Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/09/2024 in all areas

  1. Without sorting out the off field problems then there is no club going forward at any level. Administration is the only realistic means of achieving that. We all need to get thoughts of returns to the championship in x number of years out of our heads for now. Whilst we initially climbed through the leagues without reckless spending there was still sizeable financial contributions being made each season by a few different people over the years. None moreso than Sutherland/Tullochs who saved us from a very similar position previously. Although the circumstances causing that were a bit different. Most of these people are done with providing financial windfalls and we're fortunate to have someone willing to make one laat contribution to dig us out of the whole. The club must be rebuilt on a self sustaining basis. Even with the potential for investors coming in they cannot be allowed to run up debt to anyone including themselves. Invest in infrastructure and improving income and not on unsustainable player wages etc.
    4 points
  2. There is a Club accountant who must have had to process all the outgoing payments. Surely the accountant should have raised the alarm to the board if one person was spending more money than was in the accounts. As guilty as the rest of them for not challenging the CEO over years!!!!!
    3 points
  3. As an form of entertainment the product doesnt matter while there are so many alternates available to the public, such that people wont take their money elsewhere? Sadly I significantly disagree with you, while there may be a (small) 'hardcore' that will tolerate any form of experience there are many who either will cease to attend or stay away because the club is performing poorly - the numbers support this.
    3 points
  4. I would suggest that after an administrator has come in and cut the outgoings on wages any idea of a coaching 'dream team' of former players would be a complete fantasy that only the likes of Scot Gardiner could dream of.
    3 points
  5. Don’t really care what your point is. I will lay blame at all those who over a number of years continued to spend money the club didn’t have. Why have an accountant? CEO, board etc, if they are not going to carry out their jobs professionally and seriously annd in the best financial interests of the club. All in my opinion are culpable!
    2 points
  6. CC mentioned an 8-8-8 squad (8 academy, 8 pro’s, 8 HL) getting highland league players as we were successful doing it before. Players like Russel Duncan, Roy macbain, tokely etc back then there was only caley thistle and Ross county and we were full time (1997 on) , now there is Peterhead (2000), cove (2019) , Elgin (2000) dipping into the same pot. The better players will be in Aberdeen / Dundee area so these new teams will be more attractive to HL players due to less travel if we are part time. If full time can we afford the cost of relocating them to Inverness, definitely not. We have tried it in recent years but players made more money working a normal day job and playing football part time. (Bavidge, megginson wouldn’t sign making more £££ working and playing part time) If we do go part time would players want to work 8-5 then travel 2 nights a week to Inverness for training ( if they train where they are does that become the kelty model) then away every Saturday, every week.? russel Duncan, Roy macbain Ross tokely were full time living in the area. Google says we went full time 1997 so from 1994 players must have travelled to training or trained where they lived I can’t remember. 10 highland league teams east of Elgin.
    2 points
  7. So much speculation about where we can get players and a new manager from. That we'll be in League 2. That the club will continue. There are no guarantees. Morrison might reclaim his stadium - though what good to him an empty stadium would be, I don't know. Redevelopment costs would be enormous and would require a change to the ground lease. And we couldn't afford to pay rent to him. More concerning is the question of who would want to take over and invest money into the club. Others have cited Dundee and Hearts, but they are in much larger, football-orientated cities, even though they have the disadvantage of other Premiership clubs very close by. We have that problem, too, but don't have the support to mitigate it. Obviously Savage knows infinitely more about the situation than I do. But I fear for the future of the club.
    2 points
  8. The problem with using that metric obviously is the away fan numbers which will skew it massively. There's definitely a drop off in home fans as we go down the leagues though, no question. Home numbers have never been great.
    2 points
  9. You don't have to be a financial expert to look at a set of accounts and know that 7 figure negative numbers are a bad thing.
    2 points
  10. I would imagine the people there at the beginning, like myself, were just excited by the prospect of a Scottish League team. I thought we'd be more of a Stirling Albion side, rather than matching Hibs and Hearts. I like Charlie's vision of a n 8-8-8 (see video) club. Getting Strachan in at full-back and seeing him progressing is more interest to me than parachuting in 'someone from Luton', even if it does take a few years.
    2 points
  11. Definitely rolling for me too. Two of the questions I put to the Supporters Trust list were as follows:- Can the club explain what the implications for the administration process are of the Charges Mr Morrison and Mr Munro have lodged against the Club at Companies House. If the debts payable to these 2 cannot be paid, will the assets detailed in the Charges become the legal property of Morrison and Munro or does the administration process invalidate the charges? Mr Morrison and Mr Cameron are the sole directors of ICT Battery Storage Ltd. They together with Mr Munro are the shareholders. However, the Companies House records list the Club as a "person with significant control" with the right to remove or appoint directors, to have 75%+ voting right and to have 75%+ of shares. So if we go into administration, would the administrators have the power to take back control and effectively include the Battery company as an asset of the club which might then be sold to a third party to help pay other debts? I was unable to attend the meeting but I have now had the chance to watch the video. Whilst the points in my questions weren't specifically addressed, it appeared to me that Alan Savage was confident that the administration process would deal satisfactorily with the outstanding debt. There also seemed to be confidence that should the Battery appeal be won, money to the club will follow. I don't share that confidence on either point. The document regarding the floating charges lodged at Companies House seems to me to suggest that the charges would automatically be enforced should the Club initiate the Administration process. I am simply a layman in these matters but if the charges were to be put into effect, that would mean that the assets of the club become the property of Morrison. Clearly Alan Savage know far more than I do about these things and he seems confident in the process, but nevertheless, it would be good to get some expert clarity on how the wording on these various documents impact on the administration process. It is worth noting that Morrison's colleagues on the Board presumably would all have had to agree to the conditions in the Charge document as a condition of Morrison making the loan. All 3 of the current Board members should, therefore be able to clarify exactly what the implications of this document are. In particular, Scott Young was the Director who signed the document agreeing to the terms on behalf of the Board. Hopefully the Supporters Trust will be following up with the club and seeking answers to any pertinent questions which weren't fully answered at the meeting.
    2 points
  12. Can anyone explain what the point of Gordon Fyfe is? Sat looking like Joe Biden as in he might dose off. Then comes to life with a rapturous speech about the great work of the Community Trust, which has absolutely fk all to do with the issues of the club. Also him being the one as far as I can recall who's been there throughout this shambolic downfall yet never answered a damn thing.
    2 points
  13. if admin beckons, as it seems, then from the ashes .... AS or SY heading the board, CC as CEO or DoF (if we need one) and any one of multiple former players working in the local area (or willing to come back - no accommodation provided) as coaches to step in and manage us from what appears to be a likely drop to League 2 back up as far as we can go (Tokely? Esson? Tremarco? Warren? Raven? Imrie? other?) . Perhaps they can be mentored by Steve Paterson in the background. Think he knows a little bit about getting ICT promoted!
    2 points
  14. Some light relief for you on Thursday afternoon.
    1 point
  15. To be fair, somebody in the room had asked what would happen to the community trust should the football club go into administration. But he did milk his moment to talk about the community trust and completely ignored anything to do with his 7 years on the football board.
    1 point
  16. I wouldn’t go as far as the word “aim” in the context of an actively preferred outcome. However I would be surprised if it hasn’t for some time been pretty clear to anyone with a full insight into the figures that administration is inevitable, so dire are the headline numbers that are being made public. As for part time football, again I wouldn’t look on this as an aim but as an inevitable consequence of administration.
    1 point
  17. And none of them seem to have had a financial background. I think it is always a good idea for a board to have someone suitably qualifiied, responsible for reporting and scrutinising the financial position and cash forecasts, as well as ensuring proper governance.
    1 point
  18. His position with the Community Trust has nothing to do with his position on the ICT board though and absolutely nothing to do with the financial situation we're in. Just looked like a massive deflection to me.
    1 point
  19. Or it was part of the gameplan. Employ SG and crash the club. Reap the rewards. People keep saying that Ross was a fan and he would never do it but he is also a businessman and just another pig at the trough. I would rather torch the stadium than let him get his hands on it. It does certainly look like more and more like a deliberate act.
    1 point
  20. Not sure you'd get the clarity unfortunately if the meeting was anything to go by, as it appears the kudos of being part of the board was greater than the desire for the responsibilities it brought IMO.
    1 point
  21. If, as expected, we go into administration then you'd imagine Ferguson will be one of the first out the door. His time in charge has been nothing short of abysmal but he might try and claim that the club was a shambles before he joined and no one could turn things around in the hope of landing another job. I feel for whichever idiot club appoints him next.
    1 point
  22. For me, it is, as I have had good interactions with Graeme over the years, but I accept that others may have a different perspective. Your scenario does make sense although a simpler explanation would be that he did indeed get rid of the inept individuals who were correctly blamed and put pressure on those left behind to remove the wool from their eyes. After the audit it seems obvious he is now managing expectations of both the board and the fans who wanted to see someone (other than Makwana) ride in on a white steed and save us. The £300K issue quickly became £900K and is now £1.6m per year. Barring the aforementioned single rider, then we are likely looking at the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse, and administration is likely the only way to get out from under the shadow of these decisions made over the last few years. The real explanation - like the assertion that there are always 3 sides to any story - are likely somewhere in the middle. Like you I want AS to succeed, because if he does, then ICT still exists, and the thought that it might not doesn't fill me with any sort of joy. With likely close to £1m in the game by the time he has paid the administrators (as promised) then I am prepared to give him more latitude than some, especially as he has previously been chairman and main sponsor of the club. He has got skin in this game and is the only one with any significant financial clout that came forward to try and sort this mess out.
    1 point
  23. The thing that irks me most about the meeting was the response to the question over the fans donations to the crowdfunding campaign. It was stated that the funds will be used for running costs, but administration is all but inevitable. Therefore the funds will be lost and won’t be able to contribute to a positive cause (save ICT??), why ask fans to contribute when even Alan Savage is saving his money for the administration process? Basically I dont think it’s a ‘Save ICT’ fund at all. The crowd fund should be ring fenced and used when we reincarnate.
    1 point
  24. Kellacher as player/manager.
    1 point
  25. A lot of conclusions being jumped to there.
    1 point
  26. Will the wealthy Chairperson of Carlisle F C do the honourable thing and put some solid money into the Fund?
    1 point
  27. I've just watched the video and found it very disappointing. It was a total poor me show from the remaining directors who spoke more like they felt they were victims when they are in fact the enablers who allowed this to happen. The audacity of Gordy Fyfe to stand up and wax lyrical and take credit for the community trust whilst totally ignoring his responsibility as a director of the football club is other level. I still can't understand how they can claim ignorance to what was happening when so many fans on the outside could see it. As I've said before where do they think all the loans they were giving were going? They prattled on about puma deals and losing money on young players who moved on but that's only accounts for a fraction of the money the club has lost in the last 5 years. They avoided questions they didn't want to answer by saying they wanted to look forward but spent most if the time themselves talking about how they'd been duped in the past. Grassa even tried to defend Ross Morrison at one point which was unbelievable. Scott Young is the only one I'd make any allowance for and the other two should hang their head in shame at having pushed him to the front the way they have. Now more than ever I want administration. Not only to try and fix the clubs financial position but because the last of that board (Scott aside) also need to be gone.
    1 point
  28. All they have done is blame others, no point saying 'we take responsibility now' & 'we cant look back'.Its too late as where was the ownership of responsibilities during their time - IMO however we restructure or end up there needs a clear out with Bennett & Fyfe and any of the historical legacy gone too. Watched the video, overall they got a fairly easy ride TBH. AS spoke well but that I feel protected the vitrol towards the directors and gave them an out to pass everything over to Alan or Charlie knowing they are more palatable to the fanbase.
    1 point
  29. No club or I want my seat. We will all have to change if we want to come through this. Any cost saving on matchday is a win. Close the away stand. How much does that save ? For 50 fans is it worth it. Get them in main stand . Give them the highlander suite if not in use as segregated catering /toilets. Make their experience brilliant. Every little thing helps.
    1 point
  30. Oops don’t know what happened there Sorry moog, If going to one stand you mean the main stand I assume you are going to put the existing north stand fans in the non covered side, no thanks. Where we are in the north stand we get no rain and as long as I am clothed correctly for winter I am roastie toastie there. Couldn’t imagine sitting in the uncovered stand being battered by wind , rain and snow. especially when they remove my winter fuel payment I wouldn’t be able to thaw out at home. ( joking, give it to those who need it)
    1 point
  31. How do we make every matchday a positive contribution to budget. By going to a single stand how much money does it save on security lighting water etc. Can we make league 1 stewarding volunteer rather than purchased. Can we pull kickoff forward for 3 months to reduce lighting costs each game in winter. How much does it save to play at 1200.? Can we make youth and womens teams charitable organisations and remove full linkage to ict. If we can't make matchdays financially positive no point in putting off administration.
    1 point
  32. By refurbishing the bar and utilising volunteers the ST have provided an improved revenue stream for the club
    1 point
  33. I know for a fact the club has an accountant. I know for a fact that an additional accountant was brought in from Orion Group to assist this person. I accept that challenges may have been made to the previous CEO or that person didnt feel able to do so. The original accountant and the one from Orion have an office in the club.
    0 points
This leaderboard is set to London/GMT+01:00


  • Newsletter

    Want to keep up to date with all our latest news and information?

    Sign Up

  • Wyness Shuffle Podcast

    R2C
  • Our picks

    • Squad for Season 2025-2026
      Some familiar faces re-appearing in Joe Chalmers, last here in season 2018/2019 and guys like Paul Allan and Remi Savage coming back for more alongside our experienced players in Danny Devine, Billy Mckay, Luis Longstaff.
        • Like
      • 2 replies
    • Season Tickets 2025/26
      Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC are delighted to announce 2025/26 Season Tickets will be available from Monday 9th June 2025 at 10am from the Club Shop and online from eticketing.co.uk/ictfc
      • 0 replies
    • Site Upgrades - Summer 2025
      We will be upgrading the site to a new major version of the forum software during the summer. The look and feel of the site will not change too much, but some features may be added or deleted based on the capability of the new software. 
        • Thank You
        • Agree
        • Like
      • 3 replies
    • Lewis Nicolson Leaves Football
      Lewis, 21 years-old, has suffered two serious knee injuries during his time with the club and has now decided to pursue career opportunities elsewhere...
      • 0 replies
    • CTO Player of the Year 2024-2025
      You picked him and he is your CTO Player of the Year....
      It's 11 goal Keith Bray
      • 1 reply
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. : Terms of Use : Guidelines : Privacy Policy