"The ICT Thread - From the Premiership to the Seaside"

[Sir Tarmo]

We’ll be lucky to stay in League One at this rate. We’re already behind in terms of recruitment, with hardly any players on our books. The uncertainty over the Kelty fiasco also brings uncertainty over a number of other things such as administration, change of leadership (Morrison, Gardner, Ferguson) and a potential change to our full time status. It’s only around 6 weeks until the League Cup starts and I’d be surprised if we are able to field a team for it.

[PB1994]

2 minutes ago, Juanjo Nostalgia said:

Not a season ticket holder, so can’t speak for those who are boycotting, but my understanding would be that the aim is to force Morrison and Gardiner to back down - not to put the club into administration. 

Morrison saying “if you withhold season tickets we’ll go into administration” is holding the club to ransom - and fails to acknowledge the logical alternative that he could always just change his mind!

Or sack Gardiner. They need to give the fans something and that would seem to be the easy option.

[ICTChris]

19 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

I originally didn't understand the objection to the battery farm, back of a business park in the corner of an abandoned golf course, not exactly rambling country. Maybe the councillors knew more than they were letting on.

It didn't meet the local plan due to it's proximity to housing.  However, that doesn't mean it can't get permission and the relevant committee did pass it by 3-2 vote.  The Highland Council then called for a full vote of the councillors on it, which basically ensured that it wouldn't get voted through.  Local councillors are never, ever in a billion years going to vote through something like that.

The club are partly to blame for this though.  They basically went to the council and said "this benefits the club you have to vote it through" - that might be good for the club and fans but local councils can't make decisions that way.  It would be good for the club if the entire Highland Council budget was given to Caley to spend on players (loan players from Huddersfiedl probably) but it's not exactly in the interests of the Council is it?

The attitude of Morrison and Gardiner was really arrogant and high handed.  It's also indicative of what they are like that this was the only real time we had any engagement with supporters in recent seasons - they thought they could use 'fan power' to push it through so they had open meetings and arranged emails for the fans to send to councillors.  Most of the councillors voting on it don't represent areas around Inverness so aren't going to care about the football club.

[Spyro]

Have they not just built a load of houses in Slackbuie that would be directly in the 'blast zone' if the was a major issue with the battery farm? It's hardly out in the countryside now

Edited May 29 by Spyro

[SandyCromarty]

2 minutes ago, PB1994 said:

Or sack Gardiner. They need to give the fans something and that would seem to be the easy option.

You're right something has to break, best for me and probably others is to reverse the Kelty decision and remove Gardiner.

Though not shareholders as such if you consider fans have a vested interest in the club then we are the biggest shareholder and we need to be listened to.

The club needs to look for an immediate answer to the present crisis which will appease both parties.

If the club continues on it's present course then they will soon see how the highlander can be obstinate in his resolve.

[Sergeant Wilson]

1 hour ago, welshbairn said:

Does anyone know how the £3 million for the battery farm was supposed to be earned? 

Eggs and nuggets.

[ICTChris]

2 minutes ago, Sir Tarmo said:

We’ll be lucky to stay in League One at this rate. We’re already behind in terms of recruitment, with hardly any players on our books. The uncertainty over the Kelty fiasco also brings uncertainty over a number of other things such as administration, change of leadership (Morrison, Gardner, Ferguson) and a potential change to our full time status. It’s only around 6 weeks until the League Cup starts and I’d be surprised if we are able to field a team for it.

I think I've said on here or elsewhere, I think we are a stick on to get relegated next season.  We don't have a team, we have isolated our fanbase.  If you look at other teams in League One they are making good signings and building.  We are currently tearing the club and fanbase apart.  What player is going to sign for us, even if we train in Kelty?

[bpdon]

5 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

It didn't meet the local plan due to it's proximity to housing.  However, that doesn't mean it can't get permission and the relevant committee did pass it by 3-2 vote.  The Highland Council then called for a full vote of the councillors on it, which basically ensured that it wouldn't get voted through.  Local councillors are never, ever in a billion years going to vote through something like that.

The club are partly to blame for this though.  They basically went to the council and said "this benefits the club you have to vote it through" - that might be good for the club and fans but local councils can't make decisions that way.  It would be good for the club if the entire Highland Council budget was given to Caley to spend on players (loan players from Huddersfiedl probably) but it's not exactly in the interests of the Council is it?

The attitude of Morrison and Gardiner was really arrogant and high handed.  It's also indicative of what they are like that this was the only real time we had any engagement with supporters in recent seasons - they thought they could use 'fan power' to push it through so they had open meetings and arranged emails for the fans to send to councillors.  Most of the councillors voting on it don't represent areas around Inverness so aren't going to care about the football club.

Indeed. They were spinning tall tales to try and strengthen their case and justify converting the protected green space to look like the bottom of the Carse. The councillors saw through it.

[welshbairn]

 

Will Clark: Moving first team training base to Fife is a sign Inverness Caley Thistle has sold its soul

 By Will Clark 

- will.clark@hnmedia.co.uk

 Published: 20:00, 27 May 2024

There are 139 miles between Inverness and Kelty, but the distance of the relationship between Caley Thistle and its fans could be further than at any point in its 30-year history.

The news came through on Friday that Caley Thistle are going to be relocating its training base to a former coal mining town in Fife.

Their reasons? In a statement they wrote: “The last few years have seen the geographic challenges in getting players to move to the Highlands.”

They go into how the commercial success of the city of Inverness has led to high prices for accommodation to house players and limited housing stock. They say where they train should not be an impediment to the quality of players they can attract to the club.

But was that the point of Inverness Caledonian Thistle being created in the first place?

A full 30 years after forming, Caley Thistle may be facing its greatest existential challenge. Picture: James Mackenzie

Before 1994, the most northern league team in Scotland was Aberdeen. That year saw Caledonian and Inverness Thistle join forces to create the club we know today.

 

As we all know, it was not a popular decision at the time, but over the last 30 years the club has gone on to do things nobody thought imaginable: two Scottish Cup finals (winning one), a League Cup final and Europa League football.

Out of their 30 years of existence, 12 have been in the Premiership. The club accomplished all this while managing to attract players to Inverness as well as produce their own.

They proved, along with Ross County, you didn’t need to be at the south end of the A9, or Aberdeen, to prove you can make a success of it in Scottish football.

It is without question that this is the darkest period in the club’s history. They have financial issues and restructuring is required, but this is a decision which threatens to rip the heart out of the football club.

Fans have rightfully voiced their discontent to the announcement and have launched a petition for the decision to be scrapped. It’s been hard enough to get fans of Caledonian and Inverness Thistle to accept ICT without them training down south.

The future of its youth academy, at the time I write this, also remains in doubt. Having a training camp in Fife is hardly a glowing endorsement for its conveyor belt of talent coming through.

I don’t know what is going through the minds of talented youngsters coming through the academy, hearing the first team training camp is being shifted so the club can attract better players. How is that going to inspire the next stars from the city?

Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Ross County have proven success can be achieved during their 30 years in the SPFL.

Caley Thistle is at its darkest point since 1994 and its relationship with the community has grown even dimmer with this announcement.

It is accepted that club have to make hard decisions in a time of financial difficulty, but this decision feels like the club has sold its soul – and become a little less special.

[SandyCromarty]

23 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

The stadium's on 9 acres of land, surely plenty room for a battery farm somewhere there, it's all very odd.

The storage facility has to have access to a suitable National Grid sub station.

[welshbairn]

8 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

It didn't meet the local plan due to it's proximity to housing.  However, that doesn't mean it can't get permission and the relevant committee did pass it by 3-2 vote.  The Highland Council then called for a full vote of the councillors on it, which basically ensured that it wouldn't get voted through.  Local councillors are never, ever in a billion years going to vote through something like that.

 

The odd thing for me was the 2 councillors who lost the vote that approved it, then forced a full council vote to overrule the decision, were Nairn and Lochaber councillors, not local to the site or even the City.

[Doc Holiday]

2 hours ago, welshbairn said:

AirBnb has taken a lot of rentals off the market, but for most of the year chalet parks are underbooked, I think Big Dunc was put up in one. A few miles outside Inverness and the prices start falling too. With the connection the Club has with building firms you would have thought they could have set aside a few new builds on a medium term basis. With Kelty an easy commute to Edinburgh I bet it's no cheaper down there.

Is it common place that clubs pay for housing? Are these players living rent free in effect? I understand it would be the case for short term deal loan players etc. 

[welshbairn]

1 minute ago, Doc Holiday said:

Is it common place that clubs pay for housing? Are these players living rent free in effect? I understand it would be the case for short term deal loan players etc. 

I guess the club's argument would be that central belt players will likely already have homes within commutable distances from Kelty.

[Savage Henry]

1 minute ago, Doc Holiday said:

Is it common place that clubs pay for housing? Are these players living rent free in effect? I understand it would be the case for short term deal loan players etc. 

It is for County and Caley, just because of the location.  Not really much they can do about that.   County haven’t had a problem getting folk from Southampton to relocate.   

[Spyro]

Tain/Invergordon is commuting distance from Inverness, and it's a lot cheap for accommodation than Kelty... 

 

EDIT - and a million times nicer to live there as well! 

Edited May 29 by Spyro

[Pete the Jakey]

15 minutes ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

Eggs and nuggets.

It is a human battery farm I'm led to believe.  Gardiner came up with the idea after watching the Matrix.  You breed Caley fans and pump them till they are dry.

[welshbairn]

2 minutes ago, Spyro said:

Tain/Invergordon is commuting distance from Inverness, and it's a lot cheap for accommodation than Kelty... 

Yup, I even saw a flat just off Dingwall High Street going for £39 thousand, must have been a shithole mind...

[Pete the Jakey]

I notice that ICTFC have a Gordon Fyffe listed as a director on Companies House, and that he is a PR Consultant.  This is not uncommon for companies, but it begs the question what kind of PR advice did he give when they decided to move to Kelty?  "Aye, the fans will love that, just go for it without consultation!"

[RiG]

25 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

It didn't meet the local plan due to it's proximity to housing.

It was also due to loss of designated open space (green space?), failure to demonstrate conservation / restoration of biodiversity and flood risk.

[welshbairn]

Scot Gardiner from a while back:

Quote

I always liked a quote that I thought was from Sir Winston Churchill but it turns out it was from the great writer Victor Hugo: “You have enemies? Why, it is the story of every man who has done a great deed or created a new idea. Do not bother yourself about it; disdain.” So in short, I couldn’t care less. Disdain is good.

https://web0.cc/a/Sup22_03QR