billyshears

Sounds like the new events commitee will be a great fund raising venture. The guys on there have recently proved to be effective in that area. Les did a great job with Barry's testimonial year, Mike is obviously a very capable administrator (despite what some people of this forum might think, I believe the club is fortunate to have someone of his ability and experience in place), Kenny is a straight talker and was apparently a breath of fresh air when he was on the board, Darren appears to have revived the fortunes of the commercial aspect of the club (especially his shake up of the hospitality packages) and the recent golf day was a great success (raising ?27k at that sort of event is impressive). I'd imagine there will be some co-ordination to ensure events are not replicated by them and The Supporter's Trust & The Supporters Club. Can anyone enlighten me as to the roles of these 2 entities, by the way? Why are they not under the same umbrella? Also Darren is 34/35 (a friend of a friend was in his class at school - Inverness is a small place!). So, IMHO he ain't an old b*gger, but these things are relative I suppose! It is encouraging that the club are being proactive about getting the finances back on an even keel, instead of hoping for a better league placing or an extended cup run to boost the coffers and I am sure that all of us on the forum will get right behind their efforts when we can.

No cigar from me either, friend! Just trying to balance the discussion by attempting to see things from their side. I was, in a past life, a middle manager and therefore am well versed in seeing it from both angles. It also sounds like Hell hath no fury like a Caley D scorned . Sorry if that's a little insensitive, Don, it certainly sounds like you got a raw deal. However, as has been mentioned here before, I imagine there are those at the club who do read these pages and the tone of your threads will not see their attitude toward you change. Take a leaf out of Scotty's book, he too was pushed aside when no longer needed, but he just rolls with it and rises above it (and relaxes in his hammock). In the past few years and into the future there will be a turnover in personnel in charge of the club and I'm sure you'll get a fresh start at some point. Also you mention that there at least 4 things that the club have instigated at your suggestion, surely that is a good thing, I thought one of the main gripes here was that the club don't take any of these things on board - I'm confused! Regarding the stewarding. The stewards presumably follow (or attempt to follow) SPL guidelines, which themselves may or may not be available via SPL channels. Also I see them as being like referees and linesmen. We, as fans, get hacked off at perceived bias and inconsistencies, but at the end of the day they are human and apt to make mistakes and are all part of the great game. The congestion around the stadium immediately after a match is very frustrating and I believe the police and stewards do the best they can out of a bad situation, but it could be worse. The congestion we experience in the north of Scotland is nothing compared to that down south. I always park tactically, usually ten minutes walk from the stadium but it saves me at least that when I avoid having to sit in a queue of traffic after the game. I share your views about the half-time catering, but since this is probably farmed out to outside agencies, resolving this would involve getting them in on the discussion. Do we know which company is responsible? It may be more effective to raise our concerns directly with them, maybe suggest an express counter for those of us who just want a simple pie - I imagine a lot of the hold-ups are for those awkward beggars who are having things that need to be made to order.

Quote from Caley D "Whilst I'm on a wee rant....there's nothing that bothers me more than when making a suggestion you get the "do other clubs do that?", or "what do other clubs do?" response. I don't give a flying fig what other clubs do, it's what we do that's important. Not only are we in a unique situation due to geography, but every now and again I wouldn't mind seeing us taking the initiative on something instead of following on the coat tails of others." Interesting that you start your post citing examples from County and Clach, considering you "don't give a flying fig what other clubs do"! Also is it really a case of "so many people saying the same thing" or is it just a few people saying the same things over and over again? In the short time I have been on this site I have posted on 2 threads and on both more than half of the posts (47 out of 90) come from just 4 people (and how many of those 4 are season ticket holders?) I know that pretty much everyone on here has the club's best interests at heart, but to suggest that those in charge at the TCS don't is nuts. The difference is that the board and senior management live or die (not literally!) by their actions. It is easy to rattle away on our keyboards knowing that we can make sweeping statements and generalisations, without having to back them up with facts and figures, all under a veil of relative anonymity. I applaud the likes of Scotty, Caley D, Gringo Jr, IHE et al. who are willing to stand up in front of the board and present our case, but as I have said before, be prepared to have your ideas taken apart and scrutinised. Most of the board are wealthy, successful businessmen and these guys didn't get where they are today (to paraphrase CJ! - you probably won't get it if you are under 35) by giving anything away. These guys want solid numbers, not "if you spend this money on that, we're pretty sure it will increase ticket sales" and I've a feeling I know what the response to a suggestion of giving away 1000 tickets to to some of the quieter games would be. If the 4 aforementioned forumists (I think I may have just made up a word!) truly reprensent the opinions of the 4000+ regular fans, fair play. I would suggest, however that you trawl these pages for someone who may offer a slightly different perspective. From what I have read so far, 5th Stand, often offers a bit of balance to many of these discussions. Don't get me wrong, a lot of the ideas on here seem pretty sound, but Caley D cites the importance of managing expectations and as with things like the re-instatement of the Boardroom Banter, we should take things 1 step at a time, and not expect things to improve overnight. In this regard I believe we should be entering into something like this with 1 specific change (maybe 2 at a push) we want to see taking place (make it reasonable, realistic and achievable) and concentrate our efforts on making a case that the board will have difficulty refusing. Discussing 6 items would mean not going into detail in any of them. If you get half a dozen or so people giving their opinions the limited time you have will run away from you.

In my experience with dealing with senior management, you are more likely to get co-operation if the points you are making are reasonably detailed and can suggest your own positive desired outcome. Hope this helps.

Looks good Don. Out of interest, how are the profits from the ICT stuff getting split. I was thinking 50/50 between The Supporters Trust and Youth & Community.