big cherly

Ach, this day was on the cards for some 18-24 months. The years were catching up on me but I still took pleasure in going to watch ICT! The enjoyment was getting less and less as the off field antics dominated the agenda and direction the club was going. Didn’t mind loosing as long as the team tried and represented the city and area.
I didn’t get a season ticket this season as the football over the past few seasons was brain numbing at times.  I also didn’t trust or believe any more what was coming from the Chairman or the CEO. A consequence of the above was I picked only the games I wished to attend. 

I somewhat expected us to loose to Hamilton and personally accepted being relegated hoping a watershed would be reached and we could look to maybe a simpler (straight and engaging) relationship with the fans and club going forward. 
The statement issued by the club simply looks like more of the same smoke and mirrors and leads me to reluctantly question their true motives and direction for the club.

So by best wishes to the Supporters Trust and all ICT fans going forward. 

 

3 hours ago, Jack Waddington said:

As I've said on another thread as well as on Twitter, a helluva lot of the "fans" who pitch invaded in response to the Hamilton fan, were one timers and will have never been before or again.

The actual fans that entered the pitch went straight over to shout at the board/SG.

Just cos you're not willing to take action and protest how our club has been run over the past few years, it doesn't give you the right to label fans who've funnelled thousands of pounds into this club as "neds" cos of their reaction.

Simply Neds or gullible kids with more than a few ready to cause whatever trouble they could because they could see their was not any authority or controls / policing in place to prevent them. One incident away from front page news and a serious causality. So no, you had no right to be on the pitch after the game. Simple - black & white, right or wrong! 
If you don’t comprehend that then there is little more to say. 

21 minutes ago, dougal said:

Just shows how daft the young team are anyone who indulged in that kind of behaviour on the pitch in full view of live tv cameras have to be a few sandwiches short of a picnic. 

Wouldn't  be surprised if there will be a few banning orders dished out as a result. 

Having said what I found most amusing were the ones that stood at the half line but refused to cross the line like it was some sort of barrier. 

 

Dougal

 

Yes, mental barrier!! Deficiency of gray matter or moral guidance for mostly young gullible schoolboys. The others are a lost cause! 

4 hours ago, Stephen Malkmus said:

The old duffers in our support are desperate for lifelong younger fans to support the Old Firm because it helps them feel better about their own Glasgow leaning cowardice

Sad and deluded mindset. A home awaits at parkhead or ibrox for you.  

4 hours ago, Leaky Blinder said:

When I was their age I probably wouldn't have wanted away fans taking over our house either the fault lies solely with stewarding and policing initially allowing the Accies supporters on to the pitch. With regards to heading back to their big teams the younger crew have less baggage in that respect than their older counterparts who always had a big team and a small team ( Highland League) growing up in Inverness I know I did. I saw a guy in his 60s in the cold weather wearing an ICT scarf and Rangers gloves in the main stand this season so lets not start preaching and hoping that much needed revenue, and game day atmosphere disappears out the door ( leaving just the faint rustling of Werthers) I'm 58 so remember the reality of terracing which could be violent without the need for choreography.  All clubs need to attract a younger support they are the life blood of the club like it or not. 

No police were in attendance in the north stand for sure! 

31 minutes ago, Stephen Malkmus said:

Hopefully those clutching their pearls about a few youngsters running on the pitch come to realise that not everyone desires to share their own miserable, passionless philosophies 

Well, fully coherent and cogent posting. 

4 minutes ago, old caley girl said:

Well letting them mix on pitch was a great idea? Not. 

With small numbers of stewards surely pragmatic decisions were needed rather than all out mayhem due to lack of a plan? 

Agreed, I refer to my original note. 

52 minutes ago, old caley girl said:

I do think the stewards are partly to blame surely? The club do pay for their services and deserve a professional service. With few numbers surely the sensible thing would have been to contain one end? Probably the Hamilton end due to smaller numbers? Harsh on them maybe but. 

They failed miserably to control anyone in the end. 

Well, what is their contract and legal responsibility. (Pitch only, or marshalling the stands)? Pay peanuts …………

And the for the trouble in the north home-end stand?

14 hours ago, Peleistheman said:

 

Stewards are useless anyway, just stood and watched those nauseous stinking smoke flres til they went out. Never watched what happened on the pitch, but did see plenty police vehicles as I drove past stadium. Nothing to say about the game. Gutted.

You’re missing the point completely regarding the problem of fan behaviour and the pitch invasion at the end of the game.

The security of the players and those attending the match is the responsibility of the club (ICTFC) - It start and stops there. 

With respect, anyone with half a mind on past high pressure, edgy and potentially volatile play-off football matches would fully know there was the chance a negative result could spark trouble. Throw in a toxic CEO and Chairman, it’s fairly clear the warning signs were there.
 

Now, in my option, the aforementioned CEO and those in the Board and club responsible for this security were fully aware of the risks. - The fact no police were in attendance during the match was a calculated decision by these people. It costs money and for those ‘like minded people’, the SMART decision was to leave the fans to themselves. Any cost of any potential trouble could be sorted out and picked up by calling the bobbies and the public purse. SMART!!

I can’t and will not blame the match stewards (below minimal wage on zero hour contracts, shipped in on a mini bus from god knows where). We had in the north stand the young team led by drunk fat 16 year adolescents or drunk fat 20+losers (take your pick). As soon as the first Hamilton goal went it the inevitable unrest fermented. Led by these sad clowns dads with kids were targets for abuse and intimidation. Items were thrown on the pitch (ref picked up one).

At the end of the match the Hamilton fans ran on (wrongly) to celebrate a wonderful (unexpected I would say) result with their players. Who was responsible for this - ICT football club.

The then response by ‘our’ young patrons was to respond and led by the aforementioned halfwits was the flood onto the park. All so predictable and all so sad. 
 

The responsibility to protect the players and ground staff lies solely with the Club and here they were again found negligent (by design or incompetence) and I fully expect them to by fined by the footballing authorities for this gross dis-ownership of responsibility to secure the ground for the match. 

Maybe it’s a parting ‘gift’ from some on the board for the club.

If you have a complaint regards the security at the match I think it came down to cold calculated costs and opinion / attitude of those in control of the club.

9 hours ago, caley100 said:

Access were a shocking watch! They were gifted goals by our feckin useless defence. 

An ICT team from 2010 would have pumped them.

To get relegated by Hamilcunts is very very sore.

I feckin hate Hamilton,  scum place, scum fans, scum stadium, just scum weegies

You sad, deluded, ignorant small minded fool. There’s a place for you and your poison at parkhead or ibrox. You’ll be welcome there with open arms.

18 hours ago, DoofersDad said:

He'll be after the Rangers job now that Beale has gone

Hopefully they plump for robbo’s cv and management track record! He managed Derry for a ‘dod’ so thats a plus in his favour!! 
bc 

17 hours ago, Duke of Inverness said:

Yes, still would like to see him and Gardiner gone from our club. 

Yes to both out! JR is yesterday’s man and now dead rubber to most of the fans (roof cover consultant)! Just hope some other club finally takes up his well travelled and punted CV soon.
 

Our own dark prince SG is a different beast altogether. Skilled with the sleight of hand and beguiling, he has skilfully (for now), swung things round with the recruitment of big Dunc. Now considered in some places as our Elon Musk, let’s wait and see how things pan out. 

As long as big Dunc is around then I expect our dark prince to be somewhere lurking in the background shadows. 
bc
 

Irrespective whether Dodds or his radio chums felt he was harshly treated (they’re all living in an ivory tower), the simple fact is Dunc managed to get a victory with the same group of players, where he couldn’t.

Suck it up Dodds, you put us through some of the most awful matches I ever witnessed in ICT colours. 
 

Enjoy your half time cuppa with Chic, Willie M and other ‘media stars’ for years to come! 
bc

11 hours ago, bdu98196 said:

On the radio tonight already, stealing Robb's Dingwall gig.

The guy has had a shocker and binned due to being utterly crap in management yet gets a gig on national radio giving his advice as an expert pundit just days later. Nepotism rife in the media as the old boys pat each other on the back.

True and ever so depressing! Part of the wider problem with Scottish football as a whole. Give me an Alan Hansen or Roy Keane punditry any day over the Willie Miller’s and Ally McCoist’s of the world any day!!!

Nothing against DD personally, he’s found his right level and place in football. 
bc

I find it impossible to give a sensible opinion just now as I have nothing but hype to make a judgement on how the team will change and perform under the guidance of big dunc. I have no idea of the standard of football in the league Forest Green played in, so can’t translate that onto the championship.

From what I’ve seen from the teams in the championship this season I don’t see many weak teams. Looking at who I would realistically look to get above, Morton, Ayr, Arbroath and Airdrie (for different reasons), are my targets. 

There’s two stages as I see it to gauge results and predictions for the season. So for a bit of who-knows fun here’s my guesses:

Remainder of 2023 

Good - 8th 

Poor - 10th

2024 : after transfer window 

Good - 4th

Poor - 10th

2 hours ago, TheCaleyOne said:

I know we have to give him a chance and I will but 3 years! How much will this be costing and if we have the money why didn't we spend some of it on players!

Really a smart move by SG to again further embed him in the undergrowth and roots of the club. Big Dunc is up there as was poor old DD (who’se that?), as the face of the club and the results. As long as big dunc exists then SG is secure in his tower!!

My hats off for another deft piece of manoeuvring by the dark prince!!

Bc

The decision of the people (SG, RM & GB I understand) has been made, and having sifted through the names applied via emailed, agents or via pals picked Duncan Ferguson to manager the team.

I don’t know what the criteria and expectations these 3 people had to come up with DF, however I have to put aside my own thoughts and reservations for now and give the new manager a clean slate to see what he can do in what happens on the park, ie results, style and performances. 
He is stepping into a team that is in a difficult, (but not yet perilous) position. He has to hit the ground running and get results quickly as the fans are no mood to see us detached and anchored at the bottom of the league too long. 
So, I will wish the new manager does well and is a success. 
I believe however whoever he brings in (I assume he will), as his No 1, needs to know his stuff. DF is and will be the showface on the telly, but it’s the footballing side that needs to work. I see nothing from DF post playing days to convince me we’ve got a new ‘Pep’. 
 

I think being away from family and home is difficult for anyone and Jan and Feb will be long nights to mull over things, so fingers crossed here.
 

So in closing, Good luck ‘big Duncan’ , we need a sprinkle of magic dust! 
 

I look for the 3 people that made this decision to be fully accountable to take the plaudits or criticism in May next year.

bc

19 hours ago, old caley girl said:

Back on topic Darren O'Dea has pulled out after deciding we werent for him. 

 

Don’t know enough about his coaching credentials or results to say if he would have been any good. 
The fact he wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole after he did some simple research or speaking to some ‘people’, raises my respect for him and thinking he might have been a promising young manager to take us forward! #

Maybe, just maybe, the jungle drums of the ICT online forum reaches places SG, RM and others in the board don’t want to ‘get-out’. Maybe we can after all put some pressure on this crock of underperforming jerks!

# wouldn’t surprise me if Sir Roy sniffed about ODea if MM moves on.

bc

4 hours ago, tm4tj said:

The Courier have missed the point. The fans want Gardiner out. The disconnect, as frustrating as it is, is just a smokescreen.

Thank you for saying what was needed. We can play with words round the edges of the main problem which is simply SG isn’t trusted (I hope), by the bulk of the fans that look beyond the next match.
The press will fall in line with the SG mantra and belittle and dilute the ST message and angst as a noisy minority and to be ignored. 

I’ve spouted my drivel reasons for not joining the ST, but that’s not to say I don’t respect them as the main voice of the fans! - I just believe with their voting allocation, they should be more vigorous in challenging the direction the club is taken.

That now said, the fans that care more than just turning up faithfully and enjoying the fare, need to decide (to use STFU’s poster), “What are you going to do”

Question for me is what type of contract is SG on (fixed or rolling). What is considered success or failure, and who measures / decides this measure and when.

For me SG is only interested in himself, ICT is just a tool to,

1) Continue to provide a secure contract and handsome salary, (probably a clause where he gets a sack of gold if paid off early)?

2) Provide him the platform to (in his mind) move on to greater things.

Now SG may get lucky and secure some manager that, magic wand like, turns us into something we’re not, and we win promotion in a year or two.

More likely we arrest the decline on the park and we avoid relegation, (can we dump if we are relegated ?). Not sure what will happen of the park, but look for a new SLO that promises a new dawn in comms and jam tomorrow! 
 

If really comes down to the fans. Plod on and hope for the best (with SG’s vision and control), or secure enough support to come up with a way to get the bulk of the fans behind them to force the Board or other board members to publicly question SG’s performance and expected targets for this and next season!

We can’t leave it or expect the press to publish anything that would upset their cosy access arrangements with the current Club hierarchy!

bc

3 hours ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

They are all at the Innes

That’ll be a round of four then?

bc

Here’s one for the open meeting.
As it was a nice day for football, I thought I would buy a ticket for todays match. So at 11 o’clock this morning looked up to see if I could buy a ticket online! No link open. So I called the ticket office at the stadium. Got forwarded via a recorded message to another message saying the office was unable to take my call but leave details and phone contact number and ‘they’ll call back’,

Now 1:30 and Zip! what ever happened to our club when they don’t even seem interested in selling tickets. No wonder the club is in turmoil! Oh how I miss the old turnstiles!

Last straw for me.

bc
 

10 hours ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Well I'm not going.

Nor me! Only way to get the message across!! - empty spaces and less in their pockets. Only language they understand!

bc

I’m beginning to begrudgingly give SG some respect. He has the ability to deflect, dodge and ignore criticism (Teflon like); bamboozle, hoodwink and convince RM and the board of his vision; cajole and keep in line a pliant press, whilst he has continued to oversee and be mainly responsible for the biggest decline and fall of ICT more than anyone. 
He was instrumental in offering BD the two year extension (oh by the way, can I ask the Trust to find out how much it cost to pay off BD?). Also used BD as the shield behind the terrible start of the season (‘nothing to do with me gov’)! 
Yet through all this he manages to pick up his wages and blindly shuffles on, Boris Johnson like, to trample and crap on us the little people.

He’s got ‘balls’ beyond ordinary people and who knows, he may get lucky and we get some super new cheap manager that takes us the promised land!!

My fear is he ain’t finished ‘his work stint’ at little old ICT. And we the fans remain unable or unwilling to muster any coherent case to question or challenge him and his record!
A truly unique guy!!!!

bc

On 9/20/2023 at 8:14 PM, DoofersDad said:

It's very interesting to read what the CEO said to the Courier.  There was no suggestion that Robbo and Charlie are not interested in the post on a permanent basis, it was simply that they wouldn't be considered.  Gardiner is quoted as saying "They are 100 per cent interim. They both have very important jobs, so they know that's what they are going to do."  It would appear, therefore, that even if one of them wanted the job and was a better candidate than any outsider applying, they would not be considered because they are currently doing a job at the club which is, apparently, more important than being 1st team coach!  That really is the most crass statement I've heard for a long time.

It really says a lot though DD, and maybe we need other or new board directors and the fans to think a bit more deeper than we previously did about whether this individual’s performance and stewardship as CEO to date deserves to continue to use the position, powers and authority which will affect the next 2 to 3 seasons, particularly on the park.

Sometimes you don’t see the slow continued decline (as we’re all wrapped up in it) of our club, until a main event like relegation occurs, but there is no doubt in my mind we haven’t stopped, never mind reversed, the decline under SG.

Does the club really deserve any better?

bc

6 minutes ago, Moogthurso said:

JR took time out due to the stress of managing during covid while multiple people were suffering at the club due to long term effects while at the same time dealing with multiple personal impacts. Listen to the podcast about it.

 

The fact he held it together for so long . Helped get support in to keep the club going in his absence and asked for the time off shows his strength not his weakness. 

 

 

 

The people that employ him have a responsibility to that individual not to expose him to where a recurrence could potentially arise! 
Just hope they don’t have to make that judgment!
bc