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it's going to be hilarious when the announcement is a new away strip or something banal like that.

Why could they not print a voting page in the season ticket book, and when it gets to the last home game of the season you fill in your choice and hand it in, you could do the same with walk up tickets that are bought for last home game. That way, every supporter who enters the stadium gets one vote to select their player of the year, and not just the folk in hospitality. The club really need to know how shabby this whole thing looks.

Caleyboy has clearly been addressing the same question as I have - and with the same dilemma over "want" as opposed to "deserve". Does the Inverness public "want" a full time football club? Well, given that maybe half of them won't even be interested in football and many of those who are will follow teams from outwith Inverness, the number of people in Inverness who actively want full time club - possibly from the level of following the score on Saturday nights or even Monday mornings upwards - probably isn't that big a slice of the population. In other words, to be brutally realistic, most people in Inverness couldn't give a toss about Caley Thistle - and that also reflects what I've seen on the streets over the years trying to assemble ICT voxpops. It's actually quite difficult to find enough people interested enough to comment. So does the Inverness public "deserve" a full time football club? Well to deserve one, you have to want one first and then you need to behave in a way which morally justifies your desire. But given that most people aren't interested, then the question doesn't actually arise. I used to think that Inverness actually didn't deserve a full time football club because of the lack of support for a body which publicised the city, brought some trade into it and, for instance, provided a road to open up the harbour etc. However I've changed my view on that over the years, in that the founding fathers of the club put it there to promote football in Inverness, not to create collateral benefit - however much they used that to gain brownie points in the early years. So, in conclusion, a relatively small number of people in inverness want a full time football club but, while the concept of deserving one becomes redundant, you do have to wonder if there are enough of them to make this a sustainable, viable option?

Constantly looking across at RC and deeming ICT success by being 'better' than them, being 'pride of the Highlands' and all that utter bullshit is pitiful and sad. The fact we are a loss making organisation makes us no different to most football clubs, the problem is that a) the previous regime CHOSE to chase success and financed JH and other managers with lucrative contracts and player budgets - too often on here people blame the manager, where the initial blame really has to lie with those who gave the budgets to start with. In some respects with those amounts provided that manager produced results in excess of what should have been achieved and where RF failed it can be argued the board put him in that position. b) the marketing strategy of the club through the levels, capitalisation on success and increasing foot fall has been poor at best. The crowds are no better than 20 years ago, perhaps worse and while social reasons can be partly cited so an the lack of engagement from the club with the local community and the lack of focused marketing and drive to improve. Any product to be a success has to evolve, find new marketing avenues and look at ways to compete or beat the competition - doesn't matter whether its ICT & RC or Tesco and Asda. This new board for all the love that seems to be towards them from many quarters have yet to deliver on many promises ranging from better communication to improved stability throughout. They cut the club costs yet are still running a huge loss, ultimately we ended up with a weaker team who struggle to compete for much of the season - that's acceptable if costs were cut right back and we were almost profitable but that's not the case. We haemorrhage money on legacy contracts and poor decisions and choose not to gamble on investing for promotion - leaving us in a no-mans land of mediocrity. The time is now for the board to start to talk and engage before new ST go on sale - while some will just blindly buy or renew regardless, I would like to know where the club is going and what's happening the money regarding a longer term plan to balance the books? A business is nothing without its customers and right now rather than encouraging new supporters the club is doing its upmost throughout to alienate and **** of those already committed - from the ST renewal fiasco last summer, the public mis-treatment of players, petty letter written in riddles about fans & behaviour and general failure to deliver on the promises made other than through rumours and leaks.

The need for investment is without question - although the term donation is, of course, more accurate. How many of us, really, would be willing to part with hundreds of thousands of pounds safe in the knowledge you would never recover any of it and the most gratitude you are likely to get is abuse for backing the wrong horse or not putting enough in? Regrettably, Uncle Roy is a Staggie but I agree if we could get Messrs Sutherland and Savage to stop chest beating and measuring their respective whatevers and see the club as the main priority??? What has happened in the past was an omnishambles but progress - on the park - has been made in my opinion. I agree with CB with the area/ economy struggling to support two clubs in the SPL and have playfully sparked heated debates after a dram or two by saying that the solution is to merge and create a highland superpower as it were. But as we know, it would take 5 generations before the deep wounds of merger vs takeover would begin to fade. And I say this firmly tongue in cheek from a footballing angle, but from a business perspective..... I do think communication needs to be improved. We are (technically) still in it but there has been nothing of Facebook/ Twitter etc since the game and we are missing a trick. Unfortunately, I have always felt that a hangover from the Highland League exists where some of those who take up board positions are doing so for their own benefit and not that of the club - some who took up post when the club were admitted to the league had never set foot in either Telford St or Kingsmills as a paying fan in their lives but it suited them to get a slice of the pie. Not all, I hasten to add as there are some stalwarts who give freely of their time week after week with only the clubs advancement as their reward. We need bums on seats and this is the biggest challenge the club face - more fans means more revenue but more fans also means atmosphere which in turn should bring more fans to the games. Surely as a player if you have a decent home support this will inspire a better performance and suddenly then we start to gain some traction? On the whole I think we need to plug these "leaks" where rumours of a rumour start emanating from the stadium and those who are responsible should be removed from post. The club need to be smarter in their delivery of fact much quicker to the fans. Sorry, rambling now - newbie on here but have to say it seems quite healthy. Mostly...

It seems to me that the individuals with commercial nous, significant capital and an interest in the club are David Sutherland and Alan Savage. Unfortunately and probably largely due to a clash of egos, they were unable or unwilling to work together in the past. Whilst I appreciate it is unlikely to happen, it would be ideal if they could put aside those past differences and work together for the sake of the club that seems important to them both at this time of impending crisis.

Would that be previous board members who have given the current board £300k...that we know of...this season? Why would they do that if the plan was to run things down?

Wondered what the views are of the lack of availability of voting slips for this yesterday? Ive spoken to mainstanders as well and it appears no voting areas were available in either stand. This means that only those who attended sports bar or hospitality yesterday got a vote by the looks of it Surely if the club lacked bodies to run this widely they could have asked for volunteers? I for one would have been more than happy to help pull this together to ensure as many fans as possible got a say. There was a pop up shop in the north stand as well which seems a missed opportunity to have a box and slips? Is no one in authority at the club fan focused anymore?

ffs why dont you just let your hatred of jh go.

We all have to queue at the turnstiles to get in. Why not have folk positioned handing out slips there? The slip could also have informed people about the presentation. It’s not exactly rocket science.

Just 3 months? What were you watching? By the end of Jan we were sitting with 6 wins in 22 games, 3 off against Brechin and 11 of the goals scored which by early March was 26 games with 31 goals for and only 8 wins for our 31 points. Its clear that it was the first 2/3 of the season that were honking. It really puzzles me why so many fans are just 'happy' and praising the club at all levels because the team started to play as we should have expected once March arrived. Its a testament to how poor the league has been this season that a run at this stage can almost propel from relegation play-off to promotion play-off in 10 games. It signifies how there has been no stand out team and that the position we are in is nothing short of failure with probable dire consequences moving forwards. Those who cannot see this need to open their eyes to our situation and hope that next season we will be lucky to have the finances to put together a team capable of fighting for mid-table.

I will be doing the calculations for our player of the year voting over the next couple of days. You have all voted for it over the last year and the voting slips were readily available :) If there is a clear winner we will announce who it is ... if still up in the air we will post the permutations for the last couple of games. Once we know who it is @CaleyD will be tasked with sorting out a presentation at some point.

The only thing Gordy had to tell my uncle this week was that the club are looking to appoint a new president.

Absolutely woeful attempt at organising end of season presentation. Cringed in embarrassment for the players who came back out in front of maybe 100 fans who bothered to stay. Only the Chairman spoke but actually said nothing of consequence while no words from the manager , club captain or any of the guys who won the awards. Bizarrely last year was more upbeat. Appreciate the goal in the 96 minute sucked the life out of any celebrations but that was woeful. As for the voting slips they were around the main stand bar area but you had to hunt for them amongst the empty napkins , used tea bags and empty beer glasses. Terrible attempt by someone just going through the motions who has been given the gig of organising the supporters player of the year.

I don't understand why the club couldn't even have run a poll on the website for this?

Probably Doofers Dad's post sums things up best for yesterday. Dunfermline were there for the taking and had Daniel McKay taken his chance, which nine times out of 10 he will, we would all be much happier today. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Some posters are alluding to rumours about players leaving and not being able to maintain the squad which would be hugely unfortunate if that were to happen. However, we found players who, while taking a while to settle, came on in leaps and bounds so who is to say JR cannot do the same next season with more time to do so. The worry is the financial situation, again, I have no insight into this, but this is where we, as fans, can help by renewing our season tickets, turning up to games in increased numbers to try and mitigate the financial impact. Finally, I have to comment on the refereeing yet again. Finnie was astonishingly poor yesterday along with the stand side linesman. The inconsistency of Finnie, where he would give some fouls and ignore similar ones was really poor. The fact that both he and the linesman missed clear shirt pulls on Oakley and Polworth on numerous occasions, shouldn't say missed as they must have been seen but just not given, was just pure incompetence. As the game wore on , the number of soft or non fouls given to Dunfermline increased leading to the possibility of them scoring and that was what happened. Ref didn't score the goal but certainly gave Dunfermline a helping hand as if the foul that led to their goal was given, why weren't the shirt pulls on Oakley and Polworth?. That isn't paranoia, just fact. Even our bookings today were incredibly soft compared to other incidents in the game. I am not saying Finnie was biased, just totally incompetent and not for the first time. I have also read today that Hamilton were denied a stonewall penalty against Partick and the referee stated that he hadn't given a penalty as the Hamilton players didn't seem to appeal enough. If that is true, it just sums up the dreadful state of refereeing in Scotland.

For those who missed our vote....you can have a go here....? https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/H92S7M7

Just what we all need to safeguard the future of the club, a museum

My main worry is that if this is 'our level' then full time football is not sustainable without the income from the Premiership. Assuming the board don't generate alternative income streams (which we've always been awful at) or get bailouts I fear we just don't have the means to keep plugging away in the Championship.

Charles I think you're vastly overstating people's objections about the Tulloch deal and to say there was 'abuse' seems like hyperbole, I certainly never saw any of that. Are the people concerned about the Tulloch deal even the same as those concerned about MM? Much of these issues come from a systemic lack of communication with the fans (or in some cases downright bad communication e.g. the season ticket renewal letter). We will make judgements of the available information. Often it's based on rumours, second hand information, and half truths or in some cases you have different 'factions' saying different things. GR started well enough, renewals aside, with positive ideas and talk at the fans meeting at the beginning of the season but that disappeared quickly. Perhaps that was linked to the shift in roles for Danny?

Deal for the stands fallen through?Perhaps our old benefactor has pulled another of his tricks to 'save' the club.......

Fair point. I can certainly think of one previous board member who donated £250,000 to keep the club afloat several months ago - and that despite the abuse he got from some off the back of the £6M he previously arranged for his former company to subsidise the club by over a period of years. What must be said of the board which was in place on relegation is that, despite acknowledged mistakes, they did their honest best to keep the club in the Premiership despite its fundamental lack of capacity to earn enough to do so. But it's strange how credit so seldom seems to be given for that.

I suppose we shouldn't be surprised by this situation. More signs of letting things slide. So much for engaging with the fans.

I was speaking to a Pars fan on Sunday morning who was in the South stand yesterday and he told me that their player dived. It certainly looked soft from our angle.

Another problem with organisation though? Not enough communication of what was happening. More than a tannoy announcement needed really. Also could they not communicate in advance with the folk running buses such as the social club? Then folk could stay? Im ashamed to say I ran for the Social Club bus as it was nearer to alcohol to try and soothe the pain of that gutting end to the match. Im going to Morton on Sat so will show my respect to the players then.

I believe that was Stephen Finnie's last match and he's hanging up his whistle.

We thought this as we were sitting in the main stand yesterday. I said to my son that this is the last home game, and we usually vote, but there was no info, and then they were announcing there would be presentations after the game! Who was voting??? Very poor communication from the club, especially when the board said there was going to be better communication. If we can't get the small things right, what hope have we got for bigger things?

Absolutely ridiculous we couldn't have a few boxes and some ballot sheets. And this is the times of 'improved communication' . At least I agree with the choice.

Very harsh and not accurate, in my opinion anyway. We hardly had a board to start with at the beginning of the season, late managerial appointment left little time to get squad in place. Most of the recruitment, given the time constraints, has been okay and no football manager will get it correct 100% of the time. An increase in season ticket prices, as long as not excessive, cannot surely be seen as a negative or exploiting fans if it keeps the club solvent and helps recruit players. Obviously not everything in the garden is rosy at the moment but the constant negativity, dare I say cynicism of some of your posts doesn't help. Cue happy clapper insults.

I wondered about this myself. I've no idea who was organising it but I would willingly have helped as well. I stayed for the presentations only because someone else asked if I was. I was unaware it was happening. Maybe there was an announcement over the PA system but I can rarely make out a word of what is being said. So many simple things about communication within this club that are just shockingly bad.

Got back early this morning from my trip up.....enjoyed the whole thing (except the 95th minute). It was a strange type of game from two evenly matched teams, I have to say the pitch wasn't doing us any favours, and even the ball seemed to be un-inflated, with many kicks sounding very flat (just me obviously). Dunfermline shaded the first half I felt, they certainly looked dangerous going forward, then we had a 20-25min period in th second half where we were on a different (higher) level to Dunfermline, particularly Austin, his goal was ...what can I say , 'Wow!'. Once he had to come off though I felt there was a subtle change in the balance of the game. Even then we had good opportunities to put the game to bed, and Dunfermline only really looked like scoring from a dead ball, but we started to sit back and give free-kicks away....just when I thought we had seen the game out, then cames the killer blow (it really is like watching my other team sometimes!). In the first half Tremarco seemed to be having a tough battle with their wide player, but got to grips in the second half, likewise Seedorf was poor first half but much improved 2nd. OK perfomances in midfield, great free kick by Chalmers, Trafford fairly solid, Polworth probably put in the bigger shift, Doran a bit slow at times, but a real threat. Not sure whether Mackay was the right substituion, earlier in the season Bell would have had been a sure thing, he may have gone off the boil a bit, but I still hope we keep him, as he and Mackay offer something different to Oakley (who put in a real shift) and Austin (who looks a really decent player, why did Fallkirk let him go??). I don't think Ridgers did much wrong (though not a convincing attaempt to stop the first goal...was there a deflection?), but he's gone from being very much written off as a goalkeeper at the start of the season to almost a cult hero....that's good work in my book! In theory we still have a very small chance of getting into the play-offs, but it needs something special from the Dumbo's and us to win our last two...even then the play-offs are a real long-haul, and would we be ready for the SPL?. In reality after the chaos and dismay of relegation and the close season, we have come out of this season, with a decent looking squad, with some really promising prospects, that given another season should push on to better more consistent performancesand a rekindled team spirit...I'm sure there'll be a couple of twists over the close season, keeping Vigurs would be great, but who knows. Anyway I'm already looking forward to next season, with a bit more expectation.

Thought we started far to casually for such an important game. Dunfermline seemed much more fired up and it wasn't a suprise when they took the lead. Lack of communication from the thrown (personally I think Polly was lazy not taking a man) lead to the goal. Scumbag Higginbotham doing his usual scummy thing seemed to fire up both the players and crowd abit. We were getting into the game without creating anything when Chalmers pinged one in. Game changer, you could sense the pendulum swing and the pars started to doubt themselves. 2nd half we started well, great play by Austin to win the ball out wide and drive in on goal, rather than look sideways for a pass. Took his shot early and caught the keeper of guard it seemed. Buzzing!! Would have to agree the substitutions were pretty ineffectual. Why did Calder put the ball out for their player, gladly this has stopped and although I was ragin with the pars players not returning the ball I was more than pissed off with Calder for being so naive. Seemed like a soft free kick which led to the goal. Gutting, especially with other results going our way for once, but deep down I knew we wouldn't quite make it. It's still a great run of results, we need to ensure a 5th place finish now. Top marks to the front two, Doran, Trafford, tremarco and Coll. Great fighting spirit from everyone, as fans, that's all we ask for. Perform with that desire every week there will be few boo boys regardless of the result.

I'm too upset to even comment on anything given how it happened when it did. Sickener, deserved winners of the best game of football I've witnessed at the TCS all season. Proud to be a caley fan tonight though, boys gave us everything they had today

What a sickener. Another great team performance but we must now refocus and win midweek to put the pressure back on Dunfermline. They should beat Dumbarton comfortably but knowing they have to get something out of the game might make them very edgy. Stranger things have happened. But back to today. That is the 2nd time recently I have thought at half time that the referee was doing well only for my view to be completely changed later in the second half when it looked as though we might actually win. There were some very soft awards given against us, but pulling shirts and wrestling players to the ground right in front of the referee went unpunished the other way. Having said that, we had plenty of opportunities to get a 3rd when Dunfermline were chasing the game and ultimately we only had our selves to blame. We could, and should have won that which is really what makes loosing at the death so hard to take. No complaints at the length of injury time though, that was a nasty clash of heads between Oakley and Mvoto We missed Vigurs in midfield but Trafford came in and did a pretty good job. Chalmers too was pretty solid and between the two of them they often worked the ball out of tight positions. But the stars for me were again the front pairing of Oakley and Austin. They pulled defenders this way and that and constantly harried when Dunfermline lost possession. Robbo said earlier in the season that improving the defensive record was a matter for the whole team. If defenders and defensive midfielders are constantly put under pressure then they make mistakes and potential attacks are nipped in the bud. That is what Oakley in particular and Austin do so well. Austin seems to be a more composed finisher and created a goal for himself out of nothing today. I stayed for the rather subdued presentation ceremony at the end. Very well deserved awards for Col Donaldson and Iain Vigurs. The two of them are worthy winners but I would add that the other star performer this season has been Mark Ridgers. After a rather shaky start he has been absolutely outstanding.

Mission Impossible is not over yet but it's far more likely that we'll get wins at Livi and Morton than Brechin will at East End Park. It was a huge ask to get the sixth in a row today against an in-form Pars side who had as much at stake as we did. Gutted but immensely proud of the guys that they have got so close to pulling it off - take a bow chaps, you deserve it

Feeling gutted right now, still a slight chance we can do it. So close today its heartbreaking, you could see at the end what it meant to the players. Proud of the whole team, lets hope we can keep as many of the squad as possible and finish lasts games in style and make it to the top next season

Have to agree - still an amazing run, even if it probably won't be quite enough...bodes well for next season though

I presume that Charlie B was washing his hair.

Good to hear things are moving in a positive and amicable direction.

A meeting was held last night and information on the agreement reached on how things will move forward to an SGM (and when) will be issued as soon as a couple of details can be nailed down.

My prediction HT: 0v0 FT: 2v1 1st ICT: Austin 1st Opp: N Clark Crowd: 2783 Caleyjags prediction HT: 0v0 FT: 1v1 1st ICT: Austin 1st Opp: Cardle Crowd: 3124 **** JOKER **** JOKER **** JOKER **** (Just making sure haha)

I've just caught up with this after a few days off line. We need to support Polly. He has great vision and energy, and can pick out great moves and passes. Of course, some don't come off, but that's not always down to him, and those that do are evidenced in his assist stats. I suspect we will lose him in the summer, but I really hope he stays and aids our promotion push next year. I think the same about Vigurs. Yes, some of his touches scare me as they could go wrong, and he needs to get a grip of his temperament, but he is a quality player who we could do with keeping.

I'm not so sure about that, Fraz. Over the years, there have been regular derogatory remarks about the recent donor of £250,000 who is still the man dismissed as "the builder", and also much cynicism about his former business concern whose £6M has, over the years, variously staved off financial collapse, bankrolled progress to the SPL and provided the wherewithal to comply with its requirements. Now the flak is turning to the MM-controlled board, MM having donated over £0.5M, including £150,000 over the last year as part of the summer bailout. If the club is looking for "investment" - a useful euphemism for donations - then it really is going to have to hope that prospective "investors" don't scrutinise CTO or listen too much to "the word on the street", since they will be presented with plenty of reasons to place their money in places which will give them much less grief. It's understandable that people are disappointed about relegation and now also that the playoffs suddenly look so much more unlikely. However a lot of the focus seems to be on trying to criticise what has been got wrong rather than highlighting the great amount which has been got right over the years. It's my belief that it was a minor miracle that ICT reached the SPL in ten years and a major one that it stayed in it for 12 of the next 13. This is because I believe that what we have is a product which is fundamentally loss-making in its market environment. In other words, especially with a heavily subsidised competitor 15 miles up the road and with increasing competition from other activities, not enough people are prepared to part with around £20 to sit outside in the cold watching an hour and a half of entertainment of quality which is no more predictable than in the rest of football - and that's before you even consider the added difficulties of being 150 miles detached from other sectors of the market. This is the intractable situation that successive board have wrestled with - and largely done a good job of staving off for as long as possible. Edinburgh and especially Dundee have had difficulties sustaining two top flight football clubs in recent years. Glasgow could well be losing one of its three and Aberdeen has at times sailed perilously close to the wind with its one. So where does this leave the two clubs so close together in the sparsely populated inner Moray Firth, on the extreme periphery of national football? (One very possible answer to that question now being "playing Highland Derbies in the Championship") As we approach the 25th anniversary of the election of Caley Thistle and Ross County to the SFL, I have been benefitting greatly from hindsight to the extent that I am now wondering if it was all that good an idea after all that both local clubs got into the league; and also - although I still believe that it was the "least bad" solution in the mid-90s - whether the siting of the Caledonian Stadium has now for some years been a significant liability?

You poor fellow! We're linked in our love of Caley and our mutual hate of Man U ......Just keep your hands off Zaha over the summer (Palace are as much a one man team as yours is)

There is no doubt whatsoever that, even with the savings that have been made, we are running at a loss that is unsustainable probably in the medium term, let alone the longer term. However, is that the fault of the current board or the previous regime who saw fit to trust JH with a new contract that made him the highest paid manager in our history with, by a margin, the highest player budget and then, after sacking him but still paying him that substantial six figure salary, appointing a completely unproven and inexperienced manager on a five year contract and then failing to take decisive action when it was increasingly obvious he was out of his depth ? The current board and manager have made mistakes but took over amid utter chaos. The ship has been steadied on the pitch,. It would not be surprising, however,m if the deeper financial waters remained much more turbulent.

.... or has somebody's uncle's pal bumped into Gordy Fyfe in the golf club car park again? Look, I'm not saying this is not going to happen, but what we have here is a completely unsubstantiated statement, offering absolutely no evidence as to whether there's going to be "an announcement" nor, if there is going to be one, what the nature of it is. The club going into liquidation? An offer to "invest" £5 million? Or a 10p reduction in the price of stadium pies? But yet, on the strength of what's therefore no better than blind conjecture, speculation is instant in areas including that administration is imminent - right down to a detailed examination of its points implications. I'm not ruling anything in or out. I'm just questioning the wisdom of going too deeply into the implications of something for which there is no evidence. And I see that the board are getting it in the neck from one or two quarters. Goodness me. After what's been said about Tulochs etc, it seems that for some, simply NOBODY is good enough to give their own money to bail out Caley Thistle's fundamentally loss making position and hence to subsidise the cost of season tickets.......

Great idea to go into administration with a 15 point deduction when we still have a possibility of getting into the play offs and promotion

I've absorbed all of the above with interest and appreciation. Last season I saw some appalling refereeing in the overseas videos that we were once allowed to watch live during the home games and inevitably got the impression that refs were definitely out to get our team . You know, the team that beat the top dogs such as Celtic and Rangers and played them off the park more often that not. (Supercalifragilistic etc.) Let's be blunt- these teams are the money bags of the Scottish Leagues and defeats at the hands of upstart minnows will never be welcome. More than once I've heard the phrase "Tulloch Stadium is a hard place to come to...." and Caley Thistle is a force for anyone to reckon with 'cos we have the Highland spirit. But with regard to Dunfermline it's not clear why they would, be regarded as really special. Again, it might just be that the directives from on high that spur refs to rub it into our team are designed to continue to make absolutely certain that we don't go places such as continuing to win the Scottish cup and so on. There are some folks on here who seem to want to be petty at the expense of Blair. Please remember that English may not be his native language and so, please, just give the man a break. He's the only fan I have heard of that wants, seemingly, to put his money where his mouth is and you can't deny his interest and zeal for our team. Encouragement is always a great thing to offer anyone who tries hard to succeed so I say.....good for you Blair and "long may your lum reek".

We really do need a very big "this is sarcasm" emoji for some people's benefit.