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Picking on a young lad because of who his dad is, is pathetic and shows football fans up in a very poor light, I'd hope Inverness fans were a bit better than, It's bullying nothing less...obviously football does see this sort of thing a lot, esp Managers, Directors and of course footballers of colour. It goes with the territory, but you don't see this in any other sport. I often wonder if football fans would think it acceptable if colleagues routinely abused them in their workplace, for simply who you are, or because they are inexperienced, perhaps out of their depth. I also wonder why football fans think this is postive to overall performances on the field, one might think that young Ferguson would be pretty nervous going on the field, that might affect the whole team too.

I thought that one of the main reasons for creating a separate Concert Company was to protect the Football Company from any financial misfortune. On that basis, it seems difficult to see how the football club could be liable for money that may have been loaned to the now defunct CC. If Gardiner did lend money to the CC, then I would take a huge drink of schadenfreude at the thought that he has been hoist with his own petard and finds himself in the same position as a list of honest local traders who were out of pocket when a company in which he played a central role failed and collapsed. I trust that any audit will be thorough and forensic in the extreme, because among other things it is absolutely necessary to establish whether there has been any activity that might be judged negligently incompetent or even criminal, and which might therefore become a potential cause for legal proceedings. In that event, perhaps any such proceedings could be held at the Caledonian Stadium where a sell-out crowd - unlike the previous concerts - would generate record profits. That audit could perhaps start by addressing how a company that was meant to be economising could lose over £3 million in three years, including, in 2023-24, a massive £1.7M which means that what it spent in that year was around 75% more than it earned.

Robbo has got a feckin cheek. Got two years salary for doing f*** all.

I think that our former CEO may well have indeed opened a pandora's box that will be an even greater downfall for him. AS is doing everything at his own cost, not the club's and seems motivated to find any and all wrongdoing. I have to believe that this is what he wanted in the first place so he could - in his own words - 'deal with it' As for Robbo - disappointed on that front.

Sounds like all the parasites are crawling out of the woodwork. Robbo has a brass neck considering we stuck by him through difficult times and even created a nothing, well-paid, BS job for him when he wasn't capable of being manager by his own admission. Even allowed him plenty time to work a second job while we had games on. Gardiner's gall has perhaps given an opportunity to really scrutinise his tenure and conduct which will hopefully come back around and bite him on the erse.

https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/sport/former-caley-thistle-ceo-s-legal-action-has-opened-pandora-s-360743/ Inverness Caledonian Thistle advisor Alan Savage says legal action pursued by former chief executive officer Scot Gardiner has opened a Pandora’s Box at the club. Sherriff Court officers visited the Caledonian Stadium at the end of last week over £70,000 that Gardiner believes he is owed by the club - £50,000 of which was through the Caley Thistle concert company and £20,000 being made up of loans to the club. The Caley Jags now have three weeks to formally respond, with Savage planning to dispute that claim. As part of the process to provide evidence, ICT will this week enlist lawyers – paid for by Savage – to go through communications between the football club and the Caley Thistle concert company, which is at the heart of the claim. They will also have access to bank statements to track what money went where, with Savage promising to get to the bottom of the situation. “There is a forensic search of the emails being carried out across all aspects of the concerts being done,” he said. “It may be that the club were carrying out work for the concert company, and Gardiner was getting paid by the club whilst doing work for the concert company. “I don’t know the legalities of that, but why should the club pay for the concert company? It doesn’t make sense whatsoever. The club wasn’t a shareholder in the concert company, but evidently it lost about £950,000 that wasn’t reported with the liquidator. “Gardiner has opened a Pandora’s Box, there are a load of implications of it, and we will go through the detail meticulously to put up a robust defence. “The bank statements will tell all. We’ve got a set of statements from the club and the concert company during that period, and between the two we will see which financial transactions were crossed, if any. We’ll be able to get a good look at this assertion that he’s owed money. “The ball is then in his court. He’s got to produce evidence that shows he has loaned money to the club and what the agreement was, and then we’ll have to reply, so this could take months and months.” While there may not be a quick resolution to the dispute with Gardiner, Savage is hoping an audit of the club’s 2023/24 finances will be completed slightly sooner, within six to eight weeks. That will allow ICT to provide a clearer financial picture to potential investors, but again that is not without complications. Fundraising efforts are currently ongoing, with the Caley Jags being given £1000 just last Saturday for example, but Savage expects ICT will need £1.6 million to get to the end of the 2025/26 season, and a decision on the long-running battery farm saga is only expected before Christmas. Since Savage came on board to battle against the tide, some have looked to recoup money they feel they are owed, with former manager and sporting director John Robertson just one example as he is looking for £7000 in redundancy pay from when he was on sick leave. Caley Thistle’s plight will be featured soon on the BBC show A View From The Terrace, which Savage hopes will bring them to the attention of potential investors, and he has promised to be open and transparent with supporters too about the outcome of the audit. “We should have a good indication of where we are by Christmas,” Savage added. “It won’t happen overnight, it’s up to us to speak to people and get more interest as people realise what state we’re in – but they can do something about it by putting their hands in their pockets. “There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be optimistic about this, Inverness is a great city that needs a great football club. “We also need Ross Morrison, David Cameron and Allan Munro to commit to where we are on the battery farm, because we need to know where we stand. “The 2023/24 season audit is under way, and that will give a clear picture of the club’s true financial position. “I don’t think it’s going to get better because there are still things crawling out of the woodwork all the time, but off the back of that we’ll be able to give a potential buyer the due diligence answers they would want. “I will make sure that audit is absolutely forensic and goes into everything that’s been going on at the club and the battery farms and concert companies so that there are no legacy issues that could affect a deal. “In the season ending in 2023, the accounts showed that the club lost £1.7 million. It beggars belief. I don’t know what happened, but we’ll get to the bottom of that. “We have to explain to the fans and stakeholders what happened. You can’t just move on, people want to know why. “It’s important that we communicate, because otherwise they’re only getting half the story. People want to know, even on a macro level, who was responsible for what and why.”

Shyte draw.

No idea why Robbo is mentioned, was it the journalist doing some self-protection by picking a name so it could not be said the focus was on defaming the former CEO? or was it the club dropping a name? If the journalist, then perhaps Robbo was chosen as it is known there is some animosity towards him for frequently working for the BBC in Dingwall when his club were playing a game that he perhaps should have been at attendance at instead, and there would also be disappointment as we appear to have (rightly) bent over backwards to accommodate him when he was going through a tough time. If he is owed a legitimate payment, then so be it. Same with anyone else. The likes of Dodds and Barry (and Robbo) are not likely to be made of money so should be paid what they are due. I think AS has the finger pointed at one individual in all of this and inevitably others may get mentioned in dispatches during this battle.

If anyone is free on Sunday, the Supporters Trust will be delighted to hear from you. This is a copy of an e-mail to members today:

For me the big concern here is the same as I had at the time of the concert company going bust. If it can be shown that both companies were operating so closely that those dealing with them believed they were one and the same then the club could become liable for the losses suffered. Savage mentions £950k of losses not reported to the liquidator. Is that a suggestion that these losses sit with the club? Were some of the director loans used to syphon money into the concert company? Were the club sub contracting staff (the ceo?) to the concert company making them liable if those people were then not paid? Those are the pandoras box questions I fear. Aside from the potential financial implications there may be serious legal implications that threaten the club.

I can't believe Robbo, who has rinsed the club for the last two years, has the gall to want more free money. I believe it was him who recommended Gardiner in the first place! How cosy are those two?

Great topic!!! Year 1 = Survival In the first 12 months, on and off the pitch, get a grip on the outstanding issues, plug the holes AS has found, stop the hemorrhaging of money. Look to reverse the negative trends of the past 5 years by being open and honest with the players, the staff, and the fans and try to maintain a steady position in the league. Playoffs or promotion would be a bonus, as would any windfalls from previous ventures (eg battery farm). Complete the forensic audit and take appropriate actions based on the result. (By) Year 3 = Consolidation By year 3 we should be back in the Championship (or pushing for it) as that will bring a little more revenue by itself and should be the lowest base level that we are willing to accept. That may sound arrogant, but as one of the few full-time teams in League One, we should at the very least be challenging. Off the field we should hopefully now be generating more business and cashflow by having won back previous business and personal stakeholders/sponsors and working to maintain those relationships rather than just have unfounded expectations or a sense of entitlement. An increase in sponsorship, higher season ticket and merchandise sales and a willingness to be out in the community fostering good relations should also help us consolidate and get back to where we were prior to 2019. Whatever we do, we have to try and get as close to balancing the books as possible. Fiscal responsibility should be the core principle. As a side project we should also be looking at realistic non-football ways to generate revenue. I do not know what these are, but the stadium location next to a freeport and main transit routes both land and sea should have some merits worth exploring. Some of the ideas could be pie-in-the-sky plans like those of our former CEO, or less likely to succeed, but provided we do not step over others to get there, nor base our operating accounts on getting any such high-risk high-reward ventures over the line then there is no harm in dreaming, provided we are getting the basics right. (By) Year 5 = (Re)Growth By year 5 we should be back in the top half of the Championship, with the odd cup run to help keep the books looking healthier and pushing for at least a playoff, if not a championship winning run. This is where we should have been in 2017 but we went in the opposite direction gathering pace until almost crashing off the rails this year as we all know. The aim at the end of 5 years should be promotion back to the premiership. By now our youth system should hopefully have recovered and we may have uncovered a couple of gems who we can get behind or even sell-on to generate a little more revenue. Perhaps we have also now established links with other clubs, either through an investor who owns multiple clubs (as AS noted a few weeks ago) or because we are once again an attractive destination to farm out loan players to get them developed (but not at the cost of any highly rated local talent). Then we continue to consolidate and grow as we did between 2004 and 2017. No matter how tempting it is, we must also keep our core principles of fiscal responsibility and community responsibility firmly in sight. I have purposely not gone into the level of detail as Big Cherly but can't really argue any of the points raised. All good things to bring up and all good things that may warrant further inspection. Some of the 'little things' like repairs, de-weeding, painting are all things people have volunteered for before and perhaps this new era can see the club once again appreciate volunteers and those who seek to help primarily because they are simply fans of the club and not because they are looking for favours or financial gain ... a cynical viewpoint those running the club have taken at certain times over the years. Provided we move forward then the timeline can be adjusted. it took 10 years to get to the SPL based on the "Road to Premier League" document Dougie McGilvray and the board at the time produced in 1994 and there were a lot of twists and turns along the way. However, we did it within the 10-year plan, and if we make a realistic plan now, we can do it again.

The abuse aimed at Cameron Ferguson was completely unnecessary and shameful.

Cameron Ferguson is only 21 and is still learning his trade. People who are not happy with Duncan Ferguson should know better than to take it out on his son. All our young players need encouragement. It will affect their confidence if they are getting verbal abuse from fans, even if it is only a small minority who are thoughtlessly doing it. Those involved should know better and use their energy in a positive way. We won the game 3-0 which makes their reported actions yesterday even more moronic.

Totally agree. Would these folk like this happening to their young son? Not his fault who his dad is. It's a bit out of hand

Comfy win -we can only play who we are up against. Strong in all departments. I appreciate he might not be brilliant but some of the abuse aimed at young Ferguson - before he even set foot on the pitch was over the top. He is a young person, who will have feelings too, trying his best and right now he plays for us -encouragement works better than putting someone down .With his few touches he mainly found his man but still got terrible abuse. Id like to see them saying these things to his dad!!

Opposition weren't up to much but I did think we were quicker to get the ball forward and looked like we wanted to score goals!

Stirling offered very little resistance which allowed us to play our own game and to do it a bit further up the pitch than more experienced teams have or will allow us. I can only recall them having a single shot on target. The win and goals will be good for morale. Hopefully it will also encourage us to keep making and taking chances in the final third. We also didn't pick up any injuries or bookings.

Use Pele Paterson's links to Japan and flood Tokyo's market.

Sounds like Alan is going to give Gardiner a right Savaging. His narcissistic ego will be his downfall, should have walked away with his tail between his legs when he had the chance. By the time Alan’s deep dive forensic audit is completed SG won’t have a tail left!

Those others may have decided to write off what they are due or aren't harassing the club for payment, but robbo is?

Certainly not the case having spoken to Robbo the club contacted him last week and he said he is willing to settle amicably but Certainly isn't chasing it as is mentioned .