bdu98196

34 minutes ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

Fair enough, that's a reasonable answer.  I was thinking more of investment rather than season tickets and the like.  Large-scale "investments" - or "donations", if you like - are needed, because the money put in by fans is nowhere near enough to keep the club going.  And we see no evidence that they are going to happen.

There is no return to consider an investment. Any money would be essentially as you suggest a 'donation' done out of someones passion for the club, but the events over the last few months would make that less appealing. Development of income streams sustainable from footfall, merchandise, advertising, sponsorship and better use of the assets for consistent cash generation is what everyone should be aiming for, with the bonuses of irregular windfalls from on field success and player sales - what is the club and its current incumbents actually doing on this?

Expecting a squad of white knights to come flooding in with pockets full of gold coins the day after the big bad ogre leaves is stuff of fantasy and does nothing other than kick the can further down the road papering over cracks on a temporary basis until that pot runs dry and we are back in the same position. The best we can hope is that we can get the debts cleared and sustainability at whatever level.

9 hours ago, tm4tj said:

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

Linky thing here

The club reducing player overheads further by negotiating releases for senior or experienced players should not be a surprise. While Ujdur may not be the highest earner I suspect we are paying accommodation etc so all adds up as a package. This cost cutting has been evident since January and if there are routes for other higher cost players to make way then its to be expected more might follow.

2 hours ago, mazza20 said:

Honestly makes me wonder what Ancelotti saw in him to want him as your assistant, cause he clearly isn't a tactical genius or a great developer of players 

Whether fans agree or otherwise I think the opinion of Don Carlo on Duncs ability probably has better basis than their own, however he won't be the first coach to struggle with the transition to management.

13 minutes ago, old caley girl said:

Out of interest do you think going to Kelty would have improved matters? Wasn't this always a financial car crash waiting to happen? 

Possibly but im not privy to all the information the board had. With little income and huge losses then cost savings are an inevitability and as such quality has to drop which again impacts future revenues. Its an ever decreasing spiral as you are aware.

Happy to accept this path but acknowledge we will more likely be heading towards league 2 than Premiership in the short term at least. Suspect this is an unpopular opinion on here though.

1 hour ago, MrCaleyjag said:

What are the rules, does it have to be an offer on the same wage or higher to trigger the development fee or can it be less than the players current contract thats due to run out?

If the later then surely regardless of situation you offer something to trigger the fee should it come to that. Either it's a lack of care or lack of understanding the laws of governance in the game.

I'm happy to be stood corrected as I'm sure someone will know the ruling better than my understanding.

Pretty sure you can't just offer a derisory contract to a young player which a club doesn't want to keep in oder to activate a development fee just by 'ticking the contract on the table box'. There will likely be criteria around the level of terms, which given our situation the club may not have been in a financial or legal position to meet.

9 minutes ago, Stephen Malkmus said:

We are at the point where not supporting the team will only lead us further into the abyss, and in my view it is no longer worth us as fans cutting our noses off to spite our faces. I will be buying a season ticket this year.

Some fans are looking for the utopia of a board they like making decisions they want, local team of homegrown superstars and on field success to rival previous histories.

Maybe the reality is that you can only ever have 2 of these at any time.

14 hours ago, CaleyHedgehog said:

 it is going to be a sharp learning curve for the young uns to toughen up for what comes next

Most were on loan last season at levels below us with mixed success, if they haven't learned from those experiences already then we should be concerned about their readiness for a higher league.

9 hours ago, STFU said:

Not quite.  Given the choice between shifting weekday operations and training to Kelty or having to use a squad of young local players following relegation the fans said they would prefer the latter.

Pretty sure there were plenty posts and comments in Jan when the numerous loans came in and the youngsters went out criticising the philosophy. Statements that we should have been focusing on the young players in the team.

Regardless now we will see if the concerns around the quality and readiness from the manager were misplaced.

1 hour ago, old caley girl said:

Are you even allowed a 15 year old as 2nd keeper? 

Maybe it's his birthday soon lol

1 hour ago, northstandfan said:

looks like we are using a squad full on youngsters click

Is that not what everyone's been saying they wanted......so long as they are all local of course?

A lot of anger towards Dunc but oddly Bollan seems to get off lightly with our fans. Don't forget he's had previous experience at the lower levels of Scottish football. So he's either just a yes man too afraid to question or too incompetent to support effectively. Either way he needs 'in the bin'

In terms of our coaching staff Ryan was a keeper

Good to see the order of teams we will be beating on our way to winning the league.

1 hour ago, Charles Bannerman said:

I seem to recollect that at the meeting in the Social Club, it was suggested that there were legal reasons preventing the Supporters’ Trust from publicly supporting a ban. Has the legal situation changed, then?

On what basis though? A private club with no actual connection to the football club (not supported financial) other than a common interest suggests that members of the public consider carefully whether to shop there until as individuals they are (as individuals) satisfied they consider it good value? Surely its all about how you word it and presentation of the point, or were they really going to say 'don't buy season tickets or avoid financial transactions with the club because they are a bunch of ***insert slanderous & libelous statementing*** aka cowboys and full of lies.'..............in which case then I could see why the club may take action at such accusations.

Expecting another U-turn in a few weeks - club posts a few signing announcements, then begs for more ST sales at which point the Supporters Trust advise we get behind the club and support the players etc - citing its not their fault.

Absolutely embarrassing - from all parties.

14 hours ago, izzy said:

We did have a lot of very promising youngsters till they got farmed out

And after their loan spells they are 'promising' at best

If his contract has expired then he is free to talk to anyone else or if its coming to expiry then equally it would be prudent to do so. While I agree its poor the club cannot be transparent, this is not unique to football.

I'd expect a large number of people who have had contracted roles within the private sector would see this as the norm. The assumption by default is that if there is no new offer on the table by the time of expiry then that resource is not required.

51 minutes ago, DoofersDad said:

Why would anybody buy a season ticket just now?  We have no idea if there will even be a team to watch next season,

Chicken / Egg

Cant offer contracts if the club dont have any money and without knowing the level of ST sales, it'll be very difficult to budget a playing staff with certainty of being able to pay through the whole season - a fact not lost on agents and players.

Dont buy this whole idea that local 'lads' will be the best option and will offer more pride because they grew up nearby, given our small fanbase I'd suggest most are probably still subject to the Scottish curse of following 'big teams'

There's going to be a real wake up call for many fans when they see the quality of team we can field with our youth or local talent if it comes to fruition and they should brace themselves for League 2 rather than be looking upwards.

Can the land lease be sold by the club though? Contractually would the council not need involved and agree change of use or ownership?

Ideally if we could find a business/industry who could optimise that land and develop the area but that takes a lot of time to allow of permitted selling the lease. Get enough income to clear debts and move elsewhere. The timescale for all that you'd think will exceed the one for administration unless those engagements are well underway and have been for some time.

10 hours ago, Charles Bannerman said:

Just a quick note to say that Sportsound on BBC Radio Scotland will be running a discussion on Caley Thistle round about 3:30 tomorrow (Sat) afternoon.

Will this be the informed opinions of Mr dodds with irrelevant input from Miller and bonner?

42 minutes ago, CELTIC1CALEY3 said:

Anxiety amongst staff and contracted players or those whose contracts are due to expire shortly will be very worrying. The fear of losing your job, the fear of redundancy is debilitating. We have been pre-occupied with the fans position but for example, if you are a player who has had friends who have been through administration you would want to know your rights. Whilst your agent can also help you would expect your employer to provide information too.

Probably a chance that some of those people will be away on holiday with family etc (possibly not even in the country) given its only just over 2 wks since the season finished - finding out information through platforms such as this or social media wont help any anxiety either.

13 minutes ago, ictbob said:

What assets?

Toaster & kettle?

We dont have any contracted players worth selling and the stadium is on land that is leased. Not much to sell TBH

26 minutes ago, old caley girl said:

Very little I hope? Assume they are conforming with employment law with this move? 

Agreed, but as you know contracts have many clauses - we have sen numerous employees at the club get gardening leave and/or be paid for month or years after dismissal. Hopefully if (as the media state) this is a resignation (not being forced out by the remaining board members) as indicated he will only have a month long period at most, but it seems football is not like other real world scenarios unfortunately.