Annan @ Home Oct 19th 2024

[+CaleyHedgehog]

14 minutes ago, STFU said:

ICTFC is no more entitled to custom from the people of Inverness than any other entertainment provider and it is total arrogance to think otherwise.

Could not have put it better.

The people who complain about the lack of supporters at games are usually the same ones who moan about the fair weather, glory hunters at cup finals and the like.

Even as a season ticket holder who wants the best for my team, I have found it hard to get motivated to go to games at times, so why would people who have no great interest in either football in general or ICT want to spend their hard earned pennies coming to games?

Each to their own I say, we have to cut our cloth accordingly, and I am just glad that the 'glory hunters' do come to cup finals or we really would look pretty sad.

If you look at the attendances at other league one games you may think that we are doing pretty well, attendance wise.

[Charles Bannerman]

I make it a pretty hard and fast rule not to comment on referees, but I just can’t let go what we saw this afternoon. Mr Stuart’s nightmare can be headlined by the two absolutely clear cut penalties he waved away and there was a lot more that ICT should have had against a pretty physical Annan team. Duncan’s struggle to contain his fury was palpable.

I thought that it was a very encouraging performance by these largely young lads who seemed to have just that bit more bite up front - and especially creditable given the circumstances, and that they didn’t know if they were playing their last game for ICT under the cloud of possibly becoming jobless.

[Eagle4Caley]

52 minutes ago, CaleyHedgehog said:

Could not have put it better.

The people who complain about the lack of supporters at games are usually the same ones who moan about the fair weather, glory hunters at cup finals and the like.

Even as a season ticket holder who wants the best for my team, I have found it hard to get motivated to go to games at times, so why would people who have no great interest in either football in general or ICT want to spend their hard earned pennies coming to games?

Each to their own I say, we have to cut our cloth accordingly, and I am just glad that the 'glory hunters' do come to cup finals or we really would look pretty sad.

If you look at the attendances at other league one games you may think that we are doing pretty well, attendance wise.

 Yes, prompted, I looked at other L1 teams attendances, and [not sure why I was shocked] only QotS gets four figure attendances, most of the others well under. Given the other potential income streams [which is b#gger all prize and TV money, small amounts of local sponsorship, hospitality, merchandise...we rarely get any fees from players moving on] it's hardly surprisely most teams are part-time [I presume the players get just a match fee], and since relegation from the Premiership, a full time Caley would always be struggling without a rich benefactor, or some non-football related scheme [which Caley seem to have tried but only made things worse] To put the numbers into context, I was at National League Sutton United today, and the attendance was 3,400.

In my time as a Palace supporter we have diced with death several times, most recently in June 2010 when we were hours from being liquidated [we avoided relegation too despite a points deduction on the last day of the season] so this is not new territory for me [still horrible]. As ever I am hopefully that Caley will exist in some form, ideally when we are away to QotS in November, when I am booked to fly up!...I wonder what the team will look like.

[Bridge_Ender]

4 hours ago, STFU said:

ICTFC is no more entitled to custom from the people of Inverness than any other entertainment provider and it is total arrogance to think otherwise.

Exactly this.

 

Whatever happens over the next few weeks and months, I hope that fan engagement and experience is at the front and centre of the recovery. There are multiple examples of how to do it well among our contemporaries, and often it costs next to f**k all to implement. Pretty much none of which have been utilised at ICT over the years. 

[+old caley girl]

12 hours ago, Charles Bannerman said:

I make it a pretty hard and fast rule not to comment on referees, but I just can’t let go what we saw this afternoon. Mr Stuart’s nightmare can be headlined by the two absolutely clear cut penalties he waved away and there was a lot more that ICT should have had against a pretty physical Annan team. Duncan’s struggle to contain his fury was palpable.

I thought that it was a very encouraging performance by these largely young lads who seemed to have just that bit more bite up front - and especially creditable given the circumstances, and that they didn’t know if they were playing their last game for ICT under the cloud of possibly becoming jobless.

The standard of referee at this level is shockingly poor.  

[dougal]

Yesterdays shocking attendance probably wasn’t helped by the North of Scotland Cup final in Nairn. 
I saw plenty of faces there that normally frequent the Dump. 
For anyone interested Clach were well pumped by a strong looking Brora outfit. 
Very healthy attendance with the majority born and bred Invernessians. 
Hats of to the young ICT players though can’t have been easy putting on what sounds a decent display under the current circumstances and also Duncan Ferguson to be honest as it would have been very easy to throw the towel in. 

Dougal
 

[bishbashbosh]

7 minutes ago, old caley girl said:

The standard of referee at this level is shockingly poor.  

Ocg we don’t usually agree on here, but today is maybe a first, I agree with you. 
went on the bbc text for yesterdays game and they show 6 bookings. Seemed like more than that to me.

ps….feel free to insert your regular face palm.

[bishbashbosh]

Couldn’t play the goal above so went to YouTube to look for yesterdays game.

i must have fell asleep and missed a few goals.

 

[tm4tj]

Try again, if it has already been played, hit the replay button on the bottom left of screen.

 

[tm4tj]

Its in CTO match report as well

 

[dougal]

5 minutes ago, bishbashbosh said:

Couldn’t play the goal above so went to YouTube to look for yesterdays game.

i must have fell asleep and missed a few goals.

 

Halcyon days indeed and sadly highlights perfectly the level ICT have fallen too. 
Also quite alarmingly noticeable is that the terracing festooned in Union Jacks. 

 

Dougal

[Duke of Inverness]

36 minutes ago, bishbashbosh said:

Couldn’t play the goal above so went to YouTube to look for yesterdays game.

i must have fell asleep and missed a few goals.

 

Footage quality from nearly 27 years ago is better than what we get nowadays. As well as the quality of football. 

Edited October 20, 2024 by Duke of Inverness

[dougal]

8 minutes ago, Duke of Inverness said:

Footage quality from nearly 27 years ago is better than what we get nowadays. As well as the quality of football. 

Duke I’ve green dotted you for this as I couldn’t green dot you regarding the point you made about egos in the admin thread. 

Couldn’t have made the point better myself unfortunately that opportunity was taken away from me due to being banned from the thread from the establishment with no reason.
Seems Ego’s clearly exist on here too. 
 

Dougal
 

[bishbashbosh]

1 hour ago, tm4tj said:

Try again, if it has already been played, hit the replay button on the bottom left of screen.

 

No can’t play on either.
I do an Elvis (used to say that to the kids 40 years ago when we would watch a tape  on the VHS “ do an ELVIS ” what’s that dad “ — PRESS PLAY

I get 1/2 second then it cuts off. Must be me.

by the way your report cleared up my bookings query. You get six same as bbc. It seemed every tackle was a yellow the guy was flashing so many cards.

[Robert]

47 minutes ago, bishbashbosh said:

No can’t play on either.
I do an Elvis (used to say that to the kids 40 years ago when we would watch a tape  on the VHS “ do an ELVIS ” what’s that dad “ — PRESS PLAY

I get 1/2 second then it cuts off. Must be me.

by the way your report cleared up my bookings query. You get six same as bbc. It seemed every tackle was a yellow the guy was flashing so many cards.

There should have been more bookings for Annan players. Mckay got booked for querying a decision and the Annan player Manager did the same and no action. Some of their tackles were as bad as Devine’s deserved booking but no cards. And young Macleod’s booking was very soft.

I thought the ref was very poor and inconsistent, bottling some key decisions.

But, it’s history now. We won!

[Satan]

2 hours ago, dougal said:

Halcyon days indeed and sadly highlights perfectly the level ICT have fallen too. 
Also quite alarmingly noticeable is that the terracing festooned in Union Jacks. 

 

Dougal

Still paying the big wages back then, noticeably another big Dunc,  on 1k a week, I guess reflecting his coaching role too.

Edited October 20, 2024 by Satan

[dougal]

32 minutes ago, Satan said:

Still paying the big wages back then, noticeably another big Dunc,  on 1k a week, I guess reflecting his coaching role too.

I sadly agree with you the resemblance to the route the old Rangers took and the route we took is uncanny. 
The rise to the SPL, European football and Scottish Cup win will now always be overshadowed by overspending and mismanagement some might even go as far and call it cheating. 
Regardless what it is there is a horrible taste left in the mouth.
 

Dougal

[ClickbaitProponent]

17 hours ago, forresjags said:

Och away mun what other entertainment can compete with a Saturday afternoon kick about. 

Sorting the used sock draw? Watching paint dry? joining the dots on a golf ball?

[Huisdean]

22 hours ago, STFU said:

ICTFC is no more entitled to custom from the people of Inverness than any other entertainment provider and it is total arrogance to think otherwise.

No it isn't.  ICT are the only professional senior football team in Inverness so if the good people of Inverness,  if they want to save their team, then they do need to get off their arses to support ICT. Even in the Championship, Dunfermline,  and now Falkirk get much bigger attendances than us and both these clubs have had similar problems to us. Why should that be the case?, cue the usual comments on poor this and poor that. You either support your team or you don't.  To late to support your team once it's gone. We seem to have a large element of "support " who are never satisfied with the club and always have an excuse for not attending games.

[STFU]

25 minutes ago, Huisdean said:

No it isn't.  ICT are the only professional senior football team in Inverness so if the good people of Inverness,  if they want to save their team, then they do need to get off their arses to support ICT. Even in the Championship, Dunfermline,  and now Falkirk get much bigger attendances than us and both these clubs have had similar problems to us. Why should that be the case?, cue the usual comments on poor this and poor that. You either support your team or you don't.  To late to support your team once it's gone. We seem to have a large element of "support " who are never satisfied with the club and always have an excuse for not attending games.

The post that proves the point.

You talk as if it's the responsibility of the entire city to provide circa 1500 people with a football match every couple of weeks.

Do you also donate/attend and expect everyone else to donate/attend the rugby club, shinty club, athletics club, cinema, sports centre, rollerbowl, bmx park, golf courses, go kart centre, climbing centre, trampoline park gyms, whin park, bellfield park, etc to ensure they remain open?

What makes ICTFC so different and special to the extent that the whole city is responsible for it?

[lizi]

Besides the penalty shouts, there should have been an indirect free kick, in the box, to ICT in the second half as the Annan full back passed the ball to the goalkeeper and he picked the ball up.  Totally useless referee.   

[+DoofersDad]

1 hour ago, Huisdean said:

No it isn't.  ICT are the only professional senior football team in Inverness so if the good people of Inverness,  if they want to save their team, then they do need to get off their arses to support ICT. Even in the Championship, Dunfermline,  and now Falkirk get much bigger attendances than us and both these clubs have had similar problems to us. Why should that be the case?, cue the usual comments on poor this and poor that. You either support your team or you don't.  To late to support your team once it's gone. We seem to have a large element of "support " who are never satisfied with the club and always have an excuse for not attending games.

I'm afraid I agree with STFU on this one.  The reality is that there are varying degrees of support for the club ranging from those who go to all the games they can, who buy a lot of merchandise and help behind the scenes, to those who want the team to do well but who rarely, if ever go to a game or buy any merchandise.  There is absolutely no reason why somebody at the bottom end of this range of support should be expected to pay good money to watch poor quality football when they would rather be doing something else, or to buy merchandise they don't really want.  To imply they have some sort of civic duty to do so will only alienate people and make it less likely they will spend money in the future.

The challenge for those of us who put our hands in our pockets and support the team regularly is to persuade others that it is worth spending a bit more money on the club.  We can't directly do much about the quality of the product on the pitch, but we can help to make the matchday experience a little better. An example of this is the work the Supporters Trust has done in making improvements to the bar.  Having a bar which is open for longer hours, serves better beer and and is generally more welcoming will perhaps persuade a few more people to come to matches and those who already do, to spend a little more. 

[Alan]

I agree the referee was dreadful but he was correct in not awarding a free kick for the passback as it was delivered by the defender's knee which is allowed under the rules of the game

[+Fraz]

The relationship that the club has with the city has been discussed many times. There are a multitude of factors working against the club that they cannot control and can do little about. These include the location of the stadium, the quality of the stadium (financially there's little we can afford to change), people supporting other teams and of course, after 30 years refusniks who are still greeting.

There are things they have some control over like the catering, ticket prices, quality of performance on the pitch etc

There are some things they can control more fully such as the way they treat the community, way they engage with businesses/sponsors, how they treat loyal fans, how they responsibly use money for the good of the club. 

Aside from the work of the Community Trust and I'd also say the Women’s team/Academy (who in the interests of transparency I'm on the committee of and coach for) which are both separate entities from the club, the club itself has done the grand total of fk all to try and reach out to the city in at least the last 5-6 years.

There's been nothing in terms of even the simplest kid's fun days, Christmas parties, bowling nights, school visits, fan events, regular hospitality or even proper sponsor evenings. 

The club has to make an effort and with Scot Gardiner (and Yvonne Crook) at the helm the last half decade or so has undone much of the good work that others took years to try and develop. 

It won't be quickly turned around, particularly if the fayre on the pitch is woeful. 

Edited October 20, 2024 by Fraz

[Charles Bannerman]

58 minutes ago, Fraz said:

The relationship that the club has with the city has been discussed many times. There are a multitude of factors working against the club that they cannot control and can do little about. These include the location of the stadium, the quality of the stadium (financially there's little we can afford to change), people supporting other teams and of course, after 30 years refusniks who are still greeting.

There are things they have some control over like the catering, ticket prices, quality of performance on the pitch etc

There are some things they can control more fully such as the way they treat the community, way they engage with businesses/sponsors, how they treat loyal fans, how they responsibly use money for the good of the club. 

Aside from the work of the Community Trust and I'd also say the Women’s team/Academy (who in the interests of transparency I'm on the committee of and coach for) which are both separate entities from the club, the club itself has done the grand total of fk all to try and reach out to the city in at least the last 5-6 years.

There's been nothing in terms of even the simplest kid's fun days, Christmas parties, bowling nights, school visits, fan events, regular hospitality or even proper sponsor evenings. 

The club has to make an effort and with Scot Gardiner (and Yvonne Crook) at the helm the last half decade or so has undone much of the good work that others took years to try and develop. 

It won't be quickly turned around, particularly if the fayre on the pitch is woeful. 

30 years on and I still haven’t come to a firm view on the siting of the stadium. When I was writing Against All Odds, INE gave me some of their documentation, including a consultant’s report, on stadium siting. They started with about 13 possible sites, of which some, like Torvean Quarry, quickly fell by the wayside. Inshes departed the race because the land was too expensive etc etc.

In the end, it was down to the Golden Mile past the retail park, which was INE’s choice, and East Longman, the club’s choice, which only edged home after INE gave way to huge pressure from the club. Accessibility for fans, many of whom at that time lived west of the river, was the main objection to the Golden Mile/Stratton Farm.

If truth be told, the survey didn’t really come up with anywhere that was an ideal choice and, among a very limited choice, East Longman eventually won out.

One thing the report DIDN’T flag up was that East Longman would be bloody freezing!

As regards the quality of the stadium, the original plans had to be scaled back significantly for reasons of cost. Part of that problem was the very high specification demanded by the Highland Council planners and the need to provide an approach road. Although the hugely controversial £900,000 grant made by Inverness District Council but eventually paid from the Common Good Fund was nominally for the road, that actually cost £1.3M. What that road also did was to provide an opportunity for extension through to the harbour and hence potential for massive development between the stadium and the harbour. I often wonder what the added value has been of that direct consequence of the stadium road that ICT paid for.

 

Edited October 20, 2024 by Charles Bannerman