Elgin1

Yeah, totally echo your sentiments. All the best to the big man and lovely parting comment when he said that he would not rule out coming back one day to ict. Maximum Respect

1 hour ago, Northern_jaggie said:

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.

Very interesting business model. It still boils back to getting corporate businesses/fans/ict employees to become stakeholders and multiple looking term working groups being set up to achieve these goals. From what I have heard from the majority of other fans, food very mediocre for price. People will pay more lavishly for the experience. I am sure things will become more optimistic and positive soon, relative to county, revamp the fans sport lounge and make bigger and upgrade the shop to incorporate the wow factor in both cases. A hotel for away fans/business functions  on the reclaimed land near the stadium could be an adventurous long term corporate venture

3 hours ago, rebelwithoutaclue said:

Elgin1 you clearly have more money than sense.  Lots of ways the club is already willing to take your grand.  Sponsor player, matches, hospitality, buy all the halftime draw ticks etc. IMO something has just not been quite right in terms of the club marketing / experience to make the best of this.  I'd be more inclined to sign up to something like you suggest if it was financing support services at club. Or here's a novel idea why not just cut the playing side wage bill to align with normal jobs and save us all some money. (Really not keen on putting my handing my pocket to pay off failure at the moment.).

Lol, yes my wife would definately agree with you on the sense bit! I see a working philosophy everyday in my job which is humbling and satisfying. Make pupils feel important, hard wire into the parental community and make people feel included and important and results/change follow. This is a whole new generation coming through, but the fan voice at some level needs to echo to the  ears of those higher up at ict. Does anybody know what percentage of total funds for the club is generated through the fan base? Sorry for my ignorance. Also, with a multitude of posh car garages just next door in the long man, I can't remember seeing any of them advertising?

25 minutes ago, old caley girl said:

School get free tickets. A lot were distributed for last Sat for instance. 

Yeah I'm not sure how much schools do, I do know we grt lots of free tickets for international rugby matches but never heard for football. Guess even if free, the money for merchandise will follow. I could easily get 50 kids from my classes to go to a game. Why doesn't caley have an electronic score board? Additional revenue through pulse advertising I've seen, read can be quite lucrative. Nobody from Fochabers way? Free tickets throughout year would be better, like late rooms, why have empties making no money. I'm not a season ticket holder, but after pay for ten games, free entry for a mate? Think website needs a huge overhaul. Are fans on a group at the club for relaying ideas?

Yep, all very interesting slants on the thread. Ownership, stakeholders is a huge issue across the board in working life. With fans having shares, surely it can only stimulate interest and pride for both parties. Being a teacher, going back to grass roots could be beneficial. I teach in a secondary school of nearly 1000 in Elgin, Inverness must have about three or four secondaries, add all the feeder primaries, wow that's a whopper of a lot of future, loyal cash injecting fans! I think you got to hook those 14/15 year old bracket and concentrate the passion. Is the creator of this amazing forum on any ict groups at the club?

Yep bdu08196, sustainability and the long term plan is priority. An iniative to get the empty seats filled with eventually charging concessions with increased amounts each year could work. My gut feeling is that it just takes a new, creative way of promoting as am I right in thinking the Motherwell fan base Is not too different from ours. Can I ask you please, would it be a miracle for us to return to top floor get after a year and how can me mr foran say we could retain 10 out of 11 players on last day if go inance Is such an issue? 

Ps Do any caley fans here live Fochabers way for car share?

Hey Gringo bud, thanks for educating me and I take your point totally. I just thought from a purely naive point of view that it might be a helpful catalyst to get things going. 

Aghh thanks kingsmills for that response, much appreciated. Very good points and thank you for acknowledging my suggestion on this forum, really nice to see. 

Hi caley girl, thank you for your positive response, much appreciated. I am very solution orientated, hence why I'm a teacher! Very useful, didn't know that existed. I would be prepared to inject a grand, but there would need to be a substantial number of others.  

Ps what does a red dot mean in a forum?

So, I would like to bring up a helping solution/topic of discussion for ict, maybe you think it's crazy, maybe not, maybe it's not even a possibility.  I know nothing about generation of fan financial assistance, but can a fan base for a club offer support on a lump sum assisstance basis. Speaking out loud, how many fans would generate say a grand each into the kitty.

1 hour ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Well what a loss and feck aff back to Hellgin. At least we will never be that bad to get beat there

Lol! :):):):)

19 hours ago, Scarlet Pimple said:

Then cast your mind back to earlier days when fans were saying .." It's so refreshing now that  Richie's style of attacking play is so different from that of J Hughes."  What has happened to change these feelings I wonder? I've seen some great football on some of  the highlights so why is all lost in the minds of the moaners and groaners?

Truly, is it really ALL Mr. Foran's fault?

 Or are the players, perhaps,  not buying into his instructions because they are not taking him seriously or don't fear or respect him as much as they should  because they think he is still a rookie manager? Isn't this as much of a major change for them as it is for Richie Foran?  Going from Hughes to Foran is like going from the ridiculous to the ...?

Or is it forgotten that the team has suffered some major, devastating and team upsetting injuries this season which have thrown them right off  track? Which, in turn, has now sadly affected their confidence and the fluidity of the team? And the team has suffered some bad luck also, e.g.  penalties not given by refs when they should have been, etc., this season. So the team as a whole is probably down and disjointed at this point and not liking it any more than the fans.

Thus is it not the time to really get behind the team and be fair to Richie by at least allowing him one full season at the helm before calling for his head on a platter? Without the backing of the fans he's like the players brought in who don't get a chance to play and remain on the sidelines or on the bench etc., so never get the chance to develop and boost their confidence levels. So his head is going down ( post match interviews) and you can't blame him for that in my mind?  All of which seems to me to be counterproductive in terms of training the employees to be ready for the inevitable injuries and bad breaks that come with the territory and leads to the undermining of the team's solidarity and so on.

And who is to say that any other Manager would be able to make that much of a difference, better  than what we are  encountering in the present situation, than the man in charge right now? The Board is NOT going to sack Richie just because the team gets relegated so any chance of having him dumped before the end of the season is fantasy.  Financially alone  that would not be a wise decision and  we all did previously realise that he was not a fully experienced Manager so we had to expect the possibility that this might not be the most successful season ever? Do you think it is possible that the Management did not understand the possible negative consequences of the appointment as well? Of course they did  but I feel sure that they also did understand the possibility of future success with Richie once he DID have experience and that was reason enough  to award him a four year contract  because they knew that  Rome wasn't built in a day, funds were dangerously low in the club and he was committed to living and working  in Inverness over a long  term---not like previous Managers whose loyalties lay in self promotion, self advantage and self aggrandisement.

Seriously min, less of the moaners and groaners! Pretty obvious from yesterday's tactics that a  continued use of failed formations or lack of them are giving us no points. You're living  on cloud 9 if you think some tightening of the defence will make much difference. Hello championship, I'm out of here.

We are relying on some second place players from last season that never had the quality for the first team. Absolutely dire! Raven was well below par against Forres Mechanics. We're a joke just now. Hughes would attract players up here due to his pedigree, who will want to come and take a chance on a rookie manager. That team would struggle in the tier below them. I expect some mouthy comments, but I'm not really fussed. Foran needs to go, a more experienced manager needs brought in sooner than later and budgets need to be realigned and some quality found. Damage limitation. That teams never going to work in a million years, rubbish! I'm out if here.

Elgin 1 isn't on a wind up, just trying to make some humour towards a potentially disappointing season. Financially, there are always new models that can be tried and I don't buy this notion that there is no money, yes less, but not zero. One option is for example is the reclaimed land that lies towards the Moray Firth edge. When I went to Millburn a while ago now, sewage issues were hampering building rights. ICT own a large share in this I believe as any future housing estates have to be of a limited distance from the stadium and they are afforded royalties by highland council. Despite not generating funds immediately, selling might create funds in the long term. With house prices in Inverness being  X 1.35 that of Elgin, could be a handsome pot of footballing gold.

4 hours ago, Kingsmills said:

It is very commendable of you to offer to pay over £40 a ticket to fund additional or better players but the fact is that the vast majority of fans are simply not in a position to make that sort of commitment much as they care for and support the club.

That sort of pricing would result in crowds in the hundreds rather than thousands. If you personally feel like it you could always by a second ticket and donate it to someone who could not otherwise afford to attend. That way you would be spending the forty odd pounds you are prepared to pay, the club would get some extra cash and some deserving person would benefit.

Aye, take your point cove, but where's my extra 20 pound/ ticket or extra say 350 pounds a year going to go? Are you going to draft in a 6th pupil from Millburn Academy school footy team - might give us more width afterall as would be a smaller player :)

I think we are all entitled to our opinion, there's no right or wrong formula and we need to respect that. Would I pay over 40 pounds for a ticket to generate more collateral to bring better players, sure would! At the crux of it, was the lack of communication amongst the Caley players I saw at firhill. Patrick doubled up on our wingers brilliantly, can hardly recall Tremarco making a surging run at all, he was a lost shadow. Warren always impresses me, solid and a natural motivator. I'm going with my gut feeling and as a collective assembly of players (as a cohesive team against stronger opposition), we lack width, creativity and fire power in the final third. Long ball after wasted long ball after wasted long ball after wasted long ball. 

1 hour ago, TheMantis said:

Nah, James Taylor is more like his era

Yeah, my great grandad liked him to :)

34 minutes ago, AlexJones said:

Stay calm and believe in Richie. Alloa were always going to be a potential banana skin, especially on their astro turf pitch. Lower division teams are much more professional and technical than back in the day. Losing is disappointing, but hardly a fiasco. When we reached the Final of this competition recently, we did so only after scraping past Stenhousemuir on Penalties. Success and failure in Scottish football comes down to fine margins. Individual results mean little in isolation, it's long term trends that matter, and we don't have enough data to assess Richie yet.

As for the benching of Draper, I can recall him taking pelters for being worse than the proverbial man short in our opening games last season, particularly against Astra. People were even calling for Wedderburn to play ahead of him. Players have pre-season programmes tailored to their individual physiological requirements, it might just be that big Drapes is a naturally slow starter. Perhaps this is why he's being eased into competitive action. The insinuation that he's simply out of favour doesn't hold water. Foran will be fully aware he's the lynchpin of our team having played alongside him for years. Don't panic!  

 

Mmmm, very diplomatic and analytical my friend. I think you should contact Richie and be on his coaching team  :)

7 minutes ago, TheMantis said:

Nah, James Taylor is more like his era

Yeah, my great grandad liked him to :)

Does it honestly matter if a manager stays for four years or a manager stays for a year or two and leaves, it's the results that matter. Point here is I guess, Richie is an intelligent and formidable player, can't see him not learning quickly  from his one league cup game hiccup so far. Anyone know where Muttombya is these days?

44 minutes ago, Kingsmills said:

We need a bit of perspective. Without doubt, the last two results have been disappointing and some aspects of play have been concerning.

However, we have a young manager learning his trade and what's more a man who is committed to the city, with his family based in Inverness, and also fully committed to the club unlike his predecessor towards the end of his increasingly divisive tenure.

Our competitive record so far this season, albeit largely against lower league opposition, is P7 W3L2D1 with 15 goals for and 7 against.

Our opponents on Saturday have had a far worse start to the season than us so the opportunity is there for a large and vocal derby support to get fully behind the team and the manager and get our league campaign up and running.

What I would say is that if we are struggling by mid November there may be some merit in rejigging the coaching set up and bringing in a shrewdly experienced assistant in the mould of Donald Park. However, by then these teething problems may be behind us and such a move will hopefully be unnecessar

Hee hee, hope you're not a Taylor Swift fan min!

56 minutes ago, standbydave said:

In reply to Elgin 1 just when did he see Devine as the playmaker. Said player must have had a real smirk across his face the weekend

Yeah, I meant Danny Williams - well spotted. I know the money thing is same old, same old, but how much was Hugh's on compared to Foran. Agreed Richie is committed to the Highlands, but commitment in any profession doesn't ensure you have quality at a time when you need it. So don't buy that one. Commitment to improve in your trade and stay is a different thing, as long as you improve. It's a really poor choice to leave out Draper, it's an insult to that stalwart in the game. I actually thought he was injured. It's not about who is coming in at this point, it's the dynamics of the team and communication that's the current issue.

I think an earlier point made, was a good one. Too many players of the same style are on, Tansey, Polworth etc and up to four at once. We have sold all our creative playmakers like Devine, Muttumbo and storey was a golden gem at the goal. I'm personally not vindicating Richie as he is still a legend and always will be, it's the blend of talent we have. Too many of our players show flashes of greatness at times, but can't sustain it.

I'm still sticking to age as factor with some in terms of quality being sustained over 90 minutes. I'm bored already watching the style of play, a premiership team that is looking like a division or two below. Muttumbo had you on edge to watch and too many mistakes at times, but he spread the ball brilliantly. Boden looks like so far that unless he is getting quality delivery, his head goes down with irritation pretty quick. Can't see how that team as it is can gel, Mulraney is young and hugely talented, but his finishes are awful and snapshots at goals. Where are a lot of goals going to come from? answer - no where.

What is the exact financial situation at Caley thistle, are we going to be in the survival/ relegation dogfight for a season, then spend next season, a precarious stance. Let's be honest, Rangers with waghorne or not are looking pretty tastey and will knock us down a place most likely. I say make the delicious  Caley thistle steak pies even better, double them up to the players at half time and more forward momentum towards the posts will get more goals surely. Six pies/game means a top six finish.

1 hour ago, forresjags said:

Excellent point ,time for the board to step up and show Richie some support

Doesn't matter whether Richie needs time or not to prove himself; he is very well respected by fans and management. Evidence so far to me suggests that the team are pretty poor against the big boys. Partick well deserved to beat us, I was at the game and they had a younger pacy team who were playing more like our style last season. It's fair to see we played like a joke in the second half, didn't have a system and forgot to switch the ball. Draper is pivotal going forward, let Mulraney just run as he does brilliantly and draw the free kicks. My concern lads even though it is early days is a lot of our players are on the older side, not enough quality in bench to fill in for injuries. Spending needed now or I would say bottom 4.

Yeah good point, guess it just takes one Mutumbo moment to get the decisive winner. Guess it's not knowing what you are going to get from him in a particular game. From what I saw in the last ten games of the season, thought he was more useless with the ball than useful. Granted though, will be interesting to see if he can sustain a higher level of fitness.

Yeah good point huisdean, I forgot about the amalgamation, inverness Caley Thistle. I personally would not keep mutumbo, he's a wild card and despite being a playmaker and amazing in moments of brilliance, he's got a volatile attitude with former clubs and lacks ball intelligence.