Scotty

IF the article is true and Savage has legitimately tried to do things that would bring the club forward but been blocked at every turn then that is scandalous. What comes across is extremely plausible but the one niggle that keeps popping into my head is the comment made to Caley100 in the Heathmount that fans should be greatful just to be in the SPL. I have a feeling that this one is going to give us a lot of close season talking points !!!

indeed.

Losing Niculae is unlikely to free up wages to pay for 5 or 6 players. You might manage to replace this one skillful but expensive international class player with two journeymen or maybe three youngsters at a push !!

That statement does not miss and hit the wall !!!!!

i would prefer to say "too trusting" ......

totally agree. In the days of "boardroom banter" we got some decent communication with the club (not just the board) and supporters were encouraged to ask questions or raise concerns. Not all were answered and some things could not be answered for business or confidentiality reasons but it was pretty good all round. A fair bit of BB was written with a positive bias towards the club but there were usually enough straight answers to straight questions to keep most people happy. The board were quite skeptical at first but I think in the end it also gave them a monthly benchmark of what the issues were and how the fans were feeling about things so everyone was a winner !!!! Shame it was discontinued by his successor when Kenny C stepped down from the board ......

I would like Marius to stay as I am sure most fans who have seen him would. As for a wage cut .... Considering that we were told that he lowered his wage demands when he first signed, I would not ask him to take a pay cut again, especially if he continues to be picked in the international squad for what is one of the top nations in Europe and makes it to the Euros !!! He may not have had the best start to the season for various reasons but last Saturday I saw a class player at work and one who appeared to be enjoying himself - especially when he scored and ran over to the Romanian flag in the north end. If we need a 500K cash injection as suggested then there is something else going on that is screwing up the finances at the TCS other than just Marius' wages. His reputed wage of 4K p/w for 2 years = 416K and it would appear that in a "creative" way Orion made 275K available to the club by buying un-issued shares. That payment is enough to pay 68.75 weeks of his contract and means the shortfall on the 2 year deal would seems to be around 141K. 141K is equivalent to 2700 p/w over the next year which might get us a couple of reasonable players in the transfer market, but we would not get superstars for that money. Personally, I would far rather we made 141K available in our budget to keep 1 player who could definitely make a difference if fully fit from the start of next season than spend it on a couple of journeymen. You also have to wonder what the other 359K of this magical 500K is for ?

Marius' wage might hinder us in getting new players but if he stays then maybe his presence might actually sell a few more season tickets !!!! In my opinion, season tickets have always been handled badly ... not by those that are issuing them, but the system in general !!!! Q: When is the best time to start marketing next season's tickets ? A: during the current season when people are still interested and/or have time to save for them not 4-6 weeks before the start of the next season after a summer of holidays, gardening and DIY. Q: If you assume we have a relatively consistent hard core of support that is somewhat higher than the number of season ticket holders then how do we attract more of them to buy? A: This is the biggie. People will buy season tickets if it offers them good value and they can afford them. The club should be vigorously pursuing numerous opportunities to offer that value and make it hard for people to refuse ... Here's just a handful of ideas - its not rocket science !!! [li]First of all - Offer a varied package. Not all our supporters are the same. Some go to all games, some go to just a few, some live in Inverness, some have to travel hundreds of miles to see the club, it is ludicrous to think that they will all find the current 'one size fits all' offer meaningful. There should be offers for full season tickets, half season tickets and also "multi-packs" where supporters can select say 4, 5 or 6 games during a season and apply for tickets (including 1 premium game)[/li] [li]Secondly - offer season tickets very early by having a sliding scale of discount based on when the ticket is purchased. If you give people a nice deep discount then many will take you up on it as its a value they can actually see. The cost of offering the extra discounts is offset by the fact that the club have the money in the bank for a longer time (like 3 months before the season even starts if offered at this time of year) [/li] [li]Thirdly - payment schemes for those who perhaps cant afford it in one hit. The club already do this so thats fair enough. Perhaps however, there are other ways or additional timescales to pay for them if the customer is buying multiple tickets.[/li] [li]Get the online ticketing working. Its been what 5? 6? years since this was first mooted and still its not being used. I ended up with a friend's ticket for last week's Killie game but had the opportunity to purchase a ticket online been available to me I may have actually bought a pair prior to my trip just to make sure !!! How many others might take advantage of the same thing.[/li] [li]Initiate a ticket exchange programme. Toronto FC do this. Season ticket holders can make their tickets available via the club's ticketing system so that other supporters can buy them. If the ticket is sold, the original ticket holder gets a discount applied to next year's season ticket (ticket value minus a small commission). If the ticket is not sold then there is no credit applied. This might encourage a few people who cant make every game to still buy a full season ticket as they will have a legitimate avenue for reselling them.[/li] I could go on (and on, and on, and on :004:) with more ideas but this is probably not the best thread to do it on as this is a bit off-topic but suffice to say there are loads of ways to market the product that dont appear to ever be considered. The other thing is the whole atmosphere/ambience and that is also a thread of its own. All i will say on this is that I was shocked last week at how flat the whole atmosphere in the stadium was. OK it was an end of season game, and I was in the main stand but it appears that all the rules and regulations about acceptable conduct are taking their toll. By all means have rules for safety and to protect the enjoyment of others but it seems that all the enjoyment is being squeezed out of supporters for fear of being ejected or warned for innocuous incidents and this does nothing to enhance the enjoyment or make customers think they are getting value for money. There is a balance somewhere that needs to be struck. Moderators - feel free to split this post and any others about season tickets off into another thread if you feel it is too off-topic for this thread.

Think one or two cared about the 'exclusive' statement Orion released to us today :004:

it never ends, each end is a new beginning :003:

and for the additional features

Yes I believe he is now the chaplain .... Gringo Jr can probably confirm :004:

:clapping03: :clapping03: :clapping03:

Played football in the same 5-a-side team as both Roy Aitken and Bobby Lennox on separate visits to "Butlitz" in Ayr on childhood holidays. Celtic had the contract for providing one player at the end of each week for an 'exhibition' game and I was lucky enough to be chosen in the exhibition squad on two occasions :003: Roy Aitken was a young player at the time and Lennox was there the second time as the main squad was playing in Europe that week. Was a published poet at the age of 9 !!! seriously !!! Wrote a poem in primary school that was published in a local schools poetry book. Something about a fisherman patiently waiting for that first bite ..... Was a guest on "on the ball" and "off the ball" with Tam and Stuart the weekend after that Celtic game Met various "Corrie" characters here in Toronto over the last couple of years - The guy that played Les Battersby, the actress that played Eileen Grimshaw and outside the Toronto FC stadium the guy who played Tommy the mechanic who got murdered (who was here filming a series called Inspector Murdoch mysteries). Bumped into "Colin and Justin" at one of the Home Improvement shows here in Toronto and of course, the biggest claim to fame .... being smart enough and lucky enough to support ICT !!!

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Racoons and Skunks

Yes, good luck to him and agree that he looks like he will need it !!!

Orion contacted us. As LG has said it would seem that we have been misled or at least allowed to assume things that were not actually true. Is this Savage's fault or is it the board as a whole - who knows (other than those involved). I think we need the benefit of more information before we can actually decide to lay the blame at anyone's feet or absolve anyone. I am sure there will be comments and counter-comments from both sides in the coming days. Whatever the actual truth, and whether we ever find out that actual truth, the bottom line is that there seems to have been a fair bit of boardroom disharmony during this season and it has infected the whole club from top to bottom. A club that was once renowned by the football establishment for its team spirit and by its fans for its openness is currently an amateur looking shambles of petty arguments, power struggles, cliques, spin, secrecy and downright lies. I think we are all sick of it and those who have been involved in this disintegration of values should give themselves a **** good shake and ask themselves if their positions are tenable.

precisely !!! we were led to believe this but who can say who actually did the leading !!! common knowledge ... or assumption ??

Not sure why they sent it to us or why the official site didnt publish anything - although CaleyD may be right. However, the bottom line is that they did approach us and we have printed - in full and unedited - the complete statement. We are happy to print any rebuttal or statement from the club should they wish us to or to put a link to any such comment within this thread so that fans can make up their own minds about recent events ! I doubt it.

I know this was announced a few days ago but as I have just returned from my trip to Inverness and it may have been lost somewhere else in the forums I thought I would just add this in its own little thread for anyone who hasnt seen it yet. ?KIDS FOR A QUID? & SEASON TICKET HOLDERS ?BRING A FRIEND? OFFERS ICTFC announced ticket prices for their game against Gretna on Saturday 3rd May with a 3pm kick off at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium. Following the success of the offer made at the Gretna game in January the Club will again be admitting all children for a ?1. The Club encourages purchasing these tickets in advance although this price will be available on the gate. Season ticket holders will be able to ?Bring a Friend? to this game at a reduced price for the North Stand of ?8 (Main Stand ?13). Tickets can be purchased in advance or on the gate. Voucher number 1 from their season ticket book will need to be surrendered along with the relevant payment when purchasing a ticket for their friend. Match Ticket prices v Gretna Main Stand Adult - ?20 Main Stand ?Bring a Friend? - ?13 Main Stand Child - ?1 North Stand Adult - ?15 North Stand ?Bring a Friend? - ?8 North Stand Child - ?1 South Stand Adult - ?15 South Stand Child - ?1 Children are under 16 or still at school. The ICT Ticket Office is open Monday to Friday, from 10am till 4.30pm and from 10am on match days.

If Orion bought shares it will show in one part of the accounts as a purchase of shares which may or may not be commented on. The wages are in another part of the accounts but are only ever shown as staff costs and not broken down by individual players so it will indeed be as clear as mud. The only clue we will really have will be by comparing the accounts from last season with this season and noting what is likely to be a significant jump in the total wage expenditure without a significant jump in the playing personnel. However, if this is lumped in with the costs for backroom/office staff it will become even less clear as there has been a significant increase in the quantity of non playing staff over the last year. Indeed. ICT have never been any good at spin, and when you feel the need to spin the truth from your own fans then its a sad day for everyone.

The accounts are sent out to shareholders in advance of the AGM. I will receive a copy then. Not sure that I would be allowed to create a PDF of the whole thing and post it on the site as it is not public domain and probably subject to some law or regulation. However it will be entirely appropriate to discuss them on the board and make reference to any 'anomalies' we might note.

The suggestion (rumour) that has been circulating is that any 'sponsorship' may have taken the form of buying shares in ICT. In this respect this would have been a cash windfall for the club because un-issued shares were (allegedly) purchased and ICT would have received the money. ICT could then have used said money to help pay Marius' wages. However, it is not technically a direct payment to the player which is what some of the spin (from all sides) led us to believe. As a few people have mentioned in the last couple of months .... the AGM accounts will make for interesting reading this season.

Given the source of the statement, I would say that the information we have received is very accurate.