Emergency Board Meeting?

[starchief]

the current TV deal covers this coming season.

According to the SPL the expiring TV deal was conditional upon 4 old firm derbies a season so there is no TV deal as things currently stand.

And doesn't this just illustrate the sheer incompetence of people running the game in this country! How on earth do the powers that be get away with negotiating a contract that is dependent on 2 particular teams both being in the top 6 for four consecutive seasons? An interesting scenario would have been if there was an old firm game immediately before the split with Rangers needing to win to get a top 6 slot. Would Celtic have thrown the game in order to ensure the TV contract was not invalidated? This just illustrates that we must have change.

I have heard that it's that the SPL has the Old Firm, rather than 4 Old Firm games. Nevertheless, there may be a penalty for one dropping out of the top six. After all, it seems Sky are even happy for Rangers to be in Division One.

But I'm not sure it is so ridiculous to base your spending on your income. Do you base your mortgage on what you are likely to earn or a worst case scenario, i.e. you quit your job and on the dole? Most provincial clubs have 1-2 year deals (something which many of us have roundly criticised) and wages so low that we can't compete with Division One in England. Unless we move to month-by-month deals, they seem to be cutting their cloth more and more.

According to the Scotsman, the SFL are up in arms that they are being threatened with less money as their current lot is based on both TV and sponsorship - both of which are likely to go down. If East Fife wants more equity, how about they survive on the sponsorship/tv deals they can extract?

[Kirishima]

Stewart Gilmour St Mirren chairman saying 5 clubs could go bust in weeks, one of which is ICT (Daily Record, 15th July)

Nice of him to name ICT (wonder how he came up with ICT along with them, Dun.Utd, Killie and Well.) So is that on the EGM agenda? Going into administration?

SKY and ESPN are being blamed, despite not one scrap of information of their intentions in the public domain. They are the playing bogeymen role in this farce obviously.

SPL2 being sold as a choice between it or administration. ICT now have to reply to that statement, as any business who has been slandered by another would.

Again the Press seem to be pushing the "It's because NewCo were put to Div 3" line when that's not what Gilmour has said. He has said the same as Kenny Cameron...it's the rejection of the proposals for reform that are threatening the game.

Yes, it seems it was Gilmour who said 5 could be in administration, and his general manager saying ICT would find it hard as a provincial club. 2+2=5 there!

However, Gilmour did say 5 clubs could be in administration by end of August. I fail to see how these "reforms", reforms that were never actually planned on, or expected, to have been "rejected" have a bearing suddenly, as in August suddenly...

[Gabby]

"However, Gilmour did say 5 clubs could be in administration by end of August. I fail to see how these "reforms", reforms that were never actually planned on, or expected, to have been "rejected" have a bearing suddenly, as in August suddenly..."

Exactly!

So the question needs to be asked - which income stream, that is usually generated prior to August, has been compromised? And by how much.

To me, it seems that Clubs have been hit by reduced levels of Season Tickets while the Rangers situation played out. Statements were made about integrity and listening to fans however there is a hint of a stench about the Rangers to SFL1 push and the fans are rightly suspicious.

I always find that if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck.............it's a duck.

[+DoofersDad]

Eider gree with that.

[Tichy_Blacks_Back]

So are you suggesting fowl play

[CaleyD]

Can only assume that the immediate financial impact would be from the loss of TV income and not getting the reformation money from the SFA.

Unfortunately that just raises further questions, such as....Are SKY saying they would give more money to a larger top league? If they are saying that, then it further damages Doncasters position, because not so long ago he was bleating on about SKY only being interested in giving more money to a smaller top league!!!

Something stinks....but the more that trickles out, the more it looks like certain individuals (Regan, Doncaster and their buddies) have been trying to force a separate agenda than what the SPL and SFL clubs have been asking for/working towards. It would certainly help explain the confusion over what some thought was being proposed at the SFL meeting, what was actually proposed and why the seemingly "expected" outcome wasn't achieved.

[RiG]

There is a strong link between good TV contracts and increased attendance at games. There is no serious professional sport that has suffered a reduction in game day attendance because of TV. There is no better indication of the strength of a league/competition/sport than it's ability to attract good braodcast deals.

Out of interest, and not doubting you it's more for interests sake, do you have any links to such articles? Would be interesting reading.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Sorry but has anyone got the slightest suspicion that the "announcements" from ICT and Midden raise "reason" for the SFA to put the Newco in to Division 1 ?

[BornCaley]

Question! People are mentioning Sky this and Sky that! We also have an ESPN TV deal! Anyone know what their stance is?

[CaleyD]

New Statement from Club - http://ictfc.com/news/club-news/548-press-release-from-ict

[Huisdean]

While the original statement was so poorly worded and did not need to be made, I hope a lot of the nonsense spouted by some fans earlier in this topic is treated as what it was, pure vitriolic nonsense in some cases. Some of the content on this topic has made me ashamed to be an ICT fan and we talk about Old Firm bile!.

[+DoofersDad]

What a shame he did not say something like that on Friday. I am encouraged by this statement but it is disappointing that there was no apology for his PR Gaffe on Friday. Hopefully there can be constructive progress towards league reconstruction now.

[CaleyD]

What a shame he did not say something like that on Friday. I am encouraged by this statement but it is disappointing that there was no apology for his PR Gaffe on Friday. Hopefully there can be constructive progress towards league reconstruction now.

I kinda thought the same on first reading, but you know what...sometimes you just need to draw a line under the negatives and keep focus on the positives....god knows there have been few of them recently.

Still going to be tough, and needs everyone pulling together.

[+Tree]

Luckily (?) I have missed much of this saga over the past week due to being out of the country.

It has been pointed out that a number of SPL clubs still have season ticket sales less than last season and I would not be surprised if we are in the same situation. Now that 'integrity' has won the day, it is vital for all fans to pull behind their teams in the short term to mitigate the financial impact.

Following on from this, real and positive change is needed to remove the imbalance in finance and try and improve the overall product.

Whilst it is great for armchair assassin with keyboards to point the fingers at anyone and everyone within the club, we need to be clear that we have neither created this situation nor tried to manipulate the situation for our benefit. This cannot be said of a number of parties and individuals involved in the saga. Actual action in terms of buying tickets and other forms of support for the club are necessary over the coming days.

Debt is not the only issue in amongst this and short term liquidity issues may impact on the team which is put together for next season (I think we would all like to see one or two further additions to the team). The fact that a number of backers have indicated their support is of some comfort, however the reality is that there will be impacts on the budgets and outlays.

We cannot ask for immediate statements on matters, and then when statements are given demand that the clubs just keeps quiet. The statement issued was badly worded in terms of excessively emotive language, however the actual reading always indicated that the issues were considering immediate actions to balance income against expenditure and stating disappointment that reconstruction was off the table.

Finally, I don't agree with this wave of opinion that the SFL have acted in the good of the game. Much of the issues are retribution for the SPL being created and allowing some small clubs to behave in a big way. The SPL is flawed in its basic structure around the old firm, however please remember the nonsense in which the SFL allocated monies, etc prior to the SPL's being where a small club received only marinaglly less than teams at the top with decisions being taking (in a similar way to the SFA) by people with petty agendas from the periphery of the game. These were the same people who for years prevented Highland presence in the top flight for their own benefit.

[+DoofersDad]

What a shame he did not say something like that on Friday. I am encouraged by this statement but it is disappointing that there was no apology for his PR Gaffe on Friday. Hopefully there can be constructive progress towards league reconstruction now.

I kinda thought the same on first reading, but you know what...sometimes you just need to draw a line under the negatives and keep focus on the positives....god knows there have been few of them recently.

Still going to be tough, and needs everyone pulling together.

Absolutely agree - as long as we understand that drawing a line under the negatives does not mean that we don't learn the lessons from them. We cannot afford a repeat of Friday's PR disaster. Hopefully good can come out of it with much better communication in the future. Fans are much more likely to pull together with the club if they are kept properly informed about what is happening.

[CaleyD]

What a shame he did not say something like that on Friday. I am encouraged by this statement but it is disappointing that there was no apology for his PR Gaffe on Friday. Hopefully there can be constructive progress towards league reconstruction now.

I kinda thought the same on first reading, but you know what...sometimes you just need to draw a line under the negatives and keep focus on the positives....god knows there have been few of them recently.

Still going to be tough, and needs everyone pulling together.

Absolutely agree - as long as we understand that drawing a line under the negatives does not mean that we don't learn the lessons from them. We cannot afford a repeat of Friday's PR disaster. Hopefully good can come out of it with much better communication in the future. Fans are much more likely to pull together with the club if they are kept properly informed about what is happening.

[Caley Stan]

Glad to see the club coming out with this statement and hopefully we can move on from here. While I think that it's disingenuous to pretend that Friday's statement was anything other than an expression of disappointment and frustration that Sevco could not take their place in the 1st, the club have reacted quickly to allay fears of further corruption in response to that decision and it would be nice to think that this marks the end of our involvement in the affair.

[ferben1994]

Question! People are mentioning Sky this and Sky that! We also have an ESPN TV deal! Anyone know what their stance is?

i read in the currant bun that espn is totally commited to scottish football today.....we shall see

[Scarlet Pimple]

Inertia relating to the presence ot the OLD FIrm has been the order of the day for years and yeas rand years.Everything has revolved round their presence and undue influence . This may have brought an element of stability to all the other clubs but the real situation is cruelly revealed --let one fail and chaos results because ther sense of independence has been nullified.Too much reliance on big brothers' control and influence has prevented them from flourishing on their own.

Now the chickens are out of the coop and the unbalanced state of Scottish football and the SPL are revealed for all to see starkly.

Doncaster and his gang of self-serving dopes are desperate to solve the IMMEDIATE problems on his/their terms. But once a temporary solution has been agreed you can bet your bottom dollar that these people will be just as desperate NOT to change the status quo thereafter, for the long term good of the SPL. They are shooting from the hip on a seemingly daily basis but what about permanent and necessary re-organisation?

Silence is golden and so are the salaries of these bozos.

What a farce.

[bauhaus]

Thankfully I have missed all this panic panic scenario, with the inevitable finger pointing and back stabbing. I had an affair with Stella and Finlandia for a few days, and just now the Rennies aren't working, hey ho hic.

The Rangers will stay in the 3rd division, because all the clubs did what the fans wanted. However, it seems everyone is upset at the SFL clubs turning down the opportunity of setting the wheels in motion to reform the leagues. I do not think this opportunity has been missed, just merely postponed. The SFL clubs did what was the most important thing on the agenda, punished Rangers for their misdemeanors.

With The Rangers out of the SPL, the SPL chairmen now have the opportunity to spark Scottish football back on the right track. First to abolish this stupid 11-1 vote, sort out the fairness of the money distribution, and then get what the fans want, and not the Doncaster demands, no to 10, yes to 14 and the 16, increased promotion and relegation, and lets get the pyramid in place.

One of the reasons attendances have been falling, forgetting the recession thing, is our enduring seeing the same teams 4 times a season, with managers keen to avoid relegation at all costs with negative footie. A more open league will improve the standard of games, and can attract more fans. I dont think the chance has passed us by, merely the sfl approval to get it motion, but only because it was attached to The Rangers only getting a slapped wrist.

Kenny is right to shout doom if we dont change, we have to move with the times, and with what people want, different teams, open football to entertain, and fairness. So will we be getting foreign referees again, or is that going tooo far

[Tichy_Blacks_Back]

Following on from the Hearts and Dundee Utd announcements it was good to see a positive statement from the club following our own board meeting and more importantly a toning down of the 'we are all doomed' language. Even though things may well be a lot tougher what is needed is positive thinking (and actions).

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11781/7903418/Inverness-stand-by-newco-snub

By the way there was more than 10,000 at the Dundee derby friendly at the weekend. There is still a market for football in Scotland - it just needs the right structure put in place to allow it to flourish and now is the opportunity to do just that.

[RiG]

By the way there was more than 10,000 at the Dundee derby friendly at the weekend. There is still a market for football in Scotland - it just needs the right structure put in place to allow it to flourish and now is the opportunity to do just that.

Totally agree. I think that TV deals and high admission pricess have killed the game to an extent along with the lack of a realistic chance of success in most competitions. We've had ~ 7,000 for a Boxing Day game against Hibs amd the same for a crucial game against Falkirk which sadly saw us relegated. I fimrly believe that with the right restructuring we could start to gain fans back through the turnstiles.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

And that is probably the main reason that Dundee will be in the SPL next season. It may not be anywhere near a par but SKY could hype the Dundee and the Highland derbies. The "problem" will be the "fare" that is provided to the viewing public.

This has undoubtedly been a highly stressful but huge learning curve for Kenny who has shown a lot of guts, and evidently the statement has been well considered this time, in hitting back with such a prompt retraction on behalf of the Muppets.

Can I suggest, as surely is the case, that we keep our gobs closed from now on.

[Tichy_Blacks_Back]

I agree - new firm derbies all over again

Interestingly though why has the newco delegation turned up at the SPL AGM meeting this morning at Hampden and been allowed admission

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

I agree - new firm derbies all over again

Interestingly though why has the newco delegation turned up at the SPL AGM meeting this morning at Hampden and been allowed admission

Becos they still feel that there is a Division 1 door "open" ??