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I was questioning his position after 12 months of him in post. There really wasn't a business model for him being there, and along with his shocking track record, and reputation as a bit of a tyrant, I really wasn't surprised at the mess he has left. He was desperately trying to stay on even after resigning because he knew he was going to get found out. His career is in tatters now, his reputation in the gutter, and rightly so.

It's not just Gardiner. It cannot be repeated often enough that, if they intend to stay on, them the Board has very serious questions to answer about how they let Gardiner run the club as his private fiefdom, and especially also how they were taken in by Makwana. These questions cannot be ignored. The ideal place to ask them would be at the overdue AGM - or at an EGM if one is required if there is a takeover. This would be a chance for the Board to explain themselves and clear the air, or say "mea culpa" and stand down. Until that happens, the stink of incompetence will remain.

I gave him a little longer, but it was still in 2019 so not long after he started. The club asked the fans for fundraising ideas or leads to people interested in investing. I made a speculative cast over this side of the pond and actually got a bite I didn't expect. I lined up things, got the contact info together, provided names and phone numbers to the chairman who said he would pass this to the CEO, and stepped back to let the business folks on either side do their thing. After COVID it emerged that no-one had contacted the executive on this side of the pond even for a simple conversation. It may have come to nothing, after that conversation, or it could have been the beginning of a beautiful relationship, but we will never know as it never took place. Why bother asking for ideas and leads if you are not going to follow up on them. I actually spoke to the executive after COVID and he expressed surprise at not getting a phone call. That was one of my first red flags. Another was comments reaching me about his management "style" from various people. These were both fans and (former) staff members. That kind of style is never effective in any business and more importantly not part of the ICT ethos. Absolutely. Some of the board members may think things will smooth over, and perhaps they will as ICT fans are, for the most part, pretty docile and understanding... BUT, they let this guy run the club, largely unchecked for 5 years and that demands accountability. Clearly no-one looked deeply into the books as AS discovered all sorts of issues within 24 hours, or if they did they chose to let it slide which is incompetence of the highest order, or even bordering on criminal. There is also the unforgiveable nature of how club legends have been treated over the last few years, not just this summer and that is not (entirely) down to the former CEO. You can look at Shane Sutherland as a pre-cursor to the same treatment handed out to Aaron. You read Aaron's own comments about a man who is reputedly a renowned surgeon, you look at the players who should have had testimonials and have not, you look at the fact that after relegation in May not one of these people took the bull by the horns and actually talked to players about their futures. FFS we have a club that got relegated and facing financial turmoil and you cant have the decency to discuss that with loyal employees? We can lay the blame for part of this at Duncan Ferguson who should not have f***ed off on holidays leaving players standing on the side saying "WTF?" but the board are also culpable in a large way. They are happy to receive the plaudits when things go right and sitting in the posh chairs at Hampden, equally they should be strong enough to take fierce criticism over this cluster*** It is their job to block this if they see red flags, not to embrace it and then try to justify it over a period of weeks where media and fans perform the due diligence and find out in 5 minutes why this is the worst idea in the world. Because there has been zero governance over the last 5 years (in fact, since around 2017).

The P & J piece is interesting but it's not much of a surprise really. A lot of that stuff was uncovered by fans within a couple of hours of this LinkedIn clown appearing from nowhere. Still, it shows what a shambles Gardiner has made of things that he was wowed by such an obvious fraud. Speaks volumes of his tenure at the club and, as mentioned in another post, leaves what's left of his reputation in ruins.

Not coming out until next May, so plenty of time to add the chapter about being fired from Caley Thistle

A lucky escape! To read that Gardiner thought it to be an 'incredibly strong and positive proposal' just confirms his incompetence! How he was allowed to carry on running the club for 5 years is absolutely staggering! It is such a relief to see the back of him!

Especially good old Panos. The ‘renown’ orthopaedic sports and knee surgeon specialist that told Aaron Doran to ‘beat-it’ as the club reneged on a promise to honour delayed surgery to his knee. It says everything you need to know about this persons integrity and moral ethics going forward. Just the kind of guy that you can trust to look after the clubs future interest. Insert ‘his own’ in the last sentence where appropriate! He may be part of the ‘deals’ to accept as the club finances are re-set and I’ll accept that. But as one of the many fans that donated to let Aaron have the required surgery, P Thomas will always be a stain on the club in my opinion.

Latest from Paul Chalk at P&J is that Alan Savage is in "no rush to sell the club now" and "as long as I pay the bills, why do we need to dash into anything? “For better or worse, the club is under my control, probably for quite a while. The mission is to do it game by game". Alex Ferguson has not provided any financial funds to the club but has offered advice. The transparency is almost frightening compared to the clandestine dealings we were subjected to over the last few seasons. This man is an absolute legend.

First time poster guys - just seeing what's already out there in terms of the fans putting additional resources into the club . Having read through the forum a lot of people would be willing to buy season tickets and merchandise which is great . Unfortunately that's not going to be enough to keep the vultures at bay so just seeing if there are any fans initiatives already on the go which would put additional cash into the club . Much like what Hearts done in there time of need and Rangers with there fund . Just trying to think of a way to help .

Think this will be deserving of its own thread as details emerge of the sheer state of our finances ... but let me start controversially by saying THANK YOU to Ketan Makwana ! The utter nonsense of your 'takeover' bid, the corporate phygital gobbledygook coming out of your mouth or your linked in page, and your history at companies house woke up some of our giants of the past in Messrs. McGilvray, Sutherland and Savage. You were the straw that broke the camel's back, the final grand scheme that saw all of our CEO's cards collapse, that one domino that started the progression that will surely see more dominoes fall. I want you nowhere near our club, but you can take heart that even without buying the club with imaginary money, you may well have played a part in saving it. Clearly the reality of our situation is far worse than even the most cynical fan expected now that we have had some straight talking from Alan Savage and it all started with the idea that 77Ventures were random new owners overnight just a few weeks ago. But onto the main focus of this thread - the money, or more specifically the lack of it or of any oversight on that front. AS went in just 3 days ago and in that time he has discovered that we are not £300K adrift, that quickly ballooned to £450K then £700K and now closer to £900K. We don't have new strips FOR THE TEAM let alone the fans, because we have not paid the bills, and we apparently have a pre-order for £120K of strips sitting with Puma as part of that £900K. Given that the average cost of a strip is around £50 retail that's 2400 strips, but profits on these are decent so do we really have upwards of 3-4000 new strips waiting to be sold once we pay for them wholesale first? Not having strips for the start of the season is right up there with not having seats for the Tynecastle stands and having twice as many as we get at the stadium on a good crowd day, sitting in a container somewhere is as ludicrous as it sounds. I am sure AS will discover all sorts of 'anomalies', unexplained or lets say 'less than optimal' spending as he goes through the accounts with a fine-tooth comb, but my ire on that one is directed back at the board. How in f*** was there no oversight on this. SG did what SG was there to do. To operate as the CEO of ICTFC. The fact he seemingly did that without a shred of governance is not his fault. His performance and ability to do it correctly and economically should have been something benchmarked on a regular basis by the board. Did he have no performance reviews since 2019? If not, why not? Thats not a failing of SG, that's a failing of the board. Red flags have been around for a while. I recall the comment about Ryan Christie buying footballs for the youth team and I think that's what Charlie is referring to in today's article in the Courier which is well worth a read. The last three days with Alan Savage and now acting CEO Charlie Christie have seen more public communication from the club in 3 days than we have experienced in the last 5 years since the former CEO was put in post. https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/sport/this-club-for-far-too-long-has-been-losing-too-much-money-358498/ A few great bullets raised by Charlie: He is confident that working alongside Savage, it will lead to the club having a brighter future. The staff get frustrated too and a lot of that has been from resources. He, as academy manager, has had to do without things that were needed. The mood at the club has been great since Alan came in. Some of the staff don’t know him. He is fair, but demanding - and very professional.. He will want a paper trail for everything, as there should be. He will want more corporate governance in his time at the club and I don’t think that's much to ask. It is good for any business to have that. That’s what he’ll bring. We’re all delighted because we feel it is a step in the right direction. Watching the ill-feeling towards individuals at the end of last season, it is not good for Caley Thistle. It is something I’ve never seen. Fans have a go at managers, myself included, after poor performances. That goes with the territory. But not what we witnessed last year at times. Hopefully that’s dead in the water now and we can move on. I like the comments I have heard that some creditors are already paid, and the things Charlie mentions in that article. I especially like the comment that the mood at the club has improved. there are many hard-working and crucial folks down there doing thankless tasks who do not need to be micro managed and for them to finally be able to exhale and maybe show what they are capable of is a relief. We do have to get back to basics, we do have to stop all the pie-in-the-sky bullshit and the loss of money hand-over-fist. We do have to put football first and try to get out of this league and back up to the Championship and hopefully over time, the Premiership. One step at a time, one obstacle at a time, and all in a sustainable or responsible manner. With Charlie and Alan Savage at the helm now, I think this is a good start to the process but let's not stop looking inwards. The CEO was allowed to do what he did for many years, and those who allowed that, or didn't bother to look at what he was doing also need to take accountability for that.

This is NOT a training Drill This away day is not a training drill as our binned regime might have once thought about, but this will be a fans celebration of the support, leadership and friendship of one extraordinary fan, Johndo Mackenzie, otherwise known on CaleyThistleOnline as The Immortal Howden Ender. Johndo was a regular at home and away games for many a season, befriending everyone he met, olde or young, it mattered not to Johndo. With his amiable larger than life character, he could be found leading those with the best of intentions astray on occasion. He was partial to a cheeky wee conga, one example at Rugby Park and he was not shy when it came to starting chants, easily recognisable in his kilt and often tastefully coloured beard and mullet: O2-O2B-O2BA-JAGGY... GIVE ME AN I... OH INVERNESS, IS WONDERFUL... WHO PUT THE O AND THE Y IN COUNTY...... rant chant rinse repeat. Johndo gained the respect and legendary status within our support and this weekend we are dedicating this away day to him, as a mark of respect for his unstinting services to supporting our club, his cameraderie, his genial presence and most of all to show our love for his family friends and the man himself. Respect & Rest in Peace Johndo, we will carry on your work here whilst you sip a large voddie & coke. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Johndo Special info & Supporters Bus Heart Foundation Donations for Johndo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alan Savage has steadied the ship since removing Scot Gardiner and going through the books with a fine toothcomb. He has done in one week what the entire board and CEO failed to do in five years of tyranny. Give this man the freedom of Inverness. Of course, there is the minor matter of a game of football to deal with on Saturday as well when we take on table toppers Kelty Hearts at our training ground away venue of New Central Park, Kelty. So who is playing for Kelty these days? Former Inverness defender Brad Mckay's loan ended at the close of last season and he now plays for Brechin City. Scot Allan is a new recruit joining from struggling Arbroath. Michael Tidser, once of Ross County is also at Kelty as is robust defender Tam O'Ware who has been at Morton and Partick Thistle. The hosts season so far Kelty Hearts top the League table at the moment with two wins and a draw. They opened their campaign with a draw (1-1) at Montrose followed by a 2-0 home win over Stenhousemuir and then a convincing 3-0 win at Arbroath. Ross Cunningham has scored three, with Scott Allan scoring twice and Scott Williamson with one strike. <<< That was their starting XI at Arbroath. Players In: Callum Flatman, defender (Hearts); Murray Thomas, forward (Hearts); Brody Paterson, defender (Hartlepool United); Scott Allan, midfielder (Arbroath); Scott Mercer, defender (Bonnyrigg Rose); Murray Miller, midfielder (Stirling Albion); Liam Brown, midfielder (East Kilbride); Ryan Adamson, goalkeeper (Cumbernauld Colts); Luke McCarvel, forward (Cumbernauld Colts); Robbie Cole, midfielder (Civil Service Strollers). Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table after match day three 1. Kelty Hearts 3 2 1 0 6 1 7 2. Q.O.S. 3 2 1 0 4 1 7 3. Annan Athletic 3 2 0 1 4 3 6 4. Alloa Athletic 3 1 2 0 4 3 5 5. Dumbarton 3 0 3 0 5 5 3 6. Montrose 3 0 3 0 2 2 3 7. Stenhousemuir 3 1 0 2 2 4 3 8. Inverness CT 3 0 2 1 2 3 2 9. Cove Rangers 3 0 1 2 3 6 1 10. Arbroath 3 0 1 2 1 5 1 Latest Team News Inverness are reportedly interested in young Aberdeen striker Alfie Bavidge. Alfie, 18, is the son of former Caley Jags striker Martin Bavidge who made 96 appearances for the Caley Jags. That makes him the grandson of Mitch Bavidge, the former Caley striker. Incidentally, Alfie was on loan at Kelty Hearts last season scoring nine goals in twenty-five appearances and has been capped at u16, u17 and u19 level for Scotland. Jack Newman will be missing after going back to Dundee United for now with a knee injury which means that Musa Dibaga will get his second start. Luis Longstaff is out for a month with a thigh injury, Ethan Cairns has been out with a health issue recently and no word on him.

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-transfer-news/transfer-news-live-celtic-rangers-33486675 A new face in the squad for tomorrow according to this article from about 10pm.

Get your pre orders in now folks

Can I get a loan to a free scoring attacking team please? To compound things, Nixon scored for Forres on Wednesday in the NoS Cup!

Robert will be put out on loan for not knowing that Sam Nixon went out on loan to Forres on 3rd of August.

I want DF to succeed as it means ICT will succeed and that's the ultimate aim here. Looking at the highlights from last week there was some good play on display, but I cant speak to any bad play as it obviously didn't make the highlight reel. I would love ICT to get back to the stage we were at when 'Off the Ball' described the ICT job as being safer than any in Scotland with you being more likely to see Nessie than our manager sacked. We have binned a few since then unfortunately so its no longer true.

I’m pretty sure the Board and even SG had concerns about Makwana, they aren’t actually stupid and I’m sure they all know how to use Google as much as the rest of us and would have seen the same red flags. The trouble is, what other options did they have at the time? It seems that at the time Seventy7 was either the most credible option on the table or the only show in town. If the choice was to pursue it or to go bust when the money ran out this month, they had a statutory duty to pursue it and hope that it came good. And who knows, maybe it would have done - latest Wyness Shuffle mentions a source outwith the club who suggested that Makanwa did actually have access to resources and was serious, but I still have my doubts. Bear in mind that our major shareholders and wealthy local businessmen, as well as the wider football investment community, all knew since May that we were on the very brink of administration, and every single one of them declined to step in and save the club. The club was in a desperate situation and the Board must have felt in a ‘beggars can’t be choosers’ situation in the absence of any offers better than Makanwa’s. The real issue is how we came to be in such a weak and desperate position in the first place.

With the way AS is steadying the ship, and the historic debt gone, I don’t think we need to worry about losing anyone’s interest in the short term. I’m confident we’re now in safe hands and feel if it takes a wee bit longer to secure a decent deal with a responsible, respectable and resilient new investor then it’s all good

As we posted on our twitter account - a breath of fresh air! I am sure there will be stuff we disagree with him on as time goes on, but no-one can say he is just talking the talk, he is shooting from the hip, regardless if it offends our former CEO or the previous would-be 'owner' and putting some of his own money in. Thank You Alan Salvage™ (misspelling intended)

I see where you are coming from, but personally I don't tend to look at the sponsor, more the club badge when looking at shirts on people in the street. If they proved to be very unpopular they could be donated to charity for use in countries where the logo is the least of their worries.