DoofersDad

Funnily enough, I have erroneously just been sent a draft of a statement due to be released tomorrow. It reads as follows. Dear whoever you are, I am absolutely delighted to announce that as the next phase of our planned strategic destruction restructure of the club and in response to a projected reduction in fan numbers following our relegation, we will be mothballing the North Stand for the coming season. Current North Stand Season Ticket holders will be able to buy season tickets for the uncovered, wind battered section of the main stand. This will ensure our loyal fans will be be royally p*ssed upon throughout the coming season. You will also be delighted to know that we are bringing in stocks of ponchos for sale in the club shop. These will be available at the reduced price of £10 thanks to the generous sponsorship of Kelty FC. Yours in Togetherness Ross Morrison You heard it here first!

It is the Board who need to take stock here. If the massive negative reaction to the Kelty project does not persuade those ICT fans on the Board to get rid of those who are bit by bit destroying this club with their repeated failures and their total disregard of the needs and views of the supporters, then there is little option. I am sure there will be protests, but I am not putting my money into the club to see it used to fund projects which further damage the club. Supporters' money will flow into the club when those who are currently destroying it are gone. If the current Board members want to save the club, they know what they have to do. They should have done it long ago. Withholding money will maybe help concentrate their minds. I'm withholding my money to save the club, not kill it.

But if they didn't understand how strong the backlash would be, doesn't that show just how out of touch they are? If they couldn't anticipate the backlash, then it suggests they are unlikely to have identified the problems this plan will create.

True. But if you stay, you are bound by the corporate rules of accountability and have to support the policy in public. There has to be a limit of how much you are prepared to compromise your principles. If you can't win your fight from the inside you need to take it outside.

Absolutely! You would think that would be the case. But was it? Imagine the scene. Whoever thought it up stands up in the Board room and says "I've had a great idea guys! Let's move our training base to Kelty!" The rest of the room is not going to say "Great idea!". They are going to say "You can't be serious!". Anyone is going to be sceptical on hearing this: look at the title of the thread! You would have thought that the issues raised on this forum would also have been raised by the Board members on hearing the idea. For the project to be agreed, you would have thought that detail was provided which satisfied the Board members that the positive benefits of the scheme outweighed any negative impact. As you say, the Board are all ICT fans and presumably want what is best for the club. So, given the massively negative reaction to the statement and the national ridicule it has received, why have they have not provided some detail from the analysis to allay the concerns? It is very hard to see any positives but very easy to identify a host of negatives. We have not had a peep from the club since this bombshell hit us. It is shameful. Just what is going on?

I don't think that is the plan, but it may be the consequence.

This is such a controversial issue, that if any of the Board members were not in agreement with the majority decision and can't persuade their colleagues of the error of their ways, they should resign. If they were in agreement, then why? When it seems that just about everyone thinks the plan is absurd for a wide range of reasons, what is it that convinces the Board members that it is a good idea? The club statement says very little and there has been no subsequent attempt made to answer any of the concerns. The only issue the statement refers to is the difficulty in persuading players to move from the central belt - a fact we are all perfectly well aware of already. The proposed solution to the perceived problem looks unlikely to attract the calibre of player we would like, whilst actually making it far more difficult to attract players through the routes which have, over the years, produced our best and longest serving players. Board member Scott Young is the clubs designated Supporter Liaison Officer. Scott did have the guts to be out and about and chatting to fans both before and after the Hamilton game and that was appreciated by fans. So please Scott, will you do some more liaising now and address the numerous concerns voiced on this site and elsewhere?

Never thought I would say it, but I am coming round to the same point of view. My view has been that whilst I may disagree with much of what the management are doing, it is important to support our team on the park. The team on the park should be the focal point of the club, but if these awful plans get implemented, the players on the park will have very little to do with the club or the area in which it is in. They will live and train down south and be bussed to and from the stadium every 2 weeks like a bunch of mercenaries. They won't be OUR team. Why should I pay money to fund something I strongly disagree with? My season ticket money (and more) will be available to the club when those who are currently ruining the club are out of the door.

Tornagrain.

Nobody is disputing that it is hard to get players from the central belt to move to Inverness. But given that our previous success has generally been achieved with very few central belt players, that fact that central belt based players don't want to move here is simply not the massive problem that the club are making it out to be. But however big the problem actually is, adopting a model which relies on recruiting central belt based players who don't want to live in Inverness, whilst effectively precluding players who do want to live in Inverness, does not seem to be the solution.

No we can't! Why would any central belt player choose to join a club which requires players to face a 3 hour journey to play "home" games followed by a 3 hour journey back - in the middle of winter? We will only be able to attract central belt players who can't get a contract at a club which is based in the area where the ground is. And we might not be able to afford to offer them as much as we would if we were based at home. Apart from the significant loss of gate money that this absurd plan will result in, there will be significant additional costs in hiring the facilities at Kelty and in relocation and travelling costs. More importantly, this move will likely mean we can only sign central Scotland based players. Players who are currently based in Inverness won't want to move South in order to play for Inverness! The idea is preposterous. Players from elsewhere are not going to relocate to the central belt to be close to the training facilities of a club which is actually located 3 hours away. We will be a team stuffed with central belt rejects with no connection with Inverness and who will be off as soon as they get a better offer. The absurdity of this is compounded by the fact that central belt players have never featured particularly strongly in Inverness teams over the years. Dip into your copy of "Milestones and Memories" and look at the biographies of the 25 players who made the most appearances for the club up to 2019. Only 3 came to us from central belt teams (Barry Wilson, Bobby Mann and Mark Brown. Also, Mike Teasdale came to us from Dundee but he was from Elgin and wanted to play closer to home. We had 2 or 3 from Aberdeen (e.g. Dennis Wyness) but most were either local or were signed from English clubs. Other key players for us over years who didn't make the list include David Raven, Jonny Hayes, Adam Rooney and, of course, Billy Mckay, who were all signed from English clubs, and local talent in the form of Ryan Christie and Mark Ridgers. Of course "Milestones and Memories" is a great reminder of all the brilliant achievements of this club before Gardiner arrived. Top of the list has to be winning the Scottish Cup. It is worth noting that only one of the entire matchday squad (Danny Devine) joined us from a Central Belt club. Our club has never relied upon Central Belt players for its success and there is no reason why it should now. To embark on a strategy which will likely mean we can only recruit Central Belt players, and then only those who can't get a contract elsewhere, seems to me to be the height of folly.

The club's statement says "For the avoidance of any doubt we absolutely intend to continue to develop our own homegrown Highland boys and we will take the appropriate steps to make sure that by being creative, innovative and practical, they do not miss out on the chance to have a pathway to first team football with their team." What it doesn't say is what those "appropriate steps" will be. Presumably this is because they simply don't know. The reality is pretty stark. Any young lad with the talent to break through to the level where training with the first team squad will be required to train 135 miles from their home. It is impractical for them to be travelling up and down the road every day, so what other options are there? Will they be provided with overnight accommodation for 3 or 4 nights a week? Do they move to Fife and, if so, who pays for that? Do they stay in Inverness and look to find a place at County or one of the Highland league clubs? Or do they just pack it in? The one option that is not open for them, is to continue to live at home with their families and play for the club they have grown up with and want to play for. No prizes for guessing where the most talented youngsters in the Highlands will be heading to now. What the statement doesn't say, is how long this arrangement will last. There is nothing to suggest this is a temporary arrangement and therefore we must assume the club intend this to be the permanent model for our club. So what sort of player will we attract? Rejects who want to be somewhere else would be my view. For example, imagine you had payed for Dundee Utd, live in Dundee but had been released as being not quite up to Premiership level. You get an offer from ICT and a similar one from Dunfermline, what do you do? For me it would be a no brainer. At Dunfermline you would be part of a local community with team mates who live in the area. You would regularly be in and out of the club and get to know all the folk who work behind the scenes. You would be playing in front of a decent sized crowd, You would feel much more of a part of the club. In short, you would have a sense of belonging. Sign for ICT and what do you get? Team mates who would rather be somewhere else and who will be off as soon as they get a better offer; no connection with the city where your "home" ground is; little connection with the wider club personnel; a 3 hour journey to travel to "home" games where you are playing in front of a handful of spectators. Yesterday, several former players were talking about the things that bond players together to make a good team. All of those factors will be missing. The reality will be that we will only be able to attract players who can't get a contract elsewhere. Are we really going to assemble a better team based in Kelty than we could up here? I very much doubt it. Even if we do attract a handful of good players, I doubt we will ever build a good team. I don't want to watch players who would rather be somewhere else. This may be our club, but it won't be our team.

Will the Caley Club be big enough to accommodate all who want to attend? If not, I believe there is a function room at Kelty FC which could be used.

It's not just that it is an insane decision, it is the way it it has been communicated. Even if it was a very sensible decision, moving the training base to the central belt, with all the downsides that are involved, should only be done with regret. To announce the move up front with "delight" is crass, ignorant and insensitive. It is further evidence that those responsible have absolutely no concept of the community values of OUR club. This crisis has to result in change in the leadership at the club. After the relegation statement I commented that they have ripped the heart and soul out of our club. Today they have ripped the liver and spleen out too.

They don't even keep their website remotely up to date. Liam Delgarno resigned from the Board back in December.

Jeez! Things must be really bad! Joking aside, I hope many more will join too. Quietly or otherwise. The Supporters Trust has to be the route through which the views of fans are heard. Scot Gardiner used to tell me that the Supporters Trust would not have any credibility unless it had a membership of at least 20% of the number of Season Ticket holders. The way things are going, the number of season ticket holders will be struggling to reach 20% of the number of Supporters Trust members.

In his very belated statement to fans regarding our relegation, the Chairman said "Your commitment to the Club is an inspiration and one of the foundations that will support us going forward." If there was even a scrap of sincerity in that statement, he would have sounded out how fans would react to such an idea. The incompetence of the leadership in this club is truly breathtaking.

Hamilton is just over an hour up the motorway for Q.O.S and so, whilst not ideal, is very doable for a there and back in a day on a fairly regular basis. Inverness to Kelty is more than twice that time. Not great for a winter commute - especially with the hold ups with all the work going on to dual the A9! On the plus side, it will be handy for the Chairman to pop by from time to time to see how the guys are getting on.

When the Board talk of unity, what they mean is that the supporters should meekly accept and support whatever decisions the club makes.

You may well be right. But if you are, then they need to call a different tune.

Charles has rightly pointed out previously that you can't simply sack the Board unless you have others primed to take over and put the money in that the current Directors have over the years. For that reason and because he has been a long term fan and, as Fraz points out, has the best interests of the club at heart, I would not object to Morrison remaining on the Board. I do, however, think that there is an urgent need for him to be replaced as Chairman. He alienated a lot of the local community over his role in the concert company and has repeated that with his mishandling of the Battery Storage project. His credibility is shot and the club is not going regain the trust and support of the local business community or the Highland Council whilst he remains at the helm. The club has 6 other directors on the Board. They also have to take responsibility here as decisions taken in the past will have been collective ones. It is high time they stopped passively acquiescing to the Chairman and CEO and showed some collective leadership to address the real issues.

Charlie's comments aren't exactly following the corporate line. I hope he is not speaking out like this now because he knows he and the youth set up at the club are going to victims of the structural reorganisation.

The club has never been very forthcoming about ST sales although I think Scott Young may have given a figure recently at a Supporters Trust meeting. I think it was somewhere in the region of 1300 but hopefully someone can give a more accurate figure. Inevitably there will be some who will not renew in any case, simply because we are slipping down a level . Also, I assume there will be a price reduction at the lower level. So, for the sake of argument, if the average ticket price was £250 and 1000 people bought season tickets, there would be an income of £250k from season tickets. I have always been in the camp of saying that a boycott would harm the club. I'm really not so sure now. There are clearly a lot of people saying they will not renew whilst the CEO remains in post. Collectively we have the power to withhold his wages till he is gone. Hopefully the Board will come to their senses before a boycott is necessary but if not, a season ticket boycott could be a powerful tool to knock some sense into them.

I expect the restructuring to consist of getting rid of things and people who are good for the club and retaining those responsible for getting us into this mess. It's time for the other directors to make a stand and prove me wrong.

Have we been paying Dodds too?