Investment

[STFU]

As the previous chairman signed off on accounts that used car park income from the red john agreement as a reason for being a going concern then it seems a little suspect that he's now claiming ownership seperate from the club with no existing agreement that income also goes to the club.

Feels very similar to the battery storage thing where the club went from being soul owner to just 1%.

Seems the ceo wasn't the only one doing strange deals.

[CELTIC1CALEY3]

Given that the latest set of figures presumably includes a significant windfall from the Celtic Cup Final, the scale of losses to then get us relegated is mind boggling.  Reference to our friend Scot Gardiner convincing the auditors that the club was or is a going concern.....clearly his last positive act.   

[+CaleyHedgehog]

There seems to be a bit about the situation coming up on the BBC Scottish News at 6.30pm tonight.

[Robert]

From the club website just now:

“Amicable deal has been struck that saves club from administration all stakeholders should be delighted” 

Alan Savage says it’s a great result and hopefully we get another one on Saturday.

Interim Chairman Panos Thomas has also expressed his delighted and is hoping too for a good result on Saturday. 

[Scotty]

A few choice comments in that article: https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/sport/watch-alan-savage-demands-past-inverness-caley-thistle-dire-359681/

Quote

Alan Savage will seek shareholder backing to take control at Caley Thistle for three years if he can seal a deal to rescue the club from the threat of administration.  Mr Savage, outlining his longer-term commitment to drive Caley Thistle forward, said: “For the future, I will ask the shareholders if they want me to run the club, and if they do, I get a mandate of full control until a buyer is found.  This mandate would be reviewed every three years.

Quote

 

“The club needs, and deserves, certainty after five years of huge losses, chaos, confusion and (ex-CEO) Scot Gardiner.” Individuals owed around £220,000 of those loan debts are demanding repayment. Others have agreed to write off the debts or convert them into share equity.

Quote

The first, and by far his most favoured solution is for three past club directors who have property interests linked to the club to agree to plug a £600,000 shortfall in finances. That includes £150,000 of the £220,000 figure owed in loans to the club and another £450,000 needed to meet other debts and stabilise the club. Mr Savage said: “If these entrepreneurs are prepared to deal with £150,000 of the loanees who want payment, I will deal with the £70,000 Scot Gardiner thinks he is owed. “If, then, the entrepreneurs are prepared to donate £450,000 to the club that enabled them to get these assets, I will take care of the club going forward, as a going concern.

Quote

Mr Savage has now issued an urgent plea for those ex-directors, David Cameron, Allan Munro and ex-chairman Ross Morrison, to step forward in the club’s hour of need to help unlock recovery. The trio now own the licence for a £40 million battery farm proposal near Fairways Business Park, eventually rejected by Highland Council, that was previously said to be capable of raising £3.4 million for Caley Thistle. Mr Cameron and Mr Munro also own the lease for seven acres of potentially lucrative land around the stadium, bought from Tulloch/Springfield, but which used to be owned by the club.

 

[+Tree]

https://ictfc.com/club-statement-25/

[Scotty]

Quote

 

Individuals owed around £220,000 of those loan debts are demanding repayment

If these entrepreneurs are prepared to deal with £150,000 of the loanees who want payment, I will deal with the £70,000 Scot Gardiner thinks he is owed.

 

If ever there were any doubt about our former CEO .... 

[Scotty]

2 minutes ago, Tree said:

https://ictfc.com/club-statement-25/

Thats not a statement, its a text message or Twitter post Like the content though

[+CaleyHedgehog]

Well that was a surreal 20 minutes - first Alan Savage announces that we are only days away from administration on the BBC news, then at the end of the news there is an announcement that we have been saved from administration. Talk about a rollercoaster of emotions.

All good though. Well done and thank you, Mr Savage.

[ictchris]

The forensic auditors reporting back on the losses

 

[+Fraz]

5 hours ago, Scotty said:

That is where the rot started ... in 2017 not 2019. It just gained pace in 2019.

Indeed. Yvonne Crook was a disaster of a CEO also. 

[+Hiro]

This is great news for the long term future and viability of the club. Alan Savage has done his bit so now it's time for the fans to do theirs.  Be it via turning up on a Saturday, buying merchandise or anything else. 

Some of the things that we're hearing from Savage and on the grapevine just seem incredible.  Some of the deals that the outgoing CEO committed to are quite incredible, no competent person would sign up to them unless there was a personal return or benefit via personal companies or capacities.......

Messrs Morrison, Cameron and Munro should have a few questions to answer too. Namely the transfer of land around the stadium and how it came to be under their control when it was used as the basis for going concern in previous accounts. They obviously put substantial sums into the club however that was partly to cover their own incompetence. Certainly appears like some of these transactions were made to ensure they were kept right regardless of what happened.  It also explains why they've been so quick to get a deal together, the true cost is less than it seems.

[LisleRightPeg]

Geezo what a rollercoaster ride that was. Incredible turn around in 2 hours. Hopefully this gives the club time to rebuild for the future and we operate within our means. I hope the club sticks with the youth but sadly I think we will see them loaned out and forgotten about. 

[Scotty]

1 hour ago, Hiro said:

Some of the things that we're hearing from Savage and on the grapevine just seem incredible. 

Indeed. Savage is blunt and straight talking which is refreshing after 7 years of being treated like mushrooms (or worse). I am sure he too has heard all the rumours doing the rounds about various things and will seek out the details of any that hold water, exposing any shady deals that may exist or have existed in the process. 

[Yngwie]

Interesting to compare the Courier’s coverage of this morning’s press conference with the club’ statement from Panos!
 

Courier : The club needs, and deserves, certainty after five years of huge losses, chaos, confusion and (ex-CEO) Scot Gardiner.”

ICTFC : The Club needs and deserve certainty after 5 years of huge losses, chaos and confusion.

 

Courier : “If these entrepreneurs are prepared to deal with £150,000 of the loanees who want payment, I will deal with the £70,000 Scot Gardiner thinks he is owed.”

ICTFC : Mr Savage said if these entrepreneurs deal with £150,000 of the loanees who want payment, then he will deal with the remaining £70,000.

[Scotty]

They likely need to be circumspect in how they word things, whereas the Courier is merely quoting what was said.

AS doesn't care if he upsets our former CEO, in fact, I think he might even relish butting heads with him. I would imagine he has found plenty of ammunition in his forensic audit which he may think he could use that to negate, nullify or reduce the £70K claim. He didn't say he would pay it ... he said he would 'deal with it'. 

[CaleyCanary]

That’s a very good point Scotty, I didn’t pick up on that when I first read it…

[Scotty]

3 minutes ago, CaleyCanary said:

That’s a very good point Scotty, I didn’t pick up on that when I first read it…

Maybe he can pay him with a couple of thousand over-ordered shirts

[Robert]

It’s been a good day!

[CaleyTennis85]

Surely Alan Savage is in a very good position now to run this club until 2027 as he seemed to mention a day or two ago and I for one am here for it .

That man must be a hero to EVERY fan of this club .

[IBM]

Alan Savage is a very astute businessman and that is we have been sadly lacking in our boardroom in recent years and he has come to rescue our club from the chancers that have been running it in recent years and I am very grateful.  I am sure he will have things running better and those with the blazer and club tie will be working for the club rather than just showing face.  What we need now is to sort things on the park for us fans starting with a win on Saturday. 

[+CaleyHedgehog]

Personally I thought AS looked, (understandably) absolutely shattered on the news today. I hope he takes a relaxing break as soon as he feels that the time is right, because the last few weeks would be exhausting for anyone and he really deserves it.

[Charles Bannerman]

4 hours ago, CaleyHedgehog said:

Well that was a surreal 20 minutes - first Alan Savage announces that we are only days away from administration on the BBC news, then at the end of the news there is an announcement that we have been saved from administration. Talk about a rollercoaster of emotions.

All good though. Well done and thank you, Mr Savage.

It was a pure coincidence that this evening’s announcement from the club that a solution had been found happened to drop on social media around five minutes after the BBC report on the crisis announcement went out on Reporting Scotland, and there must just have been time to squeeze a quick line in before the programme went off air at 7pm.

Alan Savage’s “six days from administration” statement this morning seems to have had a dramatic effect on those it was targeted at.

One other thought … AS hasn’t exactly been backward at coming forward with criticism of Gardiner. I actually wonder how devastated or otherwise AS would be if the allegedly litigious SG felt minded to raise a defamation action…. which of course would mean that five years of goings on at Caley Thistle would emerge in detail in a very public forum indeed.

Edited August 28 by Charles Bannerman

[IBM]

25 minutes ago, Charles Bannerman said:

It was a pure coincidence that this evening’s announcement from the club that a solution had been found happened to drop on social media around five minutes after the BBC report on the crisis announcement went out on Reporting Scotland, and there must just have been time to squeeze a quick line in before the programme went off air at 7pm.

Alan Savage’s “six days from administration” statement this morning seems to have had a dramatic effect on those it was targeted at.

One other thought … AS hasn’t exactly been backward at coming forward with criticism of Gardiner. I actually wonder how devastated or otherwise AS would be if the allegedly litigious SG felt minded to raise a defamation action…. which of course would mean that five years of goings on at Caley Thistle would emerge in detail in a very public forum indeed.

I doubt if Scott Gardiner would have the B***s to try that.

[ymip]

Savage has gone through these boardroom chancers and supposed captains of Highland industry like a dose of the salts. He could clearly see through Gardiner from day one any it's fair to say that any man who loathes Gardiner with the unbridled venom he spits out in the media is frankly a prince among men. I wish our former CEO the very best of luck in his efforts to extort a further £70k out of the club and his next role in the football industry.