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Which one of the highly credible offers (sarcasm) did you want us to accept? Makwana’s or Anderson’s? Ketan couldn’t provide any proof of funds and one quick look at Companies House shows Anderson’s bid would have wasted our time too. Anderson also pulled out of a takeover at the last second with a club down in England. Administration was inevitable as nobody with a modicum of business sense would have bought the club with the level of debt it had incurred. Further by not pushing the admin button now, we risked Alan Savage walking away and being in an even worse or frankly terminal place.

A positive thread for once Wishing the team of Scott Kellacher & Billy Mckay a winning start to their Head coach / Assistant roles. Going to be tough ask to make up ground, but we have to get behind them and support like we have never supported before! Its not impossible.

Not sure if this video is posted on here or hidden in a link, but this is the official release from the club. Alan Savage and James Stephen spoke to the media yesterday (Thursday 24 October) for an update on the club after entering administration.

I thought James Stephen spoke extremely well. He comes across as a very competent individual who genuinely wants to do what is best for the football club. I was quite heartened by what I heard. Good to get confirmation that assets of the stadium are firmly in the control of the administrators and not with Ross Morrison. Ownership of the land surrounding the stadium is not so clear, but one way or another, the process should provide clarity on that soon.

Coaching Statement: Following on from the announcement that Scott Kellacher is stepping up to Head Coach, the club can release a further update regarding the management team. Our Head Coach Scott Kellacher will be supported in his weekly coaching and on match days by Billy Mckay, club Head of Youth Ross Jack and Senior Academy coach Gordon Nicolson. We hope all supporters will rally round the team at this time, starting with tomorrow’s match against Dumbarton.

The start of new era under Scott and Billy. Here's hoping for a winning start and the return of attacking football. Could Scott be the new 'Pele'? Good luck and safe travels to all.

It will be a huge relief to all the lads to have escaped the cuts. I am sure they will be hugely motivated and I am also sure that following on from Charlie's comments last week, there will be a more attacking approach to the game. Dumbarton have the poorest defensive record in the league so taking a few risks going forward should bring rewards. Interestingly, they have also scored more than the top 2 in the league so we still need to keep it reasonably tight at the back. I'm sure the away support will be a good bit louder than the home support and will be much appreciated. I've got a good feeling about this one.

I think Danny Devine may be suspended for tomorrow’s game, but the SFA website is acting up just now. Its the start of the Kells/Mckay era and I hope they and the team get off to a flyer. Three points and Dumbarton are suddenly within touching distance. I’d not be too upset with a draw if we play well and on the front foot as it may take time for things to gel after a traumatic week. We mustn’t lose though, as that will make making up the points penalty even harder. Come on ICT!

Ah but I see you covered yourself by referring to somebody else with a different name

I am working on the assumption that Alan Savage knows what he is doing. I cannot envisage a situation other than where Morrison has the company over a barrel where he can benefit from asset control. We do not know what was in Pandora's Box but we can probably accept that Morrison's position now is weaker. If Morrison sought to collapse the company I am sure Councillors would want to bring the land back into CG control where the Council could benefit residents.

Best of luck to our small but perfectly formed, titanium squad for tomorrows game. Making short work of the deducted points, starts here, one game at a time, and we have faith in you all to do just that. Enjoy it, lads - the future for ICT starts here.

Legally speaking: An insult or vulgar abuse is not considered to be defamatory, this is because it is not likely to lower the estimation of the claimant in the estimation of right thinking members of society. I think Scott Gardiner is a bellend. I am entitled to my opinion. The above clause means that I am legally entitled to my opinion without fear of litigation. To be fair I would be hard pressed to lower the estimation of the claimant in the estimation of right thinking members of society due to the fact the right thinking members of society are most likely to agree with me, and in order to reach the lows that he has reached would take some serious doing on my part to lower them further than they already are.

Life in Administration Starts on Saturday at Dumbarton Stadium in the Scottish League 1 with Inverness now deducted fifteen points which puts us twelve points below our hosts this weekend. Unfortunately, five players have been released along with the management team of Duncan Ferguson, Gary Bollan and Stuart Garden. So far, we have retained the bulk of our squad including our senior players with Scott Kellacher taking on the head coaching role assisted by none other than Billy Mckay. They will also be given further assistance from Charlie Christie and the rest of the youth squad trainers. So, it's almost as you were without or management team and a 15 point deduction. The downside so far is the dismissal of four contracted players and loan keeper Jack Newman. More details later in the preview. Good luck to those released through no fault of their own. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Administration Info on ICTFC Match/Ticket/Travel/Info 5 Players let go (1 loan) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our Season so Far on the park INVERNESS CT: D L D D W D D D L / W Our season got off to a slow start with a draw at home to Dumbarton followed by a penalty defeat at Annan. Another two draws against Montrose (h) and Kelty Hearts (a) before our first win of the season over Queen of the South at the Caledonian Stadium. We beat Stirling Albion 3-0 to send us into a fourth Rnd tie away to Livingston thanks to a brace from Adam Brooks and a strike from Adam MacKinnon. That was followed up by us throwing away a two goal lead at Alloa to end up with a 2-2 draw six minutes later. A Danny Devine volley and Calum MacLeod with his first goal for the club were the scorers at Recreation Park. Last time out we had a disappointing 1-1 draw at home against Cove Rangers who opened the scoring through Adam Emslie. James Nolan on loan from Manchester United's youth squad levelled the game before the hour. Next up was a home game against Stenhousemuir. Quite frankly this was a dull game with neither side able to score although Musa Dibaga did make a wonderful penalty save in the first half. Relegated Arbroath was our final game of the opening round of fixtures and despite creating enough chances, we came away from Gayfield with our second defeat of the League1 campaign. Away from League duty last weekend, we put up a good fight against Livingston in the Challenge Cup at Almondvale but lost out 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out after it finished 2-2 over the ninety minutes. Paul Allan and Charlie Gilmour were our scorers during the ninety minutes. Our first game in the second round of fixtures turned out to be Duncan Ferguson's last stand. It ended in like his first game in charge, a win as we defeated Annan 1-0 at home. Administration and management removal followed by five players being released. First game after Admin is at Dumbarton this week... Dumbarton: D D D D D D L L L / W Dumbarton started the season with six draws on the trot followed by three defeats. It was only last week that they recorded their first league win of the season in their tenth League fixture with an excellent 1-3 away win at Gayfield. Arbroath had opened the scoring through Tam O'Brien after ten minutes but Carlo Pignatiello replied ten minutes later. A Dylan Smith og and a last minute goal from Finlay Gray ended the scoring as the Sons celebrated their first win in style..... just in time for our visit, meh! Our first game of the League1 campaign was against Dumbarton at the Caledonian Stadium on the back of disappointing League Cup group stages for both sides. It was also the game where Johndo was remembered in the sixth minute. I wonder what Johndo would make of all this. As already said on CTO, plenty of scope for his CTO Xmas pantomime with villains in abundance and a hero in Alan Salvage. Game of two halves: 1-1 A rousing round of applause rang out from the crowd on the sixth minute in appreciation of the dedication of John Mackenzie, AKA the Immortal Howden Ender who sadly passed away last week. A fitting tribute as cheering and clapping broke out around the ground and one in which he would have loved to have led the way. Rest in Peace my well travelled friend. You would have enjoyed the first half. The second I'm sure you would have had some choice words for in your after match summary. It was the proverbial game of two halves. Inverness were miles ahead in the first half and rubbish after the break. Plenty of possession and slick movement with new signings Flynn Duffy and Adam Mackinnon prominent in attacking moves. Charlie Gilmour brought out a tremendous reflex save from keeper Long, however most of the good work petered out when we got into the final third but we took the lead on the stroke of half time when Danny Devine sneaked in behind the defence to nod in unchallenged at the back post from a corner. Hey ho we all thought, lifes not so bad after all. Wrong!!! We allowed Dumbarton to dominate the next half hour and they deservedly levelled through Carlo Pignatiello as we seemed to go back into our shell. Niang was booked a second time for persistent fouling and reluctantly left the field when he was red carded. Billy Mckay had cracked one off the bar and Charlie Gilmour and Remi Savage were denied by the keeper but it was a bit of an anti climax after a promising first half. Jack Newman also had to make a good save five minutes from the end to keep the score level when he denied Mumbongo. Here's the fixtures for this weekend and this is how the table looks after we were deducted 15 points. Meh! Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Alloa Athletic 10 2 17 2 Montrose 10 5 16 3 Kelty Hearts 10 7 15 4 Cove Rangers 10 1 14 5 Stenhousemuir 10 1 14 6 Queen of Sth 10 -2 14 7 Arbroath 10 -2 12 8 Annan Athletic 10 -9 10 9 Dumbarton 10 -3 9 10 Inverness CT 10 0 -3 Latest Team News With administration comes redundancies. First to go was Duncan Ferguson and his coaching staff of Gary Bollan and Stuart Garden. Four players were released although the bulk of the experienced players were retained. No surprise that Cameron Ferguson was released. Bit part striker Adam Brooks was also released along with the promising left back Flynn Duffy who has been recovering from a punctured lung after looking lively in the five games he did play. Wallace Duffy was the most experienced player to be released after coming back into the squad since being ignored at the end of last season, in total making 113 appearances and scoring five goals. Big comedown for Wallace having been our MotM in the Scottish Cup Final against Celtic in 2023. I'm sure we all appreciated the efforts of those released although like every team, we have our boo boys who picked on the unfortunate. In this instance young Cameron was the brunt of most ill feeling which probably stunted his development whilst here although one wonders would he have been here had his father not been the manager. Some may say that the release of the management team is a step in the right direction as many questioned our style of play since Ferguson arrived. It looked like a case of keep the ball at all costs and don't be rushing up the park. We were set up to hold what we had with little directness. That led to too many draws and late defeats as we regressed. That aside, he can't be faulted for his gesture of not drawing a wage and I wish him and his team good fortune for the future. Duncan Ferguson gone. Gary Bollan gone Stuart Garden gone Players out Cameron Ferguson (12 appearances, not ready at this level) Adam Brooks (7 goals in 41 appearances) Flynn Duffy (recovered from a punctured lung) Wallace Duffy (113 apps, 5 goals) Jack Newman (loan ended back to Dundee United...maybe) On the plus side, Scott Kellacher has been promoted to Head Coach with Billy Mckay as his assistant player coach. Charlie Christie appears to be assisting as well, possibly overseeing/helping with the coaching along with the rest of the clubs youth coaches. Good luck Scott and Billy, all the best and all at CTO will get behind you and the boys as we attempt to play.... Against All Odds as Charles Bannerman once said. (No truth in the rumour that his next book will be entitled Against All Frauds) Given the circumstances, I imagine we will be along similar lines to last time out without Wallace Duffy in the starting XI. It will be interesting to see how we set our stall out under Scott and Billy. Good luck guys. Dumbarton's last Starting XI in the win at Arbroath. Carlo Pignatiello scored in the first fixture at the Caledonian Stadium and he scored last week in the 3-1 win over Arbroath. Pignatiello, Ruth and Durnan have all scored three League goals. Dumbarton have the leakiest defence conceding 17 goals whereas we have only conceded 7 times. The Sons are third top scorers with 14 goals, twice as many as our shot shy players.

Go for it guys. We are at our best when the odds are against us and we can triumph in adversity. Time for our Highland spirit to come to the fore!

New management team, clean slate, fresh beginnings. Good luck lads, lets give Dumbarton a right good humping and start making up that points deficit!

I am looking forward to a fresh start both on and off the park. Good luck to Scott, Billy and the team for tomorrow show them what you can do

I put my hands up to having no idea about the legalities concerning the land around the stadium, but it would be wonderful to work towards making the area a destination for more than just football. I read somewhere that there was talk of having the official start/finish of the NC500 there, which would be great, especially if there was some sort of start/finish monument for photos. The stadium could provide toilet and shower facilities on weekdays (and weekends too over the summer), and if there was some type of restaurant facilities available, even better. Merchandise wise, hats, scarfs and tops with an ICT/NC500 collaboration on them (could the vast quantities of kit be adapted?) could bring in some pennies and mini stadium tours could also be offered (for a fee). The bar could open in summertime, with seating outside. There are probably a million reasons why these ideas would not work, but it would be great to see the area busied up a bit, and if we all keep throwing ideas in the hat then something is bound to be a money spinner.

Very much agree that the most crooked people tend to have the deepest pockets and the sharpest lawyers. I AM SURE absolutely no one involved in the club over the last 5 years could be characterised as this. Thoroughly incompetent divisive malicious evasive and egotistical may be more easily and safely attributed though.

Regardless of the off-field shenanigans, Ferguson as a manager was completely unable to get a group of very competent footballers to operate as an effective team, and for our lamentable performances on the park and ultimate relegation, he was culpable. We are in my opinion, well rid of him and if we can give Dumbarton a right good humping at the Rock this weekend, that'll prove my point.

Seems like the most appropriate place to post this link to the latest Wyness Shuffle podcast. Plenty of admin chat from the guys here!

Nope. just the standard rule that's been in place for a few years now. Its a bit like kicking a man while he is down, but not aimed at ICT specifically. Alan Savage + others? Ketan Makwana + phygital friends? David Anderson / Don Lawson fronted bid? - from the Daily Record last week, this consortium of 6 businessmen was also reputed to involve Morrison/Munro/Cameron. Its all rank speculation on my part, but hopefully, being in the hands of professional administrators means that the decision on who can bid or be taken seriously is based on merit rather than bullshit.

Charlie, in some ways this is worthless to Morrison because the Inverness Councillors are strict on the use, or re-use of common good assets. If you recall, there was some concern back in the 1990's from Councillors then about providing common good land for the new football club. Arthur McCourt was the Club's saviour. However, the lease has fairly strict terms attached to it.

Saw this from one of my contacts on Flickr - seen in Dunoon:

If you want to claim that the club “made money” out of the Concert Company, then you also have to accept that what it did was to indulge in morally reprehensible sharp practice that allowed it to asset strip the Concert Company of ground rent and staff fees before the CC went bust, leaving a large number of honest and innocent traders out of pocket in order to allow that profit to be made. That the CC was in practice, although not by law, part of the FC and the FC, possibly benefiting from its associated status, hence hung out the CC’s creditors to dry whilst filling its own pockets, was morally a disgrace. This has done the FC vast reputational damage, which is reflected in a lot of the schadenfreude that still can be seen in the replies to the many recent newspaper reports of its near demise. At the last AGM in April 2023, I pressed the point of the losses made by the CC and was appalled at Gardiner’s smugness when he told the meeting that the club had contrived financial benefit from a situation where its own gross incompetence had led others to lose a lot of money. That is one of the reasons why it’s only since Gardiner’s departure and other events of this summer that I have again managed to feel comfortable about having anything at all to do with the club.

A ****** weasel with an ego problem.

That’s what I had in mind RM and 2 others actually). It generated a cash sum that I’m sure dwarfs the various fees incurred in submitting the application. Regarding the concerts, we know that we rented the stadium out. No sums ever mentioned but I would guess at a good 5 figure sum. We also provided services to the concert company for providing staff and selling tickets etc, which I’m sure would have been at no less than cost, and probably a margin built in. So even though both projects could be deemed disastrous and regrettable for various reasons, it appears to me that the both generated money for the club. Sorry if that’s not what people want to hear!

Good point. In that case I will bite the bullet ... Scott Gardiner is an absolute bellend of the highest order! Do your worst Scott! I can see the court roll now ... Scott Gardiner vs Me (with my 2000 witnesses) lol

I definitely agree that discretion is the better part of valour, particularly when the person who is threatening you has more money to spend on lawyers than you do. Threats of legal action are often made to intimidate people and to stop others from making information public which shows the person up in a bad light. Such behaviour therefore often reflects a recognition by the person making the threats that there is plenty of such information which could be revealed. Of course, it is also true that some people are subject to malicious and unfounded allegations. In those cases, legal action is more likely to be taken without being preceded by the threat of it.

Anyone else confused by the comment about no sideshows and then talk about bringing in a restaurant franchise? Restaurants etc are failing across the whole of the uk just now on almost an hourly basis. The idea that anyone is going to open one at the stadium with those existing risks and in an untested location is up there with running our own concerts, battery farms and the like.

Cheers Don

I wouldn’t want to take my chances on court with a smart brief doing his best to persuade the judge that what had been said or written was a specific allegation rather than a gut feeling or non-specific innuendo. And if matters do move in a certain direction, I’d suggest that discretion is the better part of valour when posting here and elsewhere.

The team will need a few weeks to adjust to getting out of their own half, trying to score with a target of actually trying to win a game.

Not the first to express this either. Rab Douglas got dingied by him too. Not only dislikeable in general but arrogant. He's probably a proper suck up to his bosses so all they see is sunshine. Everyone else has to suffer though. https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/sport/football/dundee-fc/1268923/rab-douglas-scot-gardiner-dundee-fc-inverness-spfl/

The interested parties are all new interested parties, I’m told, with “sporting backgrounds”.

I couldn't agree more...we still have a solid spine to the team [if fit] , a bit sorry for both Duffy's [Flynn never really got a chance] I'm up for the Queen of the South match in Dumfries in a months time, I'm excited, but it will be emotional too Fingers crossed that a reset/re-birth is possible, with more realistic expectations Maybe there will be a time to change the Eagle on the badge to a Phoenix! (temporarily?)

Co-pilot for his dad's long drive home.

ICT musicals: The Lying King Rats The Book of Moron We Will Shock You Shitty Shitty Business Plan Joseph and his Amazing Technocolour Battery Farm

Keith @ 8.5 ta very much

Whilst I am not clued in on whether or not a Football Club in administration has different rules to a company in administration (or looking to cut costs, aka, make redundancies), whilst the larger earners are the ones that you typically do look at removing from the books, you cannot be made redundant during the process solely based on how much you earn. I think it's important to remember at this time that whilst we may be fans of the club, there are actual employees whose livelihood are under threat here and are entering a difficult period of uncertainty, stress and worry. I do hope that all staff, and players, who lose their jobs during this event are taken care of, offered support, and provided a respectful package.

Imperative that decisions on players contracts and who will be remaining is made incredibly swiftly to allow preparations for the wknd and allow focus of mind. Cant allow this to drag at all and players (and staff) need to know if they be still be there on matchday or not - lingering uncertainty will do us no favours. Early days but genuinely see this Sat game at Dumbarton as huge. We win and its back to zero points and only 9 behind - physiologically I think that will be massive around the club to know we will be gaining positive points going forwards (this early) rather than fighting back from the negative state and feeling hard done by. Not withstanding the increased gap to the other teams a loss brings as well. After a win last wknd we need to build momentum and get a good feeling around the squad but feel that with the uncertainty many at the club will be focused on what this means for their careers or employment rather than playing a game. Big week in many ways and one for strong heads and maturity to take control - I'm not sure Dunc is the guy that can galvanise a squad but fingers crossed likes of Billy & Devine can (if they are still around)

New TWS podcast dropped from Moff and the gang inc interview with Scott Young- I'm listening to The Wyness Shuffle | The A Team on Podbean, check it out! https://www.podbean.com/ea/pb-jvm28-1716c21

At the end of the day, we would currently be 12 points adrift at the bottom. Thats only 4 games! especially if we can do better than the bottom team, aim here first, then aim for the team above that. It was a crap film, but there was a baseball movie called 'major league' and that kind of situation formed part of the storyline as the 'shitty' team setup to lose the league started concentrating on every game and eventually coming through. We need that kind of siege mentality, or chip on our shoulder as motivation back at ICT to finish this season still in League One, then build on that for next year.

That feels inevitable and I imagine there will be a few skeletons will fall out of the cupboards along the way. All these people involved with claims of having the club at heart but couldn't work together over the years to ensure the club never ended up where it is today. I don't imagine that will change but I do hope personalities don't get in the way of getting through this without any more pain than is necessary.

A sad sad day for the club! Let’s hope we can come out the other end of Administration with a club with a viable future that can rebuild and work its way up the leagues.

I found the article to be quite optimistic about our chances of a future and I’m not feeling quite so down as I was earlier. Given the situation we were in I always thought administration was inevitable and dreaded the possibility of liquidation. However, after reading this article by Matt Lindsay and the summary of the trust meeting, I feel that this process may very well be what we need to get us out the mire. Events may not have gone quite the way Alan Savage had intended or hoped but I do feel we’re in a better position now than we would have been without his intervention and efforts to save the club. Still plenty rocky days ahead for ICT but with fingers crossed I’m now looking forward to a brighter future and hope that the staff behind the scenes who are going to take the brunt of the cost cutting are well looked after.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/24668265.inverness-caledonian-thistle-can-get-administration/&ved=2ahUKEwj4zM2ZiaKJAxVSVUEAHYifIe4QFnoECBEQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3ykBUVLVO7J0phbHVnAB_R Sitting in a cafe in Edinburgh with no WiFi and very very slow 4G. This may not work.

Sure I read somewhere it was 28000. On the whole rant. He's on a 12 month notice period so technically still an employee right?. Then this would surely be grounds for dismissal under gross misconduct for bringing the company into disrepute. I mean his complete incompetence in the job is enough alone for that. Never mind attacking the club and colleagues. https://www.thedarkblues.co.uk/topic/36410-ict-and-scot-gardiner/ He's hated at Dundee. So his waffle about his work there is nonsense. Clearly an awful person to work for/under too as per Rab Douglas in April 2020. And we kept him 4 more years!!!

This is the best one I have without posting one from my wedding album in 1982 I seen it at a car show in Nairn I think and spoke to the owner Ernest Snape from Balloch asking if he would hire it for my wedding. He offered it free for my wedding as it wasn't insured for hire along with his friend Jimmy as driver who turned up like a proper chauffeur with matching red velvet jacket I did provide gifts for both and had to stop my best man from buying double whiskies for Jimmy as I was worried he would crash the car on his way back to Balloch

It’s such a shame the Board didn’t accept an offer to buy the club. The club wouldn’t be in administration, jobs would have been kept and the club would be looking up. Of course if the new owners didn’t work out, then there would be an option of admin down the line, but instead of giving it a chance to see if it works, with the worst case end scenario being administration…. The club decided to jump straight to that. Almost as if they wanted it. Strange.