Scotty

On 7/2/2024 at 11:01 AM, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Dougal and I certainly have similarities and go back a long way but we are different peeps.

mmm. Have you ever been seen in the same room together at the same time? 

12 minutes ago, CaleyCanary said:

Yep the Richie Foran experience certainly gives you the jitters when thinking about bringing back a club legend but I don’t feel Tokes is another RF - and I most certainly do feel he’d do a far better job with our youngsters than Ferguson - the bar has indeed been set very low now.

To be honest, I think Tokes could be a very uniting figure.  To the older fans out there, we remember him as a player through all 4 divisions. Every time we went up, people wrote him off, but he proved them wrong time and time again. Thats the stuff of legends and kind of embodies the ethos of ICT "punching above our weight" which if ever we needed, we need it now.  To the younger players, he seems to have become a bit of a mentor, and they can likely relate since he has played in every senior division in Scotland plus the Highland League. I think he could be incredibly impactful because of that, especially if we have to rely on youth for a few years. If he were to get a highly regarded youth coach as an assistant, for example someone like Ryan Esson, then maybe that could be a dream team.   [obviously players treated so badly recently coming back to the club would require several people in leadership positions - not just the manager - to be out the door before that could even be a possibility]. Slightly off-topic, but my son bombards me with football stats he has picked up and my answer to every player question is Ross Tokely! (except when he expects it and I say Bobby Mann or Charlie Christie). He hears it so much, that he has created "Ross Tokely" in his FC24 career mode, and he was won everything ... multiple Champions leagues, world cup, all of it with an average of 8-9 goals a game  . (if only that were real)

On the other side of the coin, even if he were agreeable to it, would we really want to expose him to what appears to be a particularly toxic swamp as his first experience of managing in the senior leagues? He has not got the managerial experience yet, and if it all goes pear-shaped due to circumstances beyond his control, or his inexperience, then I personally would not want to see his status at ICT tarnished because of others or because he was thrown in at the deep end without a lifeline.

On balance, I have to say Ross Tokely - future manager of ICT... someday. just not today! 

11 hours ago, EvilWhiteStripe said:

Big Tokes definitely making his pitch for the job when it becomes available.

1 hour ago, CaleyCanary said:

I’d have him back in a heartbeat right now for a League One campaign 

Two words. Richie Foran. 

Would love to see Tokes in the dugout, perhaps with some combo of Doran, Esson, Ridgers, but that may be more sentimental than sensible. He has been quietly doing some coaching and hopefully gaining his badges (?) so if at some stage he feels he has amassed enough experience, is ready and has proven himself at his current level then why the heck not. I am sure he would crawl over broken glass for ICT as a manager given his history and loyalty to the club over the years. If we are using the current manager as a benchmark, then the bar is not that high!   

2 minutes ago, DoofersDad said:

Might we actually get a transfer fee for once!

steady on. 

5 minutes ago, tm4tj said:

Confirmation in the Courier that Ujdur is looking for another club.

Linky thing here

So his back spasms were from google searches on how easiest to get out of Inverness? or was it yet more lies from the IV1 1FF postcode? 

On 6/30/2024 at 6:26 AM, CaleyHedgehog said:

this was not charity - it was looking after one of our own. In fact, it has made some of us feel a little better about being an ICT fan, at a time when you have been treated so badly by the club.

This  

yup. its an effort for us to try and prevent bots from hitting the site hard. 

11 hours ago, tm4tj said:

Site was a bit sticky yesterday, a few error messages came up.

Had load issues again. Seemed to be coming from a different site. Should all be good now. 

30 minutes ago, ClickbaitProponent said:

The thing is, and as you pointed out ... HE HAS HISTORY! Everywhere he has been has not ended well. He is to blame - end of. 

No, that doesn't make him to blame for it all ... it actually increases the culpability of those who gave him a job, free reign over all decisions and no oversight! He doesn't get a pass, far from it, but there are more than enough bad decisions and debacles for the blame to be spread around amongst all who are culpable.   

1 hour ago, RednBlackComeback said:

TBH I feel there are more cons than pros in continuing to support the club. I've been made to feel this way all because of the club's actions/inactions!!

The heart has been ripped out of ICT by those in control of it!

1 hour ago, old caley girl said:

On a personal level I'm struggling being associated with this clearly morally bankrupt board and management team 

I think this is us all.

I have not always agreed with individual decisions made by the club but could usually swallow it as I felt they were part of an overall positive mindset and attitude at the club which was to do what was best for ICT, its employees, the players, team and fans. Sadly, this is no longer the case. I hope I am proved wrong by SY or someone else, but it feels like a rudderless (and spineless) ship since May.

SG gets the blame for all of this, and he does have to shoulder some of it (most of it) in his position as CEO, it goes with the territory. However, as much as he's painted to be the ultimate Bond villain, there is no way he can be solely culpable in all of this. His personality, general demeanour, and past history at Dundee and Hearts makes it easy to paint him as the sole problem, but every single person on that board has an opinion and a mouth to express it and they have said f*** all!

Perhaps some stayed silent as they disagreed but that makes them just as culpable as whoever made certain decisions. Every single one of them is responsible, individually and/or collectively for the demise of ICT, the wholly unacceptable treatment of now former players, and the current situation we find ourselves in. I hope they all feel good when they look at themselves in the mirror each morning and tell themselves that its all SG's fault and their hands are clean. They are not, and fans will not forget.  

elected or co-opted is important but makes no real difference in this situation. Their purpose on being on the board, however they got there, is to work for "the good and benefit of" the club. I don't see much of that. We do seem to "re-elect" on a regular basis, its one of those things that get lumped into the AGMs (when held!) as a motion to re-elect en-masse the directors who need to stand for re-election. As there are seldom any actual elections its really just a rubber stamp to renew a term. Perhaps if the board will not co-opt a Supporters Trust member at the next AGM (if and whenever held) then we could nominate one or more people to see if that triggered actual voting!    

Clearly - as and when we get a new board or new investors - we need someone who knows how to write contracts!  Ours have been like Swiss cheese for years, stinky and full of holes! 

1 hour ago, vinnie87 said:

I couldn’t agree more. I found it bizarre they were so willing to back buying season tickets on assurances from a board that are clearly less than trustworthy. 

I think they got hoodwinked in the same way we all have at some point. There are one or perhaps two people on the board that appear to be trying to get things done, and they (ST) wanted to believe or took a leap of faith that this would happen, and they (Board member[s]) would be true to their word. Whether the board member[s] were farting against thunder and couldn't get things done for some reason at board level, or it was all just blowing smoke at the ST, the assurances the ST got clearly didn't come to pass. 

• I think the line in the sand for many is that the CEO needs to be gone first and foremost. We know he has resigned and is working his notice, but we have no idea what that period is and when he will leave for good. Is it a week? a month? 3 months? 6 months?  Rightly or wrongly, he is clearly the largest lightning rod for criticism and the focus of all the blame. We will probably never know the full details but clearly very few people want to do anything at, or for, the club while he is still there. 
   
• Personally, I am disappointed in the board also. I have never been one to jump on any #SackTheBoard type campaigns but its getting almost impossible to have any other opinion of the current incumbents of the ivory tower. With the treatment of Doran, Esson and others, as well as the complete and utter lack of any communication or apparent action coming from this board, what else are we to think? These people are elected by the shareholders, to work for the good and benefit of ICT FC. Clearly, they have not fulfilled that role on multiple levels and don't even have the balls to come out and tell it like it is, and spearhead a call to get back to basics and foster the TogetherNESS that worked well in the past. We have players not contacted since May. Even if the manager is on holiday, sipping cocktails and enjoying himself knowing his own contract was secure, then surely the Director of Football or another director should be talking to these players. More worrying is the accounts situation. I don't pretend to understand the dates and company law rules, but it is not rocket science to know they will not be good and could be triggering in terms of admin events. 
   
• The manager gets lumped in with the board here. He should not have gone on holiday without letting his squad know where each and every one of them stood for next season. Some difficult conversations for sure, and maybe some wage negotiations if anyone is a relatively high earner but we want to keep them (and they want to stay) but to completely ignore the squad, is unforgiveable. It certainly seems contrary to the process we used to do as someone mentioned elsewhere in this or another thread.  I get that we possibly can't afford to pay him off, and there is likely no way he will walk away as if he does, he will have yet another 'failure' on his record in club management. Best for all would be him swallowing his pride, adjusting his management style (autocrats rarely ever win in the end), and trying to do well this season. If he does well, we do well, and if he does really well, perhaps someone 'bigger' might come looking for him      

... should any actual games take place, then I think we know where the erstwhile 'fans' of Polworth and Vigurs will direct their 'support'. 

32 minutes ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

If they were not going to renew his contract, shouldn't he - and anyone else in the same situation - have received his P45 by now, as Doran did?

Would have thought so. Only going of what I read on social media today, no other sources:

certainly sounds from social media that Ridgers is - quite rightly - looking elsewhere now. 

20 minutes ago, CaleyCiuin said:

If they don’t……… they are not acting in the wider interests of the fan base !

Not necessarily.

Some discussions need to stay private until it is time to make them public.  Nature of the beast unfortunately.

 If the trust representatives were - for example - given some privileged info to allay their fears which would allow them to endorse the call to purchase season tickets but might jeopardise the discussions with potential investors if they divulged that info, then staying quiet is absolutely in the best interests of their members. 

However, the longer things go with silence from the ivory towers (or farty towels if you prefer), the harder it is to believe they were not just sold a ‘bill of goods’!! 

3 hours ago, ClickbaitProponent said:

Given Aaron getting his P45 by email - this hasn't aged well. All of us should be EMBARRASSED - We all need to get vocal and let it be known that the club will not get any support at games until Gardiner is banned from entering the stadium and he MUST be gone all together. Why keep him around when he keeps damaging what little credibility the club has left? I for one, will not support this club again until he has gone completely. 

Just when you think those running the club can't sink any lower, they do manage to find new depths to go. Regardless of that, I am still an ICT supporter, proud or otherwise.

On the one hand I am beyond Derek Adams level seething with our current board and the CEO who are NOT ICT, or certainly not the ICT I want to be associated with. These people will be held accountable for their actions (or inactions) and history will quite correctly not be kind to them. BUT ... WE are ICT. The players, the fans, the city and I still say I am proud to be ICT when I stand next to all of those people who DO make me proud. These are the people who contributed to Aaron's fund, just like most here, or who have been outraged at the treatment meted out to him and others, who have raised questions about our missing manager or who have shown passion and eloquence on the podcast. Every one of us is ICT and that's the ICT community I am proud of still. 

I am extremely transparent in my thoughts on our current board, elected to, but doing a piss poor job of stewarding our club. I would not and will not raise my hand, in person or via proxy, at any future shareholders meeting to re-elect any of them. With each passing day, and each new comment, it becomes harder in my own mind to accept even those who I thought I would be comfortable with remaining... Also, in another thread where I said we would restart sponsorship, I said it would not happen until the CEO has departed. Rumours online that this could be up to another 6 months... so that would mean we don't do it for 6 months. Its not rocket science, its simple. No effort to commit to any financial obligation, be that sponsorship, merchandise, or anything else until the keys are handed back and the door has closed on him for the last time. In my opinion, he is not to blame for every single thing that ails the club but is one of several lightning rods that need addressed. I would also - as a shareholder - like to know what the notice period for our CEO is as it is clearly a factor in people holding back personal or group investment in the club.  I also have fears about the lack of accounts being posted which in some ways worry me more ... is this the sting in the tail just before the season begins? 

So to reiterate and confirm my last post: I AM proud to be an ICT supporter because it means i can stand with and mingle with people like our supporters and others in our team's COMMUNITY. The ineptitude, inefficiency and seemingly utter disregard for our club from those who should be speaking now will not deter me from that. THEY are not the club. WE are the club, whether we have been here for 30 minutes or 30 years. 

1 hour ago, EvilWhiteStripe said:

It's great that Aaron has had his surgery, but looking at the comments from other professional football players on his post tells you all you need to know. The reputational damage that has been done is going to take years to overcome.

Yes. players talk and word gets around. We are now a cancer amongst players until we get our house in order. 

30 minutes ago, CaleyCiuin said:

If you don’t think all are collectively culpable…..Put names to it. Who do you think has done a good job and who hasn’t????? You say some should stay…… Who? Morrison at least put his hand in his pocket to keep the club afloat……… who else has done anything of any value at Director level???

I will give you a name .... Scott Young

He is relatively new to the board and from what I have seen and heard he is more open to fan engagement and enthusiastic about working to right things. He has turned up to the supporters' meetings and generally been positive and as open as allowed to be in terms of interactions or dissemination of information. I have never met him, don't know him, and that's just my impression. Could he have done more recently? perhaps, but as stated above, there are and will be constraints on what can be said publicly or even divulging what's going on behind the scenes.   

I didn't actually want Ross M to go. He was a fan long before chairman, so IMHO always tried to have the club at heart (hence the money he pumped in). However, he had to go. His biggest mistake - in my opinion - was loyalty for too long to one man and the ceding of day-to-day power to that man.

As for the remainder of the board who have condoned the situation we find ourselves in either actively or passively with their silence, and then compounded things with the treatment of Aaron Doran (and others presumably), then root and branch they have to go if the club is to salvage any reputation. A full rebuild with new blood and no bad blood behind the scenes is required. 

more like Bertie Feckin Basset

14 minutes ago, Hearach said:

Had his P45 e mailed to him before he had his op. ICTFC needs a fecking good clear out at board room/ managerial level going forward. Disgraceful behaviour towards such a brilliant club servant.

I can understand why he got it, but like others before him, the way it is being handled is not good. The man has given basically his entire career to ICT and not only did they allegedly tell him to 'walk it off' in regard to his ACL injury, but also then made him pay for the required op himself. (Thank goodness for Shane's initiative). He is, and will always be, a club legend. He is up there with the likes of Charlie and Rosscoe for length of service and has earned every bit of the respect he should be afforded. His playing career may be winding down (or over depending on the op results) but as a club we must treat our players (and other employees) right. There is no excuse for emailing a P45 to an employee. You do that face-to-face and look them in the eye, regardless of how uncomfortable a conversation it may be. Anything else is disrespectful or cowardly. 

Its not going to happen right now given the financial precipice we are at, but I would love to see a situation where long-serving players (like Aaron) have career discussions with the club and the club helps them plan for life after football. Thats what happens when your focus is community. If it is clear a player has dedicated a large portion of their career to playing for ICT then is it too much to ask ICT to dedicate some time and yes, some resources and/or money to helping the player plan the next stage of their career after football, whether that is funding or subsidising coaching courses, college courses or something else to give them a way forward. Treating players like something on the bottom of your shoe will come back to haunt the club. Players talk, and a dissenting voice is louder than anything else. Treating them right can and will bring benefits in the end as players will see that the club cares, and that trek up the A9 may be less problematic than signing for Kelty.    

5-a-side fixtures? 

2 hours ago, CELTIC1CALEY3 said:

In the P and J today  'Mark Ridgers still open to Caley Thistle talks after turning down three offers from other SPFL clubs'  https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/sport/football/inverness-caledonian-thistle/6506669/mark-ridgers-still-open-to-caley-thistle-talks-after-three-offers/

Surely someone at the Club could let the out of contract players and some staff, who are now potentially on the dole, know if there is any chance of future employment? 

 

The man has literally told the club in several different articles to "come sign me". He is showing blind loyalty to a club that day-by-day erodes and ultimately does not deserve the respect he is showing it. FFS, sign him or at least tell him you want to and then figure out the details when the dust settles. A 1 month or 2-month contract (up to before the end of transfer window) so everyone has options and a get out clause in case things don't quite work out.  

If anyone actually wants to play for us then (very) short-term contracts may be the way to go until certain individuals have left the building and others have entered.   

Can't see Ferguson agreeing to be gagged. At worst he says something that makes him look like a tw**! The performances have already done that and have his managerial career circling the drain. If he says something remotely sensible or even slightly conciliatory or (re)constructive then it's an improvement on what went before. A win-win for him. 

In my head, I imagine his reaction if someone told him to button it would be something like this...