Northern_jaggie

I think that the usual process of things has let us down and the club have to take a sweeping action, forced by the SFA to try and resolve the issue. If the flare issue was solved through legal investigation and prosecution led by the police If the D&E coaches issue was solved through private civil action and; If any offensive behaviour was dealt with by stewards throwing folk out....then the club wouldn't have to alienate the few vocal fans on the right side of the law. I feel for the club as it's a very difficult situation to be in.

If I was in charge of the team I'd leave out both Vigurs and Polworthless for a few games. Their constant involvement grates on me and I think the way they play has strong positives, it also has many outweighing negatives. The very first thing a midfielder needs to do is to protect the team and the mindset of these two leaves us short in this department. This is why we will miss big Drapes so much.

It's a very sad state of affairs at the moment and fair play to County in signing big Drapes. A lot of fans have seen the decline of our club manifested in a number of ways and have actively voiced their concerns to those connected to the club both privately and publicly. It's been a huge frustration for us and it's only because we're hurting that we are so passionate. We, the fans, are fickle and if Robbo can do something this season we will return in numbers because that's the way it works. Being dramatic on this forum and with our fellow fans helps put pressure on those in charge but since we are in a period of managerial flux then it is wasted energy at the moment until we see how things play out. In summary, lets cool off and see what the current setup yields.

Jake wasn't a bad apple so why is there such a major drama over him?? By all accounts he is a decent chap and figured quite prominently in Ritchies team during the run in. Imagine a fit Aaron and Jake on the wings, we would run riot next year in the Championship.

TopSix, i applaud you for offering solutions to the problem. It is very easy to criticise others as some posters do here, but if we all had your philosophy of positive thinking then it can only help progressive thinking. Green dot for you Sir.

Very decent write up hislop, I disagree with your management selection and the bad apples comments but I think the rest is well put!

Way off topic but how good does the development league setup look? One for another day. . . Sheerin plus experience (Malpas) for me. Although Peanut plus Barry Wilson / Robson gives me the nostalgia tingles I cant ignore.............!!

I was probably over critical of hospitality at our patch given it's been a number of years (3 or so) since I've been at TCS. It was a pie on a plate and drinks until half time when I went. Circa £120 for the hospitality ticket was why I didn't take it up this year. I see E1s post as an attempt to bring some positive suggestions to our situation which is exactly what I was trying to do by suggesting a hotel/bar at the stadium. As I said the figures are wild guesses which can't be relied upon but come on Charles, to pick up on that detail and not acknowledge the Kilmarnock parallel makes you seem negative. Your response reeks of the exact same mist of "it'll never work, what we have is what we have" philosophy that decision makers at our club employ which has led to our overall decline on an off the park. I don't see one visionary proposal, what do you think about the puddle in the pie queue?

Have you been to County for hospitality before? On the hotel/bar idea; if it is £80k per medium scale 25m2 hotel room we could have a 20 bedroom hotel and appealing bar facility for circa £1.6m. If 20 rooms were filled 300 days of the year that's around £0.5m per year and a three to four year simple payback. Be more ambitious - Killies investors raised £6.4m Finance raised through community share offer and loans. I've not guessed the IRR/NPV of this but it would be pretty decent, especially if we own enough land to do it and the term is 10 years. Now don't read too much into these figures but the club could at least draw up a brief and tender the costs, and gauge public finance/loan possibilities. Finance is possible to get hold of if you have a robust business case demonstrating a low risk investment opportunity to the banks. What I am saying is that no one at the club seems to have the ability to investigate these types of avenues. Obviously the facility would look to offset matters on the park with its profits to improve the overall club generally. Look at how the Park Hotel helped balance the books at Kilmarnock?? They CLEARLY have a more competent board and management framework. The club in my opinion needs to have a working group set up to charter the business direction and look at all of the clubs in the SPFL and what they are doing right - Killie's hotel, Youth system, branding, match experience etc etc. We need to keep being progressive because all I see is a club going backwards.

I wouldn't trust fans donating £200k to the club given the state of decline and management. If I did donate it would be good to address: An ineffective youth system Relying on journeyman footballers The puddle in the pie queue The embarrassing portakabin shop The embarrassing scaffold towers A review of hospitality More pleasant shop staff Better parking Community facilities to generate revenue, such as a pay to play Astro, indoor recreational area, restaurant or accommodation Better transport links to the stadium Paint for the orange stadium stanchions Automated turnstiles to save on staff costs and make entry easier Better pre match entertainment If we knew exactly what we were getting in something tangible then it would probably help greatly.

The concern from me is that unless us fans are fully bought into what the club propose to do next year, attendances will suffer as a result. We need to be excited and positive about starting next season and under the current set up i and others certainly are not.

I've got no time for this behaviour and no sympathy either.

I read recently about IPOs assisting in clarity of how clubs are run/governance issues. There is never really a financial or even performance improvement in sides floated on the stock market due to the volatility of football as an investment but this would not be the purpose of the action. Arguably though, an IPO forces clarity on club issues and if there is a problem everyone will know about it. Equally if there isn't a problem, it endorses the good work of those doing a good job.

The P&L account would be key to understanding how sustainable the clubs finances are. Is there any reason why these are not made public?

So merger with County to pool resources?

Have a read of this; http://www.scottishsupporters.net/fan-representation/fan-ownership-in-scotland/ Given we don't have a sugar-daddy like County, why do we persist with the current board set up? Caley Jags Together seems like a ready-made solution to put forward for this model. Presumably a few fans with the time could take a salary to fund the governance of the thing. We have a so-called long standing attendance problem due to a disconnect with the Invernesian population and what better way to tackle it. It would be interesting to talk to other clubs to see if it works in practical terms.

I would have much preferred watching 11 U21 Squad players giving their all than (mainly) the journeymen we dredge from down south. I really liked Charlie's vision for the future and his outlook for the club. 7th-10th in the SPL on a regular basis with solid cup runs and occasional forays into the top six would be a sustainable model provided we have a throughput of home grown, value added talent. It's easier to love local lads which connects the club to the city. He is absolutely spot on in saying that when you import up to 28 players at some point your luck will run out because you have scouted duds.

The way Terry and Mo left us shouldn't be forgotten, there wasn't an ounce of dignity in the way they acted. I'm not saying people returning to their old jobs is a bad thing (in fact it can be a great boost!), but they completely sh@t on us and I dislike that. The fact Mo is back doesn't sit well with me.

Can we talk a bit about the structure of decision making? I.e. Bottom level is; Manager then; ?? then; ?? we need to understand who makes the decisions and who is in charge of the money. Please can everyone contribute to the club structure for decision making? The stakeholders have to be; manager, share holders, chairman, commercial manager, board members. Lets talk about who makes money flow where and why.

I have the energy to lead...if you know what I mean

I nearly spat my tea when I heard he was captain

He initially joined Motherwell as assistant manager to former coaching colleague Terry Butcher. Malpas became Motherwell manager in May 2006, following Butcher's departure to coach Sydney FC.[4] He left the club in June 2007 after one season in charge, having taken the team from a comfortable mid-table position to one that narrowly avoided relegation.[5] Malpas became caretaker manager of the Scotland under-21 team in August 2007, but missed out on the permanent position to Billy Stark. In January 2008, Malpas became manager of Swindon Town after the takeover of the club by local businessman Andrew Fitton,[6] replacing former Dundee United team-mate Paul Sturrock. Malpas was sacked by chairman Andrew Fitton on 14 November 2008 after a poor run of results and shock exits in the FA Cup to Histon and in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy within a week. He joined Terry Butcher again as assistant, this time at SPL club Inverness Caledonian Thistle [In May 2009, Inverness were relegated from the Scottish Premier League]. In 2013, Malpas moved with Butcher to Hibernian, rejecting the chance to manage Inverness.[7] Butcher and Malpas both left Hibernian in June 2014, after the club had been relegated from the Scottish Premiership.[8] HE IS NOT THE MAN TO SAVE US!!

Soul destroying loss for us which makes it hard to rally behind the cause. I used to be Ritchie's most vocal supporter but the candle is burning very dimly indeed now. My view of the board role in all this is a poor one, it's almost like the parachute payment is what they're after.

What did people think about the defensive showing against County? How about Gary?

Gary Warren is having a poor time of it