomorrow’s revelation will be.

Absolutely disgusting. Not only been a loyal servant but a total gentleman off the park as well. It can't get any worse.... can it?

I would normally expect a fit, active adult in their early thirties who had sustained an ACL rupture and who saw an NHS orthopaedic consultant to (after a long wait, of course!) get an ACL repair - regardless of whether they are a professional athlete or not. Having a ruptured ACL and a potentially unstable knee has ramifications for any sort of physical activity, both recreational and as part of employment - and also results in an increased risk of osteoarthritis in the knee within the next decade or two. So for Aaron to be told - by a retired orthopaedic surgeon, no less - "to try and rehab it" - well...draw your own conclusions as to why that was suggested to him as an option. Every day I think that nothing about this club and the current situation could appal me any more...and yet every day they manage to outdo themselves.

An excerpt from P&J Doran 'can't even run after his kids' He said "I have had two surgeries booked in by the physio, Dan (Cluett), for May 22 and May 29, and the club cancelled them both" ... "I got injured on April 19 and the scan showed I had a ruptured ACL and the consultant said I needed surgery. Then I had a meeting with the club. One of the directors is a retired knee surgeon (Panos Thomas), and one of the options put forward was I should try and rehab it - but you can't rehab a ruptured ACL and try to play professional football." [Apparently, after cancelling it, they said they would pay for it in June, but they haven't yet, hospital is wanting payment, and he is going to have to pay for it himself if he doesn't get a reply this week]. Shane Sutherland on X not exactly holding back!

That's fine unless you operate in an environment which relies heavily on reputation, goodwill and common decency. Treat others how you wish to be treated yourself and all that.

I am sure we could field a team of local lads next season, but I can't see we could field a team of local lads who would be good enough to stay in league one. They would certainly play for the shirt though. Frankly, if that was the scenario being offered by a new regime, I would bite your hand off to have that just now. The club would then have a couple of years to mend relationships with the fans, local businesses and the wider community. That would form a solid foundation for strengthening the team and moving forward in a sustainable and responsible way.

Until that article is out of the stadium for good I am not spending a penny of my money on tickets or sponsorship.

My wee band played this for Mr Gardiner the other night

Now up to £3630 with over 160 donations. . At this rate Aaron will be able to have the other knee done too

Was just wondering if insurance was something that we used to have and which got axed like so many things when we went into cost cutting mode after the battery farm hit the skids. Yes it is ludicrous that we were paying a manager that level of salary and it is one of many things that reiterate the overconfidence and overreliance there was on the battery farm going ahead. I suspect that if a player needed an op in the early part of the season it would have been dealt with more promptly than after the realisation that we faced a struggle to survive.

Can’t be ruled out but more likely to be a cost cutting decision. Replace the definite cost of insurance with the possible cost of an operation once in a while, and possibly no cost at all if the player in question is going out of contract.

I want to be shocked at the Doran news but after the way we treated Sutherland and Walsh after their injuries, it's on par for this board. Honestly this last week has been enough reason for them all to resign

It's almost like the club has gone out of business already. Just an appalling way to treat anyone, let alone one of our longest serving players.

Neither is the resignation of the Chairman or the CEO or a great many other things

I don't see why anyone would want to hand over money to the club right now with the very real threat of administration on the cards. Fine if you have money burning a hole in your pocket but I suspect that won't be the case for a lot of people. Which makes Grassa's comments the other day (about asking ICT fans to dig deep now the Kelty move is off) all the more bizarre to me. Even if fans did want to support the club how can they? We don't know anything about STs for next season!

Hopefully ending the recent mismanagement. Clean slate is the obvious requirement. Young team finishing next season bottom half of league one would be a start!

We wouldn’t necessary need to recruit from elsewhere. Recruit the plenty and willing lads from the local area.

If he stopped covering the doughnuts with hundreds and thousands he could give them to the club.

Folk should be down the stadium with pitch forks demanding those in charge come out and face them. What an absolute shambles. I'm embarrassed to say I support this team right now.

With each mounting catastrophe, the aversion to risk should have increased. Instead, we have seemingly lobbed the remaining eggs into each oncoming basket with gusto after a few were broken in each failed venture before it. Some of these schemes beggar belief and I also wonder why some things at the club were undertaken (at a premium cost) when perfectly good alternatives existed beforehand. Pixellot always annoys me because @ANDYCAM and the media team in place were doing a great job of filming, editing and commentary. Instead we get an amateur implementation of something that can't even distinguish between a ball and a bald head and goes viral for all the wrong reasons. How much did that cost us and why? Incidentally, my son's U11 team uses the same system to record and analyze all his games, and no issues when it is configured right! The concert company is another one. Ok, the club may be insulated from that legally and somewhat financially, but not morally or in the eyes of all those businesses who got screwed. But lets look at the concert itself. Why did it fail? Did the club look to anyone with expertise in running concert events for advice? Perhaps a former chairman or well-known supporter who had jointly owned an event company a few years ago, and one of whom is still running (successful) events on his own. If not, why not? We also seem to be bereft of any business savvy when it comes to all the other schemes such as battery farms, land investments, freeport advantages, land rental or other schemes designed to make us money. I don't profess to know all the ins and outs of this but we have some (very) successful businesspeople on the current board and past boards ... FFS, should someone not have sought out those who had expertise and acumen in certain areas of business and utilised that knowledge? Admitting you don't know something, or accepting advice and learning from that advice, is not a weakness, it is a strength, but it appears to not be a strength that Autocrat #1 at ICT seems to have. However, he is going to leave us with a final money winning scheme that will make us all rich .... I saw that article and it boils my blood. Someone, the manager or DoF, should be contacting those players and letting them know what the plan is, even if it's not finalised. As Ridgers said, he is not even looking for specifics, just that "we want to keep you but not sure what kind of offer we can make you until the dust settles" so he knows whether to bide his time or look elsewhere. The man has a family and needs to make sure they are provided for, so he is being extremely patient and loyal. Same for other players. It's not nice for anyone but FFS, at least speak to them and give them some info. For any player who chooses to continue their career away from ICT because you simply have no choice, then I applaud you for what you have done at the club, wish you well, and understand you are doing what you have to do for you, for your family, or for your career (or all of the above). For any that stick around to wait and see what contract (if any) gets offered, then that applause becomes a standing ovation because this situation is likely the hardest you have faced in your working life and your loyalty to the club and the fans should not be disrespected.

Every day you think things can't get worse at ICT and every day your heart gets broken more. Unbelievable way to treat Aaron, one of the teams most loyal, talented and nicest players we have ever had. Just happily donated but it's heart breaking that this has to happen in the first place. The board all get treated well between themselves but where's the same loyalty and decency when it comes to the the team, the players that have given us the memories, goals, games and special days in our lives that I will never ever forget since I started supporting them back in 1996. If we do survive this mess, Who would want to come and play here when they see how how a long term and loyal player like Aaron has been treated. I can't imagine what a bad taste this will leave in the mouth for Aaron after all these years here but hopefully this will show how much he means to the fans at least.

Just done it and it's at over £1000 already. A great way to show our appreciation of Aaron's contribution to our club. Thanks Shane.

I'm hoping the local reporters reach out to Tom Walsh and see how his treatment plan went....I'm guessing same as Shane and Aaron

Well done Shane

On the player side of this sorry affair, that is the absolutely central issue… and a painful irony. A huge fuss is made about difficulty attracting players to the club and at the same time, there’s this flood of accounts of how badly the current ones are being treated. I can’t imagine that Inverness Caledonian Thistle is currently being touted as the “go-to” club on the professional footballers’ grapevine. Am I hearing correctly that the club’s longest serving player, Aaron Doran, had a medical procedure for his latest injury cancelled by the club at the last minute - apparently for financial reasons? EDIT - Yup… just spotted it on another thread.

The lack of communication with the fans is mind blowing. And yes if we feel totally undervalued and increasingly frustrated then I can only imagine how the players feel. Last year when we reached the Scottish Cup Final the club turned people who wanted to buy tickets away, preferring to hand these back to the SFA and subsequently to Celtic. So such individuals may not have been in the habit of attending ICT games every week but that is what happens at Cup Finals and similar: people from the town/city and casual supporters (some of whom perhaps were unable to attend games in recent times due to living away) get carried along with the excitement resulting in some attending more regularly or even buying season tickets in subsequent seasons generating ongoing income. In my opinion another example of short term thinking, shooting ourselves in the foot and failing to capitalise on an opportunity. That decision still frustrates me to this day.

Smells again of yet another SG f••k up

Indeed and for a board who complained it was impossible to bring players up here so that the football side would have to move to Kelty, this is hardly making it appealing to any future players!

Cant offer contracts if the club dont have any money and without knowing the level of ST sales, it'll be very difficult to budget a playing staff with certainty of being able to pay through the whole season - a fact not lost on agents and players. Dont buy this whole idea that local 'lads' will be the best option and will offer more pride because they grew up nearby, given our small fanbase I'd suggest most are probably still subject to the Scottish curse of following 'big teams' There's going to be a real wake up call for many fans when they see the quality of team we can field with our youth or local talent if it comes to fruition and they should brace themselves for League 2 rather than be looking upwards.

No harm in dreamring

I seem to recall Donald Trump saying the same sort of thing on January 6th

He should have had those conversations before he went, but hey-ho, he's on a reputed six figure salary so what does he care about players, especially those he didn't sign or loan-in.

Harry Gow?