Something is wrong

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

 

  Something is wrong ?

? on:August 11, 2007, 08:57:22 PM ? Quote Modify Remove 

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Laff if ya may but my job is a lot to do with observation and intuition. That was not a together ICT out there today. There is a lot of bitching going on and pointing of the fingers. The team spirit and "all fer one" ethos that has served us well fer years, and helped us survived, is sadly missing. We lost our shape today and the game because it appeared that some players decided to do their own thing - or was it tactical - which would be even worse.

I have never seen so much moaning and whingeing and lack of camaraderie. Am I wrong? Please tell me that I am - If not we are in deep shittt if we dont sort it out pronto. 

I now wish to remove the question mark

But a new question - WHO IS TO BLAME ?

[maimie]

tbh oh great one - i think the blame lies higher up the tree than some here would like to think...  :004:

[Guest Get_off_the_park_Wyness!]

The negativity and arguments come from the fact that we are on a terrible run and confidence is low. Not vice versa.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

tbh oh great one - i think the blame lies higher up the tree than some here would like to think...  :004:

WHAT - You mean God has it in fer us.  :crazy07:

[breachofthepeace]

Wrong IHE no-one is more important than Brew, not even the almighty :029: :015:

[CaleyD]

It's not so much "who", but "what" is to blame IMO.

Although certain individuals have certainly played a large part in making an unfortunate situation even worse you have to go all the way back to the appointment of Alan Savage (and to an extent Mike Smith) to see where the problems started.

David Sutherland....love him or hate him he did a great job for ICT.  It wasn't entirely selfless, of course, but you can't deny that we would not be where we are now had it not been for his help and influence.  However, I think much of the clubs success on the park was more down to what he NEVER did as much as what he did do.  You never heard of Sutherland sticking his nose into the footballing affairs of the club other than letting the DoF and Management staff know what they had available in terms of finances.  We had a team in place and for the most part they did a great job of spending wisely and keeping the team moving forward and a sure footing.  Much of the same can be said of Ken Mackie who I believe was also a great Chairman.

Everyone knew where they stood when Sutherland was at the helm.  Players knew that whatever money could be made available for wages and bonuses was being made available and that they would share the financial rewards that their efforts on the pitch brought to the club.  Granted, they may not have been the best paid players in the SPL and we lost one or two players as a result, but you can be sure the players respected that they were getting the best offers/contracts the club could give them.  The fans also knew where they stood and they knew that when they were "consulted" that they were actually being listened too.  When we won the 1st Div and were facing the prospects of groundsharing at Aberdeen the fans were asked for their opinion and the cards were laid on the table with regards to the risks of the groundshare on the financial front.  The fans were told that they would need to do their part to keep the attendances as high as possible and the players knew that anything short of survival in the first season could have ruined the club financially.  Everyone bought in to the idea and for the most part everyone did their bit....Sutherland then rewarded the fans and the club by securing an early return to Inverness which not only saved the fans the travel (and associated risks and costs) but saved the club a huge wedge also, part of which was given back to the footballing side of things.

Mike Smith came to the club in June 2005 as part of what was to be the beginning of a revamp of the off the pitch operations.  For the most part he was not involved much with the footballing side of things during the season 05/06, which we weren't expecting anyway as he had stated himself when appointed....

"My priority will be the business side of things, leaving the football operation to director of football Graeme Bennett and the football management staff."

Turn the clocks forward 12 months and Alan Savage replaces David Sutherland as Chairman.

Savage remained pretty much in the background for most of the 06/07 season and only really addressed the fans in the press (or via this site) when asked directly.  He seemed to make all the right noises and when issues arose he made the odd promise to sort things out.  It was hard to really judge the guy or the job he was doing on the little we had seen of him, but towards the end of the season was when I first started to notice that the relationship between the club and the fans had/was taking a big turn for the worse.

This was around the time when the Stewards really started to go overboard with the fans and the fans were complaining to the club (mostly via this forum).  The Supporters Trust seemed to be in talks with the club at the time, but despite promises that it would not be swept under the carpet and that we would get to the root of the problem and get it sorted it ended with nothing more than the promise of a pointless and half ersed addition of a few seats opposite the Main Stand which didn't even have so much as a roof.  This was supposed to be the "solution" and now the real problem could be forgotten as far as the club were concerned.

The end of the season came and during the closed season rumours broke that we were interested in bringing in Niculae.  It was at this stage I realised that not only was Savage going to differ from Sutherland in the way he treated the fans, but he was also going to be a Chairman who WOULD be sticking his nose in to the footballing side of things.  It became fairly obviously from early on in the Niculae "rumours" that this was something which was being pushed heavily by Savage.  Also, with a little hindsight it has also become apparent that so much time and effort was being put into the signing of Niculae that the contracts of just about every other player were ignored.

I've touched on this on the forum before, and as I said then....if your looking to blow your wage structure out the window, then the first thing you do is get all the players you want to keep on extended contracts before the news of this breaks to the squad because you can be sure that when they find out then they will also be looking for a pay increase come the negotiations for themselves.

Anyway, in short, this single act (intentionally or otherwise) destroys the clubs ethos of play as a team get rewarded as a team.  Whereas players in the past might have not been altogether "happy" about what they were being paid, they knew they were getting the best deal possible and that all players were, more or less, being treated equally.

However, Niculae was touted as the man who was going to bring enough to the team to get us to the top 6 and ensure a successful season and most people seemed content to wait for the outcome.

I said at the time that the signing could very well prove to be the making or breaking of Alan Savage as a Chairman.  Had we reached (or even come close) to getting that top 6 and/or had a decent cup run then the gamble might have paid off and he could have justified it.....that's not what's happened and it is up to the shareholders and fans to decide whether or not the gamble was worth it!!!

We got off to a slow start at the beginning of this season and many of us could see that their was huge pressure on Christie.  Where that pressure came from and who caused it is a subject that will always generate debate.  We know that Christie had wanted to resign earlier than he did but was persuaded to keep the job on.  Again, whether that was because of a genuine desire to keep him as the manager or to buy time for the replacement to be properly groomed we will never know.  Whatever way you look at it, something was going on and the way in which Brewster was appointed only adds fuel to the "conspiracy".

So CC resigns and the hunt is on for the new manager.  We're told by the club that they have nobody in mind and they are looking at all the possibilities.  A few names are trotted out as is the norm but Warnock seems like a strong candidate, a fact which is CONFIRMED by Savage himself at the Fans Forum when he said that Warnock HAD applied.

Rumour quickly breaks out on the site that Brewster has already been given the nod for the job and had been some time ago.  This doesn't stop the club turning it into a circus by doing everything possible to deflect attention away from Brewster and then when the announcement is finally made we're all of a sudden told that Warnock was never in the running and in fact he says he never even applied for the job....was Warnock telling porkies to save face in losing out to Brewster or was Savage telling porkies at the fans forum when he said hehad applied!!!  Either way, something was going on and we may never know the real story.

Whilst all this is going on we are told that come **** or high water Donald Park would be retained by the club as the Assistant Manager...this is something that never ever made any sense to me as any incoming manager would certainly want to bring his own assistant.

The Club may have been desperate to keep the services of Park, but his resignation in December to take up the first job that became available seems to indicate that he wasn't exactly desperate to stay at ICT.  Was it family reasons or was it simply the club keeping the Assistant in place until Brewsters buddy could free himself from services elsewhere?  Who knows!!!

All of the above covers events which don't even involve the players (directly)....we've all seen for ourself the way certain players seem to have been manoeuvred out the door.  Again I look at the situation of some of the players with a little hindsight, but I can't help but feel that the Chairman has had more influence in some of the losses than simply agreeing the pay cheques...we've lost players in the past due to the simple fact that we couldn't (wouldn't) match wage demands, but not until the appointment of Savage have we had so many instances where the circumstances have appeared strange......

Dods....He had been offered a 1 year extension but wanted 2 years to allow him to commit the remainder of his career to ICT.  Not an unreasonable demand considering how influential he was as a player and Captain, but we let him go without too much of a fuss.

Dargo....As consistent a scorer as we've ever had at the club and a real asset....we can't meet his wage demands but we're happy enough to take a punt on Niculae who was unproven for almost 2 years and had a catalogue of problems due to injury?

Rankin....He suddenly seems to fall out of favour despite being hugely influential since joining the club.  He's told he can go...no wait, maybe not now that he's sold his house....oh but now we've got some interest, lets hold out to see how high the price goes...ok we'll sell him....WTF was all that about?  If I was cynical I could say that discussions had already taken place for him to move to Hibs and the St Mirren interest was merely a bonus which drove the price up  :023:

Caff....One of those marmite players (you either loved him or hated him) but at a time when we were really struggling defensively and lacking in numbers why get rid of one who is capable of doing a job?

Wilson....Truly baffling, ok, so you can argue that he's no longer a 90 minute man, but he is without a doubt one of the few players we have who can turn a game, not to mention his ability to slot in anywhere in midfield or even up front.

That's only 5 and we have twice as many again who have left with not so many coming in to bulk up the squad with some experience.

Were these players offloaded because we genuinely didn't think they were worth keeping (even for a little more money)?  Or were they offloaded because they were likely among some of the highest earners at the club and we had to offset the cost of Niculae somewhere to make the books balance?  Again, we may never know, but we do know that for each and every one of them theirs been enough smoke to suggest that someone at the club is playing with matches.

And it's not just the players or the staff where issues are cropping up, it's happening with contractors too.  None so obvious as the Stewards...or the control of the Stewards on match day.  Never before have we had the issues we've seen in the last season and a half.  Is it coincidence that this coincides with Mike Smith getting involved?  And why would the company who has done the stewarding at the club for so many years turn around and tell the club to stick it within 48 hours of the start of this season?

I'm sure others can come up with many other issues, big and small, that have happened in the last season or two...and although the club has never been perfect, it just seems that recently problems and issues seem to have become far more prevalent.

When David Sutherland resigned as Chairman he told us all that he had left a plan in place which would see the club continue to move forward.  I don't for one second think that much of what has happened since he resigned was part of his plan and I think that is part of the reason he chose to speak out in the press recently.  Another thing he said when resigning was that he felt that it was healthy to keep things fresh at the top with a 3 year cycle.....I just hope that Alan Savage hasn't allowed our club to go totally to the wall by the time his 3 years is up in June 2009.

Savage, Bennett, Smith & Brewster....every one of them has had a hand in the mess we appear to be in right now.  Not saying any of them has deliberately plotted to get things where they are now, but every one of them is in a position to put an end to it...if they don't feel they are willing or able then they should step aside and make room for someone who can.

[tm4tj]

CaleyD, is this book available in hardback?

[CaleyD]

You should have seen the unabridged version  :015:

[Yngwie]

Savage, Bennett, Smith & Brewster....every one of them has had a hand in the mess we appear to be in right now. 

True. But David Sutherland, controlling the largest shareholding, still has his hand on the club's tiller even if he is less involved day to day.

He chose Savage. He chose to reappoint Brewster, apparently. He has a say in every major decision, so you'd have to add him to your list.

[Johnboy]

This morning's Courier carries an interview with Brewster in which he enthuses over Niculae's goal in Bucharest.

"I'm sure Marius will have had a major lift from his performance for Romania, he said "I'm just hoping that his new found confidence can also have a positive effect on the rest of the squad. He's done it for his country in terms of scoring a goal. Now he has to do it for us on Saturday"

Words like "straws" and "clutching" spring to mind for me here...

The article goes on to say....

Rumours of dressing room unrest and problems behind the scenes are two reasons beng put forward by the fans concerned at this recent run of poor form. Brewster accepts that some of the stick is justified, but maintains they are only one win away from turning the corner.

"If you go so many games without a win, your pride takes a bit of a dent, and you start trying to look for excuses when the main reason is probably just a lack of confidence".

Black, Munro and Wyness..?   Strangely, not a single mention of them...  :024:

[Jay_7]

CC's resignation was not prompted by anything to do with the club.  :023:

[caley100]

CC's resignation was not prompted by anything to do with the club.  :023:

Think the pressure on him came from the pressures of being the manager, which he didnt come to terms with on a personal level.

[Jay_7]

CC's resignation was not prompted by anything to do with the club.  :023:

Think the pressure on him came from the pressures of being the manager, which he didnt come to terms with on a personal level.

I can assure you his resignation was nothing to do with the pressures of being a manager.  But the mention of personal level is in the right ball park.  That's all I'll say on it.

[Johnboy]

Johnboy's diary... March 28th...

Woke up... turned on computer...

Read CaleyD's post above...

Went to bed... 

[Libero]

after the revelations about the treatment of Black this threads title has to go down as the understatement of the year!!

[Scotty]

I started writing something similar to CaleyD yesterday ....  a sort of perspective of ICT showing how the club has changed over the last few years. I knew it would be a mini novel so even started writing it in "word" instead of directly on the site but I got caught up at work and never finished it. I must say that CaleyD's finished article is pretty close to what I was going to try and say.

I am not going to go into the problems that seem to be ripping the playing side of the club in half as CaleyD seems to have commented at length on this but I wanted to make a few additional comments about this website, the perception the club seem to have of the fans, and the lack of communication from the club.

[li]We all love ICT, even those of us who hardly see a game these days because we live in another country or on another continent. We would not be here on this site, nor would we moan and groan so much if we did not feel so passionate about the club. I know some at the club write this site and others off as being so "neggy" but a lot of what is said on here comes straight from the heart of passionate supporters. Those supporters may not get it right all the time or express a point that others agree with or the way others like, but every single opinion counts because it comes from one of the club's customers.[/li]

[br]

[li]The club used to feel passionate about its fans or at least give that impression. As we climbed the lower divisions, David Sutherland acknowledged the fact that we had many people who made great efforts to come to ICT games from all over the country and mingled with the fans on more than one occasion either in a bar after the game (eg. Caley Inn a couple of times) or by hosting fans for drinks on away days a few times. (Yes IHE, we know he still owes you a large voddie/coke). He was also quick to speak out on issues affecting fans - coming to the supporters in the stands at Kilmarnock when the cup game was abandoned in the 28th minute, and speaking out about it for weeks in the press after that. He may have had ulterior motives, he may have been trying to make Tulloch's look good, or he may have been genuine, you decide ... but the simple fact is that whether true or not, he at least appeared to listen, and appeared to care. That feeling is long long gone. Real fans are now a nuisance, a necessary evil, something that has to be put up with once in a while by the hospitality customers or corporate sponsors ... or so it seems.[/li]

[br]

[li]The club used to talk to fans. Whether it was directly, or whether it was through a vehicle such as this site before, during or after its stint as the official site, the fans were viewed as being worthy of knowing at least some of what was going on. Not everything, but at least something, especially when it was positive. "Boardroom Banter", our monthly column supplied by Kenny Cameron when he was a director, and created by him along with myself, Ken Thompson and David Sutherland was warmly received. A portion of what was in it was perhaps written from a particular angle that made the club look good (some might say propaganda even) but it also carried answers to questions/concerns that fans had raised on the website during the previous month(s). I used to trawl the boards and submit those questions to the board and Kenny would come back to me with what was usually some decent answers. [/li]

[br]

[li]David Sutherland realised the potential of the internet very early on and also realised that releasing information via a site like this which was more sympathetic towards the club, or more prone to be on the club's side was a good way to get information out that didnt try to spin the story like the press might. More recently however, the silence has been deafening, secrecy abounds (even if it is sieve-like), and again, the paying customers are viewed as nothing more than an inconvenience not worthy of talking to. What little is released for public consumption tends to be stuff that is commercial in nature and of benefit to the club rather than the customers and only a select few at the stadium ever bother to communicate with fans.[/li]

[absent friend]

Now lets think - Caley d's thought out presentation, Scotty's thought out presentation or Johnboy's dozen sarcastic words.

I think the IQ (or lack of it) is showing through!!

[Johnboy]

Thanks Absent Friend...

I realise now my response to CaleyD's post could have been mis-interpreted. I was trying to make the point it was rather a long one...

Being serious for once I thought it was an excellent post and a very accurate summation of the events that have unfolded at the club since the appointment of Mr Savage...

Scotty's comments on David Sutherland also made good and interesting reading...

[Kingsmills]

Between them Caley D and Scotty broadly reflect my own view. It's a pity that the ethos of the club has changed so much for the worse.

[CaleyD]

Savage, Bennett, Smith & Brewster....every one of them has had a hand in the mess we appear to be in right now.

True. But David Sutherland, controlling the largest shareholding, still has his hand on the club's tiller even if he is less involved day to day.

He chose Savage. He chose to reappoint Brewster, apparently. He has a say in every major decision, so you'd have to add him to your list.

It is with hindsight that we realise that the appointment of Savage may have been the start of the rapid disintegration, which is why I say that not everything that has happened is the result of some warped conspiracy.  We all make mistakes, and often we do not realise the impact of those mistakes until the chit hits the fan.  David Sutherlands article in the papers signalled to me that he was letting us, the fans, know that he is aware that things aren't right and that he is still watching over things, but as you say, he is not involved in the day to day running and that is where, IMO, things are being grossly mishandled.

He may have a large shareholding but that shareholding only counts for anything at an AGM/EGM.....for the rest of the year the decisions are made by the BoD and staff who are placed in positions of authority and given the powers to operate in certain areas.

It's not always what has been done that causes the problems, but the way it gets done.  Yes, their is strong suggestion that he had a hand in the reappointment of Brewster, but had he been the Chairman then I don't think we would have had the circus we did and I don't think that we would have had near the hullabaloo we did if the club had been upfront with us about the whole deal instead of trying to lead us a merry dance.

I never included Sutherland in that final list for those very reasons and also because I believe he is taking steps towards changing things.  Only time will tell if I am right in that regard, and we'll just have to wait and see.

[stomach]

It's not so much "who", but "what" is to blame IMO.

Although certain individuals have certainly played a large part in making an unfortunate situation even worse you have to go all the way back to the appointment of Alan Savage (and to an extent Mike Smith) to see where the problems started.

David Sutherland....love him or hate him he did a great job for ICT.  It wasn't entirely selfless, of course, but you can't deny that we would not be where we are now had it not been for his help and influence.  However, I think much of the clubs success on the park was more down to what he NEVER did as much as what he did do.  You never heard of Sutherland sticking his nose into the footballing affairs of the club other than letting the DoF and Management staff know what they had available in terms of finances.  We had a team in place and for the most part they did a great job of spending wisely and keeping the team moving forward and a sure footing.  Much of the same can be said of Ken Mackie who I believe was also a great Chairman.

Everyone knew where they stood when Sutherland was at the helm.  Players knew that whatever money could be made available for wages and bonuses was being made available and that they would share the financial rewards that their efforts on the pitch brought to the club.  Granted, they may not have been the best paid players in the SPL and we lost one or two players as a result, but you can be sure the players respected that they were getting the best offers/contracts the club could give them.  The fans also knew where they stood and they knew that when they were "consulted" that they were actually being listened too.  When we won the 1st Div and were facing the prospects of groundsharing at Aberdeen the fans were asked for their opinion and the cards were laid on the table with regards to the risks of the groundshare on the financial front.  The fans were told that they would need to do their part to keep the attendances as high as possible and the players knew that anything short of survival in the first season could have ruined the club financially.  Everyone bought in to the idea and for the most part everyone did their bit....Sutherland then rewarded the fans and the club by securing an early return to Inverness which not only saved the fans the travel (and associated risks and costs) but saved the club a huge wedge also, part of which was given back to the footballing side of things.

Mike Smith came to the club in June 2005 as part of what was to be the beginning of a revamp of the off the pitch operations.  For the most part he was not involved much with the footballing side of things during the season 05/06, which we weren't expecting anyway as he had stated himself when appointed....

"My priority will be the business side of things, leaving the football operation to director of football Graeme Bennett and the football management staff."

Turn the clocks forward 12 months and Alan Savage replaces David Sutherland as Chairman.

Savage remained pretty much in the background for most of the 06/07 season and only really addressed the fans in the press (or via this site) when asked directly.  He seemed to make all the right noises and when issues arose he made the odd promise to sort things out.  It was hard to really judge the guy or the job he was doing on the little we had seen of him, but towards the end of the season was when I first started to notice that the relationship between the club and the fans had/was taking a big turn for the worse.

This was around the time when the Stewards really started to go overboard with the fans and the fans were complaining to the club (mostly via this forum).  The Supporters Trust seemed to be in talks with the club at the time, but despite promises that it would not be swept under the carpet and that we would get to the root of the problem and get it sorted it ended with nothing more than the promise of a pointless and half ersed addition of a few seats opposite the Main Stand which didn't even have so much as a roof.  This was supposed to be the "solution" and now the real problem could be forgotten as far as the club were concerned.

The end of the season came and during the closed season rumours broke that we were interested in bringing in Niculae.  It was at this stage I realised that not only was Savage going to differ from Sutherland in the way he treated the fans, but he was also going to be a Chairman who WOULD be sticking his nose in to the footballing side of things.  It became fairly obviously from early on in the Niculae "rumours" that this was something which was being pushed heavily by Savage.  Also, with a little hindsight it has also become apparent that so much time and effort was being put into the signing of Niculae that the contracts of just about every other player were ignored.

I've touched on this on the forum before, and as I said then....if your looking to blow your wage structure out the window, then the first thing you do is get all the players you want to keep on extended contracts before the news of this breaks to the squad because you can be sure that when they find out then they will also be looking for a pay increase come the negotiations for themselves.

Anyway, in short, this single act (intentionally or otherwise) destroys the clubs ethos of play as a team get rewarded as a team.  Whereas players in the past might have not been altogether "happy" about what they were being paid, they knew they were getting the best deal possible and that all players were, more or less, being treated equally.

However, Niculae was touted as the man who was going to bring enough to the team to get us to the top 6 and ensure a successful season and most people seemed content to wait for the outcome.

I said at the time that the signing could very well prove to be the making or breaking of Alan Savage as a Chairman.  Had we reached (or even come close) to getting that top 6 and/or had a decent cup run then the gamble might have paid off and he could have justified it.....that's not what's happened and it is up to the shareholders and fans to decide whether or not the gamble was worth it!!!

We got off to a slow start at the beginning of this season and many of us could see that their was huge pressure on Christie.  Where that pressure came from and who caused it is a subject that will always generate debate.  We know that Christie had wanted to resign earlier than he did but was persuaded to keep the job on.  Again, whether that was because of a genuine desire to keep him as the manager or to buy time for the replacement to be properly groomed we will never know.  Whatever way you look at it, something was going on and the way in which Brewster was appointed only adds fuel to the "conspiracy".

So CC resigns and the hunt is on for the new manager.  We're told by the club that they have nobody in mind and they are looking at all the possibilities.  A few names are trotted out as is the norm but Warnock seems like a strong candidate, a fact which is CONFIRMED by Savage himself at the Fans Forum when he said that Warnock HAD applied.

Rumour quickly breaks out on the site that Brewster has already been given the nod for the job and had been some time ago.  This doesn't stop the club turning it into a circus by doing everything possible to deflect attention away from Brewster and then when the announcement is finally made we're all of a sudden told that Warnock was never in the running and in fact he says he never even applied for the job....was Warnock telling porkies to save face in losing out to Brewster or was Savage telling porkies at the fans forum when he said hehad applied!!!  Either way, something was going on and we may never know the real story.

Whilst all this is going on we are told that come **** or high water Donald Park would be retained by the club as the Assistant Manager...this is something that never ever made any sense to me as any incoming manager would certainly want to bring his own assistant.

The Club may have been desperate to keep the services of Park, but his resignation in December to take up the first job that became available seems to indicate that he wasn't exactly desperate to stay at ICT.  Was it family reasons or was it simply the club keeping the Assistant in place until Brewsters buddy could free himself from services elsewhere?  Who knows!!!

All of the above covers events which don't even involve the players (directly)....we've all seen for ourself the way certain players seem to have been manoeuvred out the door.  Again I look at the situation of some of the players with a little hindsight, but I can't help but feel that the Chairman has had more influence in some of the losses than simply agreeing the pay cheques...we've lost players in the past due to the simple fact that we couldn't (wouldn't) match wage demands, but not until the appointment of Savage have we had so many instances where the circumstances have appeared strange......

Dods....He had been offered a 1 year extension but wanted 2 years to allow him to commit the remainder of his career to ICT.  Not an unreasonable demand considering how influential he was as a player and Captain, but we let him go without too much of a fuss.

Dargo....As consistent a scorer as we've ever had at the club and a real asset....we can't meet his wage demands but we're happy enough to take a punt on Niculae who was unproven for almost 2 years and had a catalogue of problems due to injury?

Rankin....He suddenly seems to fall out of favour despite being hugely influential since joining the club.  He's told he can go...no wait, maybe not now that he's sold his house....oh but now we've got some interest, lets hold out to see how high the price goes...ok we'll sell him....WTF was all that about?  If I was cynical I could say that discussions had already taken place for him to move to Hibs and the St Mirren interest was merely a bonus which drove the price up  :023:

Caff....One of those marmite players (you either loved him or hated him) but at a time when we were really struggling defensively and lacking in numbers why get rid of one who is capable of doing a job?

Wilson....Truly baffling, ok, so you can argue that he's no longer a 90 minute man, but he is without a doubt one of the few players we have who can turn a game, not to mention his ability to slot in anywhere in midfield or even up front.

That's only 5 and we have twice as many again who have left with not so many coming in to bulk up the squad with some experience.

Were these players offloaded because we genuinely didn't think they were worth keeping (even for a little more money)?  Or were they offloaded because they were likely among some of the highest earners at the club and we had to offset the cost of Niculae somewhere to make the books balance?  Again, we may never know, but we do know that for each and every one of them theirs been enough smoke to suggest that someone at the club is playing with matches.

And it's not just the players or the staff where issues are cropping up, it's happening with contractors too.  None so obvious as the Stewards...or the control of the Stewards on match day.  Never before have we had the issues we've seen in the last season and a half.  Is it coincidence that this coincides with Mike Smith getting involved?  And why would the company who has done the stewarding at the club for so many years turn around and tell the club to stick it within 48 hours of the start of this season?

I'm sure others can come up with many other issues, big and small, that have happened in the last season or two...and although the club has never been perfect, it just seems that recently problems and issues seem to have become far more prevalent.

When David Sutherland resigned as Chairman he told us all that he had left a plan in place which would see the club continue to move forward.  I don't for one second think that much of what has happened since he resigned was part of his plan and I think that is part of the reason he chose to speak out in the press recently.  Another thing he said when resigning was that he felt that it was healthy to keep things fresh at the top with a 3 year cycle.....I just hope that Alan Savage hasn't allowed our club to go totally to the wall by the time his 3 years is up in June 2009.

Savage, Bennett, Smith & Brewster....every one of them has had a hand in the mess we appear to be in right now.  Not saying any of them has deliberately plotted to get things where they are now, but every one of them is in a position to put an end to it...if they don't feel they are willing or able then they should step aside and make room for someone who can.

CaleyD, I agree with most of what you said,  my favourite bit had to be -

"Anyway, in short"    :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:

Glad you kept it short  :015:

[stomach]

BTW this quote came from page 452, paragraph 12, line 42 of the book  :023:

[CaleyD]

You know me, why use 5 words when 500 will do  :016:

P.S.  We need to organise a game of cards or something, not spoken to you guys for agesssssss.

[Alex MacLeod]

Between them Caley D and Scotty broadly reflect my own view. It's a pity that the ethos of the club has changed so much for the worse.

The thing is............where and when did it change? I try to think back over the last four years and wonder. We got into this league then Robbo was taken away. Along came Brew and the success continued. He was taken away, did not get the support at DU and was forced out, and Charlie was persuaded to take the reigns. He was successful. We were always fighting at the top of the bottom half.............................................................t

hen came Alan Savage. Are people, whilst looking for a scapegoat looking up the wrong tree's?

[Scarlet Pimple]

Caley D --there was a once upon a time when there were comments expressed that there were a few wordy poets on this forum including Scarlet Pimple. Perhaps especially Scarlet Pimple  :004:

At that time I spoke to Scarlet and he has since tried hard to keep his posts shorter to short. But when he gets passionate and/ or angry his fuses also short(out) and the cover is blown.

The Royal family articles are a case in point. Or his rants about the pensions paid by the DSS to Overseas residents of Ex-Commonwealth countries which never EVER get upgraded for inflation unless you stay in the U.S., or Germany, or Mexico.

This is the same with all the aforementioned poets and if that is how they express deep feelings for ICT , or whatever subject they are popping off on , then so be it. We are lucky to have them and also lucky to have the fans who post one-liners because thereby we have balance. And it is often from these rants that we all learn something new about ourselves and the world.

What I love about this forum is the give and take and general allowances for differing personalities all linked together  by their love of ICT and football. The longer we are on here

the easier it seems to be  to resolve our differences and get along.

Now back to the pipe and slippers and  my wee drammy.I appreciate the invitation in the past to visit  the Forum as and when I want to.Thanks. :014:

Daddy Pimpernel.

Codswallop Hall

Fort George