CaleyD

The reporter (Tom Pilcher) who put together this article was a top bloke. He got the sleeper up overnight from London on the Thursday, walked 20+ miles with the guys on Friday and then got the sleeper back to London again on Friday Evening!!! We've had people (not just reporters) join the March with great intentions and I'll admit to being a little nervous about a reporter joining for the day....sometimes tiredness and sore feet/legs get the better of someone and we're not entirely immune to the odd "moment" and that's not what you want reported, but with your standard "red top" journalist you just know that's what they are looking for!!! Tom is now an initiated member of the HM having completed an entire leg and there's an open invite for him should he ever wish to join us again.

As a member of the Trust Board I can assure you that we would have no issue whatsoever raising a point on behalf of any fan where it was felt necessary, or where they were having issues getting answers by any other means. The most important word in our name is "Supporters" and that is who we are ultimately charged with representing. That's not to say we'll get involved in any and every question/issue an individual fan might have and people have to accept that sometimes "interesting" does not equate to "best interests". With regards the Boardroom Banter, my own personal opinion is that the club could be a little more open and forthcoming in some areas and they could also stretch beyond simply answering questions by giving us information on things of interest that might not have raised any questions at that time. IMO, The biggest "negative" of our 5 seasons in the SPL has been this divide that's grown between the club and the fans. For whatever reason the club have formed a mindset that they will tell us as little as possible and the fans have reacted to that by ripping to shreds what little information we do get. If we want to get back to the more free flowing information we say in the previous run of BB then moves are needed on both sides of the fence. Not suggesting we accept everything we're fed (or not fed) without question or comment, but I do think a good few people need to realise that a constructive comment will get them a lot further than an abusive one. Likewise, the club need to realise that if they don't tell us anything, or what they tell us is shown to be little more than "spin" then fans are going to jump on it.

The Youth and Community Development side of ICT does not rely on the club for any of it's income and I believe it actually has some kind of "charitable" status as a result of this. What I'm not entirely certain of is where (what age) their responsibility stops and the clubs takes over in terms of the younger guys coming through....or if the Y&CD is responsible for any money paid to those on an apprenticeship...this may well be a "club cost". I do know that the Supporters Trust have helped out considerably over the last season by making a sizeable contribution to the travel costs for the Youth Teams (several thousand). Each time someone buys a ticket for or attends a Supporters Trust, Supporters Club or Football Club organised event it helps put money into the pocket of the club in some form or other. As individuals we might take the view that our ?10 or ?20 contribution (or whatever amount) is insignificant in the grand scheme of things, when you start pulling all that together then it really does have the power to make a difference and the Trust will, hopefully, be sitting down with the club in the not too distant future to have a discussion about what can be done in the season ahead. Forgive my shameless plug, but if there's fans out there who are serious about doing what they can to see ICT through and giving them the best opportunity of a return to the SPL (maybe not next season or the season after, but at some point) then they need to come together and pull resources to ensure that every penny they can afford or every minute of time they can give is put to best use.

Ironically it's the USH that's resulted in our pitch needing some major work during the closed season. It's installation reduced the drainage capacity which meant it had to be left on for long spells over the winter and this damaged the roots. Those higher up in the stands (especially the main stand) would have seen a "grid" pattern on the pitch caused by grass not growing as it should have been.

As I (now) understand the situation, ICT will be unaffected as we've received all the Setanta money we were due. The ?250,000 due to us is owed by the SPL and is not part of the Setanta deal, it is instead budgeted for from the Clydesdale Bank sponsorship money and should be there waiting for us...if not already paid.

Already being discussed Here

It's not true that stuff was not selling, although you could argue that sales can always be better. The simple fact of the matter was that, in both cases, the "deal" was not working out as hoped for either party so they mutually terminated the agreements.

Asking Turkeys to vote for Christmas is never a wise move!!!

Depends what you're looking for from your matchday experience. The Main Stand, especially around the tunnel, used to be "the place to be" for the craic but a lot of the fans responsible for that were priced out of there and into the North Stand when we got to the SPL and the club were looking to cater more for the corporates in that area. Centre of the North Stand (Section G) has since become the liveliest area of the support, so if that's the kind of atmosphere you want to witness and be part of then anywhere in or near there.

To be honest we're only talking about ?3 Million here, ?250,000 per club, and every club should be able to suffer that loss without sending them to the wall.....if they can't then they've learned nothing from similar past events and fans should be asking questions of the relevant Boards. It's where things go from now on that is the real worry for SPL teams and if there's no/a vastly reduced TV income then we might not be the only ones from last year having to drastically scale back our squad!!!

I got the notice in for renewing our fixture licence and the release date is the 17th June.

It was reported that the Barrowman deal cost us over ?200,000 (+ signing on fee) over 3 years. That puts him on a minimum of ?1300 per week plus a wad of cash in his back pocket.

Same incentives are afforded just about everyone else (shop discount, priority tickets etc) and it also allows you to attend the AGM (although new laws may mean they don't actually have to have an AGM much longer) and vote on stuff.

I think the last thing we, as fans, should be looking to do is to start forming/encouraging factions within the support. People need to be trying to work together to resolve any problems that may exist or arise for everyones benefit.

I think the point being made is that perhaps the buses don't suit as many people as they could in terms of the departure and arriving back times and that if they did then more people might just use them. Also, if I was a member of a club and they turned round and told me I couldn't make use of a service which is suppose to be included in my joining fee then I would be a little hacked off, so if people are being turned away then something needs to be done to sort that or your simply alienating the very people you need supporting you.

A Commercial Managers position is easy to "justify". They are, in essence, there to bring in money and so long as they are bringing in sufficient levels of business to justify the position they hold then you're better having one than not...the same goes for any of the commercial staff who's job entails bringing money through the door. They, of course, require admin support. It's a bit of a catch 22....without these people working on commercial contacts/clients then you can lose income, but the there's little point in employing someone if they cost more than they take in. I'm not totally up to speed on how many staff are in these departments, or what they bring in to the club, but I guess the club will be looking at any areas where they could move someone on and perhaps have others pick up the workload. What I was encouraged to hear about was the fact that the Board and others would, where possible, try and absorb any staff the club were letting go into their own businesses.

My problem with Barrowman is that we're paying way over the odds for someone who is, at best, a mediocre player. The worst thing is, he's on a package with us that he's not going to get offered anywhere else so we're lumbered with someone on a wage which could have been used to bring in more useful players and/or a player of similar calibre on less money which would perhaps have allowed us to stretch a bit more on players really worth keeping.

Directors "Emoluments" show on the accounts as being in the region of ?50k alone.

At which point we'll have another 4 or 5 pages of people complaining that they're too expensive :P

It's too early to be predicting what kind of football we might or might not be aiming to play next season and I don't believe for one second that there's many managers out there who want to play the long ball, but sometimes needs must and a squad just doesn't have the players to be able to play it effectively through the midfield all the time. It's a catch 22 at the moment (as Gringo points out) and I think we just have to wait and see who comes in to the squad in the summer. I'd rather see us play the long ball and win than try and play pretty and lose.

Some good ideas coming through, but I'm always conscious of the fact that there's people out there with good ideas but when it comes to the crunch you never see them in there getting their hands dirty.....so, thinking about the ideas we've already had, and any more people might come up with, can we also see some suggestions on what we as fans can do to help make them happen. After all, it's all fair and well asking the club to make things cheaper, but it takes a certain amount of money to run the club, so if they are to be able to give cheaper tickets and the like then they need to be subsidising the loss in one area with income in another. Not sure I like the "being on the inside" label :D - I'm just a fan doing what I can to help my club and I also detest the idea that there's an inside and an outside....as far as I'm concerned we should all be in this together and I'm on a constant conquest to break down the barriers between the club and fans. Many of these barriers were, IMO, brought about when we got promoted to the SPL, and I think they might even play a part in things going wrong this season. Hopefully people learn from that and keep it in mind for when we get back to the SPL. It was the willingness and ability of everyone to work together that got us there the first time, and we need to maintain that next time we're promoted. The club do read the forums, but you can be sure I will continue to champion the ideas and the suggestions of the fans as and when the opportunity presents itself....via my Stadium Announcer Role and as a Member of the Supporters Trust....all I ask is that when crunch time comes around you all do your bit by supporting the ideas and initiatives the best you can and not disappearing into the woodwork when the work needs done or a bit of cash needs spending. Before I finish I have one idea to throw out there....Not sure what the club have in mind (if anything), but there's always a bit of maintenance needs doing at the club, be it giving the place a lick of paint or doing odd-jobs about the place. How about we, as fans, get together and offer to do something to spruce the place up for the new season.

We plan to have pictures and at least a brief review of Highland March VII up by the weekend.

I'm in for sure, and as always (sure Scotty will agree), CaleyThistleOnline would make up any shortfall if interest wasn't enough to cover it.

Yes....but what can WE do as fans.

I believe there's still spaces. Think it's a given that prices will reduce as a result of us being in a lower league, but perhaps looking at operating things differently to cater to a larger audience would help swell numbers.