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Time for another Wyness Shuffle podcast inviting Mr Makwana to a no holds barred interview. Do it lads!

Someone prepared to accept their salary in crypto currency

I would go for some young and hungry manager with a history of being able to scrap for results in a lower league. I don't know who that is as I have not followed League One/Two or the HL for years. Would also not be against the names mentioned so far (or other former players who may have moved into coaching already), but that would have to be starting with a clean slate as we would not want off-field shenanigans to tarnish the reputation of one of our playing heroes. In the case of Ryan Esson, and possibly others, I think a complete clear-out from dugout to boardroom would be required before any of our alumni would take it on. I simply cant see Charlie taking it on for the reasons specified when he gave it up before.

My heart sinks when I see someone's name as a thread title - awful news and my sympathy to all his friends and family. A football club is nothing without fans and Johndo was such a big part of this club, so recognisable

What I see

A read through the new manager thread from last year would suggest that very few fans wanted Ferguson in. He appeared from almost nowhere to take the job with the majority of the support sceptical and worried about his appointment. Equally it would seem most of the fans wanted Dodds gone as we were absolutely honking under him for the first few months of the campaign before he was binned. I would say there wasn't much evidence to suggest he could have steered us away from relegation given how things were going under his leadership. Given what has been said about Fergusons pay packet any concerns about the clubs finances didn't appear to apply to him and certainly don't appear to have been a factor in the recruitment process.

Taken from Facebook. My dads funeral is going to be on Thursday the 15th of august at 1.30pm at Charnock Richard crematorium, please come dressed how you feel my dad would want to see you and we are asking for no flowers just donations to British Heart Foundation There will be no official wake but we are currently looking into somewhere to raise a toast to my dad , details to be confirmed.

It's all part of the exciting new innovative model for running a football club. It's called Fan Free Soccer - or FFS for short.

There is probably not a club in Scotland with less credibility than this one--anyone even considering taking on the manager's job in the current circumstances would need one criterion: to be completely desperate for a job.

Another classic Ford - a Consul Capri from the early 60s. And then an old Vauxhall Velox from the late 40s or early 50s. We used to have a 1953 one in black, and I'm guessing that the one below isn't in its original colour.

Playing devils advocate my recollection is the trust took a neutral stance, and certainly agreed with attendees on the priority issue at the meeting which was opposing moving operations south. An opposing stance would have been pro Kelty which they were not. They also did not oppose suggestions of a demonstration. The support have simply failed to mobilise into a coherent group so failure in that regard lies at grass roots level not at trust level. The trust certainly need to step up and hold the boards feet to the fire citing the supporters concerns over the potential change in majority shareholding & apparent gaps in credibility over funding going forward. If the current trust representatives feel unable to do so then perhaps trust members should approve available funds being utilised to seek professional insight and support. After all the way things are going there will be nothing else to invest in. I sincerely believe we need a demonstration strategy at every home game to send a clear message starting with the first home league game. Of course this would require organisation on the part of the grass roots fans who have failed to demonstrate any appetite for militancy across the whole sorry affair thus far. Gardiner knows we are all show and no go so far and has convinced himself of his own infallibility. This latest stunt however, may just be his downfall if we can exploit the weakness in his strategy, and credibility. Before the "takeover" announcement I set up a poll to gauge the groundswell of support on the forum for organised protest. From small acorns I suggest we set up a group to discuss if like minded fans are prepared to stand up together as this isn't going away whatever the conservative element of the fan base seem to think.

On the pitch we would be no worse off if Dodds were still here but, off the pitch we would be in a better position (or less bad might be more accurate). Dodds was paid off and Ferguson was appointed on the basis of loans. The club assumed they were going to receive money which never materialised.

If I re-write that bit "So in the end fans got what they wanted. Dodds out....with Ferguson being appointed" as I would agree that people weren't clamouring for Big Dunc, just anyone else! That probably a more accurate reflection. I'd also love to understand how the likes of Greenock Morton and Queens Park with ave attendances lower that ICT can actively recruit some of our better players, when it looks like we couldn't afford it in the Championship...is it a case of a management team taking large lumps of cash out of the club as salaries?

I remember saying at the time that whilst Ferguson had a good reputation in coaching and it was an intriguing appointment, there was no evidence that he was a good manager. One year later, there is still no evidence that he is a good manager and indeed there is mounting evidence that he is absolutely terrible.

This deal has red flags left, right and centre! It sounds like a total sham. I can only see 1 of 3 things with this deal. 1. Mr Makwana has duped the board with his patter and vision and they have fallen hook line and sinker for it. 2. The board just want to pass the buck to anyone who is willing to take the club on, regardless of due diligence and whether he is a fit and proper person. 3. Makwana has some secret millions somewhere to buy the majority shareholding and invest I hope it's the 3rd option but this bloke wouldn't look out of place on watchdog!

LET'S GET PHYGITAL!!!

Ferguson is, by the proverbial country mile, THE WORST manager in the club's history. Ostracised MacGregor, Ujdur and Brooks last season, green lighted the departure of Welsh and Carson, brought in a raft of loanee jobbers and persisted with tactics which were doomed to fail. If that wasn't grounds enough to dislike the guy he didn't even have the decency to engage with Dorran, Ridgers, Esson and co when they were dumped. The outcome of his hapless reign is well documented and the catalyst for the current sh1tshow. A narcissistic, nepotistic drain on our resources who has no apparent raport with either his players or the fans. Get him gone.

Holy ****. I've just seen this. Johndo was one of the first of the ICT fans I went to an away game with. He couldn’t have been a kinder or funnier man, and treated me like I’d been going to away games with him forever. Every memory I have of him is positive and happy, from Ayr away in The Ship when we went back up, to having the daftest Voddy and Coke crawl from Easter Road back to Waverly. If any of his family are on here, my heartfelt condolences go out to each and everyone of you. The (Immortal) Howden Ender will never die

Time for the incompetent indivual currently at the helm to be gone. Who would we want?

It's that time of the year again where we get excited for the start of the league season, only for excitement to be extinguished by reality On the other hand it does mean I get to cut and paste to bring you the NAPs. Head over to the Betting Forum for the new seasons opening week. l will post them tomorrow evening. (Mods, I'll unpin/unfeature this post in a week or two)

What Gardiner see's

Just by coincidence I was chauffeuring grandkids around this morning and I saw this Rover 3.5 V8 so I obviously thought of IBM (well actually I thought of my laddie first and my old man who had a Rover 2000). I stopped for a look but it looked more of a heap close up. It would need the doors replaced and a respray and it’s being offered at £2895.

What the fans see .... What the board see (Warren Buffet in case you are wondering)

We should not be paying this. ever. Relocation costs, perhaps. subsidising accommodation costs for a few weeks or months, maybe. But not permanent arrangements for multiple people all the time, especially those on six figures who can absolutely afford to pay their own way. You want to play for ICT then like any other job normal people have, you pay your own living costs out of your wages. Still dont see how Kelty would have worked ... ok, you don't pay accommodation for a few incoming central belt journeymen, but you would still have to do that for the 1st team players who have established homes and family in Inverness, and who you expect to travel to Kelty to train with the rest of the first team. So there's some digs, and transportation every week regardless. I also dont buy the cost bull**** about Inverness, but - as someone who rents accomodation in Inverness reasonably regularly in the past - it depends on what you are looking at. Are you buying a 10-bed property for the club to run (as someone suggested), putting them up in guest houses (as we used to do in our lower league days), or having them take a room at an expensive hotel (or an equally expensive Air BnB). Also ... If you don't expect the Inverness based players to travel to Kelty, then you are creating a two-tier system and splitting your coaching staff also meaning you either have to hire more coaches for one or both locations. Thats before you ever think about the costs to train in two places (neither are free I assume) and the loss of team spirit by having 1/2 a team at either ends of the country. There were so many flaws or arguments you could have on both sides and with a mute board it becomes a moot point now that this Walter Mitty-esque idea has been shelved and we have moved onto the next one. I am sure we would be surprised at who might throw a hat into the ring. Right now, I would take someone whose credentials including winning on championship Manager. Got to be better than the tactics on display at the moment.

Quite sad really when we could have had Calum Davidson who I'm sure would have needed less salary than Dufus. And definitely a better manager.

I posted this in a Hayes and Yeading fans Facebook group. Here's what they said If he has obtained funding for this deal from somewhere then we need to know where it got it from. The only source of money seems to be from this Jersey finance company, which given it's location is going to be a black hole of information. I had assumed that you need to offer proof of funding to purchase shares in a company, from what the H&Y fans say, he'll string us along and then not come up with anything - costing us time and effort that could have been spent finding an actual investor. I think I said on here or on P&B that our useless board of idiots would find the worst possible 'investment' partners and they may well have done it.

Just for the sake of discussion If we think back a year, there were plenty of fans, who were gunning for Billy Dodds, because of his annoying knack of going on long runs without winning, and I suspect an annoying interview manner. A Cup Final appearance v a failed league campaign was not the season we wanted. I went to Airdrie away late August and he got plenty of abuse. Yet he was capable of galvanising a team to recover and go on winning runs [usually when he had enough fit players] and but for injuries might have won the play-offs [?] in 2022. Not sure the playing style delighted too many fans ... but in my time probably only Butcher, Hughes [albeit briefly, before tiki-taki] and even briefer, Neil McCann [the best Manager we never had?] have come close to playing the football that kept fans happy. So in the end fans got what they wanted. Dodds out Ferguson in, and the briefest of honeymoon's, before it all went t#ts up Now we know the true, parlous state of the clubs finances, which must have been a factor in recruitment, I wonder if given the option fans would turn back the clock a year and decide to back Dodds? A tricky call given the run he was on when he got sacked

They ignored the majority view of fans at the last meeting and took an opposing stance. Troubles me to say it but they've shown as much willingness to listen to fans as the club and also only seem interested in membership fees and donations to the fund they're running.

Any reason why commenting has been turned off on the trust website? Isn’t that just a way to silence the fans opinion?

Also what conditions or qualifications come as a prerequisite to any funds being released. Going to be confidential of course to the board and characters like SG, however given the past performances and lack of real business experience or knowledge (not to mention any desire), just who is going to do the due diligence and check the small print clause x, sub section y, that doesn’t leave the Council and the fans picking up the pieces if and when it all goes belly up in 2-5 years when the current board have flown! Hope the council insist on a legal check regarding the land use. Just want to get it out in the open now.

Do a companies house search for any of our main directors past and present and you'll find a string of dissolved companies. E.g. morrison has over 20 and some of them had suffered a wind up order including the company they renamed as the ict concert company. The red flags for me are not is what shown or not in the seventy7 ventures accounts. When it comes time to pay if he doesn't have the money he won't get his shares or whatever it is he is buying. The worry is the lack of any relevant experience and the feeling he's going to turn the club ito some kind of freak show exhibit with all the phygital tech crypto nonsense. It's the fact that he openly states that the football is the last thing to worry about in running a club. I'm starting to hope he doesn't have the money for those reasons.

I'm sure everyone on here is desperately hoping this is the deal that turns the club around. However, considering who was central to brokering this deal, I can understand the cynicism. Fingers crossed for better days ahead.

I think the majority of us that have serious doubts about this have all read what is in the public domain but the board don’t seem to have done the same. You are right they need to explain very soon!

Last week saw the annual Classics on the Common event in Harpenden, just up the road from me. https://www.classicsonthecommon.com/ - have a look at their gallery of pictures from last year - they are great! The usual mixture this year - everything from old Bentleys to Fiat 500s to modern day McLarens. This year there seemed to be more cars and more attendees than usual, which can only be a good thing. We'll start off with the familar - a Cortina which must be owned by a Jags supporter, and a beautifully-presented Anglia.

Based on all known information, and in light of the unexplained financial position surrounding the identity of the mystery investor a question mark must now exist, pending completion of the due diligence process, as to whether the Board of Directors are complying with the Companies Act 2006, in particular Section 172, the duty of care to promote the success of the Company (1) A director of a company must act in the way he considers, in good faith, would be most likely to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole, and in doing so have regard (amongst other matters) to (a)the likely consequences of any decision in the long term, (b)the interests of the company's employees, (c)the need to foster the company's business relationships with suppliers, customers and others, (d)the impact of the company's operations on the community and the environment, (e)the desirability of the company maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct, and (f)the need to act fairly as between members of the company. So it's over to the board to tick all the boxes in this regard .. and this is where the trust could and should play a role in conjunction with other shareholders in holding the board to account by evidencing compliance with statutory requirements.

7 of those 13 companies were dissolved. 4 of those 7 companies never had any accounts submitted prior to them being dissolved. Makwana resigned from one company in October 22 which remains technically active but appears to be simply existing. Makwana is involved in 5 active companies as follows:- Seventy7 Ventures Ltd. This deals in "management consultancy activities other than financial management". Makwani is the sole director and only employee. Latest accounts show net liabilities of £15,898. On 28th June this year, a charge was filed against the company by a Jersey based company. If Seventy7 Ventures cannot repay the unspecified loan, the Jersey firm has the claim on all aspects of an unspecified project. I can't see anything other than ICT being "the project". Cryptolytx Ltd. This is involved in "other publishing activities" and "new agency activities". He is the sole director and there are no employees. Net liabilities are £19,935. ! am for change C.I.C. (whatever that means). The nature of the business is described as "other social work activities without accommodation not elsewhere classified". There are 2 other directors. It was founded in July 2022. No accounts have been submitted and they are overdue. A notice was published just 5 days ago that "unless cause is shown to the contrary, the company will be struck off the register and dissolved not less than 2 months after the date shown." ELI APP Ltd. Involved in "Other information technology service activities", Makwana is the sole director and only employee. Net liabilities are £86,945. An active proposal to strike off is currently suspended due to an objection. Enterprise Lab Ltd. This company apparently provides "educational support services". Makwana is the sole director and one of 2 employees. The company has net liabilities of £50,634. There is absolutely nothing in all of this that would give me the confidence to give Makwana £10 towards running an ice cream van, let alone taking control of our football club. There are red flags everywhere. It would be good if the club would explain to its shareholders, season ticket holders and supporters in general, what it is about Mr Makwana that gives them the confidence that he can both finance a majority stake holding in the club and then finance and manage the long term development of the club.

I keep reading about "they" in relation to the ST. The ST is in effected us all as supporters and for £5 pa anyone can get involved and influence direction. Don't see how sitting outwith and criticising helps supporters have a meaningful voice and just gives oxygen to our inept CE.

I was kicking a ball around with grandchildren yesterday. I'm 70 and the grandson is 7 and I reckon we both showed more ability than Ferguson junior. Here's a thought. Get us both signed up and we could maybe change the club's name to Seventy7 FC?

I agree with all you say there. Adding that he also had the audacity to give a contract to his son, who Forfar said was not good enough for them!!!

I'll celebrate Ferguson leaving as much as I did winning the Scottish Cup and the old First Division. A previous Chairmans decision not to sack a woefully out of his depth manager cost us our place in the Premiership. The current decision to stick with this guy (and even appoint him in the first place) might cost us our club.

Well, from 5-0 at HT, I'm pleasantly surprised we didn’t set a new record for heaviest ever defeat. And sadly that’s the best thing that can be said about this.

I'll see Kilmarnock and raise you a Europa League draw song:

Ryan Esson maybe?

In our current financial situation? Charlie Christie if he would even entertain it. Ross Tokely seems to know the youth team quite well as well. Ian McCall if things smoothen out a bit, although he wouldn’t move up here I suspect.

Trust and Board Sceptics

At the risk of double downing on where the funds come from, I have to put a ‘ethics’ slant on this subject. Jersey has been a main artery for money laundering in the past with Russian money a key part of this practice. The Jersey government were told (by the UK & others) to get a grip of things. As such in 2019 the jersey gov put some sanctions in place to placate the noise. In 2022 Abramovich had $7bn seized by the jersey gov. That’s a hell of a lot of money sitting in a bank at low interest rates. So me being the cynic I am, question how the money men (the whole Russia -Jersey show) and their lawyers create the breathing space and rules ‘holidays’ to start the process again under the radar. For arguments sake if S7V’s investment cost £10M (hotel, flats and gaming centre where no profit goes to the club), then ten of such ventures quickly add up to a tidy sum. So for all the procedures, protocols, regulations and good practice rules espoused by such organisations and authorities (like the Highland Coonsil) and dare I say ICTFC, what if any checks are to be done to check any funding forthcoming from S7V is legit? Or are we such a lot that, that as long as it’s our club that is the recipient then ‘that’s OK’, don’t ask the questions.

I want DF gone also. But realistically who would want to be ICT manager just now?

That’s ten weeks since relegation and around two months since it was confirmed that the club’s financial situation was so desperate that radical action was essential. Since then, this time of year’s normal financial boost of season ticket money has been greatly reduced, there has only been one home game with a very modest attendance and no Sports Bar and there’s reason to believe that unhappy fans have been limiting their purchases of merchandise. So what has the club been doing for money? Have the Usual Suspects been continuing to dig deep, despite indications that the company they have been continually been plunging money into a company that’s going to have new owners? Or what?

Queens park must love us. We've been an excellent feeder club for them.