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There's a big difference between wanting to give young local players a chance and wanting a squad almost entirely made up of young local players. I don't think anyone was advocating for the latter. It feels like some people (including Ferguson) are trying to rewrite what fans have been saying in a way that says "you got what you want and if it all goes wrong it's on you". To them all I say '**** You'. The fans are in no way responsible for where the club finds itself right now. Our board, CEO and manager have and continue not to learn anything. In their view they have and can do no wrong. That's why I'm pretty much done with the whole thing.

If there was ever an interview that’ showed someone so uninterested or not really wanting to be there this was it. Obviously still getting extremely well paid because that is the only reason he is still here as is Bollan. If we have to go with young local players we should go with a young local management duo too. It’s clear Duncan doesnt want to be here well it’s also clear we don’t want you here either. Off you trot down the A9 now give Kelty a shout when you are passing you never know they might be looking for a youth coach. Dougal

I agree with all of that apart from the last sentence. I am certainly not anything like "done with the whole thing". I fully intend watching ICT for many years to come after the current custodians of the club are out of the door. I'm not going to sit back and allow the current management to kill off my football club and deny me the pleasure of supporting my team in the future. The key thing is to ensure that somehow, the club survives. One option is for one, or a very small number of "investors" to put a significant amount of money into the club. From the club's statement of June 14th it appeared this option might be on the cards, but the wall of silence since suggests this may not be the case. If no big money is going to come in, then the second option is for the club to be financed by a large number of small sources. That means investment from fans and support from local businesses and the wider community. That would involve a radical change in the business model preceded by a difficult transition period where the club opened up about the club's finances. The current position is clearly unsustainable. If nobody is coming in with big money to stabilise the club, the current management need to swallow a bit of humble pie and start working constructively with smaller shareholders, the Supporters Trust and other community interests to find a way to stave off administration in the short term and to develop a more sustainable model for the long term. Something needs to happen very, very soon.

He could leave with mutual consent and I really am confused as to why he has stayed ?!! He could pick up another job easily despite his ICT performance. He looks and sounds cheesed off. Not exactly what he was expecting to return to BUT if he does get this team to tick them it would be a massive CV booster.

Im still bothered that the lies continue to come, or is it just a wee white lie? I overheard Gary Bollan reply to a fan yesterday when asked where Ujdur was. He said "he is not playing today because he had back spasms in training and he was left out of todays squad" So, what is the correct rumour. Is he still with us with a sore back, or is he away as suggested. It's time a spokesperson stood tall and told us exactly what the fork is going on. You would think the club thrived on all the adverse speculation going around. FFS tell us the truth for once

Having a team made up of youngsters is clearly not ideal in a competitive sense - but it also provides a positive incentive for people to reconsider the withdrawal of their support for this season. Now that there is a good core of local young players to get behind, Kelty has been canned, and the CEO and chairman are out the door (or on their way out the door), the only sticking points now seem to be communication from the club, the continued ill treatment of staff by the board, and the fact that the manager is still in place. We can only hope that the first couple of these are resolved once Gardiner's notice period ends. I am also willing to give Ferguson the opportunity to prove us wrong after he gets a full pre-season in for the first time with us. We are at the point where not supporting the team will only lead us further into the abyss, and in my view it is no longer worth us as fans cutting our noses off to spite our faces. I will be buying a season ticket this year.

Not quite. Given the choice between shifting weekday operations and training to Kelty or having to use a squad of young local players following relegation the fans said they would prefer the latter.

Well it was very matter of a fact and not exactly enthusiastic !!

That's my feeling too. I think we are still in danger of going out of business. The Kelty idea was sold so badly. I don't think the fanbase would have United in the same way had they explained how exactly it would have worked and how it saved money? I wouldn't have gone with it regardless I don't think but others probably would have?

CB would be there for the free pie and tea unlikely he would have done any interviews. Dougal

As if his record at us and forest green haven't already scuppered him 😂

Possibly but im not privy to all the information the board had. With little income and huge losses then cost savings are an inevitability and as such quality has to drop which again impacts future revenues. Its an ever decreasing spiral as you are aware. Happy to accept this path but acknowledge we will more likely be heading towards league 2 than Premiership in the short term at least. Suspect this is an unpopular opinion on here though.

Once again, Very safe questions. Nothing about the Kelty move, The board changes etc. Any more players arriving???

Is that not what everyone's been saying they wanted......so long as they are all local of course?

No happy about that if true about Ujdur. I thought he was the new Bobby Mann when he arrived. Great player.🤬

£248k compared to £745k awarded to winners Yenitit.

We are playing Bonnyrigg in the League Cup on Saturday 20th. So it can't be the first team on Thursday night, Shirley?

Nothing stopping him from walking away ... Also maybe he should have done his due diligence on the championship and league one before deciding to take the job and seen what level of players he would be working with / facing Honestly makes me wonder what Ancelotti saw in him to want him as your assistant, cause he clearly isn't a tactical genius or a great developer of players

We did promote this on our X page recently. No problem with it being on here either, the more the merrier.

The Club it seems is truly skint! No board member is putting in any cash and no other income stream coming in. The money for where we finished in the league would have been very small and probably already used up. The now Ex Chairman was keeping things afloat financially, but he has now gone along with his money. With that being the case it must only be season ticket sales that are paying wages for the players & staff etc. If no new investment is found soon, surely the club don’t have the ability to function much longer ??????? don’t know how many season tickets have been sold, but with the Trust now advising against buying them, surely it’s only a matter of time before we go bust !!!!!! Perhaps there is investment coming, but when and how much to clear debt and move forward. It’s really the only reason we have young (cheap), players in our current squad. I don’t think the Kelty move would have really sorted out the financial predicament!

I hope the Mods don't mind, but John Robertson has asked the Trust to highlight this crowdfunder that is in place to assist Aaron through his lengthy rehabilitation. The prize is a Scotland top with John's name on it, which as you will see in the link is genuinely rare. Entries are £10 or £20 for three. Full details here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/aaron-doran-rehab-fund

Some fans are looking for the utopia of a board they like making decisions they want, local team of homegrown superstars and on field success to rival previous histories. Maybe the reality is that you can only ever have 2 of these at any time.

I am told it needs to be the same or more as on previously? Surely a conversation could have been had as I doubt he was staying anyway?

Well said Aaron! I sense that you are a bit mortified about the whole donations thing, but honestly, this was not charity - it was looking after one of our own. In fact, it has made some of us feel a little better about being an ICT fan, at a time when you have been treated so badly by the club. Whistle blowers get a bad press, but personally I think the world needs more people who are willing to speak out about mistreatment and miscarriages of justice, otherwise these controlling types just get away with what they are doing. If I was proud to have had you dedicate most of your career to ICT before, I think you are a true hero now. Good luck in the future and I hope you do feel that you can come and watch ICT games with your family, because the fans are the club and we would love to see you on the terraces.

There's a man who's clearly not impressed with what he has to work with. Body language said more than his words did.

Most were on loan last season at levels below us with mixed success, if they haven't learned from those experiences already then we should be concerned about their readiness for a higher league.

He’s a bit heavier and slower, but strolled through the hour or so that he played for. He was talking the Clach defence and midfield through the game too. He made a couple of heavy challenges on Brooks, but it was all sporting. I should have said earlier that Gilmour was on the pitch before the game going through exercises so hopefully he’s nearly fully fit too.

Oh it felt fantastic to see our team in action again. Pretty much agree with all that has been said - it is going to be a sharp learning curve for the young uns to toughen up for what comes next, but I felt so proud of them all and excited for them starting out on their careers. Good luck to them all. Lewis Nicolson was at the game - I don't think he is too far away from coming back now. Well done ICT.

It was nice being back at a game and good to see 11 local youngsters involved. At first I thought we were going with a back 4 but it quickly became clear it was a back 3/5 with Bray and Strachan the wing backs. Davidson was played in central midfield with Longstaff on his right and Thompson on his left. I agree with tm4tj’s assessment. The wind messed things up a bit in the first half, which was even with Clach having more chances, despite us bossing possession. It was reminiscent of last season, plenty of possession but no cutting edge, no one left up when defending a corner and Mckay dropping very deep. We pretty much bossed the second half and both goals were well taken. I’d pick out a couple more players to those mentioned already. I thought Davidson was very comfortable in midfield, and Strachan had a good game at left wing back. Too early to draw any conclusions, but it felt good to be back at a game.

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Apparently Ujdur has been sold to Queens Park.