Yogi's Contract

[caleyboy]

I think people are reading far too much into this article...

Budgets - Clearly KC not giving him an answer on whether he is going to have anything from the Christie sale to spend, he's clearly looking for clarity, which KC won't be able to give until he really looks at what can be made available.

"It's just before you sign that contract just getting to know exactly what tools you're working with next year. I don't want to sign a contract and something gets taken away"

To me he is ready to sign, he just wants to know what he is working with.

Players - As with any manager you admire and you are getting playing time under, you want to see them stay, and if they don't of course that is going to impact your future and decision on whether to stay.

Family - To me this is a statement to say to KC, offer me long term and I'll maybe move my family up here. look at the positive side of that rather than thinking he wants away and is using that as an excuse.

Sticky Patch - Of course he feels he has no control, look at the injuries, he says it himself. Confidence is a huge factor and as he says if they get on a wee run it all comes back, it is kind of out of his hands and up the players to really start believing in themselves, Hughes can try motivate, but ultimately its down to the players to perform and get that belief back.

 

[ICTRoughi]

I don't think giving Yogi extra money is the best outcome from this unless it's financially viable for us to do so. We need to live within our means etc.

As long as you are prepared for life in the lower leagues!!!

I don't fancy us becoming The Caley Thistle anytime soon. End of the day, we need to be wise with our finances cause if we spend unnecessarily we're going to be in the lower leagues. It's up to Yogi to use the money available effectively and if he can't do that then somebody else will. 

 

Sticky Patch - Of course he feels he has no control, look at the injuries, he says it himself. Confidence is a huge factor and as he says if they get on a wee run it all comes back, it is kind of out of his hands and up the players to really start believing in themselves, Hughes can try motivate, but ultimately its down to the players to perform and get that belief back.

I understand that the injuries are not ideal at the moment however I feel that the players that we are playing are good enough to play as well as the team of last season. It's Yogi job to get  the confidence and motivation in the team which I do think is still there. The only problem with the current situation at the monent and Paul Irving got the nail on the head with this one is that there is an unhealthy obsession with possession football. Yogi has the control to change that and find an alternative and just maybe the sticky patch would start getting better - that's why I didn't like that particular comment from the interview.

 

[bdu98196]

The lack of funds at the club cant be cited to Yogi, he brought us our most successful season ever and an attractive brand of football recieving plaudits everywhere (even the media), yet no more fans have come through the gate. Perhaps people need to look at themselves for those reasons, is everyone doing enough to encourage friends, family, colleagues etc?

I don't see how the influence Yogi has on the players can be questioned, our team always looks motivated and committed even if we do fall short in games just now. Before the International break we hit a patch of form and started playing really well, moving the ball and scoring goals but since then we have had a few poor results and performances which suggest confidence is fragile just now. We are missing leaders on the park like Brill and Warren who organise our usually solid defence, Draper who marshalls the middle, Foran our captain has been out long term - injuiries are unprecendented and regardless of what some thing these players (Foran perhaps) along with Doran would get back into the team and improve it. We havent just lost key player, but key leaders on the park and they harder to replace. There is criticism of the signing policy yet even those players have been injured so how can we properly judge Roberts or Mutumbo, while Storey looks good potential.

Look at the Championship where clubs like Rangers, Hibs, Falkirk, St Mirren all reside - clubs bigger than us, so we are still over-achieving, how long before fans accept this and a huge part of that is down to Yogi. I for one hope he stays and if not then he can walk away head high with what he has achieved, unfortunately for some fans on here they will never acknowledge his contribution to the club and still rue the day he arrived. Those who think we can find another manager who will bring us the same or more success without significant changes in budget and footfall then they need to bring these people into the club or make the board aware, because I'm hugely sceptical.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Perhaps we need leaders off the park. Again my concern is that the loss of Yogi will affect the players and that we could probably only attract a younger, upcoming type of manager - probably more suited to the lower leagues.

[caleyboy]

Perhaps we need leaders off the park. Again my concern is that the loss of Yogi will affect the players and that we could probably only attract a younger, upcoming type of manager - probably more suited to the lower leagues.

Perhaps we need leaders off the park. Again my concern is that the loss of Yogi will affect the players and that we could probably only attract a younger, upcoming type of manager - probably more suited to the lower leagues.

Bang on the button IHE

[Scarlet Pimple]

And what are the main reasons that the crowds have not increased in your view?

 

[Sneckboy]

And what are the main reasons that the crowds have not increased in your view?

 

Glory hunters!
Pure and simple...
We're no more immune to that than any other club in the country!
Loads of new posters on this forum in the build-up - never to be heard of again.
Literally thousands of 'fans' who attended that day who had never been to the TCS before.
Literally thousands of fans who attended that day who have never been back to (or indeed, ever been to) the TCS since.
We don't have 15,000 fans - we've 4,000. And if that doesn't increase after last season, then it simply never will.

[ThorburnGolf]

And what are the main reasons that the crowds have not increased in your view?

 

Glory hunters!
Pure and simple...
We're no more immune to that than any other club in the country!
Loads of new posters on this forum in the build-up - never to be heard of again.
Literally thousands of 'fans' who attended that day who had never been to the TCS before.
Literally thousands of fans who attended that day who have never been back to (or indeed, ever been to) the TCS since.
We don't have 15,000 fans - we've 4,000. And if that doesn't increase after last season, then it simply never will.

Inverness potentially has a much bigger fanbase in my opinion, but it will take time. Too many folks in Inverness and area are Rangers/Celtic/Aberdeen fans, the club needs to get ICT into the mindset of kids in the schools now more than ever while we have had some success, forget bigger attendances for the next few seasons and look at the bigger picture and look to get these kids growing up as Caley fans, then who knows, maybe you then have a club with an average attendance of 6-7000 in 10-15 years time. It may never happen but that's where I see potential in the club, more so probably than any other club in the country.

[Charles Bannerman]

 

Glory hunters!
Pure and simple...
 

Inverness potentially has a much bigger fanbase in my opinion, but it will take time.

First of all, on the glory hunters issue, I think Sneckboy is bang on the money there. In the community around most football clubs there is a sort of outer circle who class themselves as "fans", even if that simply involves looking for the result in the Sunday papers and having a brief smile of satisfaction if it's a win.

At the other end of the spectrum there are your diehards who attend every home game and also as many aways as they can. At any point on that spectrum, there is a threshold of importance and significance which needs to be reached before people placed there will attend a particular game. For the diehards, that threshold is placed virtually at zero - they will be there whatever. Others less keen will come out maybe for the visit of Celtic, Aberdeen or County and further down the line it becomes something like a Scottish Cup final, especially one where ICT are favourites to win so there is a reasonable chance of that ultimate shot of self gratification. At some point on that spectrum it gets to the stage where you can reasonably use the term "glory hunter"

As for the size of the fan base, I have for some time believed that the underlying trend since 1994 has been slowly upward, but there have also been shorter term declines as various "new" developments such as playing in a new stadium, in Division 2, Division 1, the SPL etc cease to be novelties. I do have to say that over the last couple of years, attendance figures have somewhat challenged that belief but on the other hand there has been no recent novelty. (The Scottish Cup doesn't fit the kind of thing I mean.)

Then there's the Old Firm factor where I do believe that, slowly as time goes by and with the alternative of ICT, Inverness is beginning to reduce its simplistic obsession with Rangers and Celtic and  starting to replace it with a degree of football maturity through support for the local club.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

I am still in no doubt that the ghosts of the merger continue to haunt us. They are is like zombies trawling the Longman in the darkness. I advise all "glory hunters" to stay away from the Dundee game unless you want to become the gory hunted. I think I may write a series called the "Undecided" for Sky1, starting in Rose Street in 1993.

[+HawkeyeTheGnu]

I'm sure Jethro Tull could provide the theme tune

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

[ICTRoughi]

On the issue of attendances, I personally think that Inverness as a city keeps developing and when the younger fans of our core support begin to start having families of their own, I reckon our attendance will slowly be on the rise - our time will come. 

As the old saying goes 'Rome wasn't built in a day' and what we've achieved in 21 years is remarkable!

[Alex MacLeod]

Our attendance is what it is and no amount of debate is going to change that. Perth is a city of similar size and population to Inverness but has a football team thats been around since 1885. They have had limited success's over the years, including the Scottish Cup the year before us yet still only have a similar home fanbase as we do. Perth sends quite a few buses to OF matches just as Inverness do. Perth actually sent quite a few of their supporters to our SC final to boost our support and ensure their european place.

St Johnstone haven't managed to oust OF fans and increase their fanbase in 130 years. What chance do we have?

[alternative maryhill]

And what are the main reasons that the crowds have not increased in your view?

 

Glory hunters!
Pure and simple...
We're no more immune to that than any other club in the country!
Loads of new posters on this forum in the build-up - never to be heard of again.
Literally thousands of 'fans' who attended that day who had never been to the TCS before.
Literally thousands of fans who attended that day who have never been back to (or indeed, ever been to) the TCS since.
We don't have 15,000 fans - we've 4,000. And if that doesn't increase after last season, then it simply never will.

And what are the main reasons that the crowds have not increased in your view?

 

Glory hunters!
Pure and simple...
We're no more immune to that than any other club in the country!
Loads of new posters on this forum in the build-up - never to be heard of again.
Literally thousands of 'fans' who attended that day who had never been to the TCS before.
Literally thousands of fans who attended that day who have never been back to (or indeed, ever been to) the TCS since.
We don't have 15,000 fans - we've 4,000. And if that doesn't increase after last season, then it simply never will.

Inverness potentially has a much bigger fanbase in my opinion, but it will take time. Too many folks in Inverness and area are Rangers/Celtic/Aberdeen fans, the club needs to get ICT into the mindset of kids in the schools now more than ever while we have had some success, forget bigger attendances for the next few seasons and look at the bigger picture and look to get these kids growing up as Caley fans, then who knows, maybe you then have a club with an average attendance of 6-7000 in 10-15 years time. It may never happen but that's where I see potential in the club, more so probably than any other club in the country.

 

I agree with Sneckboy about the size of core support and the unlikelihood of it increasing significantly. We could do all the marketing and outreach in the world, and even move the stadium to a more central location, and I don't think there's any chance that the average attendance would ever reach figures of 6-7000. It's not just down to 'glory hunters' though, imho: there is a range of reasons why our support is static, some particular to Inverness, some reflecting wider trends in Scottish football. 

For a start, the make-up of Inverness's population has surely been in a greater state of flux, for all of the club's life and long before that, than almost any other Scottish population centre of similar size. We often hear about it having one of the fastest growing populations in the UK, but many of those who arrive will already have a long-established support for a different football team, or, if they haven't already developed an interest in football, are unlikely to suddenly do so to the extent that many of them will become regular attendees at TCS. Moreover, what is mentioned far less frequently is the number of people who leave the area. Traditionally, Inverness has been a place that young people go away from in order to study, and the club's lifetime has coincided with vastly increased number of school leavers across the UK going to university. I could name maybe 30 people from the central belt who I see at away games or go to away games with regularly, who are all examples of this trend. A couple of them, like RiG and Top Six Next Year, do continue to buy season tickets and attend TCS regularly, but it's a huge commitment for them, and it's not realistic to expect most people in that situation to have the time or money to do this. FWIW, I think that the numbers of teenagers and younger children at our home games makes up a pretty healthy proportion of our modest crowds - a bigger proportion, I'd argue, that in the crowds of many other Scottish teams, based on what I've seen at their grounds - but how many of these regular supporters will we keep when they finish school? The UHI might make a small difference, but people will still want to spread their wings.

I think the 'Old Firm factor' is actually overstated, certainly among people born in the 90s and beyond, although I think it has limited our potential audience among those who were old enough to have chosen their 'big team' by the time the club was formed. There were plenty of people I was at school with who I saw regularly at Kingsmills in the 80s, but who also went to Celtic Park, or Ibrox, or (in my case and a few others') Pittodrie a few times a season, and who didn't make the jump when the merger occurred, simply because their allegiance to their 'big club' was too strong, rather than out of any deeply-held opposition to the merger. Celtic, and certainly Rangers are far less exotic or glamorous than they once appeared, and although there will be kids running around in their strips in Inverness, I'm convinced that this doesn't affect us significantly more than any other Scottish team of comparable size, whether in Perth, Ayrshire, Fife or Lanarkshire. The far bigger threat or distraction comes from the blanket coverage of the English Premier League and Champions League, which is encouraging a lot of young potential supporters to see Scottish football as devalued and even embarrassing. In the school I work in in Glasgow, where probably 99% of those who follow football would once upon a time have described themselves as Celtic supporters, and remain privileged enough to be able to afford season tickets if they want them, increasingly large numbers describe themselves and Man City, or Chelsea, or Barcelona or Real Madrid supporters, and disparage all Scottish football. I've heard more than one pupil describe how they were offered a Celtic season ticket for their birthday by their parents, and turned it down. Why should we expect kids in Inverness to be any different?

That, of course, is probably a fairly significant factor in explaining why clubs across Scotland like ICT, and St Johnstone, and Motherwell, have not seen significant crowd increases in highly successful recent periods in their histories: the genuine interest in Scottish football that actually brings people through the gates just isn't there (expect for those 'one-off' occasions, like the Scottish Cup Final), although the overall stagnation in support in Scotland is sometimes disguised by recent bounces in crowd size experienced by 'sleeping giant' clubs like Hearts and Aberdeen. I do think that location is a slightly aggravating factor for us, and ticket prices are definitely too high throughout Scotland, but ticket offers and price reductions in the past haven't succeeded in significantly increasing support in the past, as Motherwell under John Boyle found out to their cost, so we are probably stuck with them, as the club has to budget around them.

Finally, changes in working patterns have probably had a bigger impact on attendances than many people acknowledge. Far more people now work regularly at weekends than did during the heyday of Scottish football, and so they simply aren't able to make many matches. For my first 10 years of supporting ICT, I worked two weekends out of three; it felt like a real privilege to be able to attend games. I suspect that this is an area in which Inverness sees a slightly bigger disadvantage; as the primary shopping and service centre for about half of Scotland's land mass, it employs vast numbers in the retail and service sectors, and obviously the busiest time for such businesses is at the weekends, so I suspect that a larger proportion of people working in Inverness regularly work weekends than in the hometowns of most other Scottish clubs. This is all conjecture, though - I don't have any figures.

Put all this together, and I just can't see us, or any other team of similar size, ever stepping up to another level in terms of the support we command. I suspect the club believes this too, and cuts its cloth accordingly. That's not to say that the marketing couldn't be a lot better and more imaginative - even adding 500 to the gates regularly would make a big difference, and that's not completely unrealistic - but it probably does explain the reluctance to offer Yogi a significantly enhanced contract (back on topic...) and a significantly increased playing budget. I don't think the chairman or the board members always get it right by any means, but I do have some sympathy with their dilemma here. 

 

 

[12th Man]

Football goes through trends as well, I believe there were just as many people who went to the halloween event last night as we took to Hampden but its free and its an annual event, football costs money and its more frequent.

If you think of an ICT ladder, where there are people who don't even acknowledge a football club in Inverness, these people haven't even climed on to the bottom rung, where higher up are the fans who frequently go to games and buy merchandise etc.

There are far more people out there that at least affiliate themselves to our club and are on the bottom rung. There are the ones who now want an ICT shirt or go to one or two games more a season.

Its better to think of ways to generate interest as the club do, than do nothing.

I hear nothing but positivity from people who get free tickets for youngsters. Which makes a nice change from fans moaning about players 

It's a work in progress but at least we are moving in the right direction.

 

Edited October 31, 2015 by 12th Man

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

And what are the main reasons that the crowds have not increased in your view?

 

Glory hunters!
Pure and simple...
We're no more immune to that than any other club in the country!
Loads of new posters on this forum in the build-up - never to be heard of again.
Literally thousands of 'fans' who attended that day who had never been to the TCS before.
Literally thousands of fans who attended that day who have never been back to (or indeed, ever been to) the TCS since.
We don't have 15,000 fans - we've 4,000. And if that doesn't increase after last season, then it simply never will.

 

And what are the main reasons that the crowds have not increased in your view?

 

Glory hunters!
Pure and simple...
We're no more immune to that than any other club in the country!
Loads of new posters on this forum in the build-up - never to be heard of again.
Literally thousands of 'fans' who attended that day who had never been to the TCS before.
Literally thousands of fans who attended that day who have never been back to (or indeed, ever been to) the TCS since.
We don't have 15,000 fans - we've 4,000. And if that doesn't increase after last season, then it simply never will.

Inverness potentially has a much bigger fanbase in my opinion, but it will take time. Too many folks in Inverness and area are Rangers/Celtic/Aberdeen fans, the club needs to get ICT into the mindset of kids in the schools now more than ever while we have had some success, forget bigger attendances for the next few seasons and look at the bigger picture and look to get these kids growing up as Caley fans, then who knows, maybe you then have a club with an average attendance of 6-7000 in 10-15 years time. It may never happen but that's where I see potential in the club, more so probably than any other club in the country.

 

I agree with Sneckboy about the size of core support and the unlikelihood of it increasing significantly. We could do all the marketing and outreach in the world, and even move the stadium to a more central location, and I don't think there's any chance that the average attendance would ever reach figures of 6-7000. It's not just down to 'glory hunters' though, imho: there is a range of reasons why our support is static, some particular to Inverness, some reflecting wider trends in Scottish football. 

For a start, the make-up of Inverness's population has surely been in a greater state of flux, for all of the club's life and long before that, than almost any other Scottish population centre of similar size. We often hear about it having one of the fastest growing populations in the UK, but many of those who arrive will already have a long-established support for a different football team, or, if they haven't already developed an interest in football, are unlikely to suddenly do so to the extent that many of them will become regular attendees at TCS. Moreover, what is mentioned far less frequently is the number of people who leave the area. Traditionally, Inverness has been a place that young people go away from in order to study, and the club's lifetime has coincided with vastly increased number of school leavers across the UK going to university. I could name maybe 30 people from the central belt who I see at away games or go to away games with regularly, who are all examples of this trend. A couple of them, like RiG and Top Six Next Year, do continue to buy season tickets and attend TCS regularly, but it's a huge commitment for them, and it's not realistic to expect most people in that situation to have the time or money to do this. FWIW, I think that the numbers of teenagers and younger children at our home games makes up a pretty healthy proportion of our modest crowds - a bigger proportion, I'd argue, that in the crowds of many other Scottish teams, based on what I've seen at their grounds - but how many of these regular supporters will we keep when they finish school? The UHI might make a small difference, but people will still want to spread their wings.

I think the 'Old Firm factor' is actually overstated, certainly among people born in the 90s and beyond, although I think it has limited our potential audience among those who were old enough to have chosen their 'big team' by the time the club was formed. There were plenty of people I was at school with who I saw regularly at Kingsmills in the 80s, but who also went to Celtic Park, or Ibrox, or (in my case and a few others') Pittodrie a few times a season, and who didn't make the jump when the merger occurred, simply because their allegiance to their 'big club' was too strong, rather than out of any deeply-held opposition to the merger. Celtic, and certainly Rangers are far less exotic or glamorous than they once appeared, and although there will be kids running around in their strips in Inverness, I'm convinced that this doesn't affect us significantly more than any other Scottish team of comparable size, whether in Perth, Ayrshire, Fife or Lanarkshire. The far bigger threat or distraction comes from the blanket coverage of the English Premier League and Champions League, which is encouraging a lot of young potential supporters to see Scottish football as devalued and even embarrassing. In the school I work in in Glasgow, where probably 99% of those who follow football would once upon a time have described themselves as Celtic supporters, and remain privileged enough to be able to afford season tickets if they want them, increasingly large numbers describe themselves and Man City, or Chelsea, or Barcelona or Real Madrid supporters, and disparage all Scottish football. I've heard more than one pupil describe how they were offered a Celtic season ticket for their birthday by their parents, and turned it down. Why should we expect kids in Inverness to be any different?

That, of course, is probably a fairly significant factor in explaining why clubs across Scotland like ICT, and St Johnstone, and Motherwell, have not seen significant crowd increases in highly successful recent periods in their histories: the genuine interest in Scottish football that actually brings people through the gates just isn't there (expect for those 'one-off' occasions, like the Scottish Cup Final), although the overall stagnation in support in Scotland is sometimes disguised by recent bounces in crowd size experienced by 'sleeping giant' clubs like Hearts and Aberdeen. I do think that location is a slightly aggravating factor for us, and ticket prices are definitely too high throughout Scotland, but ticket offers and price reductions in the past haven't succeeded in significantly increasing support in the past, as Motherwell under John Boyle found out to their cost, so we are probably stuck with them, as the club has to budget around them.

Finally, changes in working patterns have probably had a bigger impact on attendances than many people acknowledge. Far more people now work regularly at weekends than did during the heyday of Scottish football, and so they simply aren't able to make many matches. For my first 10 years of supporting ICT, I worked two weekends out of three; it felt like a real privilege to be able to attend games. I suspect that this is an area in which Inverness sees a slightly bigger disadvantage; as the primary shopping and service centre for about half of Scotland's land mass, it employs vast numbers in the retail and service sectors, and obviously the busiest time for such businesses is at the weekends, so I suspect that a larger proportion of people working in Inverness regularly work weekends than in the hometowns of most other Scottish clubs. This is all conjecture, though - I don't have any figures.

Put all this together, and I just can't see us, or any other team of similar size, ever stepping up to another level in terms of the support we command. I suspect the club believes this too, and cuts its cloth accordingly. That's not to say that the marketing couldn't be a lot better and more imaginative - even adding 500 to the gates regularly would make a big difference, and that's not completely unrealistic - but it probably does explain the reluctance to offer Yogi a significantly enhanced contract (back on topic...) and a significantly increased playing budget. I don't think the chairman or the board members always get it right by any means, but I do have some sympathy with their dilemma here. 

 

I don't have anything to add - but this must be my biggest post ever.

[+bughtmaster]

size isn't everything 

[Scarlet Pimple]

Bughtie you are awful--but I like you!

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

And what are the main reasons that the crowds have not increased in your view?

 

Glory hunters!
Pure and simple...
We're no more immune to that than any other club in the country!
Loads of new posters on this forum in the build-up - never to be heard of again.
Literally thousands of 'fans' who attended that day who had never been to the TCS before.
Literally thousands of fans who attended that day who have never been back to (or indeed, ever been to) the TCS since.
We don't have 15,000 fans - we've 4,000. And if that doesn't increase after last season, then it simply never will.

 

And what are the main reasons that the crowds have not increased in your view?

 

Glory hunters!
Pure and simple...
We're no more immune to that than any other club in the country!
Loads of new posters on this forum in the build-up - never to be heard of again.
Literally thousands of 'fans' who attended that day who had never been to the TCS before.
Literally thousands of fans who attended that day who have never been back to (or indeed, ever been to) the TCS since.
We don't have 15,000 fans - we've 4,000. And if that doesn't increase after last season, then it simply never will.

Inverness potentially has a much bigger fanbase in my opinion, but it will take time. Too many folks in Inverness and area are Rangers/Celtic/Aberdeen fans, the club needs to get ICT into the mindset of kids in the schools now more than ever while we have had some success, forget bigger attendances for the next few seasons and look at the bigger picture and look to get these kids growing up as Caley fans, then who knows, maybe you then have a club with an average attendance of 6-7000 in 10-15 years time. It may never happen but that's where I see potential in the club, more so probably than any other club in the country.

 

I agree with Sneckboy about the size of core support and the unlikelihood of it increasing significantly. We could do all the marketing and outreach in the world, and even move the stadium to a more central location, and I don't think there's any chance that the average attendance would ever reach figures of 6-7000. It's not just down to 'glory hunters' though, imho: there is a range of reasons why our support is static, some particular to Inverness, some reflecting wider trends in Scottish football. 

For a start, the make-up of Inverness's population has surely been in a greater state of flux, for all of the club's life and long before that, than almost any other Scottish population centre of similar size. We often hear about it having one of the fastest growing populations in the UK, but many of those who arrive will already have a long-established support for a different football team, or, if they haven't already developed an interest in football, are unlikely to suddenly do so to the extent that many of them will become regular attendees at TCS. Moreover, what is mentioned far less frequently is the number of people who leave the area. Traditionally, Inverness has been a place that young people go away from in order to study, and the club's lifetime has coincided with vastly increased number of school leavers across the UK going to university. I could name maybe 30 people from the central belt who I see at away games or go to away games with regularly, who are all examples of this trend. A couple of them, like RiG and Top Six Next Year, do continue to buy season tickets and attend TCS regularly, but it's a huge commitment for them, and it's not realistic to expect most people in that situation to have the time or money to do this. FWIW, I think that the numbers of teenagers and younger children at our home games makes up a pretty healthy proportion of our modest crowds - a bigger proportion, I'd argue, that in the crowds of many other Scottish teams, based on what I've seen at their grounds - but how many of these regular supporters will we keep when they finish school? The UHI might make a small difference, but people will still want to spread their wings.

I think the 'Old Firm factor' is actually overstated, certainly among people born in the 90s and beyond, although I think it has limited our potential audience among those who were old enough to have chosen their 'big team' by the time the club was formed. There were plenty of people I was at school with who I saw regularly at Kingsmills in the 80s, but who also went to Celtic Park, or Ibrox, or (in my case and a few others') Pittodrie a few times a season, and who didn't make the jump when the merger occurred, simply because their allegiance to their 'big club' was too strong, rather than out of any deeply-held opposition to the merger. Celtic, and certainly Rangers are far less exotic or glamorous than they once appeared, and although there will be kids running around in their strips in Inverness, I'm convinced that this doesn't affect us significantly more than any other Scottish team of comparable size, whether in Perth, Ayrshire, Fife or Lanarkshire. The far bigger threat or distraction comes from the blanket coverage of the English Premier League and Champions League, which is encouraging a lot of young potential supporters to see Scottish football as devalued and even embarrassing. In the school I work in in Glasgow, where probably 99% of those who follow football would once upon a time have described themselves as Celtic supporters, and remain privileged enough to be able to afford season tickets if they want them, increasingly large numbers describe themselves and Man City, or Chelsea, or Barcelona or Real Madrid supporters, and disparage all Scottish football. I've heard more than one pupil describe how they were offered a Celtic season ticket for their birthday by their parents, and turned it down. Why should we expect kids in Inverness to be any different?

That, of course, is probably a fairly significant factor in explaining why clubs across Scotland like ICT, and St Johnstone, and Motherwell, have not seen significant crowd increases in highly successful recent periods in their histories: the genuine interest in Scottish football that actually brings people through the gates just isn't there (expect for those 'one-off' occasions, like the Scottish Cup Final), although the overall stagnation in support in Scotland is sometimes disguised by recent bounces in crowd size experienced by 'sleeping giant' clubs like Hearts and Aberdeen. I do think that location is a slightly aggravating factor for us, and ticket prices are definitely too high throughout Scotland, but ticket offers and price reductions in the past haven't succeeded in significantly increasing support in the past, as Motherwell under John Boyle found out to their cost, so we are probably stuck with them, as the club has to budget around them.

Finally, changes in working patterns have probably had a bigger impact on attendances than many people acknowledge. Far more people now work regularly at weekends than did during the heyday of Scottish football, and so they simply aren't able to make many matches. For my first 10 years of supporting ICT, I worked two weekends out of three; it felt like a real privilege to be able to attend games. I suspect that this is an area in which Inverness sees a slightly bigger disadvantage; as the primary shopping and service centre for about half of Scotland's land mass, it employs vast numbers in the retail and service sectors, and obviously the busiest time for such businesses is at the weekends, so I suspect that a larger proportion of people working in Inverness regularly work weekends than in the hometowns of most other Scottish clubs. This is all conjecture, though - I don't have any figures.

Put all this together, and I just can't see us, or any other team of similar size, ever stepping up to another level in terms of the support we command. I suspect the club believes this too, and cuts its cloth accordingly. That's not to say that the marketing couldn't be a lot better and more imaginative - even adding 500 to the gates regularly would make a big difference, and that's not completely unrealistic - but it probably does explain the reluctance to offer Yogi a significantly enhanced contract (back on topic...) and a significantly increased playing budget. I don't think the chairman or the board members always get it right by any means, but I do have some sympathy with their dilemma here. 

 

I don't have anything to add - but this must be my biggest post ever.

size isn't everything 

Yes it is

Bughtie you are awful--but I like you!

I like you too SP - helping me elongate my record.

[DEANO96]

I agree with what everyone says about growing city, getting kids into the caley mind set...my cousins came out from stornoway to live and since then they've both become caley daft, one of which attends most games through thick and thin! 

My point being that, despite all the different ways the club could act upon this, if football authorities were to help clubs drop ticket prices then our club would be one many that would benefit! If didn't cost £30-£40 but instead it cost £15 for a match day then we would, I believe, get at least an extra 1000 people through the gate! 

[12th Man]

Sadly deano if tickets were subsidised by the government then 3000 adults for each match £10 cheaper for only one season for the SPFL alone would be around 6.5 Million. The cost would be far higher as other clubs have far more fans. I don't think they have that kind of cash spare when it could be spent else where.

[DEANO96]

Well then me might as well all give up hope of seeing fans through the gate! Clubs like ours aren't going to get anywhere without the help from the sfa! 

And honestly can anyone see the club going rounds the schools telling the kids to go when it's the adults that have to take them! I dunno what else teams can do to bring people through the gates other than drop prices! Also, as stated somewhere before, you can go and watch German clubs and many other clubs around the world for less than a tenner a game, nobody wants to pay through the nose to watch football...other than the die hard fans or those with money burning a hole in their pocket

[12th Man]

If its too dear then the pay what you want promotion should have seen us turning people away at the gate as we should have been full.

An adult can take kids to the match, season ticket averages out at £15:70, a pensioner or under 25yr old could take kids for £10 ish a game with a St book, or £12 for the uncovered section in the main stand. Seems reasonable enough to me. 

There's also free tickets for schools and if the seats are empty anyway then may as well get new faces interested.

[old caley girl]

If its too dear then the pay what you want promotion should have seen us turning people away at the gate as we should have been full.

An adult can take kids to the match, season ticket averages out at £15:70, a pensioner or under 25yr old could take kids for £10 ish a game with a St book, or £12 for the uncovered section in the main stand. Seems reasonable enough to me. 

There's also free tickets for schools and if the seats are empty anyway then may as well get new faces interested.

Totally agree if we cant get folk in basically free I dont think prices are the problem here.

In reply to Deanos point above when the players visit schools free adult tickets as well as childrens tickets are offered. Good old pester power must work sometimes? However I have spoken to a player on that subject and they find it frustrating that the kids they meet are very keen to come but the adults wont bring them!