Nothing has been heard from Muirfield Mills, or the club for that matter regarding the proposed 6 figure investment for quite a while now, and i have been wondering why!

Was all the posturing and so called positive vibes coming from DS just a piece of ' P R ' and did he really encourage new investment? anyway look like the deal is dead and although Orions further sponsorship is welcome it will be used for the day day to day running of the club, not in any way to develop the club from its in reality, poor state.

When i say poor state i can see us no further forward than when we first gained promotion to the SPL and returned to Inverness for our home games, the catering is amateur, the shop is an eyesore, the training ground is a rough field next to the sea 14 miles away from the stadium, whilst it is very prudent to live within our means and not to fall into financial meltdown like some other teams surely we need to create a more professional club and try to increase our fan base.

The crowd on saturday scraped over 3000 which is the lowest league game crowd i have seen there, fair enough the weather played a part in this, and January is always a tough month for most of us, however the trend is decreasing attendances for us and i'm sure the club have seen this.

This season has seen our squad hit by injuries like no other team in the SPL has ever had, long term, short term, recurring injuries its must be so frustrating for the management to plan round this, we will be putting out a pretty makeshift team against Celtic on saturday with Williams not available, Billy Mackay out, Dorran out as well add to this our other players out, Golobart, Shinnie, Hogg, its a crazy situation.

It made me wonder if our poor training set up has anything to do with this problem, we train on a pretty rough field at Fort George with no showering or toilet facilities whatsoever, does this cause an extra strain on the players?

One would think with our chairman being the main land developer in the highlands he might provide some land slightly nearer the stadium to give the team a more professional training set-up, or is the club in the middle of an ego battle and further investment for ICT is not in the plan?

Edited February 2, 201213 yr by caley100

So many "Trusts" that it can get a bit confusing but is this not the one where Sutherland offloaded his shares? The one that Richard Smith is now joining. The strange thing in this is that this "Trust" which can be seen at http://companycheck....ompany/SC211723 is not registered as a charitable organisation but as a Building and Civil engineering Works.

From ICTFC.com

Four of the five members of the Muirfield Mills consortium have been appointed members of the Inverness Caledonian Thistle Trust, the charitable body which supports youth and sports initiatives in the city.

They are Paul MacInnes, based in Abu Dhabi; Richard Hillier, Switzerland; Graham Rae, Houston, Texas; and Alan MacPhee, Yemen. All are from Inverness. The fifth member is not on the Trust but is also from Inverness.

Their consortium which has injected an initial £250,000 to Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC and now has a significant minority stake in the club.

Richard Smith, newly appointed to the Football Club Board, will join former Provost Allan Sellar (chairman), MSP David Stewart and club life president David Sutherland.

A Trust spokesman said: "The new members are all local people who have developed successful business careers and have a very positive contribution to make to our Club. From a Trust perspective, it is also important that we work, in conjunction with the Club, to ensure that the team continue to play at the highest level. We have been positioned in the Premier League for a number of years now, and we welcome inward investment to Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC to enable them to continue to play in the top flight”.

Edited April 18, 201213 yr by Alex MacLeod

Not uncommon for companies house to list inaccurate "nature of business" details.

All I can add is that in order to register a company using the word "Trust" in the title, then there are some very strict rules in place in regards to the nature of the business that can be conducted.

Glad its all finally out. I have known them all for years and they are down to earth, fine men. No need for conspiracy theories!!

But "puppets" can be manipulated ?? And they are putting money towards a worthy cause but not exactly in to the playing aspect of ICT so their share of the power may still be an attraction.

Like the Their consortium, which has injected an initial £250,000 into Caley Thistle last month.

Initial implies there might be more. Doesn't it?

That's right. They plan to make an annual investment into ICT.

Just glad nobody has uncovered the Libyan connection!!!!

Oh when will the big bad wolf turn up and blow this crooked house down ?

Very interesting to see these people join the "Trust" board.

Is this the "Trust" which took over the stadium/club debt some 10 years ago?

The article makes the objectives of the trust reasonably clear but does anyone know what they have actually done since formation?

A subject that's been done to death over the years (largely by myself) but I believe all the question on stadium ownership etc have been answered and there comes a point when going over old ground does nobody any good and you need to draw a line under previous events and look forward. That's not to say we need forget or ignore them, just view them as lessons for the future....be that good or bad, what to do or what not to do.

Yeah, the Trust has been dormant pretty much the entire time it has existed and it was never used as we were previously led to believe it would be, but it looks like there's a desire to breath some life into it now and it's maybe better to judge it, and those involved (especially the new faces), on where it goes from here.

No intention of "going over old ground" - just asking a question which just needed a yes or no answer.

The future activities of this Trust will indeed be very interesting.

http://www.newsnow.c...63384587?-14541

Good news but souldnt really jump the gun as it states extra cash could be invested.

Edited April 21, 201213 yr by 12th Man

Great news, hopefully the solid gold statue of Ross Tokely is on the cards.

http://www.newsnow.c...63384587?-14541

Good news but souldnt really jump the gun as it states extra cash could be invested.

Exactly, we'll wait and see. If there is, will it go to the Trust or the Football Club? Considering other investors (albeit in the Football Club) £50k seems a very small sum to buy a seat on the board of the Trust. How often will they need to meet? I suppose it will depend on what needs to be discussed but if the Trust doesn't do anything anyway why bother! I think the next chapter could be interesting - what say you IHE?

So the fifth member of the group is Inverness based. Wonder who he is cos he is obviosly a rich Jeggie? I understood that Richard Smith was on board because they all lived abroad but this is obviously not the case!

Why not reveal yourself so we can say a big thank you for your dosh.

Edited April 21, 201213 yr by caleyboy

Paul MacInnes, based in Abu Dhabi; Richard Hillier, Switzerland; Graham Rae, Houston, Texas; and Alan MacPhee, Yemen

Are those places not abroad?

Ask yourself another question.....could the fifth member of this group actually be Richard Smith?

No

Because it is me :P

The question I ask myself but many seem to hide away, where were these so called investors when they were so badly needed around 1994?

Does the phrase "Glory Hunters" apply in this scenario I wonder?

Dougal

The question I ask myself but many seem to hide away, where were these so called investors when they were so badly needed around 1994?

They didn't have money back then?

Im glad they are investing now,nearly 20 years ago maybe it would have only been £50 each.

If the stadium was owned outright 18 years ago then its quite likely we would owe a bank a fair bit of cash by now instead.

The question I ask myself but many seem to hide away, where were these so called investors when they were so badly needed around 1994?

Does the phrase "Glory Hunters" apply in this scenario I wonder?

Dougal

Glory Hunters? What's been glorious about this season? They'd be wanting a refund if they were at the game yesterday, if that was the case.

Paul MacInnes, based in Abu Dhabi; Richard Hillier, Switzerland; Graham Rae, Houston, Texas; and Alan MacPhee, Yemen

Are those places not abroad?

Ask yourself another question.....could the fifth member of this group actually be Richard Smith?

Waken up man. There are 5 investors - the Inverness Courier tells us 4 are abroad and 1 in Inverness. Richard Smith is defo not the 5th member!

Paul MacInnes, based in Abu Dhabi; Richard Hillier, Switzerland; Graham Rae, Houston, Texas; and Alan MacPhee, Yemen

Are those places not abroad?

Ask yourself another question.....could the fifth member of this group actually be Richard Smith?

Waken up man. There are 5 investors - the Inverness Courier tells us 4 are abroad and 1 in Inverness. Richard Smith is defo not the 5th member!

I am awake.....thats why I ask the question. I see no reason why the person appointed by the consortium to look after their interests at board level could not also be the Inverness based member of this consortium but if you say he's not then I'll take your word for it.

Maybe its Mr Sutherland

Edited April 22, 201213 yr by Alex MacLeod

Paul MacInnes, based in Abu Dhabi; Richard Hillier, Switzerland; Graham Rae, Houston, Texas; and Alan MacPhee, Yemen

Are those places not abroad?

Ask yourself another question.....could the fifth member of this group actually be Richard Smith?

Waken up man. There are 5 investors - the Inverness Courier tells us 4 are abroad and 1 in Inverness. Richard Smith is defo not the 5th member!

I am awake.....thats why I ask the question. I see no reason why the person appointed by the consortium to look after their interests at board level could not also be the Inverness based member of this consortium but if you say he's not then I'll take your word for it.

Maybe its Mr Sutherland

Maybe it is

It shurely has to be a MacDonald ?

It shurely has to be a MacDonald ?

Starting not to care. What's all the mystery?

It shurely has to be a MacDonald ?

Dean Macdonald?

Starting not to care. What's all the mystery?

OCG... I think this is perhaps the wisest course now. It very much looks as if there is no great desire on the part of the club, the consortium or both to dwell on the issue of identity and maybe it would be best left there - especially if the consortium may be motiviated to make further investments as already reported.

Maybe the "fifth man", especially since he is Inverness based, has very good professional/ business reasons not to want to be identified and if so that should be resepcted - even though he provides the clearest link with the consortium's name.

Best left maybe?

Alan MM Savage??