DoofersDad

Just out of interest, I Googled what the price of a pint is at the bar at Ross County.  The AI generated summary is as follows!

"While the exact, up-to-the-minute bar prices at Ross County FC's stadium, Victoria Park, aren't readily available online, it's possible to find some general information. For example, one recent testimonial event mentioned that a pint of Dog Falls beer was priced at £5 according to CaleyThistleOnline, and Bar 94 would be open with the "usual range of products". The MacLean Suite is also mentioned as a hospitality option with access to a bar." 

1 hour ago, big cherly said:

Popped down this afternoon to buy a ticket for Aaron Doran’s testimonial after three failed attempts to buy one via the e-link.

Wasn’t going to miss giving Aaron the well deserved recognition for his long service to the club. One of the most gifted players IMO to pull on a ICT top. 
 

That aside it concerned me a little my failure to get an e-ticket may have been experienced by others, who eventually just gave up. Result - fan for the day and income lost. Never done social media sites but expect hackers are ‘out there’ so that might trigger some access restriction? Just raising it as I’m sure it will be experienced by others when wanting to buy a ST or just a single match ticket. Don’t know what is possible to remedy or make it simple to get into the matches. Flares and security may have done it for cash turnstiles, but I can’t help feel it’s another turn off for potential fans (income). 

PS looking forward to a long awaited ICT - RC derby again (even a so called friendly). 

Finally - Thank you Aaron!
bc

I also had a problem online several days ago and went down to the stadium to get my ticket.  I had a message on the ticketing site saying "Your Browsing Activity Has Been Paused.  We've detected unusual behaviour on either your network or your browser". It then gave 3 totally inappropriate options to resolve it.   It blocked me from logging out so had to close the window.  Happened both on phone and PC.  The club were aware there was a problem. Once I had a purchased a physical ticket I was then able to access my on-line account OK.  

I would hope that nobody would have been put off buying a ticket if they have also experienced a problem as Aaron deserves a good turnout.  Looking forward to him scoring against County again tomorrow.

1 hour ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

Make sure you go to the right event 

https://circusvegasuk.com/locations/inverness/

Venue: Caledonian Thistle FC
SAT NAV: IV1 1FF
Opening Period: Fri July 4th to Wed July 9th 2025

Showtimes:

Fri July 4th…… 7pm ONLY
Sat July 5th… 2pm, 5pm & 7.45pm
Sun July 6th… 2pm & 5pm
Mon July 7th… 3pm & 7.30pm
Tue July 8th… 3pm & 7.30pm
Wed July 9th… 12 Noon & 3pm

They have their own big top.  So I'm guessing that car parking might be quite limited that afternoon...

... and there was me thinking we'd got rid of the clowns for good!

4 hours ago, ICTPaisley said:

Let’s all head to Bucharest in July for a reunion. 
 

The cup final was amazing but as someone said earlier, it was hard to enjoy with what was at stake being the favourites. The pinnacle for me was that trip to play Astra.

We've fallen a long way since those heady days, but not as far as Astra.  They were dissolved in 2022 after their owner was jailed for money laundering the year before. If ever there was a lesson on the importance on basing the club's future on a secure financial footing ...  

1 hour ago, The Mantis said:

The 5 fingers on his right hand. 

I hope not.  Not if they are 5 mutual friends of Scotty!

Many of the most memorable games in our club's history have been in the later stages of the various cup competitions.  To be in the later stages of a cup, you need to win in the earlier stages.  I therefore like to support the team in the early rounds.  The challenge cup is also a great opportunity to get an early look at new players and how the team is shaping up.  

3 hours ago, Yngwie said:

I would suggest that the keeper resorted to desperate measures because it WAS a clear goalscoring opportunity into an open goal.

Absolutely!  And if he thought the ball was within his area, he would have clutched it with both hands.  It is hard to imagine a much clearer goal scoring opportunity than Haaland would have had.  Perhaps VAR were confusing Haaland with Hojlund, in which case they might have been justified in thinking there was little chance of him scoring. 

Glad that Palace won though.  Love to watch Eze play.

Big Dunc's comments about our club and the fans show him as a little man in terms of taking responsibility for his own failings.

He criticises the club's facilities as a disgrace, and whilst we all know they are pretty poor, he should have ensured he knew what facilities the club had before he took the post.  Or was he just so desperate for a job that he didn't even bother to find out the first thing about the club before taking the money?

He criticises the fans for not liking his style of football.  He suggests we would rather see a caber being tossed but that he likes his teams to play football.  Well, the problem was that the fans want to see a footballing team and we weren't getting that with his over-emphasis on possession.  Not only has the football been far more entertaining since he left, it has also been far more successful, despite his successor having to lose players due to the administration and having restrictions on what players could be brought in.

He also criticises the fans for abuse of his son, Cameron.  Now, I don't condone the abuse young Cameron got in any way, but he wouldn't have got any abuse if he hadn't have been here.  Big Dunc seems to take no responsibility for his nepotism of putting his son into a team well above the ability of the poor lad.  He wasn't good enough and he shouldn't have been here.

He criticises the Board (fair enough!) but makes absolutely no mention of our former CEO who took the credit for signing Big Dunc and who therefore would have had a responsibility for appraising him of the facilities and circumstances of the club.  It seems Big Dunc isn't big enough to say anything about the person most people feel is most responsible for the club's problems and consequently for his redundancy.

There's a lot of money in football, but much of it ends up going out of football far too soon.  If you are on the National Living wage for your entire working life, you can expect to earn just over £1m in that time.  Top footballers earn more than that in less than a month.  It is absurd.  And over and above their salaries, they will be getting money from marketing deals. What on earth can anyone sensibly do with that kind of money?  I know they have to pay tax and there is always the risk of an early career ending injury, but on a year's salary they can buy and furnish a luxury house and invest the rest to be able live comfortably without having to kick a ball or do a day's work ever again.  Meanwhile, good players in the lower leagues are giving 100% week in, week out for minimum wages at clubs struggling to survive. It really is quite obscene.

I appreciate the value of market forces in an economy, but surely there needs to be some kind of wage cap and mechanism to distribute more money to support football at lower levels.  I know millions of people want to watch wonderful games like Tuesday's game between Inter Milan and Barcelona, but we need to remember that games like that would never happen if the foundations of the game at lower levels were not solid and able to attract young players into the game.

Of course, none of that helps the difficulties at Inverness just now, but it does serve to highlight what has been said above about the need for some financial stability in the club if we are ever to be competitive at the higher levels of Scottish football again.

Given where we were when Scott took over and all the constraints he has faced due to the administration process, to finish 7th is just an absolutely brilliant achievement.  Many congratulations to Scott and all the team and backroom staff for rediscovering the togetherness.

1 hour ago, Yngwie said:

Oh, and are we about to discover that Scot Gardiner placed a pre-order of 50,000 copies for the club shop?! 

That would be 50,000 more copies than he wanted of "Milestones and Memories".

Montrose getting a late equaliser doesn't help either.

Just to think, 10 years ago we were at Hampden beating Celtic 3-2 in the cup semi-final.  What a great day that was!  Maybe in 10 years time we'll be back there and the experience will be all the sweeter for having come through the bad times.

Given that we play all sides twice both home and away, another way of comparing the records of SK and DF is to look at how we did with SK in charge of the corresponding fixtures of the 10 games DF was in charge of at the beginning of the season.  For example, Ist game of the season was a 1-1 draw at Dumbarton, but when we played them away 2nd time round we won 2-0.

So DF's record in his 10 league games this season was: W2, D6, L2, F7, A 7, Pts 12.

In the corresponding fixtures later on, SK's record was:  W5, D2, L3, F14, A 11, Pts 17.

That's probably as good a like for like comparison as we can get, although there will be loads of caveats here as well, no doubt.  You can draw your own conclusions, but I would be very happy to see Scott as the manager next season.

1 hour ago, Charles Bannerman said:

There are bound to be several who have died, especially since most of these shareholders would have bought their allocation 30 years ago, and many would have been middle aged even then.

 

I couldn't make my mind up whether to bequeath my shares to Doofer or to the Supporters Trust.  At least that's one thing I don't need to worry about now!

5 hours ago, CaleyD said:

 

I still believe the Supporters Trust need to hold an EGM to allow members their say.  I don't expect members would prevent handing over the shares and voting rights if needed, but doing things the wrong way for the right reasons is not acceptable because it erodes the same checks and measures that may be required to prevent people from doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons in future.          

 

 

   

It's not just allowing the members to have their say, it is having an opportunity for the Trust Board to explain to members what they plan to do in relation to their shares and their voting rights and for members to ask questions relating to that.  Since Gardiner has gone and is no longer able to obstruct the Trust in all it tried to do, the Trust has been doing a brilliant job in supporting the club.  I hope that they have been having discussions with AS about how they can be involved in the decision making process going forward.    Now that AS has been confirmed as preferred bidder, it might now be appropriate for the Trust say a little bit more than they would have been able to say earlier and an EGM would be a good place to do it.

Like Don, I am not a fan of what is being done  or how it is being done, but I don't see any viable alternative.  I do believe that Alan Savage has the good of the club at heart, but there remains a little niggle that with total control, he could sell out to the likes of Ketan Makwana who, according to the Courier has now appointed a certain Scot Gardiner as one of his specialist Advisors!

16 hours ago, CaleyCanary said:

I’ve not had an email so I expect/hope it’s heading my way via snail mail 

edit: now I’ve read your attachment properly Charles I can see it’s coming in the post -like being back at school and not reading the question properly 😁

Got the email yesterday and the formal letter in the post this morning. 

My concerns about a new stadium would be the size.  If it makes good financial sense to move to the UHI site, then we need a stadium which will accommodate the likely crowds  should  we find ourselves in the top flight at some stage.  There is no reason why we shouldn't, and If league reconstruction increases the number in the top flight, it would be an even more likely scenario.  Even in the 2nd tier, we can expect bigger crowds for cup games from time to time.  I hope that when AS talks about a smaller ground, he is referring to the footprint of the stadium.  A stadium with the same capacity, but with a steeper rake and without all the wasted space between the pitch and the front row of seats would both take up a smaller footprint and provide for a better view and a much better atmosphere.  

Having a much more fan friendly and atmospheric stadium could be a significant factor in attracting more people to come to games and then to persuade them to come more regularly.  The Supporters Trust's Matchday Survey highlighted several factors about our current ground which were felt to be poor.  Fans responding to the survey came up with a wide range of ideas to make the matchday experience better.  So, whether we stay or move, I would urge the future management team to have a good look at the survey and build in some of the ideas to future plans.  Alan, Charlie, in case you haven't seen the survey, you can find the fans' views here.

38 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

That is a sh1te result.

It was a shite performance.  I just hope it won't persuade Alan Savage to withdraw his offer!

Let's hope it was just "one of those days".  That was my first away game for quite a while and it was so disappointing to see such a poor performance from the boys.  Despite disappointing results in the last 2 home games, they played much better in those than in this dismal defeat.  As Scott says, we weren't too bad to start out with and we got into a lead with a smartly worked goal from a quick free kick.  Unfortunately, we conceded a soft goal soon after and from then on Queens seemed to be fired up and our heads went down.  With Savage missing from the back line and Nolan taking a knock and having to be replaced early in the 2nd half, we needed the midfield and front players to step up and keep the ball at the other end.  Instead it was pretty pedestrian stuff with nothing like enough movement or driving forward.  Queens showed them often enough how to do it and were quicker and more positive than us all over the park.  We can maybe moan about the disallowed goal and the failure of the ref to award a stonewall penalty, but the fact is that for the last 60 minutes of the match we were totally outplayed.

I looked over to the technical area and I had this image of Big Dunc standing there in his pullover in the driving rain, hands by his side and making occasional gestures to a player to pass the ball backwards or not to encroach beyond the half way line.  Yes, it really was that bad!

Given where we are, this has to be a welcome development.  It does, however, as CaleyD and Charles point out, raise some significant questions, especially for those of us with little knowledge of business law.

As a minor shareholder, I don't have a problem with losing my shareholding if it helps to save the club.  What I don't understand is why AS feels the need to have 100% of the shares or what the mechanism would be to legally and rapidly, transfer all the shareholding to his new company.  History has shown, that whenever the Board has a vote at the AGM, the vast majority go along with the Board, even though people may have reservations about what the Board is doing.  Given more recent history, shareholders might not be quite so trusting in the future, but with people in charge with a better track record, the Board is still likely to get the benefit of any doubt from shareholders.

If the shares are transferred from Inverness Thistle and Caledonian FC Ltd to the new company, then I am assuming that the club (Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC) and assets also transfer over. This would mean that the current company would cease to trade and the current Directors are history.  If so, then it begs the question of who the Directors of the new  company might be.  I guess much would depend on who is prepared to put money into the club and the discussions AS will have with them and others.

I am sure the Supporters Trust will be in discussion behind the scenes regarding their position.  It seems to me that AS has been working well with the Trust and he has seen first hand the excellent work they have been doing for the club.  There really must be a greater fan influence and input into the club going forward, and therefore I would have though AS's plans should include a stronger position for the Supporter's Trust than his proposals currently suggest.  It would have been good if AS could have said that whilst Board membership will depend on how things progress, it would be his intention to have a Supporter's Trust representative on the Board.

Talking of certainties, Dumbarton are now definitely relegated as their failure to win today means they can't catch Annan.

We've edged a point further away from Annan, which is positive, but after such a bright start it seemed like a defeat when we all trooped out of the stadium.  In truth, we should have scored 4 what with hitting the woodwork twice and missing a penalty.  We could have eased out as comfortable winners but as it was, we were lucky to escape with a draw with Alloa hitting the woodwork and having a goal ruled off towards the end.  Remi's red card will likely have an impact in the games he'll miss, but I think we have enough quality and desire in the team to keep ahead of Annan.

On 2/10/2025 at 8:19 PM, Yngwie said:

James Carragher (at Wigan) has been in talks with the Maltese FA and has now been granted citizenship, opening the door for him to get capped by them.

He’s in the starting lineup for Malta in their World Cup qualifier against Finland tonight. 

Maybe we can get Donald Trump to broker a deal?

1 hour ago, Jack Waddington said:

This club drives me up the walls sometimes...

 

https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/sport/caley-thistle-creditors-willing-to-do-what-is-right-by-the-377209/

So, if the major creditors are "willing to do what is right by the club" and there are potential investors who are not willing to put in an offer because of the level of debts owed to creditors, what's the problem?  What have the administrators been doing for the past few months beyond raking in a lot of Alan Savage's money?  It is surely reasonable for the creditors to be involved in some level of discussion with potential investors. If that were that to happen, then the creditors' stated willingness to write off most of their loans can be put to the test.