Glover

We are only limited by our own imaginations. Some excellent ideas from Alan there, I was not aware of those initiatives.

Maybe he meant former players Wilson, Esson and Tokely...

Club shop and Golden Ticket are initiatives aimed at season ticket holders with kids who will probably be the most valuable spenders. The club is somewhat hampered by the Scottish alcohol laws at stadiums, the distance and the lack of public transport route and indeed, a route. But at a small club it is possible to have 'hospitality-lite' where a second sports bar 'corporate area' could be possible. There does need to be a rethink/dynamism about getting more people in, for longer and spending more as a result of having a thoroughly good time.

I agree, but we need normative-reeducative interventions to get that 1000, they won't just magically change tack.Over to you, ICT board and Supporters Society.

(Exc. cups, solidarity) Prize money was: £1m + 300k parachute end of 16/17 season. End of 17/18 season 230k + 125k parachute. Another season in Championship would be 230k-450k (5th to 2nd) end of this season. Correct the figures if wrong. Even 2nd would more than be swallowed up by player wages, and then non-playing staff wage costs eclipsing season ticket revenue and then some. Have to be promotion, one way or the other, another season in the Championship would need another of the previous outside investor injection or a move to part time.

More on the club website including a photo Congratulations to Scott and to Ryan and Barry.

To reply to IHE's 'vulture' analogy conflating my views with CJTs as 'internal political struggle' and 'divisive' echoed by Cif, as also 'taking a pop' and 'flack' along with making erroneous inferences, and being observed as 'devious and subversive' by Bughtmaster. Firstly, if I am accused of 'taking a pop' or 'giving flak' it is based on evidence. I have given support for my belief through quotes, web links, facts, statistics the whole way through. Any rhetoric beyond that circles back to my belief that there is no reason for fans currently to be positive or encouraging. Again, I gave evidence - through the comparison of ICT to Dundee Utd, Falkirk, Partick and Dunfermline and specifically to a combination of fan involvement on the board and Open Days - and I compared that with the record on ICT and found it to be far far less and yet couldn't reconcile that with the vision set out over a year ago. As for political struggle and CJT. My views are my own. I may be called to account for my stance by the board (whom I have no relationship with, outside of that single first board meeting a few weeks back, whatsoever) and if anyone wishes to contact the Chair or Vice Chair or whoever to say I am overly divisive, devious or subversive, you may do that, and I won't hold any grudge - I am accountable. I have never met or communicated with any ICT board member past nor present so politics or ideology I don't get. Lastly, I have on my own volition acknowledged the club shop, the ticketing gates, the compliance, the need for financial prudence, and the board's achievement of it. I have also recognised the value of differing opinions on this matter and think it is important, healthy, and progressive to have debate. I did make too much of a leap attributing fans being submissive to Cif73 and so that was not accurate and I take that back, If I can. Devious and subversive. I do wish to alter the board's mindset to fan involvement, yes. I'd like to see the Dundee Utd model of fan representation on the board in place but I don't think it's so linear that cuts happen first, then fan engagement second. Or that it takes over a year to begin, I just see it as an MO. I don't feel I've been dishonest or deceitful in my actions, but if you want to hold me to account, have at it.

Example please. Quite the allegation.

It’s all part of good discourse to be debating this as it will truly orient fan stance over this. Yes the board makes business decisions about what it can afford and fund. That is board 101. If we are to judge the board on that, ok, decent marks. The board instruct and oversee a lot of compliance and regulations also, board 101. Would you agree that fan engagement is board 101 in addition?

This is not a pop! The Chairman said himself the vision was to '...restore trust...be more open and transparent...better communication, better collaboration...' and the Pride of the Highlands catchphrase had been tarnished, and the solution was everybody engaged, everybody participating https://stv.tv/sport/football/1395967-new-inverness-chairman-targets-top-flight-return/ Not only has that not materialised it has got worse. Look at the Draper issue. The season ticket pricing last year. Twice the knee-jerk, heavy handed attacks on fans. No progress on the 25th anniversary plans for February, no fan collaboration on that organising committee (in place since February). 6th longest-serving player and captain forced out and when the sage dragged out for a month and was finally settled and he left, fans heard from P&J (with details of the departure). This year the only direct communication from Mr Rae to fans has been a scan of a letter of complaint to the SPFL, to highlight dire finances, and an unacceptable behaviour statement. Indeed that was the last one, three months ago. I'm not sure why your default for fans is to prostrate themselves submissively, I wouldn't do that for any board. They were not invited by the fans, last I heard, and don't seem to be fledgling trainees in need of reassurance. View fans as powerful stakeholders, which they absolutely are (certainly at Dundee Utd they are, and Dunfermline). There has been the club shop and a move to automatic ticketing gates, in a year. Asides from the chairman/board, we have had a CEO in since November but yet again, no engagement, no collaboration, no communication - I am using Mr Rae's words .

I have estimated from secondary data on live events/football/population/ (happy to elaborate...) that of the Inverness population, ICT realistically has a pool of 25,000 who have any interest in football. Of that, how many would attend a game is harder to measure, but in Denmark it's 20-30% who have at attended at least one live sports event - so very top end 7500 - but in England 5-18% for football games, so 4000 for football specifically. Some of those would be drawn away by rival teams but that's where my secondary data dropped off! Very rough accounting btw, but I'd wager it's within 3000-5000 range that could be realistically at games.

The club's statement could be addressed in minutiae but I'd rather focus on this line: His contract, which had one year to run, has been cancelled by mutual consent allowing him to find a new club. I find that to be disingenuous and reminiscent of the Draper transfer request. Anyway, I will draw a line under my issue on this. Mr Rae has achieved his first aim - to get the financial discipline. ICT's budget will be 5th - 7th in the league (after Ross County, Partick, Dundee Utd, Dunfermline) and will be around Falkirk or Morton level. Just above QoS and certainly above Alloa and Ayr. I would say up to date Mr Rae's legacy has been reducing the wage bill but through questionable means. Lets see what else he has up his sleeve from here on forward.

X- Factor comp for a cover of Bring it on home?

Some posters getting a bit carried away on this topic IMO: If it was Elsdon or Fisher I'd agree. with his CV, will easily walk into a well paying coaching or management job...Warren is almost certainly moving on to a lucrative career in coaching: nothing is as conclusive as that in football or in any job these days. A lot of players get their first shot at the club they were playing for when their career ended. If his CV is that good we have made a monumental error, since we have no asst. manager. Rather than dwell on minutia of contract arrangements, public statements, and the like: that is absolutely fine, the board will love that sentiment and would no doubt be happy for fans to limit their interaction to season ticket, shirt, pie, 90 mins, off home. 'Good governance' as a term includes transparency to stakeholders - so by the Chairman's own words at the AGM, fans should be ensuring transparency and that includes dwelling on contract arrangements and timely statements. Also, don't get me started on Dundee Utd's provision for fans - check out their website if you think I'm overreaching here. Fan involvement in clubs is a good thing for all! The Scottish government has been trying to increase it - why would you want to limit it?

Certainly doable, and I will get back to you on that as soon as I consult the group as a whole and have some tangibles to feed back. If you or anyone has ideas I can put that forward too. Thank you for your suggestion.

Many. I went to Caledonian pre-season games in the summer holidays when I was in high school. I’m definitely not no.1 fan though - from a PH postcode and I moved to Glasgow then lived abroad (and kind of still do). I flew over for the board meeting because I am convinced the board are there not only to ensure compliance but also to grow and develop the club in the community and improve fan experience and not always for money upfront - the Chairmen of Dunfermline, Falkirk, Partick know that. ICT25 is a case in point but if the fans are seen only as a resource to be exploited then I would argue that we need to communicate that that is not ok and is not sustainable. Supporters are shareholders, supporters are stakeholders. Its a thread about Gary, so the point made above is good. Be nice if we could do something to say bye from fans - Fisher appreciated the fans at the end of that season for wishing him well (on the pitch - telling off material) and it mitigated his negative feelings a lot. Maybe we could discuss how to do something at whichever club he finds.

Not an easy task at all. And it’s very easy to criticise - definitely agree. I am supportive of Robbo, 100%. The board on the other hand - I think they could do better - as it doesn’t take a season to decide on budgets or analyse a spreadsheet. If Mr Rae wants to say a lot then he will have to deliver a lot. Nothing I have been asking for wasn’t promised. We have a CEO we have never engaged with since her start in November and a board that said a huge amount about winning back trust and valuing fans. The last direct communique, I believe, was to berate us actually after the cup final. Justified or not that was three months ago. The board and CEO don’t get a free pass - they are accountable. Did they need to cut - yes. Could that have been done by the town accountants? Yes.

Caleydawson - ICT will be 25 years old in Feb, not 1. For 7 of those years Gary was at the club. Having one of lowest wage budgets in the league - wish we were Alloa? They did a study in England to look at the correlations between wages paid and league position - it doesn’t play out very well usually. Anyway, we can draw a line under the whole ‘Premiership wage situation’ as Tremarco signed a new deal as I guess Polworth never got one. The board have cut the squad back to as far as it can - we have about 16 outfield players, a starting XI and a bench, supplemented by the young players. But even that starting XI and bench is very young. So where now? Nowhere left to cut! On to new revenue generation . Nobody at all wants to have players taking up space or a wage and the club spending more than it makes, all agree on that. The main grievance is the club want to cut costs and use the fan as assets to increase matchday expenditure. That may work at Walmart but if all we can say about the club is we have the 4th highest wage bill (as it likely was before all this anyway) in the league it won’t keep people spending. After season ticket money is sunk, what then? ICT25 is being seen as a chance to get more money from fans, no supporter involvement on the already-in-place organising committee just ideas from Yvonne and Graham that all cost money. This is what Kilmarnock did in 2000/1 and the fans reacted badly. It is what the Old Firm do and rely on. We don’t have that kind of resilient fan base. The cuts have happened and nowhere left to cut now. So let’s see where the attention goes now...

Some fans are happy enough with 90mins worth and so that group won’t be affected much. Some have a more catholic view and for those, it is a worrying trend following the acrimonious Draper, Raven and fon Williams (we think) departures. I would say those who have affinity to players are not the type of supporter the club should be taking for granted.

Brian Rice announcement? Or was Gary’s so much more complex and fast-moving? No. P&J had enough detail to know it was club-based - Them finalising it, agreeing to leave to reduce his wage burden and looking for a new club... all details i doubt the P&J plucked from thin air.

But the decision was financial (Gary's ability is/was 'excellent') and while it was Robbo who spoke to Gary, it was on the board's behest - "My job on behalf of the board is to get the wage bill down to a sustainable and affordable level for the club going forward" and so Gary was the fall guy, could easily been Tremarco or Polworth in his place (and was Vigurs/Mulraney...Fon Williams, Raven, ) but Gary is older and we had cover. I have no evidence that the board specified Gary explicitly but as 'Premiership wage' was bandied about in the press then and today, it is likely. I don't think Robbo would be going on about wages of his own volition; he has too much class. We are/were down to 11 outfield players, excluding new signings and youth. We now have 16 'experienced' outfield players but those 5 have been to replace Vigurs, Mulraney, Elsdon, Baird, Raven, Seedorf, Draper, Cooper, and Warren now. I would say the board have cut massively, and we are now very much a Championship squad. Was it necessary for Warren to go too considering the squad age, no. But the issue is and should be that the club never bothered to inform the fans, just the P&J.

The manner of Gary's departure at the board's instigation and behest is as IHE says, a 'cruel, blunt dumping' but is part of the 'sustainable business model' and 'community-based club' with 'good governance' and 'financial discipline' (from Mr Rae's AGM statement). An an example: All the ideas for ICT25 will need to pass the 'financial discipline' test: "Some of the high level ideas being suggested for the year of celebration are:- [these are my estimates for example sake] Organising a keynote match against prominent opposition [£25/Hospitality £100] Creating a memorabilia museum within the stadium, featuring a hall of fame and memorabilia [£5 entry fee] Producing a film and photo-led book on the club’s history [£15] Staging events such as a celebration dinner/golf event/reunion [£150 dinner] Creating new merchandise including, a special commemorative strip [£50] All will cost fans money - start saving for ICT25. All of the above are new product lines or retail displays. Partick, Dunfermline and Falkirk are not pursuing this approach so rawly - their Open Days are free and open to the entire "community" whereas we have Golden Ticket#biggesthomegame - a purchase entry model for children (parents). Parents spend on kids - when the economy dives, spending on their education increases - that's the resilient (AGM speak) target market behind Golden Ticket. People are not as daft as VP's might like to think!

Coincidence?

Buy a season ticket to win Subway sandwiches. Buy a strip to win a ticket for your kids to play football. Father's Day - buy a strip, season ticket, gift voucher, or merchandise. New director - 'Watch out for some great @SUBWAY offers coming up!' McEwan Fraser -win match ball. P&J - win two season tickets. I'm all for more money at the club and reducing unnecessary costs. But its a football club, not Groupon. Have to match this with general communication and engagement - e.g. on the departures of long-standing players. Doesn't seem the club can do both. That's not sustainable or community-focused, btw.

Gary has obviously negotiated a better settlement. An agreed departure means we say farewell to a player of 7 years, 220 appearances [ 6th most 'capped' player in ICT history]. When I say we say farewell, we don't actually. We just do it on a fans forum. We also don't get to applaud him off at the end of the season, there won't be an interview, he won't give a speech in hospitality, nada. I know Huisdean and co won't be bothered, and that is their prerogative, but I for one feel a little deflated. We also find this out in the print version of P&J. This means while ICT Twitter were advising us to watch the Irn Bru draw on Facebook yesterday this news was being transmitted to the P&J. Nothing as of yet on ICT Twitter or website. I will just take an excerpt from our Chairman's inaugural statement to show that while this move certainly ticks off his 'sustainable business model' priority, he has done little else to achieve the others: Winning back your trust, improving your match experiences and building a side that can get us back into the Premiership are my key priorities as I begin my new role as Chairman of this proud club. All of the above are underpinned by adopting a sustainable business model that makes the club more resilient going forward. At the heart of achieving these goals is improved communication and collaboration with you, the fans, our most important and valuable asset. This will be the first of regular messages from me and we will complement this with regular newsletters about what is happening on and off the pitch, updates on the first team and our exciting and high achieving youth squads as well as improvements at the ground, personnel changes and our work in the community. https://ictfc.com/news/club-news/1979-chairman-s-message-24th-august