Is the re-building process under way?

[Scotty]

It doesn't seem as if the club is actually on a predetermined course of re-building. Perhaps more like knee jerk reactions, still,to developments as they arise--thus leading to moves like Doogie's and Andy's.

I think you are spot-on.

Frankly, this does not surprise me in the least. After the debacle of demotion, the turmoil and financial chaos that followed, how can a vigorous plan be in place when the funds simply are not there to do anything at all?

I can understand why we are in a predicament financially because we have lost more income than many of us might appreciate .... SPL money, sponsors revenue, TV money, advertising, even revenue based on hospitality, season ticket and match ticket prices. However, I would question whether we managed our finances particularly well over the last 5 years in the SPL? and how we are managing them now? There are loads of rumours flying around right now about our finances, and not just on this site, but in Inverness in general. Some are true (according to sources), some may have a grain of truth in them but have been embellished (sometimes wildly), and some are just pure speculation or guess work, but one thing I have heard time and time again in the last couple of months is about how we needlessly frittered cash away (at times) during our SPL years and how we are now scrambling around to try and make ends meet. The exit of Imrie and Barrowman may ease that burden somewhat as they were both on a decent wage (excessive some might say in the case of Barrowman) but bottom line seems to be that the cupboards are bare and we dont have much leeway to fill them up again short of a bailout package !

I mentioned on another thread that I would like to see the current board come out and show us an honest plan for turning things around. It might be painful, it might contain things we didnt like (such as an extended stay in Div1) but if they did that and showed that they had a plan, be it a 2 year, 3 year or 5 year plan to get us back to the SPL, I think they would have the fans backing. If they also cleared up the stadium ownership question at the same time, perhaps we could get back to talking football and pulling in the same direction.

Someone has just said that Terry Butcher may be around next sesaon. At this time that would, IMHO, be a positive thing for ICT. His maturity and desire to be successful could be the stabilising factors that allow ICT to recover , as they are doing right now, and gradually pull themselves up by the bootstraps........

I just don't get the impression that he is a quitter and it is , again IMHO, unlikely that he would walk away from ICT and leave them in the lurch just for more money. I think Terry is a man with a heart and a man with heart so let's wait and see --- after we are promoted at the end of this Season.

Right now, I would be happy with Butcher continuing beyond the end of the season if both he and Malpas were happy with a salary commensurate with 1st division status (maybe with an incentive of a big bonus for getting us back to the SPL). Its taken a while and there have been a few bumps along the way but finally the additions to his squad seem to be gelling. We have not lost in 7 games, we are not leaking goals so badly and if one or two players who have made glaring misses recently can start hitting the net then we might even start winning the odd game by more than a single goal. With Dundee faltering a little, if we can keep momentum going and win our games in hand we are right back in it. In all of this, we also have to remember that its been "bedlam, bedlam, bedlam" behind the scenes so fair play to him for trying to keep himself and the players focussed on the task in hand.

What I cannot understand is the curreent lack of information from the board (make that direction as well) over what will happen at the end of the season. We are still in with a chance of promotion but if that fails, and we lose a lot of players, we could seriously put at risk our chances of promotion next year as a lot of new players would need to be brought in and they would take time to gel.

Surely the board can see this but the silence is deafening and also very worrying. I am not a shareholder and don't know when the next AGM is but would hope that shareholders and the Supporters Trust bring this up. Could an EGM even be considered?.

One of the main reasons we survived in the SPL when we were first promoted was that we had very few changes to our team in the first few years when quite often, the newly promoted side changes many of their playing staff with, quite often distasterous results. Conversley, we are probably where we are now because we didn't start to change the team early enough and move players out and new ones in. It's a funny old game.

I am disappointed but not surprised at the silence coming from the boardroom. Any time there has been a crisis or a perceived crisis at the club, its been a case of manning the barricades and making sure no-one pops their head above the parapet, you just need to look at the calls for Brewster's head for another prime example.

I know that many of the board members are succesful businessmen, and although we all think we could run the club better, I very much doubt it is as easy as we would like to think. It may very well be the case that they are the right people to take the club forward but right now it doesnt seem so. They are not showing either of the two qualities that I as a fan (and shareholder) expect of the people elected to run our club ... Leadership and Direction.

C'mon Mr Fraser, you have been anonymous as a chairman through several major incidents in the last few years - Brewster hiring, Brewster firing, relegation, Niculae transfer, staff layoffs, questions about stadium ownership, and now questions/rumours about finances ..... If you had stepped up to the plate for any of these and played a leadership role you could have minimised the effect of them, nipped things in the bud, or corrected any misinformation that is out there.

The board as a whole also have to be ultimately responsible for the current state of our contracts. Our DoF may do the negotiations but he too needs direction and agreement from the complete board as to what is available and what his budget is. With AB gone, I think that now makes it 3 players who have a contract beyond the end of the season. That is preposterous. These guys all have committments, be it families, mortgages, rents or just normal living expenses and for them not to know what is going to be happening come the end of May is not only dangerous (in terms of losing them to other teams) but also, in my mind, irresponsible and immoral. Get it sorted. Like TB/MM, offer them a contract for D1 with nice bonusses for winning the title but also build in something that allows the contract to be renogotiated should we ultimately win the title and be promoted. some might not go for it but at the very least they will see they do have some form of job security if they choose to accept it .... right now they have nothing and if any leave it is fully and squarely on the board's shoulders not the players.

I will end my rant with a direct and honest plea to the board as I am sure this will be another thread that is printed off !!!

Gentlemen ... PLEASE. I know most of you loathe this website and many of the posters on it but NONE of us would be here if we did not care DEEPLY for OUR club. We know that most of you have done good work in the past and we know you can do it again in the future and most fans would like to work TOGETHER with you to make that happen. However, to do that we need some leadership, direction, and honesty. We know its a tough time, the drop out of the SPL has been devastating for all both emotionally and financially but by burying heads in the sand and saying nothing whilst providing no leadership or direction things are only getting worse.

Will someone (anyone) be the man who will step up and have the balls to say "ok, we screwed <insert incident> up, but here is our plan to fix it"? Will someone take the criticism on the chin, admit to mistakes (your only human after all) and then move forward showing that lessons have been learned? Will someone take the bull by the horns and start working with the fans, be it supporters trust or some other body, to move the club forward? Lets hope so ... because ICT has always been a club which operates far more effectively when all of its parts - Board, Players, Management, Staff and Fans work as one team pulling in the same direction.

[Harry Chibber]

Gentlemen ... PLEASE. I know most of you loathe this website and many of the posters on it but NONE of us would be here if we did not care DEEPLY for OUR club. We know that most of you have done good work in the past and we know you can do it again in the future and most fans would like to work TOGETHER with you to make that happen. However, to do that we need some leadership, direction, and honesty. We know its a tough time, the drop out of the SPL has been devastating for all both emotionally and financially but by burying heads in the sand and saying nothing whilst providing no leadership or direction things are only getting worse.

Will someone (anyone) be the man who will step up and have the balls to say "ok, we screwed <insert incident> up, but here is our plan to fix it"? Will someone take the criticism on the chin, admit to mistakes (your only human after all) and then move forward showing that lessons have been learned? Will someone take the bull by the horns and start working with the fans, be it supporters trust or some other body, to move the club forward? Lets hope so ... because ICT has always been a club which operates far more effectively when all of its parts - Board, Players, Management, Staff and Fans work as one team pulling in the same direction.

Well said Scotty..

[Johnboy]

Gentlemen ... PLEASE. I know most of you loathe this website and many of the posters on it but NONE of us would be here if we did not care DEEPLY for OUR club. We know that most of you have done good work in the past and we know you can do it again in the future and most fans would like to work TOGETHER with you to make that happen. However, to do that we need some leadership, direction, and honesty. We know its a tough time, the drop out of the SPL has been devastating for all both emotionally and financially but by burying heads in the sand and saying nothing whilst providing no leadership or direction things are only getting worse.

Will someone (anyone) be the man who will step up and have the balls to say "ok, we screwed <insert incident> up, but here is our plan to fix it"? Will someone take the criticism on the chin, admit to mistakes (your only human after all) and then move forward showing that lessons have been learned? Will someone take the bull by the horns and start working with the fans, be it supporters trust or some other body, to move the club forward? Lets hope so ... because ICT has always been a club which operates far more effectively when all of its parts - Board, Players, Management, Staff and Fans work as one team pulling in the same direction.

Well said Scotty..

Totally agree with Harry.... Great post.

We should all print that one out, endorse it, and send it to everone that matters at ICT, from the Chairman down.

Is it really too much to hope that they could issue a statement that might allay our worst fears?

[Yngwie]

Scotty for Chairman!

YES WE CAN!

(which seems to be the complete opposite of the club's current mantra)

[Scotty]

Scotty for Chairman!

;) No Thanks !!! I get enough grief from running the website !

[Georgeios]

Johnboy, Make it so, I'd print, sign an if needs be put my CTO Username and ST number on it if they wanted to check that it wasnt just some mass spaming.. However they will just think its Fan mail and ignore it....

[PullMyFinger]

Scotty for Chairman!

Do you get marionette strings that long? ;)

[starchief]

Will someone (anyone) be the man who will step up and have the balls to say "ok, we screwed <insert incident> up, but here is our plan to fix it"?

They don't even need to take the first part of the sentence. All they need to do is say they are instigating a 3 or 5 year plan and:

- Butcher has been offered a new contract and has accepted/declined

if accepted:

- talks are now ongoing with important first-team players to enable Butcher to build, whilst seeking out new players

if declined:

- talks are now ongoing with finding a future manager to take the club forward. On his word, player contract talks will soon begin.

Otherwise, it would appear the board is fiddling while Rome burns.

[ICTPaisley]

and also only 4 players signed up for next season

Is this still the case now that Barrowman has moved on? Was he one of the 4 making it now 3 tied after the summer.

[TtotheOtotheM]

I find it curious that there has been nothing said, is it a case of the silence being louder than words, i.e we are fecked. Or is that there is no problem, just over-exaggeration on the fans behalf? I really hope so, most clubs are in some degree of debt, they still function. The lack of communication is a real pain, stinks of un-professionalism.

[AJS]

and also only 4 players signed up for next season

Is this still the case now that Barrowman has moved on? Was he one of the 4 making it now 3 tied after the summer.

Correct, we now only have 3 players set for next season, which makes me all the more worried about our future prospects. ;)

[Georgeios]

I Beleve once it is mathamticly impossible for us to go back up then we should i hope see some exstenciens, but by then i'm willing to bet that the likes of Hayes/Sanchez/Foran and the others will be snapped up by bigger teams if we dont act soon.

[Harry Chibber]

P&J clicky

All sounds very amicable when Terry says it..

CALEY Thistle manager Terry Butcher believes Irish winger Jonny Hayes will excel after the departures of Dougie Imrie and Andy Barrowman this week.

The 22-year-old Hayes has shown flashes of potential on the left wing, tormenting First Division defences with his skill and pace.

Butcher was not bound by financial necessity when deciding to sell Imrie to Hamilton and terminate the contract of Barrowman before the latter?s deadline-day move to Ross County.

The Inverness manager spotted Hayes when the player was in Reading's youth team and is sure the Dublin-born attacker can improve his game.

Butcher said: Jonny offers us so much. I think he is going to be a super player.

He takes our set-pieces. You generally give the responsibility to someone with a bit of experience.

He is only 22 and has no experience of playing competitively at a high level, but he has been tremendous.

He has learned a lot this season and developed into a much better player.

Butcher is satisfied after trimming his squad and believes fringe players Eric Odhiambo and Robert Eagle are capable of forcing their way into his first-team plans.

He said: There was no financial need to sell Dougie Imrie and Andy Barrowman. I was never told by the directors we had to sell players. Dougie's contract was up at the end of the season and Hamilton showed interest in him as well as Kilmarnock. He was a commodity which had a value and it was a chance for him to play in the SPL again. Andy was at the club for some time and had not tied down a regular first-team place.

Everything was very amicable with him. Every player needs to play on a Saturday and, unfortunately, he did not have the chance to do that with us.

Also, there is still a lot more to come from Eric Odhiambo and, with Dougie Imrie going, it opens it up a bit for him to come through. Robert Eagle will also have a chance.

Are we making something out of nothing??? or is this a smoke screen???

Edited February 5, 2010 by Harry Chibber

[ICTPaisley]

Brilliant news :D Robert Eagle is coming back into the team.

[Council Juice]

Brilliant news :D Robert Eagle is coming back into the team.

Oh Goodie!

[tokelyisvictorious]

Probably a bit off topic, but Eagles would be a much better player if Butcher put him in the centre of midfield. Although he doesn't have much pace/trickery, he can spot a pass. Rooney thrives off the passes played into the channels inbetween the full-backs and the central defenders, Eagles would fit in perfectly.

On topic, it seems that its going to be at least a few years before the fans decide they've had enough of the board members faffing, and take decisive action :D and we manage to keep a decent squad together for more than a season and push for promotion.

The biggest positive out of getting relegated is stories like this, and the stadium ownership deal, finally coming out into the open. In the SPL, people were too happy for us to be successful to care about whether we owned our stadium, or if the board was leeching off that success.

Edited February 5, 2010 by tokelyisvictorious

[Georgeios]

Probably a bit off topic, but Eagles would be a much better player if Butcher put him in the centre of midfield. Although he doesn't have much pace/trickery, he can spot a pass. Rooney thrives off the passes played into the channels inbetween the full-backs and the central defenders, Eagles would fit in perfectly.

On topic, it seems that its going to be at least a few years before the fans decide they've had enough of the board members faffing, and take decisive action :D and we manage to keep a decent squad together for more than a season and push for promotion.

The biggest positive out of getting relegated is stories like this, and the stadium ownership deal, finally coming out into the open. In the SPL, people were too happy for us to be successful to care about whether we owned our stadium, or if the board was leeching off that success.

You are bang on big yin...

[ICTPaisley]

I'm starting to get a bit excited about ICT at the moment. Kilmarnock tomorrow is what i used to love about being in the first division. Life here isn't too bad and if we're here for a few more seasons while we get back on top then i'll be behind the team all the way.

This is going to be a really excited and maybe scary summer for ICT and i'm looking forward to seeing how it all pans out for the following season.