CaleyD

Of course it was on the table...how could it have been rejected if it wasn't?

I'm not trying to deflect anything, nor am I defending the issuing of the statement or the way it's structured. I can see how/why it is being misconstrued and only trying to put over how I believe it should be read.

Details of the Joint Proposal that the SFL clubs rejected are on the St Mirren Website - http://www.saintmirren.net/pages/?p=13577 You'll note that there's no mention of NewCo being put into Div 1. I'm no more aware of why the SFL rejected the Joint Proposal than anyone else at this stage as the SFL are remaining tight lipped on it....but something isn't right. Whether Longmuir, or whoever was responsible for putting the proposal forward, has screwed up in that or not presented it as intended, I don't know. What is clear is that if you substitute the media spin that "Kenny Cameron was upset at NewCo not going into Div 3" with "Kenny Cameron was upset at the proposal being refused" then you get a whole different, and far more likely, picture. Granted, KC should have made sure that was clear when he made his statement, or should have made sure that people were aware of the joint proposal in the first place and the confusion could have been avoided, but que sera. Most people on this forum are capable of joined up thinking, most know a bit more about KC than to immediately jump to the conclusion that he was trying to stitch the fans up (has he ever done so before?) and there's certainly those among us who should be capable of setting aside their "rally against the establishment" attitudes long enough to realise that their ramblings are actually doing more harm than good TO THE CLUB. Ultimately people will believe what they want to believe, all I'm saying is look at what KC has actually said and look at what is words being put into his mouth by press and posters on this forum. Think for yourselves and don't allow others to do the thinking for you....the future of ICT could very well hinge on the conclusions you come to, especially for those who want to drive the man out the door.

At no point in the statement does he make any reference to being disappointed that Rangers were voted in to Div 3....or that being what has generated the need for an emergency Board meeting. The disappointment is at the rejection of the JOINT proposal for change....and as I have said, we do not know what that proposal was (other than it not being what was reported by Press the last couple of weeks) or why the SFL rejected it. I do find it extremely suspicious that Longmuir also went to great lengths to sidestep questions on the proposal at the press conference afterwards...but unfortunately that doesn't come across or get reported in the written press reports. It's not the SPL or ICT that have rejected proposals for change....it is the SFL, even though they somehow manage to play the "for the good of all 42 clubs" card. Let's also not forget that Longmuir was/is one of the ones (alongside Doncaster and Reagan) who were writing up proposals to "persuade" SFL clubs to vote NewCo into Div 1. His comments after todays meeting couldn't be further removed from that stance. Check the extracts from e.mails involving these people on Alex Thomsons Blog - http://blogs.channel...tale-world/2265 - if there's a stitch up going on, then that is where people need to be looking as, IMO, the Chief Executives/Chairmen of all three associations seem to be trying to work to an agenda and selling scenarios that are not in line with the wishes of their member clubs. Might it have been better for Kenny to have said nothing? Possibly, but it's not that long since we had endless threads demanding statement/comment and that's what we would have had this evening if nothing had been done. As is often the case with many posters on this forum these days...you are damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

Agree with the "hearing v reading" analogy....I had to go back and re-read it after hearing it on Sportsound to see if it was the same statement.

I didn't read that, or take that view from the statement at all. My understanding is that he views the rejection of the "joint proposal" as being the big issue and the reason why the ICT board need an emergency meeting. At this moment in time we do not know what that "joint proposal" contained or why it was rejected by the SFL. Given that it is described as a joint proposal, then I assume that the SFL were aware of, and had a hand in, producing it, so it would seem strange that it was not only dismissed out of hand, but never got so much as a mention in the post meeting comments. If people want to throw conspiracies around, then how about this for one..... The SFL saw the opportunity to get rid of the SPL and deliver a crippling blow to 10 (possibly 11) of the countries top teams....leaving the door open for them to come in and take control. Would be a rather cunning move, and they can continue to play the "for the good of all 42 teams" card whilst doing it.

Keep in mind that this is not a situation of ICT's making in any way shape or form. Rangers going into administration and then liquidation was not even the cause. The cause was the deal made when the SPL was formed back in 1998/99 when the founding clubs sold out to the OF. Our Board/Chairman are trying desperately to find a way out of this for ICT, one which doesn't involve sending the club to the wall. I'm not going to make any comment on the statement as I think there's possibly a bit of the jigsaw missing. That missing piece is details of what the SFL rejected in terms of the proposal for change. I don't think they have rejected the "threats or bribery" being pedalled by the press, and the reason I think that is because if it was that then it would have been mentioned in the post meeting press conference....instead, all we saw was Longmuir sidestep questions in regards to it and leaving the press to fill in the gap as they saw fit.

I hear we offered him a contract, but he wasn't willing to play for 1000 Sporting Integrities a week and was insisting on real money.

I think the outcome was fairly inevitable from the moment Rangers went into administration....although it could have been handled far more professionally by the Chief Executives of the various associations. The SPL made the right decision to deny NewCo and there was always the hope that the ultimate punishment to them for making that right decision would be lessened if the SFL somehow managed to find a way to put them in Div 1 (wishful thinking...but hope at least). The SFL then made the right decision to place NewCo in Div 3....and in doing so shattered the little hope the SPL had of lessening the blow. Only "wrong" decisions would have perhaps saved things....or more accurately, delayed the inevitable a bit longer because had the votes gone any other way then fans would have turned their back on the game. What's happened in the last few months is not the cause, the cause is the chronically inappropriate setup under which football operates in this country...from top to bottom. Our associations are not fit for purpose, the league setup is not fit for purpose and our club business models are not fit for purpose. Something that most are only waking up to now when it's too late. The Highland Derbies will bring a sizeable chunk of income and they probably would have helped us through in the short term, but it won't touch the sides of the full implications of "Brand Rangers" not being in the top league for the next 3 years (at least). I've been worried for months....I'm even more worried now.

No, it's not that bad....it's worse.

Forget all the conspiracies and the guess work, it's all just whataboutery that distracts us from realising/accepting the real implications of what has happened over the last few months.

Kudos to the lad....not one of us had thought of that as a money saving idea for the club!!!

This is all far from over....expect the SFA to drop a bombshell any time now.

I don't think for one moment anyone is forgetting or ignoring the need to grow our own support, but with finances being bad then quick hits are needed as much as anything else. FWIW, discounting doesn't work and that has been proven time and time again. In fact, I would say that for the vast majority of people it's not really the price that is the problem, it's what they get in return....and taking it a step further I would say it's the return from the overall "matchday experience" that needs work, with only a very small part of that being reflected in what happens on the park. We'll only see investment in such things once the club is in a position to balance the books, and they won't be able to balance the books if the fans are not willing to bend a little to help with that. Just as a bit of a P.S. - I know this thread has concentrated on what fans should/shouldn't be expected to do, but I am very much of the opinion that Inverness as a whole needs to be doing more. The people, the businesses, the council...everyone. ICT brings far more to Inverness than it has ever taken and it's about time the city as a whole stepped up and gave them a bit more support. Local businesses were quick enough to go bleating to the press about how the loss of Rangers visiting would impact them...think what it would be like without ICT and none of the countries top teams visiting.

Barry Robson, Maturity and Calming Influence all in a single post....What have you been smoking, Scarlet???

I always thought my maths was pretty good, but how do you balance 200 tickets at £5 against 1500 tickets at £25 to £30?

That and the fact that they would be hammered by Season Ticket holders for selling seats on the cheap....as has been the case in the past. Think it's called a "No Win" situation.

Funnily enough I almost always have someone else with me for the OF games (not an OF fan I'll add, rather usually ICT fans who pick and choose their games more) and other games against some of the better teams. So in answer, almost certainly yes, there will be another paid for seat in the ground as a result of me having a season ticket. That's great and long may it continue, but what's needed right now is not the status quo because that won't be enough...not nearly enough. Worst case scenario, we need to double season ticket sales or add 2000+ walk up punters to every home match just to replace lost income. And where's the money going to come from to allow the club to invest in these players who are going to play silky smooth attacking football and guarantee us great fortune? You can't spend what you don't have, and so long as we maintain a view that we do nothing and expect the club board do everything then we'll never have it.

I have a 120 page document detailing things I would like to see the club do, and I could probably write another 120 page document on the things I would like to see the SFA/SFL/SPL do.....but none of that matters if we can't get through the troubles that are own our doorstep right here, right now. We're not going to change SPL/Stadium rules over night, when clubs are going to be struggling to pay the day to day costs then any thought of erecting large screens (unless they come free in cornflake boxes) is just dreaming. How many times do people need to be told there's no money...that means the thought of investing in anything other than the basics is a total non starter. It's not right, and we could go down the route of arguing about who's fault it is or who we think should be blamed....but that doesn't help either. We have to get through the current crisis before we can (again) think about any of these kind of things. As fans we are forever looking to club boards and chairmen to "prove" themselves to us in return for our support...are we really so selfish that we think that should be a one way street? What about us stepping up to the plate every now and again and saying "you know what, I don't like it, but if it needs to be done then I'll do it" Personally, I'd pay to sit in the wind and rain all season if it helped to put 5 figure sums in the club pot.

As much as I believe SKY could have helped hasten things along, it has to be difficult for them as they (as an external party) would not want to be seen to influence any decisions made regarding Rangers (in liquidation) and how they were dealt with. Especially prudent with all the other shenanigans going on at SKY right now.

By the same note, surely it's not down to the fans to stand in the way of the club selling those empty seats either? We can all talk about a desire for pretty football or winning football or any other kind of football....but how are the club suppose to improve the financial position to allow them to strive for such if the fans aren't willing to work with them to improve the income? If our fans don't start working with, instead of against, the club then we'll have no football at all and it becomes academic.

Alex, you seem to have missed the "way some are doing" part of my opening sentence.

Sorry Alex, but you can't just dismiss the idea out of hand the way some are doing on the assumption that it might not work. There's not even a willingness to look at the possibilities with people....if there was then they would have gone for an "agreement in principle" option. It's like trying to talk to spoiled children who just expect mammy and daddy to be there to pander to their every whim and be around to wipe their butt for them when shit happens. People need to wake up and appreciate just how bad things are, and how much worse they will be if they can't set aside petty prejudices for the benefit of their own club.

The current distribution is based on league position at the end of the season. The current member clubs would need to vote to change that and it requires an 11-1 majority (at present).

Simply not true that Celtic don't sell our their allocation. Whether they would sell the additional tickets being talked about is open for debate, but if home fans aren;t going to buy them then why not give it a go? Just to clarify, we're talking about extreme circumstances here, circumstances that have come about as the result of our Chairman voting to do what was right in terms of "sporting integrity". We're not talking about being greedy here, we're talking about bringing in extra funds which are needed for the club to survive. Where else does the opportunity present for the club to raise substantial 5 figure sums? You'd rather have thousands of empty seats and see the club go to the wall? As I said...and as has been ignored (conveniently), are those saying "no" willing to buy up those empty seats? We're not going to suddenly grow our support by 1200 to 1500 fans overnight....and even if the club tried to sell them to non-Celtic supporting football fans by reducing the price then they would be getting hammered by season ticket holders for devaluing the product. The petty minded stupidity of some of our fans knows no bounds on occasion. This isn't about pissing on your seat to protect your territory, this is about fans realising that they can't expect the club to do everything without our help. In the grand scheme of things, does a different viewing angle for a couple of games really make all the much difference?