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The SFL will be delighted to banish us as far down as possible - we're not central beltish enough for them.

I think there are more subtexts here (including brinksmanship about signing over the debts as mentioned way back at the start of this process) ... but essentially, reading the article yes, that's about it. The businessperson is willing to put in 1.2m for 50.45% of the club. This might get us to the end of season. What happens after that? We can't really judge that unless we know who it is. Are we comfortable with giving a controlling stake in the club for that amount of money that will see us limp to the end of the season and then require another 3 or 4 mil to survive next season ... Personally, I really don't know what offer or person is best for the club. I just know I want my club to come out the other side, still existing, still in Inverness, and with a sustainable business model in place. If that means it takes 10+ years to reach the Premiership or the top end of the Championship then so be it.

The thought of our remaining three directors conduct talks with potential investors over the future of the club fills me with fear. These are some of the same people who wanted to hand the keys to Makwana.

That’s my point though. He seems to be conflating different timelines and events to suit his side of the narrative. I have read all three parts of the article and his responses or rebuttals on any of the points are either downright disrespectful, churlish or sound like a vat full of sour grapes. He can say whatever he likes but if we do enter administration then it would seem the vast majority of supporters will put the blame firmly at his feet.

... and this year's panto would definitely have its classic villain.

I mean it's hardly surprising then that they can offer tickets for €10 then. I doubt ICT have sufficient additional income streams to allow them to essentially subsidise tickets. The majority of our income stems from ticket sales and any reduction in price has, in the past, never been offset by the increase in footfall to make up for it.

Just booked tickets to see a French Ligue 1 game next year, the home side currently in the champions league. Tickets were available from ten euros. This is approximately half the price of what it costs to see a match at the Caledonian Stadium in the third tier of Scottish football. On this basis it's unsurprising that our attendances are so low. Lower ticket prices would hopefully attract more fans back = more pies, drinks, half-time draw tickets, merchandise bought. I really hope that if we still have a club to support next year, this is looked at to build a more sustainable fanbase.

Part 1 - https://archive.is/xTktB Part 2 - https://archive.is/jWHQW Part 3 - https://archive.is/OO6MR

When asked by The Press and Journal to sum up Gardiner’s time with Caley Thistle, Morrison said: “Was he perfect? 100% no. “Are you perfect? I’m not, not a chance, I couldn’t run a football club." We learned that the hard way.

D day is upon us. People noted and questioned earlier what the 200k would get us and I always saw it as a bid to buy time to get us a way out. I don't think it was ever expected we could do it in perpetuity. It seems admin is the only viable option at this point. One can hope it allows us to rise again and at some point push up the leagues free of the huge financial woes the club has accrued. The fact the SFL kept the 15pt deduction post covid should rankle. They should have been aware that it was a possibility that the pandemic would push clubs to the brink and struggle to recover after amassing debts.

paywallreader.com Would have been great if Anders Polvsen was interested. We could make him a multi-millionaire! Don't think any conflict with Scandinavian team really exists otherwise Red Bull would not be allowed to own Salzburg and Leipzig and the group that owns Man City would not be allowed to own them plus Palermo, Troyes, Lommel, and Girona. The idea of "Multi-Club Ownership" (MCO) is not anything new and is gathering pace.

I have season tickets at Toronto FC. I pay about CAD$450 per ticket per year which is about £250. (These are the 'cheap seats' in the supporters' sections). They dynamically price the individual tickets at 3 different levels so the face value on the ticket can be anything from about $15 to $50, but it averages out to about $28 per game (£15) that I actually pay per ticket. For that I get to see the likes of Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi in a TFC shirt each week (when LI is not injured!). I also took my boy to the recent Miami game where he got to see Messi, Suarez, Busquets et all and even a rare cameo from the aforementioned Insigne. Think there was around 32,000 at that game (capacity) and some people paid thousands of dollars for a ticket, but season ticket holders happily went along for their $30 bucks! The big difference though is the sheer scale of the finances. Toronto FC are financed by a mega-rich corporation called MLSE that could basically print its own money if it wanted to. Fans say it means "Making Lose Seem Easy" but despite on-field performance issues at all their teams, off the field Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment own TFC (MLS), Toronto Raptors (NBA), Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL), and others, and just tweaked their ownership group where Rogers Communication - the largest cable TV operation in Canada - bought out one of the other partners (Bell), and brought the Toronto Blue Jays (MLB) into the ownership portfolio so they now own every professional team in Toronto. They also own pretty much all the major sports arenas in the city as well as concert arenas and are in the process of building a new open air concert venue (50,000 capacity) in the north of the city (right next to TFC's state of the art training facilities) where Oasis will play next year. Their sports teams generate TV revenue that goes right to the owners. They own all the arenas so make a killing out of concessions and renting them out for other events. They are also masters of merchandising and marketing so lots of revenue flow. Not sure about the other sports, but I know Lorenzo Insigne was the highest paid player in Major League Soccer until Messi came along. I think Messi gets in the US$20m range plus all sorts of commission from Apple TV and Adidas to take it up to a reputed $60m per year, but Inisgne is on US$15m a year and Bernardeschi on $7m ... crazy money we can only dream of personally, or for ICT. [source: here]. On the flip side - my son wants to go to Germany on one of our next trips because he likes Bayern Munich (because of Alphonso Davies and Harry Kane). Looking online, their tickets are almost impossible to buy unless you are a member of the club, but where you can, they seem pretty pricey. ICT cant match either of those teams. I think we could give away all our tickets for free and still not fill the ground. Some economist needs to crunch the numbers and see where the sweet spot is between ticket price and revenue. 1000 people at £20 is better than 1500 at £10 unless you can somehow get those 1500 to all spend the other £10 (and more) on merchandise, drink or other items that ICT get the money from. The quality of the concessions at the stadium also leaves a bit to be desired! burnt sausage rolls from the one pie window is pretty restrictive. People are likely sick of me mentioning TFC but its where I get my footie fix on a regular basis and however bad the team play, the owners are masters at squeezing every dollar out of you that they can so perhaps we can take something that works here, reduce the scale and make it work for ICT. At TFC most of the concessions rent their spaces and the club makes money regardless of whether they make a profit or not. There must be 200+ different concession stands to choose from at BMO Field. The ST has given the sports bar a lick of paint and a bit of a refresh which is great. Things like this to enhance the matchday experience are a good place to start. Small incremental improvements are all we can do at this stage. Could we replace the really bad sausage roll window with something better? Maybe food trucks in the open corners? We charge them a flat fee, initially a low amount, but review regularly based on the level of crowds we get. If the average gate goes up, then within the contract it is stipulated that so does the concession fee as there are more potential customers. Fans win as competing outlets will usually try to either cook the best food or have reasonable prices and there may be more variety than carbon-dated sausage rolls and pies. If we can find a way to lease/rent out certain aspects of the matchday experience then this - to me - is the way to go. Season tickets are effectively a lease as the STH lease their seats for a year and the club gets the money whether you go or not. Concession rental as suggested is another. Are there other areas of the matchday that could be monetised? Could the 50-50 draw go online? At TFC I can use their app at home to buy a 50-50 ticket even if not going to the match. Does our ticketing system have any way to do something like this? Just throwing out a few ideas - which may or may not be realistic - but at worst, I just get told its a silly idea. The scary part is what he did, or could have done, in those 9 weeks. The difference between the Daily Mail and the P&J articles for me is that one sounds like one person telling the world he is perfect and hard done by, whereas the other, while anonymised for obvious reasons, rings true on several different levels. In my mind's eye, I can see or hear the players or club employees saying all of these things as I read the article. I know which publication I believe more, even if there may be elements of truth in both.

Fair enough, I respect your point of view and that side of it.

Undoubtedly. Can't remember last time I was excited to be going to an ICT game tbh. When I have 'bothered' recently I've had to force myself to go, only to 'regret' going about 10 minutes into each game. I didn't donate to the GFM page as I don't see why I should pay for other peoples' mistakes and awful business sense. I buy tickets, coffee, merch etc and that's all a fan should really be asked to pay imo. ICT isn't about football anymore to me. It's more like watching an old relative who you love dying a long, slow, self inflicted painful death. It's also so negative and energy sapping. Sad times!!

I think I maybe didn’t do a very good job of saying that I was agreeing with your assessment. It seems that, regarding the period between when his “resignation” was announced and when Savage finally booted his arse out the door - about 9 weeks - he’s been trying to play at Schroedinger’s Cat… simultaneously existing and not existing as he sees fit. I am in no doubt that a lot more than the supporters would put the blame at his feet, which is why I would relish court action where the very best brief that Alan Savage could pay for would very publicly expose the situation in all its awfulness.

I'm not sure it does though? Initiatives in the past like that haven't worked. I think a good amount of folk might return if the product on the park improved? Maybe just me

https://www.textise.net/

There are also a few conversations on social media where people who have donated to the fund believe that if it does not reach the £200k their donation will be refunded. If we roll back to 7 weeks ago we were told that the club had been saved from administration and a lot of fans bought season tickets and merchandise on the basis of that assurance. We were then told that the club needed £200k by 16th October to prevent administration and then it was strongly intimated that even with £200k administration was still very likely. It was then spun that the crowdfunder would somehow help get the club through administration because it would add to the money the club already has in the bank. I took the first instance at face value and purchased a season ticket but the crowdfunder and accompanying narrative was a huge red flag so I haven't contributed. Fool me once etc. Absolutely no detail was given during the fan meeting which was little more than a 'we're all in it together' PR exercise which leaned heavily on rallying everyone behind a dislike of Gardiner. Savage said in the press that fans deserved to know everything 'warts as well' but we've barely been given sight of a prawn mayo stain on a boardroom tie. Have we had full honesty? I don't believe so and I suspect there's a lot being kept under wraps to protect directors (present and recently departed) from legal accountability. If we're being real there's not a single person who's going to put £3.5 million in to clear debts and another £1.5 million to get to end of the season. Why would they when they can wait for administration and 'buy' the club for a fraction of that price? Administration is inevitable and what we need to hope for is getting through that and having someone both willing and able to run the club on the other side.

I don’t suppose Eden Court could be approached with suggestions of one or two (non actionable) gags?

no interest in his own views either then?

Gardiner "I take no interest in the views of disgruntled people who ultimately failed at their jobs. So why are you threatening lawyers' letters left, right and centre then, Scot?

I would expect (and hope) AS holds the reins for whatever these individuals do regarding the club’s future.

Yep... don't forget to add this one Johndo would have been very busy on this site.

This bit was particularly interesting. You can actually feel the seethe! “He responded with a lengthy statement that was written in red and drifted into block capitals.”

Rich maybe ... but not great since 2017! More lows than highs over their 18-year existence so far. Agree with you on the Scandinavian inspiration. Lots of smaller clubs there that seem to have done very well with meagre resources and other challenges. Iceland also completely overhauled their football organisation but that might be more suited to looking at the national setup than a single club. Whatever we do needs to be methodical, sustainable and most importantly community focused so we can at least try to get the city back on board.

And that's only the stuff he could safely print given threats of legal action being flung around. Gardiner is an absolute fantasist.

I agree. Nobody is going to want to shell out millions simply to bail out the people who got the club into this mess and who, it would appear, would rather see the club go to the wall and people lose their jobs than write off their loans. The club will be a far more attractive proposition after the administrators have wielded their axe and we can only hope that someone emerges who wants to run a football club rather than a speculative business enterprise with a football team tagged onto it.

Daily Mail - other than the Daily Sport is the lowest form of tabloid journalism going, on par with The Sun - not worthy of my time Scott Gardiner - lowest form of upper level management personnel in the market, serial liar, incompetent to the core, vicious, vendictictive and rotten through and through - not worthy of my time Put together - I wouldn't even read this is if it were on a roll of loo roll and I needed to whittle away the time in the toilet due to a bad bout of constipation.

For me the question is whether the leadership is there to galvanise that mindset in the players. I don't think Big Dunc has that belief so if he doesn't have it, he can't pass it on to the players. Barring a miracle, we are headed for administration and a 15-point penalty at a minimum. If that happens, DF has already given up and needs to be replaced with someone who will try to have the players scrap for every point ... I would rather go down fighting than meekly give up.

Although I think it’s obviously helpful that this appeal does well, I also think it’s a relative sideshow that has been overtaken by what now looks like inexorable momentum towards administration. This £200K is chickenfeed in a much bigger game. Also at today’s press conference where the manager expressed slender hopes of staying in League One after a 15 point deduction, Charlie Gilmour spoke very well, saying that if the penalty did happen then it would have the effect of galvanising him and probably others to rise to the challenge. Looking back through the history of this club, I think of a number of episodes of improbable success and rescue such as the club being formed at all, defeating Celtic three times in the Scottish Cup, coming back from 3-0 down against Ayr, cantering home in the First Division in 2010 after looking dead and gone in February, winning the First Division in 2004 with victories over Clyde and St Johnstone, getting into the SPL through a wad of red tape etc etc. One thing that does worry me, though, is whether the same spirit is there these days?

I'm presuming you know that this is fact and that they were as culpable? I'm also presuming you know as a fact that said person didn't challenge the CEO or others? If you do know that for a fact then I agree with your last statement. However, hearing the way that the CEO ran the club along with the complete lack of transparency of anything from within the club plus the cloak and dagger approach of the inner workings of the club, under the past CEO, is it not a more tangible thought that the club accountant was overruled, not listened to and told what to do? Or simply, those above the club accountant or similar position kept burying their heads in the sand. Maybe we shouldn't hang so many people so easily unless we know the facts. I know people want answers and the likelihood is they won't come but the blame falls firmly at the feet of the board members at the time and the CEO.

Panos is a knee surgeon who told Aaron Doran to run off an ACL injury. Panos now wants us to pay more of our money into what is pretty much a club taking its last few breaths. Any wonder we are past the point of no return with 'leaders' like that in charge. RIP ICT

The 200k that it is said in the letter is needed in 14 days time or administration is inevitable, what will that be spent on? Wages, bills, what other costs? I have bought a season ticket, an away shirt and bought stuff at the kiosk. They now want me to pay the wages through crowd funding !!!!!!!!!! This is an absolute joke of a mess. Directors step up or GTF!!!!

I struggle to comprehend how we're even spending that amount of money in the first place. How are we spending £1.4m more than we're bringing in, its incomprehensible for a business of our size. What is it going on?

Crossposting this here from the Investment thread as this may be most appropriate place. Also adding the shareholder letter as an attachment that Charles was attempting in post 1. Still no accountability from our board though ... and more worryingly, still an undercurrent of thought that Makwana was a viable investor! As I make a personal comment on each of those quotes I highlighted below from the email from Panos this morning I am getting angrier and angrier at how much he is seeking to whitewash the board's role in this and their lack of governance. Whoever wrote this email for him is trying to spin a situation that has already spun out. Utter honesty and admission of failure would have been more appropriate in this instance. Really? You had no idea before? Thats an admission that you employed ZERO governance on the former CEO. Think you have this reversed. What about seller expectations? and buyer ability? If you seriously considered this then you are utterly incompetent. 100s of unqualified fans who spent 5 minutes or less googling raised enough red flags in just a few hours that would have kept Mao Tse-Tung happy for decades. Thats more googling than the prospective 'owner ' did by his own accounting. You then spent weeks wooing this serial fantasist and even now the courier articles from back then are cringeworthy at how gullible everyone seemed to be (except the fans, Alan Savage and Duncan Shearer). Did we investigate who gets commission on this deal? At full retail that's 2500 shirts per year for 3 years. Given that we won't pay full retail for these and there is an insane markup of football shirts, that could be as many as 5000 shirts per year or a combo of various merchandise. Seems insanely high and not a deal worked out based on the size of the club fanbase, nor the level of our merchandise sales and therefore quite possibly not to the benefit of the club. Something doesn't smell right in this deal. No shit Sherlock! A little bit f***ing late for all of that now. When asked 5 years ago, many of us presented ideas that were summarily ignored, or perhaps left in unread emails. Hundreds of supporters have reported they have sent emails to the club without response and NOW you ask us for ideas. Where were your statutory duties back in 2019 or 2021 or even 2023? What condescending sh1te. For the last 5 years the fans have been ignored and looked down upon by the very same people (Alan Savage aside) who are now coming at us with the begging bowl and hailing supporters as lifeblood. Which one is it? You can't have it both ways. The Supporters Trust have been derided publicly by the [former] CEO - who was allowed to do so by the board - and as the main, formally recognised, fan body, ignored by you all until we are now in the last chance saloon. This board really do beggar belief. Hypocrites. So -£5 million quid in 5 years and not one of you had a f****** clue that we were in deep financial doo-doo and/or had the balls to call either of our former CEOs who held those purse strings to account? Again, where were your statutory duties when this was occuring? Online broadcast and questions for the diaspora outside of Inverness? Lots of committed fans in Scotland, elsewhere in the UK, and internationally. Probably not then. That will be a f****** first. But given that it's unlikely you will make this an online meeting here's a few to be going on with ... I will likely think of many more, as will others on here. You say Alan Savage gave you clarity... WHY did you not have this before? Given your professional qualifications as a respected orthopaedic surgeon would you care to comment on the treatment dished out to our injured players, specifically the accusation made against you by Aaron Doran, and also in general to the club's treatment of other players who were - based on opinions expressed - 'cast aside' by the club over the last 5 years, in some cases while recovering from injuries. This may seem like old news but given the success of a crowdfunding request by one of those players cast aside (Sutherland), on behalf of another (Doran), and the sheer speed by which it reached and surpassed its crowdfunding goal, it may be pertinent to clear the air 'frankly' as you seek to use the same platform to crowdfund for the club. Please explain the internal governance methodology employed over the last 5 years that has seen the previous model of fiscal responsibility at the club (which also struggled to make ends meet each year) torn down and replaced with schemes that seem to have generated a shortfall of £5m in 5 years. Was the board aware of this and if they were, why was it allowed to get to this stage. If not aware, why not? Why did we rely on the assumption that one after another pie-in-the-sky schemes would come to fruition rather than work with what we had, taking small positive steps, and view these schemes as a windfall IF they happened. Please explain why you have failed to communicate with fans over the last 5 years. It is not a secret that this has been happening, so saying you did not know is utter BS, but yet the action of not responding, or not taking any action to instruct those who should be responding has been allowed to continue and is therefore condoned. Do you feel that you and the board of directors have behaved in a manner that is always for the good and benefit of the club? If not, why have you remained in place? That would be a question to each and every board member individually not collectively. Final Thoughts IF the club fails Panos, you and every single one of your board will forever be seen as 'Neros'. Fiddling while ICT burns. So let's see who prefers to be a Hero rather than a Zero. Shareholder Letter 1 October.pdf

Absolutely. They should also be making projections on the assumption we get relegated.

We'll be doing free entry at halftime the way things are going.

Gardiner: ‘I have a fantastic relationship with countless Caley Thistle supporters’ Fking he is.

The Courier reporting that Wednesday is the deadline for any offers to buy the club or of investment. The Board will then meet at the end of the week to evaluate the offers received. There is no confirmation whether any offers have actually been received. If no offers are received, then presumably there is no alternative to the Administration route and they might be able to put something out on Wednesday to that effect. Silence on Wednesday might therefore indicate that offers have been received. I therefore look forward to no statement on Wednesday.

Perhaps admin was his plan all along. Buy it cheap without the debt, then run it as he sees fit with his board / people.