Leaderboard

Usually there are three sides .... each person's version .... and the actual truth ! This is the press release issued when she was appointed : Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC is delighted to announce the appointment of a Chief Executive to provide strategic leadership and advice to the Board of Directors as the club restructures and looks to become a more community-focused club. Mrs Yvonne Crook is an experienced consultant whose skills in business development, branding and marketing are seen as hugely valuable assets as the club strives to attract new investment and operate in a more business-like and sustainable way. Mrs Crook is the owner of View Marketing and a founder and director of Good Highland Food Ltd, which she runs with her husband Mike. She has also held strategic advisory positions for several destinations and visitor attractions in Scotland including Loch Ness by Jacobite as well as Perth Racecourse. Not sure "hemorrhaging cash" is quite the right description as we had been somewhat stable for the few years prior to that and the accounts, while never overly encouraging in any part of our 25 year history were not as bad as people are making out. We were a Premiership team, operating on a premiership budget with some costs we could not control and others that we might have been able to control better (that is ALWAYS the case) .... However, given that we had just been relegated, then a problem with cashflow would be expected to be the case in the coming year regardless of who was in charge. Last time we were relegated it instantly cost us over £1,000,000 on the balance sheet. Some of the challenges we faced last season could be laid at the previous board (contracts) but not everything .... and lest we forget, the "previous board" did not resign en-masse. Our current chairman was part of that board and changes took place over time with some stepping down and others appointed to their current roles. Its also not rocket science to know individuals will be leaving the business ... last time we were relegated the "previous board" cut our staffing to the absolute bare bones to offset costs so its not a new or novel idea for this to happen. The fact of the matter however, is that most of the resignations quoted in the article are not redundancies or sackings due to cost-cutting but individuals making the choice to end their employment with ICT for other reasons. I know the reasoning behind at least two of those from the horses mouths but cannot speculate on the others. The ones I do know about have absolutely nothing to do with cost cutting. The item in red concerns me ... especially given the quote earlier in this thread that the company she was quoted as being a founder/director of is now apparently doing the catering at the stadium and according to those who sampled it, it is of lower quality than what was there before. What was the tender process? Who appointed this company? Did the founder who was also our CEO remove herself from the discussions due to a clear conflict of interest? While she may have been involved in the stadium discussions (or not?) I dont think she can take credit for it. The stadium deal was ready to sign long before she appeared on the scene and the couple of years of posturing, machinations and additional discussions that took place before it was finally signed have done nothing except pad the legal costs. We have yet to see the details of this foundation, how it is to operate and what governance is placed around it. Its a great idea in principle, but as can be seen from sheepslagger's comments on other threads recently, a lot of this is still in the idea stage. It may have been her idea, and I would say that it is a good one ... but its far from the finished article. Financial position is not improved as far as I can see it. The accounts, delayed until the stadium ownership was sorted, and could be included on them as an asset, are horrendous and come with an auditors warning never before seen on our accounts. As I said above, it was not going to be an easy task regardless of who took it on after relegation but to say it has improved is overly optimistic at best. £810K loss IS within her tenure. She was appointed in May 2018 after helping the board for the previous 6 months (as per the press release). That means she was around since November 2017. I will agree once again that we do not need a CEO. No-one who has performed that role in the history of the club has shown it to be a crucial position at ICT. I would also agree with you regarding the serious questions and hope someone does ask these at the AGM. If I were still living locally I would be standing there doing just that. I would also encourage everyone to look at the ballot paper sent out and consider carefully before rubber stamping the options listed. Exactly !!

I have no idea what goes on behind the boardroom doors at the club, but it seems to me that these battles have been ongoing for nearly two decades!! What's the reason? Is it purely egocentricity? If so, then that's a pretty pathetic way to behave. This club does not belong to one person nor to one clique! You'd think that after 25 years the club would by now have found a settled method of being run in a sensible, mature way!

Spot on northstandfan! The communication from the club has been shocking to say the least in the past few years and the thing they can't seem to grasp is we are the customers and we are loosing customers at an alarming scale!

Er….? Who is David Dowling? Is he the gent who invented the things that go into holes in woodwork to keep them steady and sure? If not, we might be howling....and /or.....growling? O.K. Maybe just frame it and hang it like a picture inside the club on the wall of the Boardroom...…….or..?

Get a quote from David Dowling. He has a track record of helping penniless football clubs.

And the same with Gordon Fyfe appointed to the board.

Her husband's company now does the catering for hospitality and apparently it's much poorer than when red poppy were doing it. Not nepotism though, I'm sure it was a fair tendering process.

I will give her her due in one respect ... she did not call me up at home (in Toronto) at 5am on a Saturday morning asking me to remove a critical post from CTO !!! If she had, she would have got the same response as he did !!

I, for one, am very sad to see her go. I really liked her and got on extremely well with her. Its a total bugger that shes gone , especially at this time as she had loads of different things on and different ideas to promote the club. She most certainly had the club at heart and worked 7 days a week for all the time I ve known her. Hopefully we can get a suitable replacement in who has the same enthusiasm in as quick as possible. Any potential candidates names would be welcome . We need someone on the ground with business and commercial local knowledge that has vision and doesnt mind getting their hands dirty. Apply within !

Personally I feel Hampden should be reserved for the Final. Having said that, there is a need to be clear about where the semis are going to be played ASAP. One way to achieve that would be to play the quarter finals to a finish at the first time of asking. That way a venue appropriate to the geographical location of the teams and the anticipated crowd could be quickly decided. That would also help in reducing fixture congestion and in keeping costs down for fans.

No offence intended but this poll is mental. It's the Scottish cup semi-final, regardless who our opponents are it's gotta be hampden. The goal from the 1st round you enter, as players as well as fans, is to get to Hampden , that's the dream Also Dingwall or mcdairmaid would be shi*

A moth eaten rag on a worm eaten pole. It doesn't seem likely to stir a man's soul. Tis the deeds that were done neath that moth eaten rag When the pole was a staff and the rag was the flag!

Scarlet - you do realise that this is about 50 FEET x 30 FEET (1500 square feet). Thats one hell of a piece of glass ! You do have a point though ... perhaps there is a way for the club to come to some agreement with CaleyD and display it - mural-like - somewhere in the stadium and put it behind perspex or something to protect it ..... after they have negotiated using it at Hampden again of course ?