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And we've no idea why. In seasons past our former managers have talked about how they had to let players know they weren't being kept on. Ferguson meanwhile, after our embarrassing relegation, was MIA for weeks before resurfacing again suggesting that he didn't have any (face to face) communication with players who were out of contract. With every passing day I find myself less and less likely to ever want to go to an ICT game again. What has happened to the club that I would previously do anything to support? It's unrecognisable now run by a bunch of charlatans who don't give a f'ck about the club, players or fans.

It wasn't just Aaron Doran though. None of the players were contacted by their manager when their contracts were running down. It happened at a place I worked and, although I can't be certain, I'm pretty sure that contributed to that awful people manager leaving. It's not just a football thing, it's an ability to manage.

I feel like RIG tbh. The lack of morality from the club I love (or maybe loved now) just makes me feel sick tbh If and/or when the new investment comes in maybe I will feel better.

Maybe, but this is just a temporary state of affairs. Being a fan is a lifetime commitment and we all took the vows - for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health! Everything is bad just now, and it might all get even worse for a while when we are getting pumped by the likes of Annan and Kelty, but we will bounce back, on and off the pitch.

Ferguson's thought's dominate the back page of todays "Courier" too. The interesting thing for me is that he refers on a couple of occasions to a "new owner". The current "owners" of the club are the shareholders. I don't know whether Ferguson is simply using the word "owner" loosely to mean someone who is going to put significant money into the club and who would head up a new Board, or whether the new money is conditional on the investor becoming a majority shareholder. The first scenario would be a very welcome development but the 2nd option would represent a major change of business structure for the club and would, I assume, require approval of the existing shareholders. It would appear that nobody at the press conference picked him up on this point. It would be good to get some clarification. It was good that someone asked him about Aaron Doran. I accept that the decisions taken may be down to the club, but I don't accept that he can brush away accountability so easily. As team manager, he has a very clear role in terms of communicating with his players and discussing issues which impact on their careers.

Maybe the lack of information about 'new investor(s)' is necessary, for confidentiality reasons. Unfortunately the club's current custodians have not earned the right to receive any benefit of the doubt from supporters. There are still an awful lot of important questions left unanswered even from the snippets of information in the public domain. For example: - Are we getting actual new ownership - as Ferguson seems to be suggesting - or just new people investing in the club? Are these new investors current shareholders or people from outside? - The accounts state that new investors will provide funding via a share purchase. But this would either be through a purchase of existing shares (difficult when there are so many minor shareholders) or through the issuing of new shares (and can the board just do this without getting agreement from current shareholders?)? - How on earth can David Cameron have stepped down as a director in 2022, yet Companies House not be informed until a few weeks ago? And why have the club continued listing him on the website as a director since then? It's not as if the page hasn't been updated, as new directors have been added in the last two years. Has it anything to do with the fact that Mr Cameron is, along with our former chairman, a director of the Battery Farm company? And that's just the finance stuff. We still haven't got an explanation as to why Aaron Doran and other departing players were treated so dreadfully.

I wish he had walked! I'll back the team but I can't back a manager that got us relegated, playing some of the most boring football I've ever had to endure, and paid handsomely for it! What a waste of money!

Marks situation is awkward but in all honesty there's no way back for him here I don't think ... very vocal on social media and there's probably a reason that he's not signed for a club yet ... part time and set up of his own academy is a sensible way ahead for him I think. Pinning the hopes on former players won't take the club forward needs new players with a fresh impetus to take the club to the next level again.

I think it's a necessary start? I doubt we can limp on like this for long

Crazy tough to find lineups listed anywhere but after a bit of digging I did find photographic evidence. https://africanfootball.com/team/607/SS-Saint-Louisienne/816/2017-CAF-Champions-League/

More flannel than a Lumberjacks' convention..... Duncan Ferguson hopes for Caley Thistle investment ‘within weeks’ The Inverness manager needs funds to add new faces as his team get set for their long Annan trip in the Premier Sports Cup. Duncan Ferguson is confident fresh investment will come Caley Thistle’s way in a matter of weeks as the club gears up for the start of the season on Saturday. Amid a summer of turmoil at the Highland club, which was relegated from the Championship in May, the push for a new owner has dominated the past few weeks. The threat of administration for ICT, which has just posted a £588,000 loss for last year, was soothed by the board saying investment talks were positive almost one month ago. While fans have been waiting for news on this front, Ferguson has been unable to sign any players. Only the transfer of defender Nikola Ujdur, seemingly to Championship side Queen’s Park, will free up funds for Ferguson to add a face or two. ‘No one knows what the future holds’ Former Rothes defender Callum Aspell and ex-Ross County midfielder Adam Mackinnon featured as trialists against Raith Rovers and Brora Rangers and could be added if Ujdur’s deal is completed. When asked about whether he’s hopeful of better financial news, Ferguson said: “We’re waiting for a new owner to come in and I believe that is getting closer, so we will see what happens. “No one knows what the future holds. Hopefully when the new owner comes in, things will pick up and we can tweak the squad a little bit. “I’m positive that the club are well down the road with the takeover. “We’re all excited about that, and hopefully it’s only two or three weeks away, and then we’ll get a cash injection.” ‘At the moment, we have no budget’ The action begins for real this weekend when ICT set off early on Saturday for the 480-mile round trip to face League One rivals Annan Athletic in the opening group game in the Premier Sports Cup. Relegation and financial constraints mean Inverness have a largely young squad for the upcoming campaign. Ferguson says he’s impressed by the group he has, but knows it’s going to be a testing year ahead. He said: “At the moment, we don’t have a budget, so we can’t go looking for players. “To be fair, we have one or two in the pipeline as such, but the players will be mostly local due to accommodation costs. “It’s wonderful to see a lot of younger players in the squad. “They are well thought of at the club and a lot of us like the players. “They are young, very good players, and they will get their chance. “We know the season will be tough, but we’re ready. “Annan will be a tough game for us. All the pre-season games have been tough. “Nothing changes – we go out to try and win the game.” Ferguson asked about Doran In the first press conference since relegation, Ferguson was asked about ex-midfielder Aaron Doran, who said the club twice cancelled his knee operation. The Caley Thistle boss said: “It’s not down to me. It’s down to the club to answer these things and I am sure, in time, the club will do so.” ‘I’m a fighter and looking forward to the new season’ – Ferguson With everything that has gone on across the summer, including the proposed training base move to Kelty being binned, Ferguson stressed he’s determined to meet the challenge head on. That begins with the four Premier Sports Cup ties, against Annan this weekend, Bonnyrigg Rose on July 20, Arbroath on July 23 and Dundee on July 27. He said: “We’re looking forward to the new season. “We have four cup games first and it will be a big challenge for us this season as everyone knows. “But I’m a fighter and I’m looking forward to it. ” Striker and skipper Billy Mckay, fellow forward Adam Brooks and defender Danny Devine are facing a race against time to shake off injuries for the Annan trip. Ferguson is aware of fans’ disquiet, with many refusing to buy season tickets until they see internal club changes. He added: “I just ask them to get behind the team and support these young players.”

I can't believe there's still people pinning their hopes on these kind of comments from the club.

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/sport/football/inverness-caledonian-thistle/6533408/duncan-ferguson-hopes-for-caley-thistle-investment-within-weeks/ Here's the confirmation of what @bigterrybutcher says and tbh it sounds all positive so hopefully this comes off though a month is a bit of a wait but I suppose we've been waiting for ages so what difference will another month make . What worries me in this article is that a couple of our players are being linked away so I'm wondering who because we really can't afford to lose anymore experienced players!! The other thing to take out of the article is the bit at the end which is basically Duncan Ferguson saying that he has no intention of walking away so it looks like we're stuck with him for the foreseeable so we'll just have to back him .

Not the right answer but that’s a great shout. Didn’t even know about him being lined up to join us until our relegation put a stop to it. He mentions it here. https://sport.optus.com.au/news/socceroos/os72815/socceroos-craig-goodwin-premier-league-defiant-rise

I’m OK and happy to have our young lads take a loss to a team of Brora’s standard. It’s a friendly and these games are to test out the strengths and weaknesses (which well all know). Better to do that in pre season as opposed to the league games. 1-4 is not a thumping and I expect (and hope) some lessons are learnt. Again the absence of Billy and Danny fall into this same lesson experience. There’s a good chance one or both of these two will miss games (Billy more than Danny I suspect due to his age). Better they (and DF) understand how to adjust the team formation in this case. Likewise, I really don’t care how the results in the cups go. Just learn from these games so we can take the best formation and game plans into the league matches. This coming season (on and off the park), is about survival, and whilst I have no control over the of-field antics or outcome, I backed the cause to dump Kelty and go with the young kids. I am happy to stick with this route. All strength to our team come the games that really count.

Time for Panos to get his joggers on.

A heavier defeat than I expected, but look at the team we fielded.

I am excited at the prospect of a cup run here. We are where we are, as they say, and this is where we are at. For the young lads in the team it is an exciting opportunity to win some silver wear and a good cup run gives everyone a boost. We were happy enough with this tournament a few years ago when we were on the way up and it would be down right rude to think we are somehow too good for it now. Bring on the cup runs - big and small

Well said bbb! I’d go further with Scotland. Our game, those running it, players, media and fans have been deluding ourselves for decades imho and we simply continue to serve up the same tripe, and hope somehow this will work next tournament, next tournament, next t…………..! Our game : It has been in steady decline for some 30 -40 years now. I go back to Bremner, NcNeil, Law and Jordan era, but I’ll place the last benchmark at Souness and Dalgliesh days. Whilst other so called lesser countries have improved there game (Isreal, Cyprus, Iceland etc- {teams we would have certainly get the better of}; we have slowly but steady got poorer in the standard of play and ability). Is it Coaching, lifestyle or mindset ? I don’t know but it’s clearly not working for me. Those running the game : The blazers at hampden. Too cosy, amateurish and paid too much to be minded to change the game. League /Clubs: Stuck with a two team league. They dominate and starve all other teams in the country such that they remain in a comfortable stupor. The result is stagnation. Club boards: All finance driven such that maximising the financial return trumps everything else. As such not loosing for most clubs becomes the norm. This chokes adventurous play as the risk of loosing is greater using this style imho. Managers/Coaches: demands for results dictates that stopping goals against is above scoring again for most teams. Scotland were on the same standing as Portugal in the 70’s. Look at their players ability to ours now and tell me we’ve not went backwards! Players - Average to poor for the most and lack the basics for most Scot’s players in ability, mental and physical application. (Simple trapping the ball is beyond many). Too willing to elevate their our game above their true abilities. Media: again part of the problem. They have a cost life and feed of the product and pump out rubbish most of the time. Overrate our players most of the time. Superb this, world class that. Not enough critical focus on poor play when witnessed. Fans : Less attending games as other more comfortable and exciting alternatives are available. Average play had become acceptable! Continue to be easily drawn into the Scotland next-time show. I wish I could present a more positive outlook from me on the Scotland team and game in general, however watching what I consider to be the worst team at the Euro’s, I felt I could not let it pass without having a kick at the whole thing, hoping against hope the next time will show any improvement!! Rant over!! bc

Or maybe the fans could just write off their season ticket refund, very much like we would love Morrison to do with his own investment.

Allegedly, it's all claims and bluster. Let's wait before getting too excited and see what percentage of the public claims actually are followed through.

I’m not making any criticism here, but there does seem to be a bit of an anomaly that a company with a known history of financial problems which has been hovering on the brink of insolvency for weeks can continue to make advance sales of services to be provided for the next ten months - and that if the company collapses, reimbursement for any payments is the responsibility of a third party credit card provider, despite it being known at time of purchase that there was a significant chance of that collapse. As I said…just an observation and no criticism or complaint of an arrangement which appears to be playing a significant part in the efforts to save the club.

Got any family members who’d be willing to have a go at playing for us?

The charge was put in place long before any of this kicked off and the fans decided enough was enough. He was entirely responsible for his own demise and financial situation. Such a big ICTFC fan and hero that he'll now drag the club down with him?

Thanks for keeping this going Gringo.

Duncan Ferguson has nothing to do with the negotiations with any potential new owner, whatever shape that may take. Also does anyone actually know he hasn’t been in touch with Aaron Doran? He’s no Alex Ferguson but he’s the manager we have and he has stuck around when others might have walked. Time we got behind the manager and his team.

DF graduated at the same school of charm as SG!!

I know it’s pre-season but that’s an embarrassing result, and worrying given the season proper starts on Saturday. How can we limit Raith to 1 then get battered by Brora?

Is it 8 out of 10 for artificial surfaces in League 1 ? Tippy Tappy might have to be the way!

No acknowledgement of the fans who have become increasingly disillusioned by other matters since this initial demand was made? Treatment of Ridgers, Doran and other players? Failed promises of improved communication? Failure to deliver new away kit as promised? No sign of the investment that was imminent when asking for season ticket and merchandise sales to tide them over in the short term till they got that done? Late accounts? 27 months to notify of a director resignation? Bringing in loan players from down south despite that apparently being unaffordable whilst overlooking local options? It's becoming more and nore apparent that the CEO may be the biggest problem but he's far from the only one and there are many more legitimate reasons for fans to be reluctant to put money into the club just now.

It is not remotely the same. The fact that Morrison still has a charge against the club is part of the uncertainty that is stopping people putting money into the club at the moment. I don't want my money going out of my pocket and then going straight into his pocket when the club goes bust.

4-1...nice attacking display of football from Caley then eh Dunc. Just go.