The Great Highland Franchise Experiment

[dougal]

Well to be fair we as older fans were all warned from the birth that a day like this would come. 
I have certainly being slated over the years for my views but once again I’ve being proved sadly right. 

FACT there would be as many Invernessians celebrating last night as there would be crying. The DNA is fundamentally wrong it reminds me of dolly the genetically modified sheep. 

Important thing is how we now go forward I personally thing part time football is a given if the clubs finances being reported are correct. 
Sad reality is a lot of people will lose their jobs if this is the route that’s taken. 

Regroup and restructure over the summer is the answer hopefully administration is just a malicious rumour because if that happens we will start next season with a -10 point deficit
 

Dougal



 

[+old caley girl]

Note to self....just ignore 

[dougal]

2 hours ago, old caley girl said:

Note to self....just ignore 

It’s ok to have a guilty conscience I guess for some anyway.

Dougal

[+old caley girl]

29 minutes ago, dougal said:

It’s ok to have a guilty conscience I guess for some anyway.

Dougal

No guilty conscience here 

[STFU]

Someone needs to brush up on the definition of 'franchise' and then come back with a better story.

[+MrCaleyjag]

You really are the definition of a fictional troll that sits on the edge of a murky lake with a scowl on their face, holding a wee fishing rod, hoping for bites. 

[dougal]

3 hours ago, old caley girl said:

No guilty conscience here 

Really? If I voted my team out of existence I would but each to their own I guess we all have different perspectives. 
 

Dougal

[ICTPaisley]

2 hours ago, dougal said:

Really? If I voted my team out of existence I would but each to their own I guess we all have different perspectives. 
 

Dougal

Don’t worry about that, we’re two leagues higher than they ever achieved in over 100 years and that’s after our worst ever season

[+Gringo]

[Checks thread....moves on to the next...]

[+roarer]

Nasty Nasty caley thistle!!!!

Stole my precious!!!

I hates them forever!!!!

 

Smeagol 

[+Fraz]

11 hours ago, dougal said:

Well to be fair we as older fans were all warned from the birth that a day like this would come. 
I have certainly being slated over the years for my views but once again I’ve being proved sadly right. 

FACT there would be as many Invernessians celebrating last night as there would be crying. The DNA is fundamentally wrong it reminds me of dolly the genetically modified sheep. 

Important thing is how we now go forward I personally thing part time football is a given if the clubs finances being reported are correct. 
Sad reality is a lot of people will lose their jobs if this is the route that’s taken. 

Regroup and restructure over the summer is the answer hopefully administration is just a malicious rumour because if that happens we will start next season with a -10 point deficit
 

Dougal



 

Are you actually an ICT supporter?

When you're not watching County of course. 

[Charles Bannerman]

9 hours ago, old caley girl said:

No guilty conscience here 

It strikes me that there must still be this small, sad group of individuals who have been sitting around for the last 30 years, desperately waiting for a misfortune so they can attempt to say “told you so”. Meanwhile everyone else has been enjoying progress to the SPL in just a decade, further progress to the Top Six, winning the Third and First Divisions, winning the Challenge Cup, and (in anticipation of some smart-ass comment about that), I’ll add winning the Scottish Cup, reaching the League Cup final, bringing European football to the Highlands, beating the Old Firm home and away including Celtic three times in the Scottish Cup, raising attendances to a peak of 7 and still 3 times what Thistle and Caley combined were taking in pre-merger…. and even after this weekend’s misfortune, Inverness football is still two leagues above what it was before this club came around.

One difficulty is that there’s also this small caucus of ex-Caley fans who seem to live in some fantasy world, hallucinating that 6000 people packed themselves into Telford Street every second Saturday right up to the bitter end in the Highland League and 5000 of them still resolutely refuse to go near the Caledonian Stadium. Meanwhile the reality is that the biggest number of Caley fans that ever voted against the merger was 226, many of whom still became regular ICT attendees, and that the biggest number that ever attended a Thistle meeting was (off the top of my head) 45.

Edited May 19, 2024 by Charles Bannerman

[Leaky Blinder]

48 minutes ago, Charles Bannerman said:

 

One difficulty is that there’s also this small caucus of ex-Caley fans who seem to live in some fantasy world, 

They got there in thon double decker bus .. all aboard for Nairnia away ding ding ..

[Charles Bannerman]

8 hours ago, Leaky Blinder said:

They got there in thon double decker bus .. all aboard for Nairnia away ding ding ..

I seem also to recollect that Caley lost (to Clach) on the night of the double decker bus… which I was on when Charlie Christie equalised.

[buckett]

10 hours ago, Charles Bannerman said:

It strikes me that there must still be this small, sad group of individuals who have been sitting around for the last 30 years, desperately waiting for a misfortune so they can attempt to say “told you so”. 

Many of them quietly slipped across the bridge and now offer their support to Ross County.

Perhaps, after all, they jumped on the right bus!

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

I would just wish to intervene and suggest that the sad group of pre 1994 individuals who resurrected themselves in ICT were as distraught and distressed when Caledonian FC died as they were on Saturday evening. And one could compare both situations to a degree ? When when have we ever had a united board ? And finally FFS don't write another feckin fairy tale

 

[Charles Bannerman]

I’ve come to the conclusion over the last couple of seasons that’s a complete U-turn on what I strongly believed 30 years ago… which was that it was essential that both Ross County and “The Inverness Bid” secured election to the SFL. That also seemed like a good idea for a long time after that but, after both moved rapidly upwards, I’ve now come to the view that the inner Moray Firth is unable to sustain two “large” football clubs. Both County and ICT are now struggling to maintain their previous status and that’s despite Faustian arrangements with wealthy parties which have resulted in what I would estimate to be a very rough total of £30 million of other people’s money (County £20M, ICT £10M) having been spent since 1994. County may seem the more stable entity at the moment, but that depends solely on one man’s ongoing support. ICT’s equivalent ship - Tullochs - sailed a long time ago.

And there is NO alternative to the current scenario of TWO fundamentally loss making clubs just 15 miles apart. We are therefore only reading the middle phase of a story that started 30 years ago and has several uncertainty-packed chapters - possibly relating continuing decline in both cases - still to run.

On the other hand, Dr Faustus only got 24 years of life from his arrangement… Caley Thistle and Ross County have already had 30.

Edited May 20, 2024 by Charles Bannerman

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Jeshus don't tell Alex Samuel about Dr Faustus

Let's amalgamate into Highlanders FC.

[Charles Bannerman]

1 hour ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Jeshus don't tell Alex Samuel about Dr Faustus

Let's amalgamate into Highlanders FC.

In any normal business situation that would be a logical and very possibly successful solution…. but in this football scenario it’s utterly inconceivable.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

 Need to revisit my prophecy of the Tore Stadium - inclusive of Retail Park, Leisure Centre, Football Academy and ample car parking. I think the original plans are in the loft.

 

[dougal]

[+snorbens_caleyman]

That quote is complete garbage.    

And I'm only saying "garbage" because this is a family forum!

[buckett]

3 hours ago, Charles Bannerman said:

In any normal business situation that would be a logical and very possibly successful solution…. but in this football scenario it’s utterly inconceivable.

It's a blindingly obvious solution and I don't think it's inconceivable, just very unlikely.

It would only work if the combined team scrapped the individual identities of the constituent teams  - perhaps adopting a name like Highland FC as IHE suggests, rather than Inverness & Ross Caley Thistle County, or whatever

Currently we would have more to gain from such an arrangement, but I doubt if many ICT fans would be up for it.

Don't think I'd be that keen either tbh, but as you say, it's certainly a LOGICAL solution.

[Leaky Blinder]

3 minutes ago, buckett said:

 

Highland FC

We are nothing if not unimaginative ... !

Take the D from Dingwall .. The I from Inverness then add S for Soccer & we could have Dis United 

[Ronaldo]

Kessock Ununited?