Kelty/ Is this a joke - merged thread

[+Fraz]

3 hours ago, Drake said:

Excuse me, I have been a Season Ticket holder since 1994.  I won't be going anywhere!  We all have our opinions on this matter, and i am expressing mine.  Just because you have a different opinion to me, i'm not going to tell you to stop supporting the club!  

All opinions are valid. An echo chamber is never a good thing. 

If you feel the current regime are right with their stellar record of -  failed concerts, failed live streaming, awful commentary on said live stream, alienating the volunteer media team, souring the relationship with the local authority, failed battery farm application, employing Robertson as a Sporting Director (we're still paying him) where he did virtually nothing, extending Dodds' contract then sacking him 6 games later, promoting Raise the Roof and then closing the stand, releasing a WATP orange strip on the 12th of July, paying Ferguson £4k a week with a past record of failure (then failed to keep us up when the manager we turned down kept his team up), failed hospitality, ignoring and alienating the Supporters Trust, damaging our reputation with local businesses, having our lowest finish in a quarter century, stopping all family activities like Christmas parties and end of season events, not having player of the year, having no openness or even basic communication...

If you think after all they've achieved in the last 5 years, they're the ones who have the answers, that's your perogative.

Edited May 25 by Fraz

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

[FrontRow]

5 minutes ago, Fraz said:

All options are valid. An echo chamber is never a good thing. 

If you feel the current regime are right with their stellar record of -  failed concerts, failed live streaming, awful commentary on said live stream, alienating the volunteer media team, souring the relationship with the local authority, failed battery farm application, employing Robertson as a Sporting Director (we're still paying him) where he did virtually nothing, extending Dodds' contract then sacking him 6 games later, promoting Raise the Roof and then closing the stand, releasing a WATP orange strip on the 12th of July, paying Ferguson £4k a week with a past record of failure (then failed to keep us up when the manager we turned down kept his team up), failed hospitality, ignoring and alienating the Supporters Trust, damaging our reputation with local businesses, having our lowest finish in a quarter century, stopping all family activities like Christmas parties and end of season events, not having player of the year, having no openness or even basic communication...

If you think after all they've achieved in the last 5 years, they're the ones who have the answers, that's your perogative.

That is a very good summary! Brilliant infact 

[+Fraz]

3 minutes ago, FrontRow said:

That is a very good summary! Brilliant infact 

I can't take all the credit, much of it came from Sandy Sutherland on Twitter. 

[STFU]

23 minutes ago, Fraz said:

All options are valid. An echo chamber is never a good thing. 

If you feel the current regime are right with their stellar record of -  failed concerts, failed live streaming, awful commentary on said live stream, alienating the volunteer media team, souring the relationship with the local authority, failed battery farm application, employing Robertson as a Sporting Director (we're still paying him) where he did virtually nothing, extending Dodds' contract then sacking him 6 games later, promoting Raise the Roof and then closing the stand, releasing a WATP orange strip on the 12th of July, paying Ferguson £4k a week with a past record of failure (then failed to keep us up when the manager we turned down kept his team up), failed hospitality, ignoring and alienating the Supporters Trust, damaging our reputation with local businesses, having our lowest finish in a quarter century, stopping all family activities like Christmas parties and end of season events, not having player of the year, having no openness or even basic communication...

If you think after all they've achieved in the last 5 years, they're the ones who have the answers, that's your perogative.

That's just the stuff we know about.

[IBM]

3 hours ago, STFU said:

Talking of busses.  That will be another local long term backer (D&E Coaches) getting the two fingers as we'll now be giving money to a central belt based coach company to drive the team to all games.

If it is D&E it will be empty coach down the A9, team coach up the A9, Team coach back down the A9 and empty coach back up the A9 for a home game four trips double the cost!  And our local derby with Cove via Kelty to pick up the team!

We will have to hire a team coach for home and away games so I think it will be Gardiners Coaches from Fife 

[Douglas Mackenzie]

Just thinking,the current Chair, CEO and board are destroying our club and identity.If all of them are happy with this move then we need to know, or is there any of them unhappy enough to call an EGM.

Now aware of the extent of discontent,cognisance has to be taken of this body of strong opinion.

Failing that,we as supporters need to act and all we can do is not renew our season tickets.This is the only way we can stop the demise of ICT.Surely if the board see that season tickets are dramatically down, they will rethink and U turn.

Whatever the outcome of this latest debacle, the Chair and CEO need to go.We cannot just stand by and watch. 

[+jagster]

36 minutes ago, Douglas Mackenzie said:

Just thinking,the current Chair, CEO and board are destroying our club and identity.If all of them are happy with this move then we need to know, or is there any of them unhappy enough to call an EGM.

Now aware of the extent of discontent,cognisance has to be taken of this body of strong opinion.

Failing that,we as supporters need to act and all we can do is not renew our season tickets.This is the only way we can stop the demise of ICT.Surely if the board see that season tickets are dramatically down, they will rethink and U turn.

Whatever the outcome of this latest debacle, the Chair and CEO need to go.We cannot just stand by and watch. 

Sadly I don’t think there’s a chance in hell they will do a U turn. 

[+DoofersDad]

9 hours ago, Drake said:

We can finally attract any Central Scotland based player that we can afford.  

No we can't!

Why would any central belt player choose to join a club which requires players to face a 3 hour journey to play "home" games followed by a 3 hour journey back - in the middle of winter?  We will only be able to attract central belt players who can't get a contract at a club which is based in the area where the ground is.

And we might not be able to afford to offer them as much as we would if we were based at home.  Apart from the significant loss of gate money that this absurd plan will result in, there will be significant additional costs in hiring the facilities at Kelty and in relocation and travelling costs.

More importantly, this move will likely mean we can only sign central Scotland based players.  Players who are currently based in Inverness won't want to move South in order to play for Inverness!  The idea is preposterous.   Players from elsewhere are not going to relocate to the central belt to be close to the training facilities of a club which is actually located 3 hours away.  We will be a team stuffed with central belt rejects with no connection with Inverness and who will be off as soon as they get a better offer.

The absurdity of this is compounded by the fact that central belt players have never featured particularly strongly in Inverness teams over the years.  Dip into your copy of "Milestones and Memories" and look at the biographies of the 25 players who made the most appearances for the club up to 2019. Only 3 came to us from central belt teams  (Barry Wilson, Bobby Mann and Mark Brown.  Also, Mike Teasdale came to us from Dundee but he was from Elgin and wanted to play closer to home.  We had 2 or 3 from Aberdeen (e.g. Dennis Wyness) but most were either local or were signed from English clubs.  Other key players for us over years who didn't make the list include David Raven, Jonny Hayes, Adam Rooney and, of course, Billy Mckay, who were all signed from English clubs, and local talent in the form of Ryan Christie and Mark Ridgers.  

Of  course "Milestones and Memories" is a great reminder of all the brilliant achievements of this club before Gardiner arrived.  Top of the list has to be winning the Scottish Cup.  It is worth noting that only one of the entire matchday squad (Danny Devine) joined us from a Central Belt club.

Our club has never relied upon Central Belt players for its success and there is no reason why it should now.  To embark on a strategy which will likely mean we can only recruit Central Belt players, and then only those who can't get a contract elsewhere, seems to me to be the height of folly.

 

[Yngwie]

14 minutes ago, jagster said:

Sadly I don’t think there’s a chance in hell they will do a U turn. 

Especially when it is a done deal, contract signed.

[Alan]

Doofers Dad  makes a great deal of sense every time he posts. Perhaps the pathetic individuals on the board should take a good look at his comments and come to their senses before it is too late. Our club will be a laughing stock in Scotland and beyond if this ridiculous state of affairs is allowed to continue. It is bad enough moving everything to Fife but what makes it even worse is that Ferguson and Gardiner are still there when it is obvious to almost everyone that they are the real problem. 

 

[dougiedanger]

Absolutely no c**t of any worth will be signing for this club under the current shambolic regime, be it in Sneck, Kelty, or Timbuktu.

[Yngwie]

32 minutes ago, DoofersDad said:

No we can't!

Why would any central belt player choose to join a club which requires players to face a 3 hour journey to play "home" games followed by a 3 hour journey back - in the middle of winter?  We will only be able to attract central belt players who can't get a contract at a club which is based in the area where the ground is.

And we might not be able to afford to offer them as much as we would if we were based at home.  Apart from the significant loss of gate money that this absurd plan will result in, there will be significant additional costs in hiring the facilities at Kelty and in relocation and travelling costs.

More importantly, this move will likely mean we can only sign central Scotland based players.  Players who are currently based in Inverness won't want to move South in order to play for Inverness!  The idea is preposterous.   Players from elsewhere are not going to relocate to the central belt to be close to the training facilities of a club which is actually located 3 hours away.  We will be a team stuffed with central belt rejects with no connection with Inverness and who will be off as soon as they get a better offer.

The absurdity of this is compounded by the fact that central belt players have never featured particularly strongly in Inverness teams over the years.  Dip into your copy of "Milestones and Memories" and look at the biographies of the 25 players who made the most appearances for the club up to 2019. Only 3 came to us from central belt teams  (Barry Wilson, Bobby Mann and Mark Brown.  Also, Mike Teasdale came to us from Dundee but he was from Elgin and wanted to play closer to home.  We had 2 or 3 from Aberdeen (e.g. Dennis Wyness) but most were either local or were signed from English clubs.  Other key players for us over years who didn't make the list include David Raven, Jonny Hayes, Adam Rooney and, of course, Billy Mckay, who were all signed from English clubs, and local talent in the form of Ryan Christie and Mark Ridgers.  

Of  course "Milestones and Memories" is a great reminder of all the brilliant achievements of this club before Gardiner arrived.  Top of the list has to be winning the Scottish Cup.  It is worth noting that only one of the entire matchday squad (Danny Devine) joined us from a Central Belt club.

Our club has never relied upon Central Belt players for its success and there is no reason why it should now.  To embark on a strategy which will likely mean we can only recruit Central Belt players, and then only those who can't get a contract elsewhere, seems to me to be the height of folly.

 

Erm, the reason we have not relied heavily on central belt players is because they won’t flipping move away from their homes, that’s the problem! You might not trust SG, fair enough, but do you think our previous managers were all lying when they have told us this over the years?
 

You also mention Bobby Mann, one of my heroes, an example of how we can recruit. We tempted him north with the opportunity of full time football and it worked out well but he jumped ship at the first opportunity to go back down the road to his wife, despite helping us to the Premier league.

We had great success recruiting from the lower reaches of the English system instead, but the next Warren or Tansey is not going to relocate to play League 1 football in an astroturf based part time league that gets pretty much no media coverage. And in terms of persuading players to relocate, there’s also a huge difference between being able to offer £1,500 a week, to £1,000 a week, to £500 a week - the pond we fish in becomes a puddle!

[Bridge_Ender]

Is there any chance that this could be ICT trying to play politics by trying to embarrass the Highland Council?
 

The hope being that by arguing that it’s too difficult/expensive to compete being based in the Highlands that it leverages enough pressure through fan and media indignation and incredulity (tick…) that the Council will intervene and perhaps push through on the battery farm, or more?  
 

It’s a helluva Hail Mary to throw if so.

[IBM]

Drew Hendry gives the fans his support will Douglas Ross be next?

SNP politician Drew Hendry calls for Inverness Caley Thistle to rethink Fife training move decision (inverness-courier.co.uk)

[Row S]

Welcome intervention from a Jambo.

[Yngwie]

5 minutes ago, IBM said:

Drew Hendry gives the fans his support will Douglas Ross be next?

SNP politician Drew Hendry calls for Inverness Caley Thistle to rethink Fife training move decision (inverness-courier.co.uk)

If politicians want to help they could

1. Get serious about dualling the A9

2. Make sure the battery farm gets approved 

[Themidgetmaestro]

Hi everyone,

I’m Jack, I was the Kitman for Caley between 2015 and 2022. 
 

To see where this club is going just saddens me. Unfortunately I was part of the relegation from the Premiership in 2017 and was part of the sides that just couldn’t make that final hurdle to get back up for all those years (I’ve always believed that the season that was curtailed by Covid we would have got promoted through the playoffs).

I feel so sorry for the members of the back room staff, who I still call friends, whose futures at the club will be in serious doubt now. I know for sure that if I was still at the club there would be no chance of me relocating to Fife.

Who knows how this move to Kelty will go, I’m pretty certain having been involved in dressing rooms for over 10 years that it will be incredibly difficult to instil a strong team spirit at a training ground that to the players will feel like being a stranger in someone else’s home, 140 miles away from the city you are supposed to be representing. 

I loved working for Caley. I loved how relaxed it all was, how kind everyone was. It felt like a place where everyone looked out for each other. I know it’s cliche but it really did feel like a family. It was never perfect but you felt like you belonged to something that mattered. Somewhere along the line all that has been lost and that breaks my heart. I hope it all works out for the best and the club can return to something resembling an institution that Caley fans can be proud of. Unfortunately right now, I just can’t see that happening anytime soon.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 25 by Themidgetmaestro

[bishbashbosh]

12 minutes ago, IBM said:

Drew Hendry gives the fans his support will Douglas Ross be next?

SNP politician Drew Hendry calls for Inverness Caley Thistle to rethink Fife training move decision (inverness-courier.co.uk)

Politicians EH !  scratching around for votes.

if he knew anything about camper vans, that would be handy to get the players up for home games.

[RednBlackComeback]

23 minutes ago, IBM said:

Drew Hendry gives the fans his support will Douglas Ross be next?

SNP politician Drew Hendry calls for Inverness Caley Thistle to rethink Fife training move decision (inverness-courier.co.uk)

Can't be bothered with politicians tbh. They're all only in it for themselves!

[IBM]

12 minutes ago, Themidgetmaestro said:

Hi everyone,

I’m Jack, I was the Kitman for Caley between 2015 and 2022. 
 

To see where this club is going just saddens me. Unfortunately I was part of the relegation from the Premiership in 2017 and was part of the sides that just couldn’t make that final hurdle to get back up for all those years (I’ve always believed that the season that was curtailed by Covid we would have got promoted through the playoffs).

I feel so sorry for the members of the back room staff, who I still call friends, whose futures at the club will be in serious doubt now. I know for sure that if I was still at the club there would be no chance of me relocating to Fife.

Who knows how this move to Kelty will go, I’m pretty certain having been involved in dressing rooms for over 10 years that it will be incredibly difficult to instil a strong team spirit at a training ground that to the players will feel like being a stranger in someone else’s home, 140 miles away from the city you are supposed to be representing. 

I loved working for Caley. I loved how relaxed it all was, how kind everyone was. It felt like a place where everyone looked out for each other. I know it’s cliche but it really did feel like a family. It was never perfect but you felt like you belonged to something that mattered. Somewhere along the line all that has been lost and that breaks my heart. I hope it all works out for the best and the club can return to something resembling an institution that Caley fans can be proud of. Unfortunately right now, I just can’t see that happening anytime soon.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for your post Jack I am sure there will be a lot like yourself who have been involved with the club over the years who will be wondering what is going to happen to our club.  I can see you have your doubts as many posting on here I just hope with enough fan pressure this might change but I don't see the powers at be changing their minds.

[+DoofersDad]

37 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

Erm, the reason we have not relied heavily on central belt players is because they won’t flipping move away from their homes, that’s the problem! You might not trust SG, fair enough, but do you think our previous managers were all lying when they have told us this over the years?
 

You also mention Bobby Mann, one of my heroes, an example of how we can recruit. We tempted him north with the opportunity of full time football and it worked out well but he jumped ship at the first opportunity to go back down the road to his wife, despite helping us to the Premier league.

We had great success recruiting from the lower reaches of the English system instead, but the next Warren or Tansey is not going to relocate to play League 1 football in an astroturf based part time league that gets pretty much no media coverage. And in terms of persuading players to relocate, there’s also a huge difference between being able to offer £1,500 a week, to £1,000 a week, to £500 a week - the pond we fish in becomes a puddle!

Nobody is disputing that it is hard to get players from the central belt to move to Inverness.  But given that our previous success has generally been achieved with very few central belt players, that fact that central belt based players don't want to move here is simply not the massive problem that the club are making it out to be.  But however big the problem actually is, adopting a model which relies on recruiting central belt based players who don't want to live in Inverness, whilst effectively precluding players who do want to live in Inverness, does not seem to be the solution.

[bishbashbosh]

27 minutes ago, Themidgetmaestro said:

Hi everyone,

I’m Jack, I was the Kitman for Caley between 2015 and 2022. 
 

To see where this club is going just saddens me. Unfortunately I was part of the relegation from the Premiership in 2017 and was part of the sides that just couldn’t make that final hurdle to get back up for all those years (I’ve always believed that the season that was curtailed by Covid we would have got promoted through the playoffs).

I feel so sorry for the members of the back room staff, who I still call friends, whose futures at the club will be in serious doubt now. I know for sure that if I was still at the club there would be no chance of me relocating to Fife.

Who knows how this move to Kelty will go, I’m pretty certain having been involved in dressing rooms for over 10 years that it will be incredibly difficult to instil a strong team spirit at a training ground that to the players will feel like being a stranger in someone else’s home, 140 miles away from the city you are supposed to be representing. 

I loved working for Caley. I loved how relaxed it all was, how kind everyone was. It felt like a place where everyone looked out for each other. I know it’s cliche but it really did feel like a family. It was never perfect but you felt like you belonged to something that mattered. Somewhere along the line all that has been lost and that breaks my heart. I hope it all works out for the best and the club can return to something resembling an institution that Caley fans can be proud of. Unfortunately right now, I just can’t see that happening anytime soon.

 

 

 

 

Sorry jack, Caley ceased to exist long before 2017. 
you worked for Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Or as I call them Inverness.

[caley1]

15 minutes ago, bishbashbosh said:

Sorry jack, Caley ceased to exist long before 2017. 
you worked for Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Or as I call them Inverness.

Caley , Inverness, Thistle , jags call it as u like . Much more going on the now than being petty .

[ICTPaisley]

1 hour ago, bishbashbosh said:

Sorry jack, Caley ceased to exist long before 2017. 
you worked for Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Or as I call them Inverness.

Wow, you must have been really struggling to say their name between 94 and 96 then.