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A carbon copy of last season's dross. Sideways-backwards-sideways-backwards...12 passes to move 2 yards up the park. Ultimately mind numbingly dull football and an absolute bore to watch. We have loads of possession and multiple passes around the opposition's box yet no one seems willing or empowered to have a shot. Quite aside from the bin fire off the park, Ferguson's negative tactics have drained every molecule of enjoyment from attending matches and I'm at the point, for the first time in 40+ years, of looking at alternative Saturday afternoon entertainment options. I cannot comprehend that anyone watching today's performance can have any faith in out hapless and vastly overpaid gaffer. Yer tea's oot Dunc. Boring, boring, Caley.....

He's only here cos we can't afford to pay him off. The previous chairman said as much in one of his last interviews.

The crowd was announced as 1439. I thought we were pretty good in the first half and deserved to lead, and it could have been more if players had seen the runs on the shoulder Brooks was making. Gilmour came very close but the goalie somehow kept it out. We didn’t turn up after the break until we’d conceded, but we woke up a bit but couldn’t get a goal, Mckay coming closest when he hit the bar, and both goalies pulled off good saves late on. We also had a clear penalty turned down, with everyone seeing the handball apart from the officials. It was really a repeat of last season. Plenty possession but lacking the cutting instinct and taking the safe option too often. MacKinnon looked good and Duffy had a decent first half but faded after the break. He should have been subbed at the same time as MacKinnon. I’d like to think we will at least be competitive in this league, but we need to be more clinical than we were today.

I’m 100% prepared to accept mistakes and poor performances from the young academy players and fully support them. However I can’t support Big Dunc’s philosophy and style of play. It’s so frustrating to watch. The Second half was dire. They had 10 men and we are knocking it sideways and backwards

First half we passed the ball to death but did get through Dumbarton a few times. Alas the new left back Duffy’s crossing was very poor. Half time whistle sounded to rapturous cheering from the home fans. Dumbarton were very poor. second half, I think it happened a lot last season, from the KO we sat back going route 1 from our keeper. Couldn’t keep the ball and Dumbarton took control of the game and a mistake from us let them in for the equaliser. Once they had their guy sent off we got more of the ball, Gilmour had a decent shot saved. We got into crossing positions several time via bray on the right and Duffy on the left but neither would cross the ball instead going backwards. Queue the boos and Dunc getting some flak. young Thompson, a sub, lost possession and Dumbarton were denied the winner by a decent save . squeeky bum time with 5 mins to go as they forced a few corners. Our support were starting to FIDGET in their seats which was maybe a show of support for our new owner, ok you know what’s coming, we started getting “ FIDGETAL”. sorry couldn’t resist that one. crowd announced as 1463 I think. edit, I wasn’t going to criticise players this year, but yes longstaff only knows one direction and that is backwards. Once he gets the ball under control after 3 or 4 touches.

Or at home awaiting clarification that Gardiner has permanently left the building before ICT get anymore dosh from me!!

Makwana has two main things that he can do to allay concerns: 1) Publicly state some idea of how much money there is to invest in the club, and where it's coming from. He must have a business plan, so he must know. Yes I know that there are NDAs and confidential loans, but he surely must have given the Board some idea? A ballpark figure with assurance that it is rooted in reality would be helpful. 2) Publicly provide some examples of other successful developments that he has fronted. Not "been involved in", not "did some consultancy on", but "fronted" - where he has been the main man in making things happen. Until he does both of these, we are entitled to treat him, and the Board, with nothing but sceptism. And that's putting it politely!

I agree, though someone must have pitched the idea of land having potential to Ketan, given his Courier monologue? 'The Price of Football' podcast covered this on Thursday, calling S7V 'technically insolvent'. They said the Factortech [et al] link was a mortgage, which is odd, they said, given S7V was technically insolvent. They also state the money put into ICT's bank was £30,000 (but said there could be other money being paid to shareholders). This thirty grand could just be a sweetener/running costs and separate from monies to ownership. On ICT side, normally, section 175 & 177 of Companies Act 2006, would require directors of ICT to be transparent (i.e., on declarations of interest in a transaction/conflict of interest), but it applies individually, and if the other directors are aware/have authorised, then there's a loophole there. Highland Council of course have to go through internal processes, and a few external ones, but they do have a lot of control and delegated powers, including ones they can choose to use that they haven't in the past. --It could be as simple as the current board want to get other people in (S7V) who don't look before they leap, before administration kicks in, so they can be disassociated with all the fall out/hassle/scrutiny and/or be a creditor when it does. --It could also be the case that some have, over the last several months, been busy working out how the fruits of the land could be ripened, to hastening ill a prey. It is the lack of noise among shareholders that is concerning. Charles has already listed the large shareholdings, and except for Savage, there's been no comment or movement. The custodians and decision makers are now Thomas Panos as Chairman, Scot Gardiner as CEO, and soon a 'technically insolvent' Seventy7Ventures, while the large shareholders (except for one) just walk on by.

Perhaps Gardiner forgot to order them?

Don't shoot the messanger but from what I've heard, they're being held hostage in a shipping container down south cos the genius that is Scot Gardiner hasn't paid for them...

Hope the lads do well. It may take a half a dozen games or so to get the best balance, but we’re right behind you.

Perhaps because there is no point launching a new strip and buying stock when the fans are boycotting purchases of merchandise? Or is it because the supplier won’t ship them because they are (understandably) concerned about getting paid, and we don’t have the funds to pay upfront?

The club Board and CEO will have had access to far more detail than has been released publicly. One would assume they would not have agreed a deal unless there was clear evidence that everything stacked up. They would have to utterly incompetent to to hand majority control of the club to some unknown individual unless they had this evidence. Ah! I see the problem!

League 1 we're here Our first game in the third tier of Scottish football for twenty six years begins on Saturday with the visit of Dumbarton FC. We seem to have avoided playing Dumbarton often with only eight encounters overall. We did spend a season with them in the Championship in 2017/2018 and we also lifted the Challenge Cup in Perth thanks to a late Carl Tremarco strike in March 2018. However, times have changed and not for the better at the Caledonian Stadium and we will be looking for our youngsters to get us out of trouble against a seasoned Dumbarton FC. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Interim Chairman Match/Ticket Info Investment Topic on CTO Keogh, Rebilas, Corner Immortal Howden Ender 6th minute ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 4 4 0 0 11 2 +9 Away 3 1 0 2 3 4 -1 Neutral 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 Total 8 6 0 2 15 6 +9 IrnBru cheer for Inverness: 1 - 0 Inverness lifted the IrnBru Cup at McDiarmid Park Perth after a narrow 1-0 win over Dumbarton. It took a stoppage time goal from Carl Tremarco to settle the tie with Dumbarton putting up stiff resistance before substitute Daniel Mackay fired a challenging low cross into the box. Carl added the finishing touch to take the silverware North. This was Dumbarton's first crack at a national trophy for 121 years. Alas for them, it might take a bit longer to get their hands on a Cup, but it was not for the want of trying. Most of the hype in the build up was centered around the Rock with the Dumbarton marketing team winning hands down and that ensured a good following when the circus came to Perth. The Highland reserved approach tempted the regular followers along to watch Inverness in their fourth Challenge cup final, Robbo's second in charge. The merryment prior to kick off was held in hostelries in the Fair City and the Tulloch Institute hosted a pre-match gig which was well patronised by both sets of supporters in jovial mood with plenty of shouting juice passing over the lips. Happy Days All Competitive Meetings 1 - 2 (A) 1 - 0 (A) 5 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (N) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 3 - 1 (H) 2 - 0 (H) This summary from Immortal Howden Ender is also on that report. And finally, our resident seer Immortal Howden Ender was in a feelgood mood; he must have seen that coming, surely? Well I enjoyed yet another memorable ICT away day. Those who I expected to see I met and saw. Nowt wrong with the atmosphere. As fer the game it was poor but both teams set up defensively. Loads of positives to me. Ridgers has cemented his place and really is a solid keeper. Donaldson was immense, Tremarco is the Duracell Bunny, Polworth ran his socks off as did Oakley and we appear to have unearthed a wee cracker in MacKay - simply has to be signed up - with sell on clauses - and given some real game time. We never looked troubled, defensively we kept it tight and shaped, thought we played some pretty stuff a times BUT as all season lacked the killer touch in the last third and lack of a proficient striker. We deserved to win. Our heads could have gone down after that deplorable penalty kick but we kept to the age old adage of keeping going to the final whistle. Respect to the team and the loyal away support. Just need to get out of the play off spot and start planning for next season. Cant believe that so many are whingeing. To me it was a last gasp winner, just as stimulating and enjoyable as the Vincent clincher at Hampden - and giving most fans a well deserved, albeit wholly unexpected cup winning experience in the worst season in years. We are still alive and kicking and the only way is up dudes. Have a nice day RIP Johndo Join us to celebrate Johndo's Last Conga. Dumbarton FC Aberdeen beat Dumbarton 6-0 last weekend in the League Cup group stages. All square at the interval, the Dons pulled away in the second half to record a big win over the Sons. <<< Sons squad last Saturday v Aberdeen. In: Joel Mumbongo, forward (Hamilton Academical); Mouhamed Niang, midfielder (Cove Rangers); Matty Shiels, defender (Cove Rangers); Craig McGuffie, midfielder (Queen of the South); Cammy Clark, defender (Stirling Albion); Michael Miller, defender (Broomhill). Out: Blair Malcolm, midfielder (Forfar Athletic); Ross MacLean, forward (Forfar Athletic); Sean Crighton, defender (Queen's Park, coach); Harry Broun, goalkeeper (Stranraer); Callum Wilson, midfielder (Cumbernauld Colts); Marc Kelly, midfielder (St Cadoc's); Luca Vata, midfielder. Loan ended: Gallagher Lennon, defender (St Mirren); Jay Hogarth, goalkeeper (Rangers); James Graham, forward (Rangers); Aaron Healy, midfielder (Queen's Park); Cian Newbury, defender (Hamilton Academical). Inverness have signed on Academy graduates Shae Keogh, Goal Keeper Szymon Rebilas and Ben Corner. We have also signed two recent trialists in Adam Mackinnon and Flynn Duffy. Adam, a 21 year old midfielder has signed a two tear deal whilst left back Flynn (20) has secured a one year deal with further options.

You misunderstood me. I meant that I had asked Makwana if he planned to show up today and he said no. So, when the previous poster asked if he was going to show up, that's what my post was in reference to, not myself.

Thought the first 45minutes we got forward and moved the ball quickly through Duffy and Bray out in the wide areas. Unfortunately with Billy now playing just in front of Devine,we only had Brookes up front. Ferguson really needs to re think how to get the best out of Billy McKay Second half we either seemed to run out of steam or worse run out of ideas.

Slow, slow, slow, slow, slow! What a boring set up Ferguson seems to think is progressive football. If only the players could sit in the stand and see what we fans have to put up with perhaps they might decide that going forward instead of sideways and backwards could actually result in goals. However it would appear that the manager wants this sleep inducing format to continue as he obviously lacks the coaching knowledge to change tactics. Perhaps it's therefore time to change those in charge

The issue with Longstaff is he is very left footed. We are playing him in central midfield so his one footedness means he nearly always plays it left or back. Several times today he could have played telling balls to Bray in forward positions if he could use his right foot. I feel we need to switch to 4 4 2 and have two proper wide players, one being Longstaff. Gilmour is tending to sit quite deep so a back 4 rather than our current 3/5 would work and get the best out of our squad. In his defence, he did make a few off the ball runs in the first half which the players in possession didn’t see. And the assist for our goal with his back post corner. As STFU says, Mckay is following Ferguson’s wishes, but he did come very close when he hit the bar.

You think a player should be benched for doing what the manager is asking them to do?

I should have played my joker!

Rough watch. Same as before no sort of forward thinking or risk taking. McKay dropping even deeper than before, has to be benched. Longstaff just unwatchable. On a slightly more positive note any clues on the trialist keeper

On BBC tv there is a wee post match write up about each of the league 1 games showing on the screen, but no write up for ICT. The usual bungling at the club, the BBC canny be bothered to make the effort, or is the match reporter staying away until SG leaves the building?

Ferguson will be delighted with 62% possession, and a draw!

Staunch.

Al be thinking of IHE this afternoon. One of the originals from the CTO websites, going back decades. PS, once they find their feet, ICTFC are going back to The Championship next season. You heard it here first

Welcome back all, hopefully we'll get the same number of participants if not more than last season. Can you get off to a flyer or will it be the same old from last season? Will CDN Girl defend her title or will @Gringo go one better this season, it's up to the rest of us to take it from either. Championship League 1 League 2

There's a section on us around 10:45. More red flags than a Ferrari F1 victory is the phrase used to describe this proposed takeover. Sigh...

Given that all discussions appear to have been carried out remotely (until his first ever visit to Inverness on 13th July 2024) - unless Directors met him in London - it would be easy to get carried away on use of land under ICT's control. His vision in the video goes off the radar. I wonder what David Sutherland or George Fraser think?

Just realised I forgot to post in decimals, will sort it for next week.

Who knows, not like the club will ever say. Surely they either have to honour the preordered strips or refund? At the very least any half way competent management would at least keep the paying customers apprised?

It’s just not right to use the Capri name for that!

Maybe they were delivered to Kelty?

Not sure what the situation is but heard that they are unlikely to be wearing the new strip tomorrow.

Good luck guys................. cant be there..........give a wee extra clap from me.

ICT @ 4/5 please

Duffy would be excellent at this level.

Adam MacKinnon and Flynn Duffy have joined us, midfielder and left back respectively. No word yet of a goalkeeper or Wallace Duffy rejoining.

The club will die, only now this guy and his pals will make a killing from it.

Exactly DD, “I’m putting my money where my mouth is”. No he is not!! On what we’ve seen, he does not come close to be able to financing much. The money (as is mostly always with chancers like this fellow) is someone else or some groups Money. These people are happy to wheel and deal because the risk is with the funders - not there own risk. Where the funds come from we know most likely is Jersey. So a dead end in just where and how this money was generated. As I mentioned in another posting the money could be coming from Russian interests or rich UK dubious individuals that hold offshore accounts. I’ll use Huw Edward’s as an example. - The fact is we just don’t know how clean or not any funds forthcoming are. It may not be an issue to a lot of fans but for me it’s an uncomfortable position to be in. I see a lot of talk about lots of plans for building and entertainment that is to be on land that will be brought (?) back into the club ownership. RIGHT! 1) I understand all the profits from the new buildings and operations goes to S7V. What if any money goes to the football side? Rental of the land? 2) I envisage the Highland Council will be contributing (our council taxes) as part of ‘the deal’ as some form of other to the development. Ditto Scottish Enterprise (again our tax money). So S7V get us to fund part of his scheme and profits. 3) Once the land is back in the ‘clubs’ ownership ie S7V just what guarantees is there this land is not sold on at great profit for S7V to fly the kite in 3-5 years. I could flag up the relationship between the Board, SG and Ferguson but it’s all too ‘trust -us’ for me. Count your fingers if you shake Mr Makwana’s hand!!

"That will be “not just for the people of Inverness to enjoy but also for people who come and visit and give people a reason to come and visit Inverness” so as to “bring people into the environment and let people fall in love with football”. Well you won't get them to fall in love with it if they are playing to Ferguson's tactics “The other side is our background is in entertainment, leisure and sport. We have a phenomenal amount of expertise in building these types of eco-systems." FFS, does no one think of asking him to name a few examples??? There are so many fine words in what he says, without the faintest piece of evidence to suggest that any of it is true. I suppose he's attracted to the Longman because it's also full of garbage. File alongside Johnson's 40 new hospitals

That interview is a very convoluted way to say that he has no actual cash.

More from the Courier interview, One of the big questions that people have asked is how the deal will benefit the club: What will the new investors bring to the table? The answer on the face of it is a hugely ambitious plan to redevelop the land around Caledonian Stadium. Taking as a cue the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - among others - the ground and the area around it will be brought under total club control for the first time, allowing for a major redevelopment that could impact more than just the club. Looking at the economic context of the green freeport as well as burgeoning tourism in the region, Seven7 Ventures’ Ketan Makwana wants to create “a hotbed for events, activities, entertainment and leisure”. That will be “not just for the people of Inverness to enjoy but also for people who come and visit and give people a reason to come and visit Inverness” so as to “bring people into the environment and let people fall in love with football”. Attractive as that ambition is, one thing lays behind it according to Mr Makwana: “The club, as I have said, is paramount - it is the first thing. “But the irony of this is that the club is actually situated in the centre of land that sits around it and for the last 18 years that land has been separated from the club. “Well, we are about to make history because we are going to put that land back under the club’s ownership and that is the first line of rehabilitation to stabilisation and what goes on that land will have a financial impact and reward to the club that can be reinvested back in. “The other side is our background is in entertainment, leisure and sport. We have a phenomenal amount of expertise in building these types of eco-systems. “So if you look at a lot of the football clubs in the UK right now some of the bigger clubs are now transitioning to have leisure and entertainment attached to sports - it is becoming a common theme. “The reason they are doing that is because it creates a multi-purpose use of the space which also allows for tourism: sports tourism and leisure tourism. “So what we are trying to do is build the area around the stadium to become a hotbed for events, activities, entertainment and leisure, not just for the people of Inverness to enjoy but also for people who come and visit and give people a reason to come and visit Inverness. “Bring people into the environment and let people fall in love with football - that is the way we want to build this, it allows us to produce multiple revenue streams that then allows us to reinvest that into the club, reinvigorate it and be able to put the right amount of money into the right place. “Furthermore, it future proofs the club so if one line of income happens to fall or fail you have still got another three or four, which allows the businesses to continue while we remedy the one that has failed.” It sounds great on the surface, but this rather attractive vision begs so many questions. There is nothing that anyone has found out about Makwana and his companies that suggests he is remotely capable of financing and delivering on such a vision. What land is he talking about? How can he be sure he can acquire the surrounding land? Exactly what developments is he planning? How do his plans fit in with the requirements of the green freeport zone if, as he implies, some of the development would be on freeport zone land around the stadium? And where is the money coming from? This vision will cost vastly more than any assets we know of which he may have liquidated. He may, of course, be acting as a front man for someone who wishes to remain anonymous at this point. It could also be so much BS. I don't think there is much any of us can do just now but wait and watch with our fingers crossed.

I thought his answers were a mix of delusional and corporate BS - I can only see asset stripping as the end goal here and the only tangible asset is the land.

I'd love to know what these "assets" are that he keeps banging on about "liquidising" to fund the deal. He didn't have any to speak of in his accounts as of 30 September last year. The Factortech fund specialises in short-term (<5 year) loans to SMEs (in this case Seventy7), secured on the SME's assets and on their receivables. So ICTFC's assets will be the security for the loan. I doubt very much if there are "receivables" - ie money owed to ICTFC - in the short term. But note that future transfer fees received, prize money, TV money, etc, could all go (via Seventy7) to Factortech if that's what's required to pay back the loan. The Factortech fund details are here: https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/64f7c0e377d181192992983c/6601ccf202de094025ac1a10_Factortech Cell A factsheet_22.03.24 PB (1).pdf If that doesn't work, go to https://www.factortech.com/ , scroll down and click on "factsheet" under "02 Jersey Longer Term Vehicle". You'll see that the target return, to Factortech and its investors, is 18%-20% pa. The management fee is 2% pa. The performance fee is 35% pa - not sure how this would be worked out - based on the increase in valuation of the business to which the loan has been made? So it's difficult to see how Makwana could make money out of this - and it shows that there will be plenty of money going into other people's pockets should the club ever be profitable. Now that I have thought about it, the Courier interview and the article quoted above are greatly disappointing. First of all, they could and should have gone to town on where the money is coming from - and how it gets paid back. I'd also have asked for details of other things that he is currently involved in, and of past involvements. If the reporter didn't feel capable of asking business questions, then he could have gone for the "human aspect" angle. "Why do you want to own a football club? Especially one more than 500 miles from your home? How often will we see you? How long are you in it for?". And the clincher: "Can you explain the offside rule?"

A wee heads for all of Johndo's mates, friends, fellow Caley and ICT fans, For fans who may know of him but never met the man. The club have agreed to make an announcement before the game and will also have a wee tribute to Johndo on the official site. There will also be a minutes applause at the 6th minute of the game and it would be a fitting gesture for all to join in! Johndo's daughter Isla is making the journey north to be at the game, and i'm she will appreciate this tribute to her Dad.

He basically says that he will set up a trade creditors' relief scheme by the end of August. And also pay all salaries at the end of August - money which he could lose if the deal doesn't go through. As to how much it's all worth: "There was only one area that he could not discuss and that was the total value of the deal and future investment because both sides have signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) as lawyers pour over contracts." Basically, it doesn't tell us any more that we had already worked out, and the hard questions are either not asked or are ducked. There is at least a lack of the BS which you find on his website and social media. I may have more to say once I have read it more carefully....

I 100% agree that Ketan's own plan/vision is limited to becoming a very well-known, feted successful owner of a(ny) football club, which will lead him to greater fame and repute, and more than S7V alone would have. The board are basically engineering everything in their power, straining collective sinews, to get S7V a majority shareholding. That means the offer must be attractive to them, and it must have come with the pre-condition from S7V that it must reach a majority. S7V has no money as of its accounts, but there must be something the board likes about it. Obviously, there's something attractive that isn't visible to us yet, but is to the ICT board/panel. Need a timeline: 05 June: ICT state publicly they are in talks with investors/looking for new investors 28 June: FACTORTECH FUNDING II CELL A1 PC gets involved with S7V. This entity is a spin off from a huge (huge), global massive wealth management group 04 July: a S7V shareholder sets up a new PLC and on 31 July moves S7V shares from own name into new PLC July 26: ICT board state past few weeks Ketan has been actively courting ICT and they've accepted. 01 Aug: a new confirmation statement made for S7V: changes TBD (takes 10 days) It's amazing that until a few weeks ago Ketan had no idea who ICT were, and his company had no money, but has now had an offer accepted and the board are pushing to make it a majority shareholder deal. As he said on his LinkedIn, this would not have been possible unless Paul Nelson (sports finance professional) Laurie Pinto (hedge funds, private equity, acquisitions and debt provision expert), John Colquhoun (ex-Hearts Sports Agent and Contracts expert) and Scot Gardiner had all helped him... What a helpful world we live in.

The Courier have put their interview with Ketan on line. My phone is not letting me copy the link but it’s not behind a paywall.

You may have seen it if you are a member, but the ST has shared the text of a letter it sent to Ketan Makwana along with the reply received, in which he has committed to meeting members of the ST Board. He also said that, on the club’s advice, he has done an exclusive media interview.

Is this the realisation of Highland Council's 2006 Longman Core Development Brief for Longman Bay? It referred to it in 2019 CGF report, which means it has some stamina as a plan. If Highland Council are backing this, it could happen...