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DoofersDad

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Everything posted by DoofersDad

  1. But have they been told that's the way it's supposed to work?
  2. I would have taken a draw before the game, but Dunfermline were poorer than expected and what with the other results, I am now really disappointed. We started brightly and to be fair, there was good commitment, throughout the team till the final whistle. When Dunfermline pressed us in midfield we often played some pretty neat stuff to keep possession under pressure. The trouble is, we created next to nothing and there is a worrying lack of inventiveness. Even when there is a shooting opportunity they pass rather than have a pop. We have to take a few more risks up-front. Billy has a poor record of taking penalties. Credit to him for standing up and taking responsibility but surely we must have others in the side who can hit the ball harder and closer to side of the goal. Highlight was Devine's brilliant block on the line. Superb! And whilst we on the positives, that result extends our unbeaten run to 3 games.
  3. HT. 0-1 FT. 1-2 ICT. Shaw Pars. McCann Crowd. 2311
  4. Look on the bright side. We've stretched our unbeaten run to 2 games. Only Morton have got a longer unbeaten run than us at the moment!
  5. Thanks. That would suggest he stood down at last years AGM. I guess it hadn't been filed promptly because the Club no longer has a company secretary! OK, so clearly not related to the loans issue but it does seem bad that someone who has been a key person at the club for so long departs with apparently no statement from the club. Interestingly, he is still listed as Company Secretary on the club website.
  6. The Accounts for the year end to 31st May 2023 are due on Thursday. It will be interesting to see if they are delivered on time and to see what they say. The accounts for 2021 were a full 3 months late, but those for 2022 were submitted on the due date. It is maybe pertinent to remind ourselves that the club changed accountants in the intervening period, and it is certainly pertinent to remind ourselves on what was said in the accounts to justify the "going concern" status. They stated that "The Company remains reliant on player trading, new funding streams and the continued financial support backing of its directors, shareholders and supporters". So how much funding will these various streams provide? One thing we have been very poor at recently is player trading. There seems to have been nothing of note since we got a bit of cash for Daniel MacKay. The new funding streams are elsewhere listed in the accounts as being the Loch Ness Hydro Pump Project (i.e. payment for providing temporary car parking facilities), the battery project (uncertainties identified elsewhere in this thread) and the new Green Freeport (which they state in the accounts has "huge potential for the development of our site", but which the Chairman recently told us he is struggling to see how the club can get any benefit from.) As for financial backers, the directors are now providing money to the club on a formal loan basis as detailed on the Registration of Charge documents submitted to Companies House on 11th Jan this year. This strongly suggests that the level of financial input from the current directors is likely to be less in the future than it has been in the past. A further factor, which I had previously missed, is the Notice of Termination of Ian MacDonald as Company Secretary and which was submitted to Companies House the day before the Registration of Charge documents were submitted. There has been nothing submitted to say a replacement has been appointed. Ian joined the Board of Directors way back in 1997 and was on the Board till 2004 when he took on the role of Company Secretary. Maybe I have missed something, but there appears to have been no statement from the club about him giving up his role after over 25 years service to the club. Surely, notice of this low key departure being submitted to Companies House on the day before the Registration of Charge documents were submitted is no coincidence. The club got an easy time from shareholders at the AGM last April. This year's AGM might be a bit more challenging for them.
  7. Rather than complain about the officials, we need to learn lessons from last night. The 2nd disallowed goal was obviously a shocker, but the 1st was marginal (if it actually was off), while the officials did well to allow the Pars' goal which was actually onside although at first glance it looked well off. A lesson here is that you play to the whistle. The Partick defender looked like an absolute plonker standing there with his arm raised when he should have been putting pressure on Todd who was give plenty of time to sweetly chip the ball over the keeper. Partick may not have had the rub of the green last night, but they weren't robbed. In the 2nd half, Dunfermline were much the better side and deserved to win. Dunfermline have under-performed this season but it looks as though they might be coming into a bit of form. On that performance, we will do well to take anything out of the game on Tuesday. It puts even more pressure on us to get a win today and, of course, it makes it even more important for Arbroath to do the same. There is no easy game in this league and we need 100% commitment till the final whistle in every game. What with all the off field distractions it is more important than ever that the fans get behind the team, especially when things are not going well in the game.
  8. HT. 0-1 FT. 1-2 ICT. Billy Mckay Arbroath. Jay Bird Crowd 1712
  9. It is a sad sign of the times that the sheer stupidity of the Chair and Vice Chair of the planning committee does not surprise me. It is of course appropriate, that Councillors with a relevant interest in a scheme declare that interest. But how many of the committee members actually have a relevant interest in ICT? Going to watch them from time to time is hardly a relevant interest. What next? Will these numpties be arguing that no councillor should be allowed to vote on any housing proposal due to a “relevant interest” of being generally supportive of building more homes to alleviate the housing crisis? As for complaining that more Inverness based Councillors didn’t vote, words fail me. What on Earth did they expect if they come up with such spurious examples of “relevant interests” which are obviously going to prevent Inverness councillors from voting! And what don’t they understand about what a quorum is? A meeting is either quorate or it isn’t. If it is, then the vote is perfectly valid under the rules of the organisation.
  10. Sure, it’s too early to think of Dunc getting sacked but it’s fair enough to question what we’re seeing. There was a terrific new manager bounce after an awful start with Dodds, but it’s gone very flat. Hopefully the team will gel a bit more and become more positive going forward as a result. To be fair, Dunc inherited a mess. As far as I’m concerned, avoiding relegation is the main target. Assuming that is achieved then I will be looking for improvement both in terms of results and entertainment next season. If we don’t get that, then it would be time for someone else.
  11. Kane would drop deep and get the ball himself. Haaland would struggle though.
  12. Doran is class. He hasn’t played many minutes this season but he and new loanee Samuel are way ahead of anybody else in the minutes per goal stats. We need him on the pitch looking to shoot on sight and the likes of Billy and Samuel primed to pounce on the loose balls from blocks, saves etc. Dunc has spoken highly of the ever present Gilmour, but I think I’m right in saying he has scored just once and has no assists. For someone in his role it is not good enough. Shaw may not be playing as well as last season but he has as many goals and assists as the rest of the regular midfield put together. Football is about scoring more goals than your opponents. It is not about how many safe passes you can make.
  13. Away tactics. That’ll mean the crowd making a bit of noise then!
  14. Was the park and ride concept not one which specifically related to the construction of the Red John Hydro scheme? The idea being that the significant construction workforce would get bused to the site from the stadium. The club would therefore get a steady revenue for the parking of workers cars and, possibly, various construction related equipment. Another idea that had been floated at one time was to turn the Sports Bar into a cafe with a view to attracting workers from businesses around stadium road and NC500 traffic. This would be linked with several car charging points. Can't see this catching on myself. Can't see a traditional park and ride working either. I live on the Black Isle and so the site would potentially be very convenient for me. But why would I wait half an hour for a shuttle to take me into town when there is plenty of reasonably cheap parking in the city centre and regular buses which I wouldn't have to wait half an hour for and which go directly into the centre?
  15. HT. 0-1 FT. 1-3 ICT. Mckay PT. Graham Crowd. 2859
  16. HT. 0-0 FT. 1-1 ICT. Gilmour Hibs. Le Fondre Crowd. 4266 Yellow. Obita
  17. Many thanks for the feedback Robert. It sounds as though granting of the planning permission would be a significant one off boost to the club, but refusal would be a disaster. I wonder if the in-between scenario of an appeal against whatever the decision might be was discussed? Appeals processes can be rather drawn out and this would leave the club needing to find further ways of keeping the current set-up going for what could be a fairly uncertain time frame. It is positive that the Chairman was prepared to come to the meeting to talk about this. It is also positive that Scott Young has formally been appointed SLO and has expressed a willingness to engage with the Supporters Trust moving forward. However, this is just a very small step in what will be a long journey. We know and the club knows that the SLO should not be a Director of the club. We also know there are a host of issues which the club should be dealing with and are not. We need to see a massive change in attitude from the club in the way it relates to the fan base. Coming along to a few meetings to update the fans on a few issues simply doesn't cut it. The outcome of the planning application will be crucial is shaping the the strategy and priorities for the club for the next few years. Regardless of which way the planning decision goes, the club should be looking to involve the fans in developing future plans. The fans are the lifeblood of the club and if the club had engaged more constructively with them in the last several years, the club might not be in quite the precarious position it now finds itself in.
  18. Quite. If you didn't laugh you'd cry. Seriously though, the SLO should be the main contact person between the club and the fans. Any club that values communication with the fans would ensure that the appointment of the SLO received maximum possibly publicity. Not to publicise it at all is contemptible. Not only has the club not announced this, they haven't even bothered to change the website. It still lists Gordon Fyffe as SLO. It is great that Scott Young has been attending the Supporters Trust's open meetings and I wish him all the best in the role. I do wonder though, what the club has told him his role is. The SLO is a role that Supporters Direct Scotland and the SFA have worked closely together on in order to provide guidance to clubs. Scott, just in case you haven't been provided with a copy, you can find one here.
  19. I wouldn't be looking forward to this if I was a Hibs fan.
  20. That was a hard watch. Players getting used to each other was probably a factor as was the gusty wind, but in truth, Queens showed more energy and desire and were better organised. The stats say we had 17 shots on goal (which is encouraging) but none of them made the keeper work. I'm not too despondent though. I think we do have the talent to make progress once the team gels and I think the new signings give us options we didn't have before. Savage looks decent at centre back, McAllister looked lively and Pepple looked strong and could be a good target man. Pick of the new signings at this stage would appear to be Samuel. He probably should have score again today but he holds the ball up very well and has a great work rate. At the moment there is a pretty obvious lack of confidence in front of goal, exemplified by two awful efforts by Gilmour towards the end, but with options up front, we need to be more positive going forward. If we do that we will create more and we will score more. We also need the fans to get behind the guys on the pitch more. It means a lot to them and yet for many of our so called support, the most noise they ever make is when they are shouting abuse at their own players. It is a significant reason why the team seems to play so much better away from home. We call ourselves supporters, so let's give a bit support to the team.
  21. We've been hoping that a lot of money making things work out, but one by one, they all seems to end in disappointment. Maybe this is an appropriate time to remind folk of what Scot Gardiner said in a lengthy CEO update posted on June 13th. Referring to the new Green Freeport, Gardiner said "This is a designation which will no doubt be hugely impactful and positive for the club for years to come and we are working with our legal team at WJM and our new auditors A9 Accountancy in Inverness to maximise the opportunities on this front." Just a few months later, and thoughts of this being a boost to the club's finances seem to be dead in the water with the club Chairman, Ross Morrison, telling fans at a Supporters Trust meeting that he just couldn't see how the club can get any benefit from this at all. Gardiner also wrote "Infrastructure improvements at the Stadium have been identified and exciting new commercial contracts have been progressed, some to be announced in the coming days including our technical kit partner and main jersey sponsor/partner and subject to legal agreements in the coming weeks, we hope to have important news about the Stadium and its environs." Despite the Trust's Matchday Experience Survey identifying a wide range of issues with the stadium and its environs, the hoped for important news has still not been delivered. I hope to make it to today's game but I won't be able to go to the Trust's meeting before it. Scott Young, the club's newest Director, should be present at the meeting and should, by now, be rather more up to speed with what is going on at the club. Perhaps he will be able to tell supporters what it was that was hopefully going to be announced, but which hasn't been. Is the stadium going to remain an unwelcoming dump or is the club going to act upon some of the constructive and cost effective ideas that fans came up with in their survey responses and which are outlined in the survey report.?
  22. HT. 1-0 FT. 3-1 ICT. McAllister QP. Paton Crowd 2219
  23. I have little understanding how all this business wheeling and dealing works, but my take on the position is this. 1. In answer to OCG, I think this is the first time secured loans from Directors have been used to finance the club. I think there may have been previous bank loans 2. The fact that secured loans are being made suggests that those providing the loans do not have, or are unwilling simply to give the club the money currently required to keep the club afloat. 3. In the event of money coming into the club, either from the Battery project or elsewhere, Morrison and Munro would expect their loans to be repaid resulting in the "charge" being discharged. 4. If Morrison and Munro request the loans to be repaid and the club does not have the money to repay them, then the Battery Company shares become the property of the 2 directors. 5. ILI have a business model of acquiring land and driving through planning consent for green energy projects and then selling the site on. I would assume that this is the case here and that there would be an injection of cash relatively quickly if planning permission is granted. ILI will not have had to purchase the land in this instance and therefore both ILI and the Battery company will profit from the sale of the site. 6. In the event of the battery project failing, then the shares in the company would become almost worthless. The club could then repay Morrison and Munro with the shares so that the 2 of them would in effect be writing off their loans. It does seem to me that this all indicates the club's financial position is pretty precarious, but hopefully someone with a better understanding of these things can prove me wrong. One thing that will sit uncomfortably with many is that Morrison does, apparently, now have money to put into the club (albeit with strings attached), when so recently he was unable or refused to put money into the concert company. The concert company was declared bankrupt with the result that local creditors were left out of pocket as a result of the concert company's botched management of the concerts.
  24. Need to get some defenders in before the window closes
  25. HT. 1-0 FT. 2-0 ICT. Carragher Raith. Vaughan Crowd. 3562
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