What's all this about then?

 

Players will develop differently with higher levels of coaching...better coaching - better results...its a well known fact that with lesser coaching levels academies are merely doing lower league clubs a favour - hence Fife Elite is common to four clubs.

14 minutes ago, caleyboy said:

Players will develope to the level they are capable of. 

tend to agree .... 

If I take my own boy into the example here ... we have been taking him to football since he was 2. He just turned 6.

From age 2-5 he went to something called little kickers. it was basically all about exercising and burning energy and using a ball sometimes rather than anything i would categorise as training. As he got older the ball got used more and learning of skills was introduced. From his mouth and my eyes, we knew he had reached his limit with this program a year ago and had to go up a level. From early summer this year until now he has been going to a local football club 2 nights a week. first night is training second night is a 'game'. This is more like training proper with the first night focusing on specific skills with the ball and the second about applying them. This team takes you from age 5 up to university age for competitive football so he is in on the ground floor as it were. If he is good he will go down the competitive route, if he is not he can choose to go down the leisure route which goes all the way up to my age !

3 weeks ago he started a new training regime, this time with Toronto FC juniors. TFC have one of the best academies in North America - and poured millions into it as a condition of entry into MLS - but as a parent I know I have to be realistic ... My son is unlikely to be the next Ronaldo or Neymar and even if he does get picked up and tracked into the main academy program once he reaches age 7 or 8 years old then 95% of those who go down that path will fall off somewhere and not make the grade. 10s of thousands of kids have entered the ranks of the academy over the last 10 years .... and only about 20 have made it to the first team squad and only 2 or 3 of those are still at the club and appearing more than a handful of times a season. They either move on to other clubs, drop down to TFC II which plays in a lower league, or drop back to CPL or NASL and find their level. This is how it is the world over. ICT seems similar in that respect ... we have the hotshots for the young kids and then we have other outside outlets like kids coaching or TOFSS which was setup by former ICT captain Ian McArthur if I am not mistaken and now has Carl Tremarco as the newest franchisee (for Ross-shire), and we also have a route for the kids with ICT. One of my friends' kids is currently going down that route ... he was in hotshots, was also in TOFSS and is now playing for the ICT youths. Incidentally - they are always fundraising too as they do not get their costs covered by the club so whatever the club do give them it definitely doesnt cover everything. If we are paying 500K per year for our youth program then that is for wages, administration and covering anything else we are required to have in our licensing ... its not for niceties, freebies, or frivolity as far as I can tell. 

If we have a "highland" academy combining some HFL and SFL sides then, the players themselves will know where they want to go .... if its ICT/RCFC then it may be by choice if we are at the same or similar levels, but if we have differing teams at differing levels combining to share costs then the parents and/or coaches should realise this and make the best and most honest choice for their kids. I also think myself that training or youth development should be part of the core program run by the league and that it should benefit from government funds as part of a national fitness or youth activity program and perhaps be independent of but tied to the clubs in some way ... that way we can take some of the potential for bias and/or accusations of unfairness out of things .... this could very well be a whole separate debate on another thread .....   

19 minutes ago, Satan said:

Players will develop differently with higher levels of coaching...better coaching - better results...its a well known fact that with lesser coaching levels academies are merely doing lower league clubs a favour - hence Fife Elite is common to four clubs.

and thats where the parents come in. In my post above I commented that I realised my son had reached his limit with one program and moved him to another .... none of these programs are free and the higher you go the more it costs but you will do for your kids what you think is best regardless of that cost. Thats also what my friends have done .... their son is really good IMO and they want him to reach his potential so thats why they do it. In both cases the kids love their football so that does make it easier ..... 

It's pie in the sky  but proper coaches in schools would be the place to start - giving every kid a chance from a young age.

I've always been a bit sceptical of the wee kiddy coaching schemes, which tend to be focussed on generating income and putting the clubs name out into the community. This is somewhere that ICT have picked up but were very slow off the mark back in the day - I had my kids in with Ross County for several years as the staff at ICT weren't returning calls or giving us info on times locations, etc. Although they wore ICT tops they had a great time with the county coaches. Interestingly enough my oldest was in the same group as Roddy MacGregor...I guess they were more coaches than scouts.

if we are spending nearly £500k pa on youth development then we need to calculate our return on investment. I'm sure any new investor would seriously look at this.

I'm told that figure includes the salaries for Barry Wilson, Ryan Esson, Ross Tokely, Charlie Christie and Ross Jack.  Also, I understand, that our physio is employed/paid via Youth so as not to appear on the first team budget.

Jobs for the boys is an expensive strategy.

11 hours ago, bdu98196 said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49844511

So debts are approx £1.6M and we need more fans. Seems pretty legit. 

While investment in youth has to be applauded, it raises questions what previous regimes did with transfer fees & prize monies such that we are spending £500k in one period - or is this just the usual accumulation based on salaries/expenses etc - if so where's the return? Historically has too much focus weighed on the first team squad that youth was neglected/marginalised. Based on the lack of young players that have been given real opportunities over the last 15 years (excluding Christie & Polly - maybe McAllister/Sutherland) it would suggest so. Hopefully as an outcome of the EGM, there can be a defined strategy for how the club will be more sustainable and where we see youth (potential sellable assets) moving forwards such that any donation investment is seen as worthwhile if there is anyone in the background willing to contribute.

I wish we could move on from 'cup run money' & 'Ryan Christie's' transfer money. These bonus incomes kept us on an even keel and the lights on. The years these happened did we have a massive profit at the end of the year? To put in context if the figures are correct Ryan's sale would pay for about 1 season's youth development. That was what? 4 years ago ?‍♂️

1 hour ago, Fraz said:

context if the figures are correct Ryan's sale would pay for about 1 season's youth development. That was what? 4 years ago ?‍♂️

If it was invested at that level in youth we have seen minimal returns so far in those 4 years. So either we haven't been investing at that level and these kinds of figures are as suggested above are a fudge on the club's cost breakdowns or our system is flawed as we are seeing little value for money.

34 minutes ago, bdu98196 said:

If it was invested at that level in youth we have seen minimal returns so far in those 4 years. So either we haven't been investing at that level and these kinds of figures are as suggested above are a fudge on the club's cost breakdowns or our system is flawed as we are seeing little value for money.

No idea. How may local players have County made first team regulars in the past decade? Just for context that they are the well funded localish 'community club'? 

9 hours ago, Fraz said:

No idea. How may local players have County made first team regulars in the past decade? Just for context that they are the well funded localish 'community club'? 

I think selling Ryan gives us the edge on return on investment and also think we could argue that we have had more players coming through to the first team squad. However, we have to get away from this County comparison thing. IMO a Highland "Academy" would cut costs dramatically and reduce the number of kids being given false hope and then dumped. Negotiations could be difficult and would be better held by people who have no personal positions to protect.

. 

Surprised that we don't elect a new Board from this forum. It appears that we have a number of individuals, of similar mind sets, who show the potential to get this club out of its worrying position with application of their clear business acumen, ability to man manage and a clear perspective from a footballing perspective. Their ability to recognize the failings on the field, the changes in business provision, recognition of the personality flaws in employees and a clear business plan for the future fills me with *****

Inverness Caledonian Thistle has installed electric vehicle charging facilities at its Caledonian Stadium as part of its green strategy and wide-ranging customer service offering - including the opportunity for some CTO posters to stick their wet finger in the plug hole ?

5 minutes ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Inverness Caledonian Thistle has installed electric vehicle charging facilities at its Caledonian Stadium as part of its green strategy and wide-ranging customer service offering - including the opportunity for some CTO posters to stick their wet finger in the plug hole ?

Shame that it's only one charging point and it's in the staff part of the car park. Surely it would've made more sense installing them along the home and away stands, so you can top up whilst watching the footy...

3 hours ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Surprised that we don't elect a new Board from this forum. It appears that we have a number of individuals, of similar mind sets, who show the potential to get this club out of its worrying position with application of their clear business acumen, ability to man manage and a clear perspective from a footballing perspective. Their ability to recognize the failings on the field, the changes in business provision, recognition of the personality flaws in employees and a clear business plan for the future fills me with *****

You may be right IHE but they have no money ?

1 hour ago, IBM said:

You may be right IHE but they have no money ?

Ah the expert - what feckin type of car do we need to keep going ? 

 

4 hours ago, Jack Waddington said:

Shame that it's only one charging point and it's in the staff part of the car park. Surely it would've made more sense installing them along the home and away stands, so you can top up whilst watching the footy...

The prosecution rests ?

Went to the fun day on sunday to see grandson playing, spent most of the time trying to avoid big Jim whose role was to tell parents to get off the pitch. This  was a bit of a shame because Sunday's football by the youngsters was better than the first team on Saturday, at least they tried to play football ,!!!

Many years ago, in Amsterdam on holiday and passed a kiosk selling papers, magazines, cigarettes etc. They also had posters for the latest Ajax game and you could buy tickets for the game. I did (ended up amongst the Ajax version of their casuals but that's another story!) so it doesn't need to be something fancy that needs to be set up.

2 hours ago, Huisdean said:

Many years ago, in Amsterdam on holiday and passed a kiosk selling papers, magazines, cigarettes etc. They also had posters for the latest Ajax game and you could buy tickets for the game. I did (ended up amongst the Ajax version of their casuals but that's another story!) so it doesn't need to be something fancy that needs to be set up.

Same thing happened to me but I bought the cigarettes. 

On 9/26/2019 at 5:18 PM, Scotty said:

That doesnt mean there wont be any votes to be taken .... Right now you are facing going into a meeting with only 3 directors and if the rumours in this thread and going around outside of CTO have any truth in them there could be a board of 1 by the time everyone has sat down and introductions are made ...

At the very least any new board members would have to be voted in, even if its a rubber stamp job. I am prepared to be corrected, but I dont think a board of 1 - or even 3 - could co-opt new members as they are not quorate and even if they can those appointments need ratified with a vote. However, if anything 'extraordinary' surfaces at the meeting then the 10% voting right of the trust is crucial. It may not be enough to swing a decision one way or another but that 10% voting right represents the fans and supporters of the club and speaks volumes about the mood of the support and the supporters opinion on what should be important to, and the best way forward for the good and benefit of the club.  With all due respect, anyone on the trust board who thinks that the 10% voting share is not important should perhaps give themselves a wee shake and take another look !! It has never been so important !    

Believe me I'm very aware of the importance of the voting right and where it came from

 

Will someone attending tonight be able to update us later on today as to what was discussed?

Meeting for non-shareholders next Tuesday in social club. 

 

Based on the remaining board members still in place and expected financial postion, I would expect that this option may rear its head again. Unfortunately it cant just be a begging bowl mechanism but has to carry demonstration of structural changes to improve stability and make any existence sustainable.

https://caleythistleonline.com/topic/32895-foundationfan-funding/

 

Nice piece of fear mongering courtesy of the Daily Record...I get that we're strapped for cash, but we're a fair way away from Administration...

 

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/inverness-caledonian-thistle-face-administration-20392996.amp?__twitter_impression=true

19 minutes ago, Jack Waddington said:

Nice piece of fear mongering courtesy of the Daily Record...I get that we're strapped for cash, but we're a fair way away from Administration...

 

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/inverness-caledonian-thistle-face-administration-20392996.amp?__twitter_impression=true

Agree and their lazy journalism using an image of fans at the TCS from the irn bru cup final between county and that Welsh team.

As a VERY minor shareholder, it has been my intention to attend this evening's EGM. However, I now find myself unable to do so.

I would, however, like to look on the positive side. We are in a very difficult financial position. How could we be anything else in the second tier with no major investment and home crowds barely nudging two thousand ? However, whilst it is obviously a possibility in the future if things don't improve, I think that talk of imminent administration is wide of the mark.

I think we are in a better practical position now than a few months ago as the result of the resignation of a chairman who clearly was not enthusiastic about the position and seemed to have very little interest in addressing the legitimate concerns of fans or entertaining any of their ideas.

Also beneficial, is the departure of a CEO who's appointment was shrouded in claims of nepotism, was clearly out of her depth and caused quite a bit of damage during her thankfully brief tenure. Her successor seems a good deal more competent and much more willing to communicate openly.

As for the future, there are two individuals who are wealthy and have business acumen who have a genuine interest in the club but have worked against one another in the past. If they could somehow put aside their differences and work together and perhaps provide, on an equal basis, some working capital at this stage the future could look a good deal brighter.