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Tonight's sale of Draper to Ross County has (hopefully) concluded the worst summer of the clubs entire 23 year existence.

starting with relegation, we've seen the following.

- We sack Richie Foran after the end of the season, which was the right decision but taken so late that the rightness or wrongness of it becomes secondary. Why persevere with someone for so long when he obviously wasn't good enough, suffer the consequences and then take action when it's too late? The fact someone with his history at the club was despatched with a two line statement was also a joke.

- The club then reshuffles the boardroom, with a load of Inverniessian estate agents, solicitors and whatnot leaving and joining. No-one really has any idea who any of these people are, none of them have any experience at running a football club whatsoever. The only chink of light is appointing Danny MacDonald, who does know about this, as COO last week.

- Following relegation we don't reduce season ticket prices and issue unbelievably arrogant press release about getting promoted as champions. The tin eared idiocy of this is made more apparent by subsequent events - we ask fans to stump up money to ensure we can cover costs but then release and sell our high earners? Surely someone must've realised how this would go over? The 'apology' afterwards is nothing either, don't get into situations where you have to apologise.

- The club  then embarks on the most nonsensical summer of PR idiocy its possible to imagine. The only way it could be worse is if Finlayson invited a few Japanese trawler boats to dock outside the stadium and slaughter some of the dolphins. First we get rid of stalwarts like Duncan Shearer by text message, then we adopt radio silence from our social media team, then when we get someone to man the Twitter account, they accidentally like filth and our club outs out the stupidest statement in our history about it. It's been said that lots of this stuff was done by volunteer but you could employ a 16 year old media student and they'd do a better job. 

- In between this we praise the candidates who applied for our job and were interviewed and then... appoint someone who didn't apply, hasn't worked as a manager in five years, hasn't been particularly successful at this level in 13 years and was shocked to get in.  I hope he does a good job and he's at least a positive person but looking at things logically the odds are stacked against him. He's also working with people he hasn't brought in, no doubt due to cost, and will be under pressure very soon if we don't go on a run. The fact that he's already started slating the team and players doesn't bode well.

- In terms of playing we've lost some stalwarts, as you'd expect, and replaced them with jobbers. Being absolutely honest about it we've signed raw youth players doing the trialist rounds, jobbers who've been released for being no good or guys who've most likely come from agents. We don't have a solid defender and we don't have someone to score double figures in this league. We also someone got into a war of words with an ex player managing a HL club that we have loads of links with over us trying to sign their best player and captain for no money. An utter embarrassment.

i don't really mind about us selling players or who they go to, all players leave evenuslky and it's better to clear out players too soon than too late. Our squad was stale and under performing. It's the fact we are certain to sign utter useless jobbers to replace the players who've left that is really concerning.

 

I don't think I've missed anything. I don't know if the board or the manager or the Chief Operating Officer wants to give us an update on what the plan is with all this but it's difficult to see where it's going. We don't have an identity as a team, we don't have a structure to ensure that we succeed as much as possible. We have made investment available but no-one is going to invest, apparently. Is this it for the foreseeable? As fans we need something to look forward to, more than a win against Forfar, although that's probably going to be as good as it gets these days, I just hope that at least somebody in charge at the club realises what a state we are in because it needs to change. We are more likely to leave this division down the way than up at the moment and if the people in charge don't get that then we are in for a hard few years until they do.

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  • Tonight's sale of Draper to Ross County has (hopefully) concluded the worst summer of the clubs entire 23 year existence. starting with relegation, we've seen the following. - We sack Richie

  • Charles Bannerman
    Charles Bannerman

    .... probably including any of the 33 out of 33 that Inverness College seem to have managed to get to fail their Higher Media Studies over the last two years. But for the moment to turn to Chris'

  • ClickbaitProponent
    ClickbaitProponent

    But if we continue to be negative then we can't expect things to change on the field either. Negativity breeds negativity. I have to make 1100 mile round trips to see the boys play but just because th

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21 minutes ago, Jockdoonsouth said:

The club is nothing without it's supporters. Once the board realise this and adopt a more progressive attitude towards the fans they will reap the rewards of higher gate receipts, more positive vibes around the ground, and better results. Let's look at the positives ... A) We have a good and experienced manager B) We have signed a few rough diamonds over the summer C) We lost Draper but at least have a bit more money to help us develop a young squad further D) We may not get promotion for a few seasons but we will have a young squad that has grown together - in the SPL when you don't have buckets of cash floating about this strategy is the next best way to promote survival. E) When we started 23 years ago everyone wrote us off because we would never get the gate receipts to make it pay - let alone stay in the league. F) There are clubs with a history 5 times longer than ours that haven't seen a sniff of silverware for longer than we have been around. WE ARE A REMARKABLE CLUB - LETS GET BEHIND THE MANAGER AND PLAYERS AND SHOW THE BOARD JUST HOW MUCH THEY NEED US!

 

And the winner of happy clapping prize of the season is!!! 

We sadly are not a remarkable club anymore just a basket case. 

3 hours ago, Angus Davidson said:

The club shop as many have said is a joke and rather than being helpful and welcoming you are often made to feel that your presence is an inconvenience.

I've been there three times today and it's been closed. I was under the impression it was open Monday to Friday 0930 - 1730?

Just now, Roy Mackenzie said:

I've been there three times today and it's been closed. I was under the impression it was open Monday to Friday 0930 - 1730?

Did you go into reception and ask? 

Sadly the board are only interested in themselves and their money and about cutting costs to do so. I work in a busy retail environment and it's all about the customer. What does the customer want, what's best for them and how to encourage them to shop with us regardless of price. How they are treated when shopping. Actually around with the customers and putting myself in their perspective. Surely this would apply for a football club.

4 hours ago, old caley girl said:

And the winner of happy clapping prize of the season is!!! 

We sadly are not a remarkable club anymore just a basket case. 

But if we continue to be negative then we can't expect things to change on the field either. Negativity breeds negativity. I have to make 1100 mile round trips to see the boys play but just because they took the drop and the club is in a sticky patch doesn't mean I will be less of a supporter. I will still make the home games when leave allows me. I believe that positive change has to be seen to be coming from us, as well as the board, the players, and the management. Have you ever stopped to wonder how many players, managers etc may be lurking on this forum? It's the biggest fan base on the tinternet. It starts with us!!!

Edited by Jockdoonsouth

5 hours ago, Jockdoonsouth said:

The club is nothing without it's supporters. Once the board realise this and adopt a more progressive attitude towards the fans they will reap the rewards of higher gate receipts, more positive vibes around the ground, and better results. Let's look at the positives ... A) We have a good and experienced manager B) We have signed a few rough diamonds over the summer C) We lost Draper but at least have a bit more money to help us develop a young squad further D) We may not get promotion for a few seasons but we will have a young squad that has grown together - in the SPL when you don't have buckets of cash floating about this strategy is the next best way to promote survival. E) When we started 23 years ago everyone wrote us off because we would never get the gate receipts to make it pay - let alone stay in the league. F) There are clubs with a history 5 times longer than ours that haven't seen a sniff of silverware for longer than we have been around. WE ARE A REMARKABLE CLUB - LETS GET BEHIND THE MANAGER AND PLAYERS AND SHOW THE BOARD JUST HOW MUCH THEY NEED US!

 

TOGETHER WE BELIEVE!  TOGETHER WE ACHIEVE!  ARRGGHH!

19 minutes ago, Renegade said:

TOGETHER WE BELIEVE!  TOGETHER WE ACHIEVE!  ARRGGHH!

"Pride of the Highlands" :lol::lol::lol:

4 minutes ago, caleyboy said:

"Pride of the Highlands" :lol::lol::lol:

TOGETHERNESS!!!! 

21 minutes ago, RiG said:

Allegedly we can now add fabricating players asking for transfers to the sorry list. 

If this is true, the entire board needs to go right now. 

10 minutes ago, HawkeyeTheGnu said:

If this is true, the entire board needs to go right now. 

wait, what have i missed here?

I'm on my mobile so I'm not sure if this will work but this Tweet might shed some light on matters... 

That seems to have worked but if not basically it appears that the ICT statement about Draper requesting a transfer and forcing the move is not true at all. Put simply,  the club have lied to us. 

Charles Bannerman spoke to Robbo earlier and I think it was touched on there but I'm not certain. 

Edited by RiG

No doubt our Chairman will put together a press conference to keep us fans fully up to date as a matter of urgency. 

31 minutes ago, HawkeyeTheGnu said:

No doubt our Chairman will put together a press conference to keep us fans fully up to date as a matter of urgency. 

The Courier says, in an article published yesterday (Wednesday) and updated this morning (Thursday) that "Ross County and Caley Thistle will hold press conferences today, with Draper sure to dominate the chat ".

I have no idea whether today means Thursday, or perhaps Friday if the article is primarily intended for the print edition.

Edit - 5 minutes later - have just realised that the Highland News is carrying the same article, so ignore my comment aboit the Courier print edition.

Edited by snorbens_caleyman

After some of the lackbof loyalty shown to Drapes last year, he had every right to withdraw his loyalty - I refer to him being dropped from the crucial match against County. My guess is that, as a senior player who cared for the club, he had suggested to Foran that he needed to get a grip....and paid the price. [speculation].

However, I don't get the impression that Draper instigated any of this. County were being predatory: If the Board didn't want this to happen and nor did Draper or Robbo, it wouldn't have gone through. So, at least one of the parties must have broken ranks. Robbo surely recognised the worth of Draper, so that seems unlikely: The Board seem to have pointed the finger at Draper, which doesn't seem likely and appears to be disputed by the player. The most likely scenario seems ro be that the Board have gone against the wishes of player, manager and fans and (worse) tried to subsequently deflect blame onto the player. The motive is clearly financial and I would potentially accept it if we were made aware of what challenges we face. However, if it turns out that they have deliberately tried to blame Draper to deflect criticism from themselves is cowardly and indefensible.

23 minutes ago, RiG said:

 

That seems to have worked but if not basically it appears that the ICT statement about Draper requesting a transfer and forcing the move is not true at all. Put simply, the club gave lied to us.

That's a pretty strong accusation and I don't think that is what Jamie Durent is saying - which to me is something more along the lines of "it's not as clear cut as has been portrayed by ICT". 

For example, IF there was an understanding that if Draper put in a transfer request then the club would accept the bid, then ICT would be telling the truth and Draper would be unhappy about being portrayed as the bad guy.

Playing devils advocate...

Draper (or his agent) tells ICT in an informal manner, happy to move on if it suits club.

ICT decide to cash in, use transfer request line to appease fans.

Draper claims no 'official' request was made and he is being scapegoated.

Creamy mess all over ICT face yet again! Never nice

 

50 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

That's a pretty strong accusation and I don't think that is what Jamie Durent is saying - which to me is something more along the lines of "it's not as clear cut as has been portrayed by ICT". 

For example, IF there was an understanding that if Draper put in a transfer request then the club would accept the bid, then ICT would be telling the truth and Draper would be unhappy about being portrayed as the bad guy.

Draper didn't submit a transfer request but for some reason the club is saying that he did. As SO says below maybe that is to appease the fans but it just makes the club look stupid that they're having to make stuff up.

17 minutes ago, RiG said:

Draper didn't submit a transfer request but for some reason the club is saying that he did. As SO says below maybe that is to appease the fans but it just makes the club look stupid that they're having to make stuff up.

why are we believing Draper and not club here? Yngwie has it spot on here imho 

Worst summer was the hughes debacle but it hasnt got better since then.

This will only be the worst summer ever if we get relegated. If by a miracle we get promoted then we will forget the issues this month  on the football side but will not forget or forgive the comms or lack of management shiwn by the board. 

38 minutes ago, old caley girl said:

why are we believing Draper and not club here? Yngwie has it spot on here imho 

Because right now my trust in the club couldn't be any lower and I don't really trust anything that comes from them.

33 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

Source?

The same person who told me about Robbo coming in as manager a day or so before he did along with some of the other transfers that have been made this summer.

Regardless, to me it's pretty simple. Either he requested a transfer or he didn't. ICT have claimed that he did yet on the back of press conferences today we have a journalist saying that there is clearly more to this than meets the eye which doesn't really leave many other options to explore.

ETA: 

Draper believes that his name has been "dragged through the mud" and that the club asked him to submit a "notification of his desire to leave".

Edited by RiG

I heard Draper on the radio today lunchtime (mfr) saying the club told him if he wanted a move he would need to put in a transfer request ! ? *

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