Leaderboard

It was great to see so many of you at the Fans Meeting yesterday, and to receive so much positive feedback about the meeting and the good progress the Supporters Trust is making in getting issues addressed by the club. It is clear that we are making progress with many of the issues and concerns raised at the previous meetings, and that the club now wants to hear our concerns and to see if they can act on them where it is practical to do so. However, there is more work to do, and we will continue to pursue issues on behalf of fans. As at this morning, our membership has grown by 33% this year already, and if you are not already a member, please consider joining, as it will increase our ability to get improvements for fans. Membership is only £5 (£1 for Under 16s) and you can join using this link: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/join-us We are very grateful to the Chairman, Ross Morrison, and SLO/Director, Scott Young for attending the full meeting and answering questions in a very open and frank manner. They also took the opportunity to speak to many of those present after the Q&A finished. This update is not intended to be a full report of the discussion, but it will give those not present a flavour of the issues discussed. Stronger Together: This was launched at the meeting, and is covered on a separate thread: https://caleythistleonline.com/topic/36172-stronger-together/ Battery Farm: The Chairman advised that the club will submit its appeal to the Scottish Government Reporter, but it cannot do so until it receives the decision of Highland Council in writing,. The process is likely to take six months. He is confident that the Reporter will approve the scheme. However a new buyer has to found, so there could be a reduction in the sum the club will receive. Club Finances: The club is preparing its budget for the year starting on 1 June. This includes a restructuring due to the losses being incurred. The Board is working hard to develop revenue streams, as it wants the club to remain full time. Income is now being received for the North Stand car park through the Red John project. Other revenue streams being are being pursued with the objective of raising £600k per year from the ground, the club's land and through greater use of the facilities. Issues being explored include sponsorship of the three stands, a tenant in part of the building, greater use of the Highlander Suite and Boardroom for conferences and events, electric charging points and a car wash. Squad / Academy Graduates / Injuries: The Chairman explained that decisions on players are taken by the Manager. The Manager reports to the Board, but it is the Manager's job to make decisions on players and he decided which players would go out on loan. The Chairman recognised that we have a lot of promising Academy Graduates, who have been out on loan since January and therefore not available to us. Our injury position has been bad, but the Chairman pointed to other Championship clubs who have had similar issues this season. There were a lot of concerns raised in the meeting about the Academy Graduates being sent out on loan when we should be giving them game time ourselves, and about what the reasons were for the injury situation. Hospitality: The SLO advised that he had taken on board the feedback about the cost of hospitality, and that next season there will be different packages for different games, with some being the current corporate offering and others being at a much lower cost and targeted at the wider fanbase. He hopes that hospitality will be in place for every home game. The Supporters Trust has been pushing for this for a significant time, so it is good to see the views of our members being acted on. Season Tickets: This is another issue the Trust has been pushing for some time, and it was pleasing to hear the SLO confirm that there will be proper marketing for next season, including contacting fans who have not renewed. Disability Issues / Singing Area: The Trust has been seeking an on site meeting with the club to review the matchday experience for fans with disabilities. The meeting is scheduled to take place this week. The club is also looking at options for a Singing Area, so will look to resolve both issues at the same time, ensuring the needs of both groups are met. Stewarding Issues in North Stand at the Ayr Game: The SLO had a positive meeting with Section 94 this week and outlined the actions taken following the incidents at the game. A number of Section 94 members were at the Fans Meeting, and confirmed that they were happy with the action the club had taken and that they considered the matter to be closed. 30th Anniversary: The club will share its thoughts with the Supporters Trust in the near future.

The subject of a target was asked at yesterday's meeting. At this stage, as it is very early days, we have not set a specific target, but we aim to raise as much as possible on an ongoing basis. As examples of how similar schemes have worked in other Scottish clubs, the scheme at Morton raises £10k per month to assist the club, whilst the scheme at Falkirk has bought players for the club. The key thing is to increase fan influence on how the club is run. Remember, the Supporters Trust is independent of the club. We will hold the funds raised, and we will seek commitments from the club when we decide the time is right to purchase shares. As will hopefully be apparent when we post a summary of yesterday's discussion, it is clear that the hard work put in this season by the Supporters Trust is starting to have an impact, with the club now listening to feedback and starting to act on it.

An extremely important 3 points yesterday which puts us within touching distance of Queen's and possibly even Ayr. Our game next week at Hampden is a hugely important fixture in the long term future of the club and I would implore all fans to get themselves along to Hampden next week. Irrespective of your thoughts on this stinker of a season, Ferguson, Gardiner, the board, battery farms, concert ventures and our multitude of other shortcomings we need as many fans as possible at Hampden to cheer the team on.

Spare a thought tonight for Remi Savage who took a significant boot in the face. Hope he is well. Alex Samuel was superb today in a very good team performance. With Luis Longstaff back today we had a slightly stronger bench. Under no circumstances do we want to lose next week.

Did you mean to miss the “r” ??

The Supporters Trust launched Stronger Together today at the Fans Meeting at the Caley Club. Full details are on our website (see the link below), but this is the announcement released today: Fan investment is the way forward for a stronger and community focused ICT An initiative that aims to increase the shareholding of Inverness Caledonian Thistle fans has been launched by the ICT Supporters Trust. The group aims to achieve the greatest possible supporter and community influence in the running and ownership of Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC. The Trust has called on fans to invest in the Stronger Together Fund, which aims to increase their shareholding of the football club and assist in creating a sustainable football club with supporters at its heart. A longer-term goal of ensuring that a democratically elected fans’ representative sits on Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC’s Board of Directors is also key to the plans. The Trust aims to make sure that the voice of ICT supporters is heard and that fans are communicated to with honesty and transparency. The Supporters Trust already hold 108 Ordinary Shares which carry an enhanced voting right totalling a minimum of 10 per cent. The Trust also holds a further 13,658 Ordinary Shares which carry normal voting rights. Investment in the football club by the Stronger Together Fund will be made at the discretion of the Trust Board, with the prime objective being to increase their shareholding in the football club. The Trust aim to bridge the perceived gap between the club and its supporters, using any income generated by the Stronger Together Fund to purchase shares in the club, with a view to gaining a seat on the Board. They believe that supporter’s issues can then be raised at board level, ensuring fans are properly represented and have a say in the running of their club. Jennifer Aitchison, Chairperson, ICT Supporter’s Trust said: “This is a crucial time for the football club, both on and off the pitch. We must come together in order to ensure the future of the club for generations to come. “One of the most common and regular pieces of feedback we receive is that fans have become disengaged with the club and no longer feel a local affinity. We have already highlighted some instances where the club could be engaging better with fans, through affordable hospitality, season ticket deals, stewarding at games, and where we feel they could be driving better income streams from match, match-ball and man of the match sponsorships as well as player sponsorships. “The club has rightfully been chasing the pounds lately to ensure the long-term future of the club but we also feel that ICT is missing out on contributions that derive largely from engaged supporters who feel they have a real stake in the club. The Stronger Together Fund provides an opportunity for Caley Thistle fans, both locally and around the world, to directly influence the running of the football club.” The initiative gives supporters the opportunity to donate as much or as little as they can afford, either as a one-off payment or by regular monthly contributions. Payments will be made to the Supporters Trust, not to the club. The Supporters Trust launched Stronger Together with a brochure which explains the initiative in detail, and includes details of how to make a donation to Stronger Together. The brochure is available here: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/stronger-together The launch was very well received by the many fans present at the meeting. The Club Chairman and SLO had been briefed on the initiative during the week, and were supportive of it too. We hope that many fans, whether located locally or afar, will see the merit in supporting this initiative. If anyone has any questions, either post them in this thread, e-mail us at info@ictsupporterstrust.org or by completing the form on our "contact us" page: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/contact Activity like this has worked successfully for clubs like Falkirk, Morton and Hearts, and we hope to make this scheme similarly successfully over time. An update on the other issues at today's Fans Meeting will be posted in the next couple of days.

That’s not correct. The Trust is seeking to increase the voice fans have in the way the club is run and potentially have a seat on the Board. When they decide to use the funds raised to buy shares, they have said they will only do so if they get commitments from the club.

It was great to see so many of you at the Fans Meeting yesterday, and to receive so much positive feedback about the meeting and the good progress the Supporters Trust is making in getting issues addressed by the club. It is clear that we are making progress with many of the issues and concerns raised at the previous meetings, and that the club now wants to hear our concerns and to see if they can act on them where it is practical to do so. However, there is more work to do, and we will continue to pursue issues on behalf of fans. As at this morning, our membership has grown by 33% this year already, and if you are not already a member, please consider joining, as it will increase our ability to get improvements for fans. Membership is only £5 (£1 for Under 16s) and you can join using this link: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/join-us We are very grateful to the Chairman, Ross Morrison, and SLO/Director, Scott Young for attending the full meeting and answering questions in a very open and frank manner. They also took the opportunity to speak to many of those present after the Q&A finished. This update is not intended to be a full report of the discussion, but it will give those not present a flavour of the issues discussed. Stronger Together: This was launched at the meeting, and is covered on a separate thread: https://caleythistleonline.com/topic/36172-stronger-together/ Battery Farm: The Chairman advised that the club will submit its appeal to the Scottish Government Reporter, but it cannot do so until it receives the decision of Highland Council in writing,. The process is likely to take six months. He is confident that the Reporter will approve the scheme. However a new buyer has to found, so there could be a reduction in the sum the club will receive. Club Finances: The club is preparing its budget for the year starting on 1 June. This includes a restructuring due to the losses being incurred. The Board is working hard to develop revenue streams, as it wants the club to remain full time. Income is now being received for the North Stand car park through the Red John project. Other revenue streams being are being pursued with the objective of raising £600k per year from the ground, the club's land and through greater use of the facilities. Issues being explored include sponsorship of the three stands, a tenant in part of the building, greater use of the Highlander Suite and Boardroom for conferences and events, electric charging points and a car wash. Squad / Academy Graduates / Injuries: The Chairman explained that decisions on players are taken by the Manager. The Manager reports to the Board, but it is the Manager's job to make decisions on players and he decided which players would go out on loan. The Chairman recognised that we have a lot of promising Academy Graduates, who have been out on loan since January and therefore not available to us. Our injury position has been bad, but the Chairman pointed to other Championship clubs who have had similar issues this season. There were a lot of concerns raised in the meeting about the Academy Graduates being sent out on loan when we should be giving them game time ourselves, and about what the reasons were for the injury situation. Hospitality: The SLO advised that he had taken on board the feedback about the cost of hospitality, and that next season there will be different packages for different games, with some being the current corporate offering and others being at a much lower cost and targeted at the wider fanbase. He hopes that hospitality will be in place for every home game. The Supporters Trust has been pushing for this for a significant time, so it is good to see the views of our members being acted on. Season Tickets: This is another issue the Trust has been pushing for some time, and it was pleasing to hear the SLO confirm that there will be proper marketing for next season, including contacting fans who have not renewed. Disability Issues / Singing Area: The Trust has been seeking an on site meeting with the club to review the matchday experience for fans with disabilities. The meeting is scheduled to take place this week. The club is also looking at options for a Singing Area, so will look to resolve both issues at the same time, ensuring the needs of both groups are met. Stewarding Issues in North Stand at the Ayr Game: The SLO had a positive meeting with Section 94 this week and outlined the actions taken following the incidents at the game. A number of Section 94 members were at the Fans Meeting, and confirmed that they were happy with the action the club had taken and that they considered the matter to be closed. 30th Anniversary: The club will share its thoughts with the Supporters Trust in the near future.

Arbroath never really got a look-in in the first half, but pretty much absorbed all we threw at them. We got a lift from the goal and really piled on the pressure for the remaining few minutes, looking to double the lead. Second half we seemed to sit back and allowed Arbroath the chance to equalise and I really thought "here we go again". Delighted with the result though - did we really win at home!? Reality check though - we struggled to get a home win against the basement team, even when they had a man sent off! Hope we can do better next week.

I agree although I think Savage has been good playing for us. On the game today as others have said we were very good in the first half played well, quick passing, going forward with the ball at speed and and Arbroath struggled to cope, we could have had a few goals if it wasn't for their keeper! In the second half we were our usual at home sitting back and we struggled. We have to play a full game at the tempo that we played the first half if we are going to stay in this league. A lot happier than I have been for a long time but we have to keep pushing!

Agree, hope the guy is OK but it got devine on, who is a fighter and battler. To me the kind of guy you want on the park and plays like it means something to him in every game.

At this stage of the season and in the position we find ourselves then results are way more important than performance. The team got the job done today and we now need the same again next week.

Game should have been over 1st half. we were all over them Great save from Arbroath keeper boruc ( cousin of ex Celtic keeper artur boruc ) from a Samual hit from edge of box heading in top bins but he got fingers on it to put it onto bar and out for corner. couple of mins later Samuel had a turn and hit from inside the box but boruc got down low to his left to save again. late on in 1st half Anderson was played in but his poor effort couldn’t beat boruc from a couple of yards. was disappointed how we started 2nd half. Tippy tippy nonsense across the back line, no urgency to take throw ins and free kicks. One ball went out for a bye kick. Instead of taking the spare ball from the ball boy behind the goal ridgers walked slowly over to the corner flag to retrieve the original. We’re we counting down the clock that early. I felt we were not building on the performance of the first half and letting Arbroath come at us instead. Turned to my mate and said this is going to cost us. Arbroath took the gift and a fantastic hit from outside the box whissed past ridgers for the equaliser. Loud boo’s from the home support. I have seen this tactic from Ferguson before, when we are up he tends to defend the lead rather than try to extend it. samual had no right to win the ball in the box, turn and smash in the winner. It was pure strength. if we had taken our chances it could have been 3 or 4 goal win and confidence boost to take to Hampden especially after queens 5 goal hammering today.

So absolutely delighted for Alex Samuel .He gives so much every week even though he gets battered from one end of the pitch to the other .Well deserved MoM .Also happy for Wallace Duffy ….Now we got the result we really needed to give us any hope please don’t let it slip . Great effort from all today .C,mon we can do it …..Get behind the team..Looking forward to Queens .

Massive 3 points

The Supporters Trust launched Stronger Together today at the Fans Meeting at the Caley Club. Full details are on our website (see the link below), but this is the announcement released today: Fan investment is the way forward for a stronger and community focused ICT An initiative that aims to increase the shareholding of Inverness Caledonian Thistle fans has been launched by the ICT Supporters Trust. The group aims to achieve the greatest possible supporter and community influence in the running and ownership of Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC. The Trust has called on fans to invest in the Stronger Together Fund, which aims to increase their shareholding of the football club and assist in creating a sustainable football club with supporters at its heart. A longer-term goal of ensuring that a democratically elected fans’ representative sits on Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC’s Board of Directors is also key to the plans. The Trust aims to make sure that the voice of ICT supporters is heard and that fans are communicated to with honesty and transparency. The Supporters Trust already hold 108 Ordinary Shares which carry an enhanced voting right totalling a minimum of 10 per cent. The Trust also holds a further 13,658 Ordinary Shares which carry normal voting rights. Investment in the football club by the Stronger Together Fund will be made at the discretion of the Trust Board, with the prime objective being to increase their shareholding in the football club. The Trust aim to bridge the perceived gap between the club and its supporters, using any income generated by the Stronger Together Fund to purchase shares in the club, with a view to gaining a seat on the Board. They believe that supporter’s issues can then be raised at board level, ensuring fans are properly represented and have a say in the running of their club. Jennifer Aitchison, Chairperson, ICT Supporter’s Trust said: “This is a crucial time for the football club, both on and off the pitch. We must come together in order to ensure the future of the club for generations to come. “One of the most common and regular pieces of feedback we receive is that fans have become disengaged with the club and no longer feel a local affinity. We have already highlighted some instances where the club could be engaging better with fans, through affordable hospitality, season ticket deals, stewarding at games, and where we feel they could be driving better income streams from match, match-ball and man of the match sponsorships as well as player sponsorships. “The club has rightfully been chasing the pounds lately to ensure the long-term future of the club but we also feel that ICT is missing out on contributions that derive largely from engaged supporters who feel they have a real stake in the club. The Stronger Together Fund provides an opportunity for Caley Thistle fans, both locally and around the world, to directly influence the running of the football club.” The initiative gives supporters the opportunity to donate as much or as little as they can afford, either as a one-off payment or by regular monthly contributions. Payments will be made to the Supporters Trust, not to the club. The Supporters Trust launched Stronger Together with a brochure which explains the initiative in detail, and includes details of how to make a donation to Stronger Together. The brochure is available here: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/stronger-together The launch was very well received by the many fans present at the meeting. The Club Chairman and SLO had been briefed on the initiative during the week, and were supportive of it too. We hope that many fans, whether located locally or afar, will see the merit in supporting this initiative. If anyone has any questions, either post them in this thread, e-mail us at info@ictsupporterstrust.org or by completing the form on our "contact us" page: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/contact Activity like this has worked successfully for clubs like Falkirk, Morton and Hearts, and we hope to make this scheme similarly successfully over time. An update on the other issues at today's Fans Meeting will be posted in the next couple of days.

A deserved 3 points yesterday which are absolutely needed, but let’s not get carried away. A narrow win over a part time team, who are bottom of the league and played a percentage of the game with 10 men. Hardly emphatic. We also find out yesterday that the Trust want fans to give them money, to in turn give it to the Club in turn for no more voice than they already have ????!!!!! All going great .

There is the possibility that Sean Welsh may be suspended for next week. He did not play many league games for us this season but from what I can see was only booked in his final game away to Ayr. The official Queens Park record shows he has been booked 6 times for them in the league but one of those resulted in a sending off. Am sure Queens will check this!!! 6 bookings in one competition equals a suspension.

Ref's radio wasn't working apparently.

What exactly will a boycott if spending with the club achieve. It could seriously damage the already poor financial position of the club. If it succeeds in removing the CEO and Chairman, then their replacements will inherit a much more difficult situation and so the finances worsen even more. The club needs investment for sure but how we get that I don't know. Greater fan investment similar to what happens at Hearts would be great but, being realistic, cannot see the numbers adding up for ICT. Maybe there is a simpler solution to all this and simply more of our fans could actually turn up for games instead of endlessly moaning.

I'd hope the Supporters Trust have done the calculations and think it would be good to manage fan expectations by knowing what the target is. E.g are we talking about £50,000, £500,000 or more? If fans take up the suggestion above of signing their shares over to the Supporters Trust, is that as good as a cash contribution? I also don't fully understand how an organisation that sits so high on the 'power chart' you lay out can't get board representation when you have people with zero, or almost zero, shareholding or voting right on there. What are we missing? I'm far from convinced this initiative will succeed in bringing about the change that's required and would have preferred to see it announced alongside calls for more direct action. E.g. Fans to boycott spending with the club and attending matches until the CEO and Chairman were removed. Encourage them to donate the money to a 'fighting fund' instead with a commitment to using said money to purchase shares when they were gone and a fans rep has been appointed to the board. That kind of action I would fully support with a cash contribution because it has a chance of effecting change. As is, this seems a bit of a toothless endeavour whereby fans are being asked to raise money to be given indirectly to the club or to pay for things, with no incentive for them to change how it operates.

Happy days as long as the momentum keeps running. Can officially stop looking over our shoulder at Arbroath results and look up the table. Not officially clear of the automatic drop zone, but unless Arbroath win by 9.25 goals in each of their last 4 fixtures, we should be fine to chase Queens down. Massive 6 pointer at Hampden next weekend.

Different days would be better!

Another way fans can help to increase the Trust's shareholdings is to bequeath their shareholding to the the Trust. Let's face it, many shareholders (myself included) are getting to the age where the beneficiaries of their wills may well be benefitting sooner rather than later.

Good to experience that winning feeling again. Having said that, we did make life difficult for ourselves by not capitalising on our first half dominance. Let’s face it, Arbroath were awful. On a day made for shooting from distance, we were again generally shot shy. Hopefully others will take a cue from the excellent Alex Samuel. The one disappointing thing for me today was that despite some good noisy support from the North stand, only Ridgers and Samuel could be bothered to come anywhere near the fans at the end. Given the cheers and prolonged applause which followed the final whistle I would have thought the guys would have been keen to have some positive interaction with the home crowd for a change. Maybe most of them are not expecting to be here next season.

Absolutely, I hope Kerr's foot is OK.

It looked a really sore one when he was caught by Cammy Kerr. It looked like he (Savage) tried to pull out but too late.

It’s a long time since I’ve left the ground feeling as good as I did today. In difficult conditions, I thought we did very well. We won the toss and chose to play with the wind. With the wind advantage, we seemed eager to play more directly than in recent home games and to press Arbroath and even shoot on sight. We could easily have been two up after five minutes, with Samuel hitting the bar and their ‘keeper saving a good effort. The game settled and I was worried our territorial advantage and chances were not going to see us get a lead, but a very good finish by Duffy got us in front. In the second half, we were less direct, presumably as we were playing into the gale, but we made the better chances. Arbroath scored with their only attempt on goal in the whole game, but credit our players for digging deep and getting the win with a tremendous finish by Samuel (who took some stick from the Arbroath defence all game but kept looking for more). We thoroughly deserved the win and hopefully we now have momentum for the critical visit to Queens Park next week. Well done to all!

Good result considering our defensive setup - looking at how poor arbroath were for most of the first half I'm surprised we continued with 3 CB's. Showed them too much respect and almost paid the price for it...they scored with their only shot. Hope some confidence has been restored with the result, quite a few decent performances today but again not enough converted chances. Hats off to Samuel, he was up for it from the first minute and deserved his reward. A good platform to build from next week.

Well done to all today on a very tough day at the office

Deserved win in terrible conditions at times. Thought we played at a better tempo today and created a lot of chances. Arbroath were poor but some of our interplay was really good and sharp. Samuel fully deserving of MOM but was kicked and held the whole game with no protection from the ref. Officiating was really poor again, do we actually train referees any more or are they just allowed to make up their own decisions.

I was worried we didn't manage to make the most of the wind on our side first half. Thought we might collapse when they equalised,but credit to boys for holding on. The first period of second half we lost our way and I think the sending off changed things. What a cracker by Samuel who was easy the best player on the park. I thought we could have got fresh legs on sooner. I think that is our 3rd home win this season which is not good enough to be honest but let's be delighted that for once other results went our way. What a big game next week is going to be.

14 shots 10 on target

Sporting the best tan in the North Stand

Cheaper than taking him to the Innes! And i'm back from hols, so i'll be there!

We are better than Arbroath, we can win this and set our sights on 8th place.

Bring a fiend for a Fiver. I'll take Johndo

Come on peeps - we need to instill a Dogs of War mentality in the stands to supplement the desire and application on the pitch. Dunc can't do it alone.

We haven't had a proper winger for the majority of the season, IMV that's basically the problem. But we do have a big strong battling CF in Samuels. Imagine him with Henderson on the wing. Kerr as RB is defintely a step up from David Carson [and I like Carson, and its a shame he left as Right Midfield would be sorted] ...it's sods law and ironic that Welsh's replacement in Gilmour picked up a season ending injury. Fortunately Kerr has ably moved into CM and Duffy has come in and weighed in with a couple of important goals Good to see Longstaff back, he just needs to put some decent crosses in for the next four games, only two teams have a better defensive record than us, so even a few extra goals will be the difference either avoiding the relegation play-offs or winning then. After that who knows what happens next As for next week, someone needs to kick Welsh just above the knee early in the game, just enough, so he spends the rest of it hobbling around.

Attempts on goal 14-1 is a pretty impressive stat. Have we improved or was it because we were playing a really poor side?