Investment

[Yngwie]

Alan Savage being interviewed on Radio Scotland Sportsound this afternoon, likely some time betweeen 2pm and 3pm. Should be an interesting listen.

[Yngwie]

2 hours ago, Yngwie said:

Alan Savage being interviewed on Radio Scotland Sportsound this afternoon, likely some time betweeen 2pm and 3pm. Should be an interesting listen.

Well that was a waste of an hour. They said a few times that this interview was coming up, it never happened, nor did they ever say that it would no longer be happening for whatever reason.

[Satan]

2 hours ago, Yngwie said:

Well that was a waste of an hour. They said a few times that this interview was coming up, it never happened, nor did they ever say that it would no longer be happening for whatever reason.

Never mind , I'm sure he will be on the radio,tv or newspapers this week, at least twice.

[RednBlackComeback]

5 hours ago, Yngwie said:

Alan Savage being interviewed on Radio Scotland Sportsound this afternoon, likely some time betweeen 2pm and 3pm. Should be an interesting listen.

"On the line to speak to Alan, is our next caller . . . . Scot fae Dundee !"

[+MrCaleyjag]

On 8/31/2024 at 3:08 PM, Yngwie said:

Well that was a waste of an hour. They said a few times that this interview was coming up, it never happened, nor did they ever say that it would no longer be happening for whatever reason.

To be fair, they lost all communications with all the grounds around 2pm and struggled to get it all back by 3pm which I took to be the contributing factor as to why they never had the interview. I assumed it was going to be live judging by that.

As they've already covered the developments in recent weeks/months, I would think they'll have AS on again when next convenient.

[STFU]

https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/sport/former-caley-thistle-ceo-s-legal-action-has-opened-pandora-s-360743/

Inverness Caledonian Thistle advisor Alan Savage says legal action pursued by former chief executive officer Scot Gardiner has opened a Pandora’s Box at the club.

Sherriff Court officers visited the Caledonian Stadium at the end of last week over £70,000 that Gardiner believes he is owed by the club - £50,000 of which was through the Caley Thistle concert company and £20,000 being made up of loans to the club.

The Caley Jags now have three weeks to formally respond, with Savage planning to dispute that claim.

As part of the process to provide evidence, ICT will this week enlist lawyers – paid for by Savage – to go through communications between the football club and the Caley Thistle concert company, which is at the heart of the claim.

They will also have access to bank statements to track what money went where, with Savage promising to get to the bottom of the situation.

“There is a forensic search of the emails being carried out across all aspects of the concerts being done,” he said.

“It may be that the club were carrying out work for the concert company, and Gardiner was getting paid by the club whilst doing work for the concert company.

“I don’t know the legalities of that, but why should the club pay for the concert company? It doesn’t make sense whatsoever. The club wasn’t a shareholder in the concert company, but evidently it lost about £950,000 that wasn’t reported with the liquidator.

“Gardiner has opened a Pandora’s Box, there are a load of implications of it, and we will go through the detail meticulously to put up a robust defence.

“The bank statements will tell all. We’ve got a set of statements from the club and the concert company during that period, and between the two we will see which financial transactions were crossed, if any. We’ll be able to get a good look at this assertion that he’s owed money.

“The ball is then in his court. He’s got to produce evidence that shows he has loaned money to the club and what the agreement was, and then we’ll have to reply, so this could take months and months.”

While there may not be a quick resolution to the dispute with Gardiner, Savage is hoping an audit of the club’s 2023/24 finances will be completed slightly sooner, within six to eight weeks.

That will allow ICT to provide a clearer financial picture to potential investors, but again that is not without complications.

Fundraising efforts are currently ongoing, with the Caley Jags being given £1000 just last Saturday for example, but Savage expects ICT will need £1.6 million to get to the end of the 2025/26 season, and a decision on the long-running battery farm saga is only expected before Christmas.

Since Savage came on board to battle against the tide, some have looked to recoup money they feel they are owed, with former manager and sporting director John Robertson just one example as he is looking for £7000 in redundancy pay from when he was on sick leave.

Caley Thistle’s plight will be featured soon on the BBC show A View From The Terrace, which Savage hopes will bring them to the attention of potential investors, and he has promised to be open and transparent with supporters too about the outcome of the audit.

“We should have a good indication of where we are by Christmas,” Savage added.

“It won’t happen overnight, it’s up to us to speak to people and get more interest as people realise what state we’re in – but they can do something about it by putting their hands in their pockets.

“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be optimistic about this, Inverness is a great city that needs a great football club.

“We also need Ross Morrison, David Cameron and Allan Munro to commit to where we are on the battery farm, because we need to know where we stand.

“The 2023/24 season audit is under way, and that will give a clear picture of the club’s true financial position.

“I don’t think it’s going to get better because there are still things crawling out of the woodwork all the time, but off the back of that we’ll be able to give a potential buyer the due diligence answers they would want.

“I will make sure that audit is absolutely forensic and goes into everything that’s been going on at the club and the battery farms and concert companies so that there are no legacy issues that could affect a deal.

“In the season ending in 2023, the accounts showed that the club lost £1.7 million. It beggars belief. I don’t know what happened, but we’ll get to the bottom of that.

“We have to explain to the fans and stakeholders what happened. You can’t just move on, people want to know why.

“It’s important that we communicate, because otherwise they’re only getting half the story. People want to know, even on a macro level, who was responsible for what and why.”

[Pele_Is_God]

Robbo has got a feckin cheek. Got two years salary for doing f*** all.

[+Fraz]

37 minutes ago, STFU said:

https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/sport/former-caley-thistle-ceo-s-legal-action-has-opened-pandora-s-360743/

Inverness Caledonian Thistle advisor Alan Savage says legal action pursued by former chief executive officer Scot Gardiner has opened a Pandora’s Box at the club.

Sherriff Court officers visited the Caledonian Stadium at the end of last week over £70,000 that Gardiner believes he is owed by the club - £50,000 of which was through the Caley Thistle concert company and £20,000 being made up of loans to the club.

The Caley Jags now have three weeks to formally respond, with Savage planning to dispute that claim.

As part of the process to provide evidence, ICT will this week enlist lawyers – paid for by Savage – to go through communications between the football club and the Caley Thistle concert company, which is at the heart of the claim.

They will also have access to bank statements to track what money went where, with Savage promising to get to the bottom of the situation.

“There is a forensic search of the emails being carried out across all aspects of the concerts being done,” he said.

“It may be that the club were carrying out work for the concert company, and Gardiner was getting paid by the club whilst doing work for the concert company.

“I don’t know the legalities of that, but why should the club pay for the concert company? It doesn’t make sense whatsoever. The club wasn’t a shareholder in the concert company, but evidently it lost about £950,000 that wasn’t reported with the liquidator.

“Gardiner has opened a Pandora’s Box, there are a load of implications of it, and we will go through the detail meticulously to put up a robust defence.

“The bank statements will tell all. We’ve got a set of statements from the club and the concert company during that period, and between the two we will see which financial transactions were crossed, if any. We’ll be able to get a good look at this assertion that he’s owed money.

“The ball is then in his court. He’s got to produce evidence that shows he has loaned money to the club and what the agreement was, and then we’ll have to reply, so this could take months and months.”

While there may not be a quick resolution to the dispute with Gardiner, Savage is hoping an audit of the club’s 2023/24 finances will be completed slightly sooner, within six to eight weeks.

That will allow ICT to provide a clearer financial picture to potential investors, but again that is not without complications.

Fundraising efforts are currently ongoing, with the Caley Jags being given £1000 just last Saturday for example, but Savage expects ICT will need £1.6 million to get to the end of the 2025/26 season, and a decision on the long-running battery farm saga is only expected before Christmas.

Since Savage came on board to battle against the tide, some have looked to recoup money they feel they are owed, with former manager and sporting director John Robertson just one example as he is looking for £7000 in redundancy pay from when he was on sick leave.

Caley Thistle’s plight will be featured soon on the BBC show A View From The Terrace, which Savage hopes will bring them to the attention of potential investors, and he has promised to be open and transparent with supporters too about the outcome of the audit.

“We should have a good indication of where we are by Christmas,” Savage added.

“It won’t happen overnight, it’s up to us to speak to people and get more interest as people realise what state we’re in – but they can do something about it by putting their hands in their pockets.

“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be optimistic about this, Inverness is a great city that needs a great football club.

“We also need Ross Morrison, David Cameron and Allan Munro to commit to where we are on the battery farm, because we need to know where we stand.

“The 2023/24 season audit is under way, and that will give a clear picture of the club’s true financial position.

“I don’t think it’s going to get better because there are still things crawling out of the woodwork all the time, but off the back of that we’ll be able to give a potential buyer the due diligence answers they would want.

“I will make sure that audit is absolutely forensic and goes into everything that’s been going on at the club and the battery farms and concert companies so that there are no legacy issues that could affect a deal.

“In the season ending in 2023, the accounts showed that the club lost £1.7 million. It beggars belief. I don’t know what happened, but we’ll get to the bottom of that.

“We have to explain to the fans and stakeholders what happened. You can’t just move on, people want to know why.

“It’s important that we communicate, because otherwise they’re only getting half the story. People want to know, even on a macro level, who was responsible for what and why.”

Sounds like all the parasites are crawling out of the woodwork. Robbo has a brass neck considering we stuck by him through difficult times and even created a nothing, well-paid, BS job for him when he wasn't capable of being manager by his own admission. Even allowed him plenty time to work a second job while we had games on. 

Gardiner's gall has perhaps given an opportunity to really scrutinise his tenure and conduct which will hopefully come back around and bite him on the erse. 

[The Long Man]

I can't believe Robbo, who has rinsed the club for the last two years, has the gall to want more free money. I believe it was him who recommended Gardiner in the first place! How cosy are those two?

Edited September 9, 2024 by The Long Man

[Charles Bannerman]

3 hours ago, STFU said:

https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/sport/former-caley-thistle-ceo-s-legal-action-has-opened-pandora-s-360743/

Inverness Caledonian Thistle advisor Alan Savage says legal action pursued by former chief executive officer Scot Gardiner has opened a Pandora’s Box at the club.

Sherriff Court officers visited the Caledonian Stadium at the end of last week over £70,000 that Gardiner believes he is owed by the club - £50,000 of which was through the Caley Thistle concert company and £20,000 being made up of loans to the club.

The Caley Jags now have three weeks to formally respond, with Savage planning to dispute that claim.

As part of the process to provide evidence, ICT will this week enlist lawyers – paid for by Savage – to go through communications between the football club and the Caley Thistle concert company, which is at the heart of the claim.

They will also have access to bank statements to track what money went where, with Savage promising to get to the bottom of the situation.

“There is a forensic search of the emails being carried out across all aspects of the concerts being done,” he said.

“It may be that the club were carrying out work for the concert company, and Gardiner was getting paid by the club whilst doing work for the concert company.

“I don’t know the legalities of that, but why should the club pay for the concert company? It doesn’t make sense whatsoever. The club wasn’t a shareholder in the concert company, but evidently it lost about £950,000 that wasn’t reported with the liquidator.

“Gardiner has opened a Pandora’s Box, there are a load of implications of it, and we will go through the detail meticulously to put up a robust defence.

“The bank statements will tell all. We’ve got a set of statements from the club and the concert company during that period, and between the two we will see which financial transactions were crossed, if any. We’ll be able to get a good look at this assertion that he’s owed money.

“The ball is then in his court. He’s got to produce evidence that shows he has loaned money to the club and what the agreement was, and then we’ll have to reply, so this could take months and months.”

While there may not be a quick resolution to the dispute with Gardiner, Savage is hoping an audit of the club’s 2023/24 finances will be completed slightly sooner, within six to eight weeks.

That will allow ICT to provide a clearer financial picture to potential investors, but again that is not without complications.

Fundraising efforts are currently ongoing, with the Caley Jags being given £1000 just last Saturday for example, but Savage expects ICT will need £1.6 million to get to the end of the 2025/26 season, and a decision on the long-running battery farm saga is only expected before Christmas.

Since Savage came on board to battle against the tide, some have looked to recoup money they feel they are owed, with former manager and sporting director John Robertson just one example as he is looking for £7000 in redundancy pay from when he was on sick leave.

Caley Thistle’s plight will be featured soon on the BBC show A View From The Terrace, which Savage hopes will bring them to the attention of potential investors, and he has promised to be open and transparent with supporters too about the outcome of the audit.

“We should have a good indication of where we are by Christmas,” Savage added.

“It won’t happen overnight, it’s up to us to speak to people and get more interest as people realise what state we’re in – but they can do something about it by putting their hands in their pockets.

“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be optimistic about this, Inverness is a great city that needs a great football club.

“We also need Ross Morrison, David Cameron and Allan Munro to commit to where we are on the battery farm, because we need to know where we stand.

“The 2023/24 season audit is under way, and that will give a clear picture of the club’s true financial position.

“I don’t think it’s going to get better because there are still things crawling out of the woodwork all the time, but off the back of that we’ll be able to give a potential buyer the due diligence answers they would want.

“I will make sure that audit is absolutely forensic and goes into everything that’s been going on at the club and the battery farms and concert companies so that there are no legacy issues that could affect a deal.

“In the season ending in 2023, the accounts showed that the club lost £1.7 million. It beggars belief. I don’t know what happened, but we’ll get to the bottom of that.

“We have to explain to the fans and stakeholders what happened. You can’t just move on, people want to know why.

“It’s important that we communicate, because otherwise they’re only getting half the story. People want to know, even on a macro level, who was responsible for what and why.”

I thought that one of the main reasons for creating a separate Concert Company was to protect the Football Company from any financial misfortune. On that basis, it seems difficult to see how the football club could be liable for money that may have been loaned to the now defunct CC. If Gardiner did lend money to the CC, then I would take a huge drink of schadenfreude at the thought that he has been hoist with his own petard and finds himself in the same position as a list of honest local traders who were out of pocket when a company in which he played a central role failed and collapsed.

I trust that any audit will be thorough and forensic in the extreme, because among other things it is absolutely necessary to establish whether there has been any activity that might be judged negligently incompetent or even criminal, and which might therefore become a potential cause for legal proceedings. In that event, perhaps any such proceedings could be held at the Caledonian Stadium where a sell-out crowd - unlike the previous concerts - would generate record profits.

That audit could perhaps start by addressing how a company that was meant to be economising could lose over £3 million in three years, including, in 2023-24, a massive £1.7M which means that what it spent in that year was around 75% more than it earned.

Edited September 9, 2024 by Charles Bannerman

[Scotty]

4 hours ago, Fraz said:

Sounds like all the parasites are crawling out of the woodwork. Robbo has a brass neck considering we stuck by him through difficult times and even created a nothing, well-paid, BS job for him when he wasn't capable of being manager by his own admission. Even allowed him plenty time to work a second job while we had games on. 

Gardiner's gall has perhaps given an opportunity to really scrutinise his tenure and conduct which will hopefully come back around and bite him on the erse. 

 

2 hours ago, Charles Bannerman said:

I thought that one of the main reasons for creating a separate Concert Company was to protect the Football Company from any financial misfortune. On that basis, it seems difficult to see how the football club could be liable for money that may have been loaned to the now defunct CC. If Gardiner did lend money to the CC, then I would take a huge drink of schadenfreude at the thought that he has been hoist with his own petard and finds himself in the same position as a list of honest local traders who were out of pocket when a company in which he played a central role failed and collapsed.

I trust that any audit will be thorough and forensic in the extreme, because among other things it is absolutely necessary to establish whether there has been any activity that might be judged negligently incompetent or even criminal, and which might therefore become a potential cause for legal proceedings. In that event, perhaps any such proceedings could be held at the Caledonian Stadium where a sell-out crowd - unlike the previous concerts - would generate record profits.

That audit could perhaps start by addressing how a company that was meant to be economising could lose over £3 million in three years, including, in 2023-24, a massive £1.7M which means that what it spent in that year was around 75% more than it earned.

 

I think that our former CEO may well have indeed opened a pandora's box that will be an even greater downfall for him. AS is doing everything at his own cost, not the club's and seems motivated to find any and all wrongdoing. I have to believe that this is what he wanted in the first place so he could - in his own words - 'deal with it'

As for Robbo - disappointed on that front. 

[STFU]

For me the big concern here is the same as I had at the time of the concert company going bust. If it can be shown that both companies were operating so closely that those dealing with them believed they were one and the same then the club could become liable for the losses suffered.

Savage mentions £950k of losses not reported to the liquidator. Is that a suggestion that these losses sit with the club? Were some of the director loans used to syphon money into the concert company? Were the club sub contracting staff (the ceo?) to the concert company making them liable if those people were then not paid?

Those are the pandoras box questions I fear. Aside from the potential financial implications there may be serious legal implications that threaten the club.

[CELTIC1CALEY3]

The Concert Company's final set of accounts are here https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC307831/filing-history?page=1 and basically only show Ross Morrison and Liam Dalgarno made loans to the Company.

Given what Alan Savage is finding with a need for a forensic audit raises serious questions about the competence of the two companies auditors. 

For those who do not know, it was Ross Morrison who set up the Company in 2008 with his business partner in Dundee. It did not change its name to Inverness Caley Thistle Concert Company Limited until November 2020. The loss making concert took place in July 2022.

 

 

[Yngwie]

59 minutes ago, CELTIC1CALEY3 said:

The Concert Company's final set of accounts are here https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC307831/filing-history?page=1 and basically only show Ross Morrison and Liam Dalgarno made loans to the Company.

Given what Alan Savage is finding with a need for a forensic audit raises serious questions about the competence of the two companies auditors. 

For those who do not know, it was Ross Morrison who set up the Company in 2008 with his business partner in Dundee. It did not change its name to Inverness Caley Thistle Concert Company Limited until November 2020. The loss making concert took place in July 2022.

On that last para, Morrison would simply have repurposed a spare/dormant company he had sitting around, rather than set up a  whole new company for the concerts. Note also that the concert company did not have auditors, too small for that requirement.

[bigterrybutcher]

13 hours ago, Scotty said:

 

 

I think that our former CEO may well have indeed opened a pandora's box that will be an even greater downfall for him. AS is doing everything at his own cost, not the club's and seems motivated to find any and all wrongdoing. I have to believe that this is what he wanted in the first place so he could - in his own words - 'deal with it'

As for Robbo - disappointed on that front. 

Find it hard that the article has mentioned Robbos name when there is the likes of Barry Wilson who's owed 12k Billy Dodds 20k the list will go on but they have named dropped John for a reason .. who knows what that reason may be but just seems strange when there is more owed to other people. For what it's worth John offered to work his notice was told by SG no , he offered to reduce his redundancy terms was told no by SG , finger is being pointed at the wrong man here

[Scotty]

24 minutes ago, bigterrybutcher said:

Find it hard that the article has mentioned Robbos name when there is the likes of Barry Wilson who's owed 12k Billy Dodds 20k the list will go on but they have named dropped John for a reason .. who knows what that reason may be but just seems strange when there is more owed to other people. For what it's worth John offered to work his notice was told by SG no , he offered to reduce his redundancy terms was told no by SG , finger is being pointed at the wrong man here

No idea why Robbo is mentioned, was it the journalist doing some self-protection by picking a name so it could not be said the focus was on defaming the former CEO? or was it the club dropping a name? If the journalist, then perhaps Robbo was chosen as it is known there is some animosity towards him for frequently working for the BBC in Dingwall when his club were playing a game that he perhaps should have been at attendance at instead, and there would also be disappointment as we appear to have (rightly) bent over backwards to accommodate him when he was going through a tough time. If he is owed a legitimate payment, then so be it.  Same with anyone else. The likes of Dodds and Barry (and Robbo) are not likely to be made of money so should be paid what they are due. 

I think AS has the finger pointed at one individual in all of this and inevitably others may get mentioned in dispatches during this battle. 

[STFU]

3 minutes ago, Scotty said:

No idea why Robbo is mentioned, was it the journalist doing some self-protection by picking a name so it could not be said the focus was on defaming the former CEO? or was it the club dropping a name? If the journalist, then perhaps Robbo was chosen as it is known there is some animosity towards him for frequently working for the BBC in Dingwall when his club were playing a game that he perhaps should have been at attendance at instead, and there would also be disappointment as we appear to have (rightly) bent over backwards to accommodate him when he was going through a tough time. If he is owed a legitimate payment, then so be it.  Same with anyone else. The likes of Dodds and Barry (and Robbo) are not likely to be made of money so should be paid what they are due. 

I think AS has the finger pointed at one individual in all of this and inevitably others may get mentioned in dispatches during this battle. 

Those others may have decided to write off what they are due or aren't harassing the club for payment, but robbo is?

[Council Juice]

Gall on Gardiner after the amount of chaos he's brought on the club (and its commercial partners) and money he's cost. 

Should hand him the bill for all the creditors. 

[bigterrybutcher]

4 hours ago, STFU said:

Those others may have decided to write off what they are due or aren't harassing the club for payment, but robbo is?

Certainly not the case having spoken to Robbo the club contacted him last week and he said he is willing to settle amicably but Certainly isn't chasing it as is mentioned . 

[CaleyCanary]

Sounds like Alan is going to give Gardiner a right Savaging.

His narcissistic ego will be his downfall, should have walked away with his tail between his legs when he had the chance. By the time Alan’s deep dive forensic audit is completed SG won’t have a tail left!

[The Long Man]

1 hour ago, bigterrybutcher said:

Certainly not the case having spoken to Robbo the club contacted him last week and he said he is willing to settle amicably but Certainly isn't chasing it as is mentioned . 

If that's the case, glad to hear it and withdraw what I said, fuelled as it was by apparently misleading press article.

[+snorbens_caleyman]

9 hours ago, CaleyCanary said:

Sounds like Alan is going to give Gardiner a right Savaging.

His narcissistic ego will be his downfall, should have walked away with his tail between his legs when he had the chance. By the time Alan’s deep dive forensic audit is completed SG won’t have a tail left!

You'd think that, wouldn't you?  I said a while ago that I'd be very surprised if SG took the club to court.

He will know that he is sorely annoying AS, so he must be very sure that the forensic audit won't uncover anything worse than embarrassing.  Nothing criminal, anyway, which is the specific meaning usually associated with the word "forensic".

[+CaleyHedgehog]

He should never have been given that time to 'help' the club by staying on after his dismissal, as he was probably hiding away/ deleting all his dirty dealing.

[+snorbens_caleyman]

1 hour ago, CaleyHedgehog said:

He should never have been given that time to 'help' the club by staying on after his dismissal, as he was probably hiding away/ deleting all his dirty dealing.

Except he forgot about the 7,000 unread emails

[CELTIC1CALEY3]

23 hours ago, Yngwie said:

On that last para, Morrison would simply have repurposed a spare/dormant company he had sitting around, rather than set up a  whole new company for the concerts. Note also that the concert company did not have auditors, too small for that requirement.

Very valid. Morrison however created the Company to make money. There are issues involving him that make negotiations by AS that make his work very delicate. Goodness knows what would have happened had Makwana made progress towards some form of ownership or control.

Nevertheless, either the Club's auditors or the Liquidator who would have carried out an audit of the trading position of the concert company either missed the vast Pandora's Box items, or someone kept very quiet without keeping a basic audit trail. Had the Concert Company been deemed to have been a 'close' company one of these bodies would have explored the situation and made notes accordingly in either the accounts or submission.