DoofersDad

8 hours ago, ICTPAISLEY said:

Have you seen Rossvales badge? This might have something to do with the Thistle.

 

Thank you. I stand corrected.  It seems strange then that they would choose not to use the thistle on their new badge.  Surely if you are going to call yourself "Thistle" you put a thistle on your badge.  They are using a picture of an old locomotive instead.  Lots of opportunities to use names which better reflect the local heritage of where the club is now located.  There seems to be a general mocking of the club for this idiotic suggestion and I can't see it will get approval from the SFA.

2 hours ago, Satan said:

On one of their tweets they actually thank the partick thistle charitable trust for their support. Same colours, thistle on the badge.

It seems that the Partick Thistle Charitable Trust are being overly Charitable.

I can understand why they would want to use "Caledonian" but there is no good reason for tagging on "Thistle".  I doubt that will go down to well with Partick either.  Surely one Thistle in Glasgow is quite enough.  If they want to to focus on the Railway  theme, why not Caledonian Locos or Caledonian Sleepers.  There's only one Caley Thistle.

18 minutes ago, caleyboy said:

still no letter here

https://ictfc.com/agm-2023

Finally there is confirmation of an AGM.  Wednesday 26th April.

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ICT. Allardice

Opp. Muirhead

Crowd 2174

5 minutes ago, IBM said:

I initially thought it was Dooofers Dad 

I can confirm that the Club is not speaking to me - but I'm open to offers!

The Supporters Trust has also written to the Club asking for an update re the AGM and is awaiting a response. 

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ICT. Billy Mckay

Opp. Graham

Crowd. 2148

3 hours ago, Yngwie said:

The Chairman announced the AGM date, and shortly afterwards SG was on Radio Scotland encouraging shareholders to ask any questions they want about the club’s finances at the forthcoming AGM. So it seems there was a genuine intention to hold the AGM on the specified date.

It looks very poor though. I would hope that there is a good reason for it being delayed and that they will explain themselves soon. 

In the meantime there’s not a lot anyone can do in practice other than wait. An AGM is not a legal requirement, it’s a just an internal matter between the club and its shareholders.

There may well be a good reason for delaying the AGM and there may well be a good reason for not explaining what the reason is at this time.  There is, however, no good reason for not informing shareholders that the meeting is not now going ahead next Tuesday.  That is just plain rude.

I know nothing about business law or the legality of holding AGMs, but the Club itself is committed to holding an AGM by its own Articles of Association which are required (presumably by law) to be lodged at Companies House.  And by those same Articles of Association, the AGM is now over 3 months overdue.  

Yes, shareholders can wait, but they've been waiting for a while now and many are getting rather fed up of waiting.  

Time will tell how the club responds to the survey outcomes, but hopefully they will help to encourage the club to engage a bit more constructively with fans that it has to date.  One thing for sure, is that it will provide some rather more structured views of the Club's supporters than has been available to the club before.  The findings will also be made public, which will mean that there would some considerable pressure for the club to respond to any serious concerns if they don't proactively do so themselves.

I agree with Yngwie in that the club shouldn't blindly do what fans want if it is not going to be cost effective, but if that is the case, then what the club should do, is to explain why they can't act on it.  In addition, the club shouldn't just dismiss the issue, it should, in partnership with the supporters, investigate if they are other more innovative ways of addressing the concerns.  Solutions which may not initially appear to be cost effective may become very cost effective if the improved matchday experience brings more people to the stadium and if it encourages them to spend more money when they do come.

4 hours ago, Jaggernaut said:

I hear what you're saying, I was just talking about this with my son. Although it would be great to see this thrilling Celtic team in the flesh, I can just imagine what they could do to us if we make the final and haven't had a competitive game for some time. Although there are always cup upsets, I fear it could be quite embarrassing if they are firing on all cylinders with their huge quality squad.

Being an older supporter, like a lot of fans from our Highland League days, we would support our local team, in my case Inverness Thistle, and also had a 'big' team, which for me was Celtic, but anytime the Jaggies played Celtic it was always the Jags I would support, and it's the same today, when Celtic play ICT, there it's only Inverness that I want to win. So you could say that a Celtic v ICT final would be a dream come true for me, and it will be a great occasion if it happens, but I just fear that looking at the current form of Celtic and ourselves, I don't want it to become an embarrassing statistic in the history of the Scottish Cup and tarnish our competition reputation. 

I couldn't disagree more!  This team is certainly not as good as the winning 2015 side and to get to the final would be a huge achievement. After our lucky reprieve, we have had 2 very good wins against Premiership sides and beating Falkirk would also be a great achievement as this time, all the pressure will be on us.  Just getting to the final in itself would be another proud statistic in our history in the Scottish Cup.  OK, so if we get there, the chances are we will get well and truly gubbed, but frankly, I couldn't care less.  Obviously I would want more than anything for us to win, but I wouldn't expect us to.  I would expect the team to give 100% effort, but if they do that and get hammered 10-0, so be it.   I would still be cheering them to the end and clapping them as they receive their runners up medals.  Far from being embarrassed, sometimes you have to give credit where credit is due and I would feel privileged to see a very good side set a record, and proud that our little team reached yet another national final.  The scoreline would be far less important than the fact that we were there!  The additional income would also be a much needed boost to the club's coffers.

13 hours ago, STFU said:

I agree with all you say, but I am perplexed by the fact that you see all this, yet still seem convinced that the club will not also ignore the outcome of the fan survey

 I am far from convinced that the Club will not ignore the survey.  What the survey does is to provide a channel for people express their views in a reasonably structured way.  It will allow the Trust to inform the Club about issues which significant numbers of people have expressed dissatisfaction about.  This will make it harder to ignore than if a handful of folk express similar concerns on social media.  Clearly, the more people who complete the survey, the more validity the findings have.  

28 minutes ago, old caley girl said:

We have absolutely no chance of play offs now and I'm not counting my chickens on a 2nd Hampden visit yet 

And yes I went on Saturday fully thinking we could beat Queens Park...lol 

Partick in 4th have 45 points from 29 games.  If they continue to average the same number of points per game, they will end up on 56 points.  Morton a place behind Partick are only 2 points behind.  To have any realistic chance of reaching the playoffs we might need to aim for 57 points.  We currently have 36 from 28 games so need to win 7 of our 8 remaining games to reach a target that may well not be enough in any case.  Failing that we need both Partick and Morton to collapse and hope that Raith don't spoil the party.    So, yes, absolutely no realistic chance of reaching the play-offs.  And remember, we've still got to play Hamilton again!

On 3/12/2023 at 9:41 PM, STFU said:

You start with this... ictfccustomercharter2020.pdf

Thanks for posting this.  I note the document you have attached is dated October 2020 but  the document currently on the Club's website is dated October 2021.  I have gone back through the Club's "latest news" postings on its website and neither version was communicated via that communication channel.  

The charter commits to ensuring supporters are kept informed by (amongst other routes) "Consulting our supporters on a regular basis both through Caley Jags Together (formerly the ICT Supporters Trust) meetings and ongoing direct communication.  Supporters who are not members will be consulted through informal activities."  I was the Chair of the Supporters Trust during this period and at no time were we informed that a Customer Charter was being prepared, we were not consulted, nor were informed it existed, let alone provided with a copy!

Had we been consulted, we would, of course, have pointed out that the ICT Supporters Trust was formerly also known as Caley Jags Together and not the other way round.  The CJT name has not been used by the Trust since I have had an involvement with the Trust and certainly not since the current Club Chairman and CEO have been in post.  It is quite bizarre that such an error should be made in a document in the first place, let alone in one which has apparently been reviewed.

It is, of course, also bizarre that the Club should prepare and review a document which commits to consultation and communication with the Supporters Trust and the wider fan base, and then fail to consult about it or communicate it!  Clearly this document is a tick box exercise and does not indicate any intention or willingness to consult or communicate with the supporters in any meaningful way.

Back down to a 3 for me too.  As much for what's happening (or not happening) off the pitch as for what's happening off it.  Not very impressed with BD's post match interview either.

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ICT. Sean Welsh

Opp. Shields

Crowd. 721

23 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

I may well be completely wrong but for our semi-final lunchtime kickoff v Celtic I thought we didn’t bring much over 2,000?

Maybe, but it sounded like 22,000.

5 hours ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Or "Wont you stay - just a little bit longer" by Jackson Browne ?

Careful with the Jackson Browne songs.  Next week we might be back to "Here come those tears again",  or "Running on Empty".

Yesterday's game is a stark reminder of how important it is to get clarity on what the Club's financial plans are.  We have a squad of players who have shown they are good enough to compete in the Premiership if we can be reasonably injury free.  But bear in mind that the latest accounts (on which the club has not commented) state that the financial projections are reliant on uncertain sources of income and operational cost savings, and that new auditors have "material concerns" about the club preparing the accounts on a going concern basis.

It would appear that cutting operational costs is inevitable and the biggest part of operational costs is presumably the player budget.  With other costs rising (such as energy costs as highlighted in IBM's post above), it seems likely that there will be significant pressure on the player budget.  Whilst it is still possible to gain promotion this season, we have to assume that we won't. Therefore unless we get clarity soon about a viable financial plan for next season,  many of the players who performed so well last night on national TV will be off elsewhere when their contracts come to an end at the end of the season, or they will be sold for less than they are worth in order to reduce the wage bill.  If that happens, we will do well next season not to exit the Championship through the back door.

In other words, if we don't win promotion this year, we are highly unlikely to do so next year.  We need to get right behind the team for the rest of the season and hope we get the major financial boost promotion would bring.

A wee bit in the Inverness Courier about the matchday survey this week.  The focus there is really to try and get people who rarely if ever get to games to tell us why they don't go and what might entice them to come along a bit more often.

A lot of folk were at the game last night who don't often come to games.  It is important for the club to entice these fans to come on a more regular basis.  More fans means more money for the Club and a better atmosphere for everyone else.  Obviously the team made it a great experience last night, but if you were at the game, how did you find the wider experience of buying a ticket, parking, catering, toilets, stewarding?    The Supporters Trust would like your views on all these things and more.  So, if you haven't completed the survey yet, please take a few minutes to let us know what you think.  You can find the survey at https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/survey

Supporting ICT has not been easy this season, but tonight was what it is all about.  Terrific all round performance and great support from the fans. After giving Kilmarnock  a goal start we pressured them for 90 minutes and forced them into errors.  We then played some very good passing football and had we shown the same clinical finishing as we did against Livi, we could have won this by 3 or 4 clear goals.  We now need to show that level of performance in the league.  There are better teams than Kilmarnock above us in the Championship.

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ICT. Billy Mckay

Opp. Polworth

Crowd. 2611

Yellow. Duffy

8 minutes ago, IBM said:

I hope you are right, I will be there but hope it will be done in 90 minutes. 

Yup.  If it goes to extra time it will be past my bedtime too.

Where there is flexibility to hold back a meeting to allow for details about future plans to be clarified, I have absolutely no objections to that happening. Indeed, it is often helpful to do so.  But that is not what is happening here.  The Club is obliged to hold its AGM no later than 15 months after the previous AGM and therefore, the flexibility to delay ran out in December.  And there has not been a word of explanation or apology from the club.

If I was in charge I would hold the AGM within the required time frame.  If there were plans for funding and/or restructuring being worked on behind the scenes, I would report that work was on-going and it was not possible to give details at this time.  I would also say that when the time was right, the club would hold a General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting to discuss the details.  Meanwhile, I would communicate with shareholders and fans to keep people informed as much as possible.  

Failing to communicate is never a good strategy.  Apart from p*ssing off the supporters and shareholders, it leads to lots of conjecture, some of which can be wildly wrong and even damaging to the club.

I wonder if any shareholder on here has had formal notification of the Club's AGM yet?  I've received nothing and there is nothing on the Club's website.  In his recent statement, the Chairman stated that the AGM would be held on 28th March.  That being the case, the deadline to receive formal notification was yesterday as shareholders should be receiving formal notification at least 21 days prior to the meeting. 

The AGM is already long overdue, so I hope this does not mean that the Club is delaying the AGM even more.  One can't help feel that if there was substance to the optimism expressed in the Chairman's recent statement and in the Accounts submitted to Companies House, the Club would be keen to make their plans public as soon as possible.  These constant delays suggest that they are experiencing some difficulty in finding anyone willing to put the kind of money into the club which is required in order to prevent swingeing cuts to management and player budgets.

Hopefully, the failure to get the paperwork out in time is just an administrative glitch and we will receive details by the end of the week.  If not, some serious questions will need to asked.