The Wyness Shuffle

The Administration Game

Welcome to the Wyness Shuffle administration special podcast, covering all the recent events in the tumultuous and dramatic world of Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club.

Join Andrew Moffat, Andrew Young, Stevie Riley and guest panellist and season ticket holder Jamie MacKinnon as they discuss the recent events. The boys focus on the call for help from the administrators, Alan Savage laying down the gauntlet, the subsequent shareholders meeting and what the future might hold. Plus an exclusive interview with the insolvency expert who presided over 7 SPFL club administrations, Bryan Jackson!

00.01 AN INTRODUCTION TO BOMB DISPOSAL

The boys overview the recent events and talk a bit about James Bond and defusing bombs.

05.15 THE PERILOUS TIMELINE

We go through the timeline of events from 16 March to present day focusing on the BDO statement, Alan Savage's press conference and the resultant events. Was this a calculated risk or a finitely managed plan? Why were no offers received? Why has it taken so long to get the shareholders to agree? Why is the shareholding ‘a dog’s breakfast’? What happens with the land around the stadium? And what needs to occur to force through a CVA?

23.36 SHAREHOLDER’S ASSEMBLE

A meeting of 10 major shareholders was held on Wed 19 March which those present have called ‘transformational’. Former ICT Vice Chair Allan Mackenzie said the response was ‘very positive’ and offers ‘reasons for optimism’ and that there is now a ‘way through’ these issues, and that he was now – as of Wed afternoon – speaking to BDO to expedite the process through the means of a CVA in order to secure a buyer.

39.01 TALK TO ME: SCOTTISH FOOTBALL INSOLVENCY EXPERT BRYAN JACKSON

An exclusive TWS interview with Scotland’s foremost expert on football finances. A man who has been at the forefront of no less than SEVEN SPFL club administrations. Mr Bryan Jackson, of Finance firm Johnston Carmichael. And it was Bryan who actually put ICT and BDO together back in October, after speaking with Alan Savage himself, so he was ideally placed to comment on all the goings on, and he’s got some great one liners, which always helps.

1.31.05 BACK TO THE FUTURE

Following events discussed in this podcast, Alan Savage confirmed he will advance discussions with a number of businesses to try and secure key funding. Presumably that would then form an official bid for the club. He said ‘the fog has lifted’ and moves to secure a buyer can now be ‘rekindled.’

Who might be part of his consortium? What are the Highland council meetings about? How quickly does all this need to happen in order to retain the football licenses with the SFA and SPFL, to retain the squad for next season? And we discuss Savage’s comments about Caledonian Stadium and a potential move away from the banks of the Moray Firth.

There's it. 

The Chase

The Chase

Just when we thought we were out, they dragged us back in.

Back into the relegation fight and back into the administration struggle.

The majority of this podcast was recorded on the evening of Sunday 16 March, the day before the BDO statement and the Alan Savage press conference. After a month’s break we literally chose the worst time to come back. We did record some bonus chat on the Monday however, which we have dropped into the pod from 50 minutes, plus Savage’s press conference in full from 1:49.

Join Andrew Moffat, Stevie Riley, Andrew Young, Sandy Sutherland, Lee Tarling, and the Press and Journal’s very own Paul Chalk to as they talk through the recent matches, look at the headlines, talk about some of the worst loan signings ever to darken our door, and what our chances are of survival.

00:00 Hello

The boys discuss their thoughts on our league position. Are they happy to have finally got out of the bottom two? Worried we might drop back down? Looking forward to being mathematically safe? Or targeting play-offs?

08:27 Game by Game

The unexpected defeat to Annan plus wins over Stenny, Dumbarton, Kelty, and Queen of the South.

Who have been our star performers from the past month?

33:41 Scottish Football Headlines

A new feature for the Wyness Shuffle as we look at the Scottish football headlines, which are:

• Scotland men's internationals to be shown live on BBC
• New Cumnock man named as part of interim Rangers management team
• Police open to discussions on football booze ban

50:20 The Club

The panellists settle down to have a leisurely chat about the great place the club finds itself in, until…

50.50 ALERT ALERT: THE BDO STATEMENT

Moff, Chalky and Stevie get together to discuss the worrying three page statement from the Administrators in which they outline the perilous state of affairs, the hurdles that need to be overcome and the shocking realisation that no bids had been made for ICT by the proposed deadline.

1:03:23 The Club:

Player contracts, who stays and who goes, and congratulations to Musa

1:07:50 Talk to Me: Scott Young

The Chairman joined Stevie on the Sunday to discuss the current operations of the club, difficulties that have been overcome and how everyone is pulling together in spite of the situation.

1:19:04 Commercial opportunities and sublime meals

What is the most sublime meal you’ve ever had and do ducks have more personality than chickens?

1:29:13 Hi Ho Silver Here Come the Loan Rangers!

We have had some absolute diddies over the years. We pick out some of the best and the worst, which might include Gregg Hood, Aiden Chipperfield, Roman Golobart, Tom Aldred and some other nefarious characters.

1:39:11 League Lookahead

The remaining 7 league matches. How many points will we get and where will be finish. The boys put it all on the line.

1:49:27 BONUS: Alan Savage’s Press Conference

Alan Savage’s 17 March press conference in full.

2:00: 26 Bye for now

THE WYNESS SHUFFLE WILL RETURN, PROBABLY SOONER THAN EXPECTED AS WE COVER THE EVOLVING NEWS. 

The Kraken Wakes

The Kraken Wakes

Something is stirring in the depths of League One. Harpooned by its own keepers, consigned to the bottom of the table in October and dismissed as a toothless nonentity by supporters of rival clubs, the behemoth that is ICT is rising again. Annan are being drawn towards its pitiless maw, and just beyond, Montrose are floundering desperately.

Our intrepid crew of Andrew Moffat, Ross MacKenzie, Stevie Riley, Andrew Young and George Moodie climb inside the TWS bathysphere and descend to examine the phenomenon at close quarters: a 2-hour-and-39-minute journey containing over 30 years-worth of ICT references, wild conjecture and mild distraction. Let’s Shuffle!  

00:01:10: Introduction / Highland Highlight

Moff introduces the panel, and we reflect on some of the highlights of the past month, from the goal-getting heroics of Alfie Bavidge and Keith Bray to Billy Mckay’s contributions behind the scenes. Also, some chat about fishing.

00:08:36: The Headlines

For those listeners who have been doing media-free January, here is the news.

00:09:48: Game by Game

The panellists discuss the recent home and away matches against Queen of the South, and Scott Kellacher’s line-ups and tactical tweaks. We also revisit the impressive away victories against Alloa and Annan and the fine performance against Dumbarton that kicked off a successful January, and try to weigh up how ICT compare to the rest of the teams in the league.

00:39:12: Talk to Me: Cammy Harper

Still only 24, Cammy Harper played first-team football for ICT under John Robertson, Neil McCann, Billy Dodds and Duncan Ferguson, and also experienced plenty of Scott Kellacher’s coaching. Stevie sat down with Cammy to discuss his move to Carlisle, the differences between Scottish and English lower-league football, Caley Thistle teams past and present, and Kell’s qualities as a coach. 

01:05:24: The Club

On the football side ICT are in calmer, warmer waters, but in financial terms the whirlpool of administration is still raging, and the car parks are under threat from sharks. We take our monthly look at all things club-related, from wrangling over leases, to our incoming commercial business manager, to the work of the Supporters’ Trust and the continuing success of Bar 94.  

01:29:59 The Scottish Transplant Football Team

The last Transplant Football World Cup brought together teams from all over the world, but Scotland wasn’t among them. ICT season ticket holder and heart transplant recipient Duncan MacCaulay wants to make sure that isn’t repeated. AY spoke to the newly-appointed manager of Scotland’s first national transplant football team.    

01:47:33 Donald Trump’s Scottish Football Cabinet

Donald Trump’s weird, colourful and downright criminal cabinet picks made headlines all round the world. If he’s searching for more bizarre characters to make up his government, however, he need look no further than Scottish football. We come up with an alternative cabinet for The Donald.   

01:54:03: Talk to Me: Martin Bavidge

Before Alfie, there was Martin. By our reckoning, Alfie Bavidge is the third Caley Thistle player whose dad also played for the club. Stevie spoke to Martin Bavidge about playing under Pele, choosing to remain part time in football, and the role he played in bringing Alfie to ICT.    

02:23:23: League Lookahead

We round off the pod by looking at our chances in February’s games against Arbroath, Stenhousemuir and Kelty and speculating on where the club might finish the season if the current trajectory continues.

There's it. 

A Winter Wyness Shuffle Wonderland

A Winter Wyness Shuffle Wonderland

God rest ye merry gentlemen and deck the halls with lashings of Scottish football! It’s the Annual Christmas Wyness Shuffle Extravaganza.

Join very special guest Shuffler ‘A View From the Terrace’s Craig G Telfer’ as he buckles down for the thrilling Polar Express that is the annual festive Shuffle. Hear the 2024 ICT story as reimagined as a Christmas tale, marvel at the magic of festive ICT themed puns you’ve maybe only heard once before, and join in the wide-eyed wonder of the Wyness Shuffle Secret Santa. It’s all here, It's a Wonderful Life, Die Hard, Eastenders, Clay Davis from the Wire, plus all the festive football action and much, much more

01.06 Festive Tidings

All your regular Shuffling Elves say hello, we introduce Telfer, and wonder what everyone’s up to for Christmas Day.  

06.21 Gamebird by Gamebird

Before we get on to the festivities, we look at the football over the past three weeks. What games jingle our bells and what matches have given us the chills? We review the Arbroath anguish, the Montrose marvels, and the Scottish Cup exit to Cove.

34.00 Fan-tastic

We get the views of a few Caley Thistle supporters on the new manager.

37.40 Talk Tinsel To Me: Craig G Telfer

Craig is mostly known for fronting the excellent BBC Scotland TV show A View From the Terrace but he’s also been podcasting for the Terrace for years, and now regularly hosts jobs for the Scottish National side. He takes us through his career, give his views on Caley Thistle, and reveals a startling revelation about TWS host Andrew Moffat.

01.03.47 Talk Tinsel To Me: Alan Savage

Administrators BDO were appointed on 22 October, but just what has happened since? We’ve heard very little other than there are 20 interested parties. Other than the administrators, one man has more insight into any of this than anyone, so Stevie spoke to Alan Savage. And two previously unknown pieces of key info are revealed!

1.24.32 The Xmas ICT Story

Christmas time is the most wonderful time of the year, but as ICT fans we have all been part of another story, a tale with no end of Grinchs, Herods or Hans Grubers. So, we thought we’d mix fantasy and reality, and reimagine the ICT story of 2024 but the key individuals as characters from Xmas tales and films and stuff.

1.29.57 Craig G Telfer Best & Worst

Telfer takes us through his best and worst. Hint: it’s Maya Jama and Robert Borthwick.

1.38.07 The Festive Feast of Football

It’s the festive feast of football preview as we cast our eyes over the delicious spread of ICT action before us and wonder what will be the roasted tatties you can’t get enough of and what will be the minging brussel sprouts. We focus mainly on the clash at Stenhousemuir on the 21 Dec before moving onto Cove and Dumbarton.  

2.09.13 Secret Santa and Competition Time

Some say Christmas is about the baby Jesus and goodwill to all men. We say it’s about getting as many presents as you possibly can. So we present the very first TWS Secret Santa, featuring lego, traffic cones, Napoleon, Buzz Lightyear and a lovely jumper. Followed by the RETURN OF COMPETITION TIME! On Christmas Day you could be in with the chance to win a signed ICT shirt.

There’s it.

Thanks to all for listening throughout the year. Please do have an amazing festive period and we’ll see you all on the other side of 25.

Merry Christmas from all at TWS.

15 Reasons & 66 Points

15 Reasons & 66 Points

The Wyness Shuffle is back with news of the Caley Thistle resurgence under Scott Kellacher and Billy Mckay. Join Andrew Moffat, Andrew Young, Stevie Riley, Sandy Sutherland, and Lee Tarling as they discuss consecutive wins, Ferguson binned, the15 point penalty, and Dumbarton joining us in Admin hell. Plus 30 years-worth of ICT references packed into 2 hours and 24 minutes of wild conjecture and mild distraction.

00.58 Intro and Highland Highlights

There is sunshine on the horizon as we shade our eyes against the beautiful highlight highlights. The boys talk about their personal highlight from the last month including Big Musa’s arms, Adam McKinnon’s chest, and cardboard boxes. 

08.03 Game by Game

We kick off by talking about the cold snap and the late call-off of Queen of the South away, before moving onto consecutive wins over Alloa and Cove away, the form of Charlie Gilmour, Adam Mackinnon, Paul Allan and many more, before discussing the changes the new Head Coach has made, and comparing the cold hard facts, stats and differences between Duncan Ferguson and Scott Kellacher’s football.

42.04 Administration

We cover the next steps of the administration process, the 20 interested parties, the crowdfunder, player and staff departures, and the power of work of the ICT Supporter’s Trust and Bar 94. And will the administrators be included in the ICT Secret Santa?

01.03.52 Dumbarton

There hasn’t been an insolvency event in Scottish football in some 12 years, then two come along at once. Dumbarton FC have been plunged into administration – after years of behind-the-scenes uncertainty. We spoke to Dumbarton fan and Lennox Herald and Daily Record reporter, and Terrace podcast contributor, Fraser Clarke, about the situation.

1.29.00 Duncan Ferguson: The Inquest

Duncan Ferguson arrived in a frenzy of publicity. A big name, big personality, but no pedigree in Scottish football, and at the time we said maybe when you’re as big as him then you don’t need a pedigree. Turns out you do. We discuss the entirety of his tenure, and why did it all go wrong.  

1.54.22 The Number 15

A 15-point penalty doesn’t always have to be awful. It could also lend itself to some mildly amusing gags.

1.56.11 Talk to Me: Roddy Macgregor

We hope to get players and coaching staff from ICT onto the pod in the coming weeks and months but in the interim we spoke to a player (and a fan) who we all wish was still wearing the red and blue.

2.10.08 League Lookahead and Season Predictions

We look ahead to Cove in the Scottish Cup, and Montrose, Arbroath, and Stenny in the league, before pondering over where we will finish come the end of the season.

There’s it.

The A Team

THE A TEAM

Inverness Caledonian Thistle is officially in administration as of Tuesday 22 October 2024. 

On 2^nd October, (then) interim ICT chairman Panos Thomas issued a club statement summarising the key findings of financial consultant Alan Savage’s forensic audit, announcing the launch of a ‘Save ICT’ crowdfunding appeal and warning that ‘unless the Appeal can raise £200k immediately, and certainly by Wednesday, 16th October, then Administration is inevitable.’

On 21^st October, after several days of rumour about last-minute investment, (now) interim chairman Scott Young confirmed that the administration process had begun.

In this epic episode of TWS, recorded on the evening of the 21st, host Andrew Moffat is joined by Stevie Riley, Andrew Young, pod original gangster Ross Mackenzie, The Press and Journal's Paul Chalk, and some special guests to discuss what administration will mean for the staff and supporters of Caley Thistle, how the club got to this point, and what the future might look like. Is this the next stage of an inexorable decline, or the start of a much-needed reset? And despite it all we do try to have a bit of craic as well cause you've got to, haven't you? 

Let’s shuffle!

00:01:07 – Introduction and initial thoughts. Moff introduces the panel and gauges feelings about administration now being a reality.

00:08:18 – The October 8^th meeting. At the recent open meeting in the stadium’s Highlander suite, Scott Young, Alan Savage and Charlie Christie spoke to supporters. We discuss the key points that emerged from it and the mood among those in attendance.    

00:18:51 – What will administration look like for ICT? Insights from the interim chairman.  We are joined for this part of the podcast by Interim Chairman Scott Young, who talks us through the potential timescale and structure of the administration process, the role of the administrators, the implications for club staff and for the club’s SPFL status. He also reflects on his short but eventful time on the board and what his role might be going forward.

00:43:12 – The squad: what next? An inevitable consequence of administration will be the loss of some players. We discuss what the criteria for retaining or releasing players could be and what the squad might look like after the administrators’ work is done. And if the manager, as he suspects, has already had his last game in charge, who might succeed him?   

00:54:40 – The view from the north stand. Some die-hard ICT fans discuss their feelings about the imminence of administration.

00:56:35 – The A-Word: a fan’s perspective. We are joined by Livingston fan Liam Innes, who reflects on what it was like to watch the club he loves go through administration – twice!

01:17:23 – The old regime(s). So how did ICT get to this point? We consider not only the mismanagement and negligence of the most recent regime, but also how the seeds of ICT’s decline were probably sown much further back in the club’s history.    

01:30:20 – Talk to me. ICT groundsman Dale Stephen talks about work and life at the Caledonian Stadium under the shadow of administration.

01:59:00 – More views from the north stand. Our ICT die-hards share their hopes for the future.

02:00:40 – Game by game. Finally, some discussion of matters on the pitch! We review the recent games against Arbroath and Annan in the league, either side of the narrow Challenge Cup loss to Livingston.

02:16:50 – League Lookahead. A very brief chat about the upcoming fixtures against Dumbarton, Kelty, Cove Rangers, Alloa and Queen of the South.

02:27:20 – The New Era. Once the administration process is over, what might the future look like for ICT and how can we make it work? We share some thoughts and hopes.

02:38:09 – Competition winner. No competition in this episode, unfortunately, but we do reveal the winner of the 30^th anniversary away youth top donated by Alan Savage.

02:39:50 – Final thoughts. A few last reflections from our supporters and from this episode’s panel.

The Season Starts Here. 

THE SAVAGE TRUTH

The Wyness Shuffle is back! Andrew Moffat, Sandy Sutherland, Andrew Young and Lee Tarling are joined by guest panellist, the SPFL’s number one emergency assistant referee Jamie MacKinnon for a mammoth pod of ICTFC stuff.

On this pod: We talk about all the football: all the draws, and a lesser spotted win, an update from the Supporter’s Trust, league lookahead, famous interruptions, team selection, tactics, opportunities for young players, plus finances and the dreaded ‘A-word.’

And above all we have an exclusive two-part interview with the man, the myth, the legend Alan Savage.

02:10 Headlines: Since last we did a podcast a lot has happened in the world. We talk about the big headlines: Trump, Oasis tickets, sausages and strictly.

05:20 Game by Game: Stenny and Cove: The boos rang out after the home draw with Stenny. We talk about what was one of the poorest showings this season, Lee tells us why he’s had enough, before we move on to Cove and a slightly better performance the week previous but the same result.   

24:00 The Emergency Linesman/Assistant Referee: We are joined by the brilliant Jamie MacKinnon, who answered the call in the recent Cove home game and ended up running the line for 30 minutes! He gives us the lowdown on his experience.

33:43 Game by Game: Alloa, Stirling, and Queen of the South: A couple of wins in here but it feels like long ago. Alloa wasn’t too bad but we discuss how the points were thrown away.

40:38 Talk to Me: The Consultant Part 1: Savage in name but pragmatic in nature, Chairman of Inverness-based engineering recruitment business, Orion Group, former Chairman of ICTFC and now The Consultant talks about Investment, legal issues, crowds, the fan experience, land, and the council.

01:14:35 The Disruptors: The Cove game was interrupted by an injured ref, which put Jamie in an entirely unexpected position, but what other interruptions have there been in the beautiful game over the years or where have people popped up unexpectedly? Richie hart’s dog, Yogi Hughes naked, Darren Jackson, big holes, locusts, Tory politicians, Alsatians, injured pigeons, dead racoons, Gerard Butler, Nacho Novo, Rottweiler care, Henri Anier’s chat up lines, a big bag of condoms, and Jamie's Uncle.

01:24:00 The Supporter’s Trust: The Supporter’s Trust have had a long summer, having been heavily involved one way or another in the changes at the club, they’ve gained record membership numbers, been more public facing than any ICT fan group has ever been and are now running the bar at the ground. We caught up with Trust Vice-Chair Laura Grant.

01:47:17 Talk 2 Me: The Consultant Part 2: In this part Alan focuses on the Youth Academy, the return of old players, going to war, the club’s debt, his expectations on the football front, and ‘a reset.’ We then go off on a tangent and moan about the manager.

02:17.00 THE A-WORD: We discuss Alan Savage’s recommendations to the board and take a very prophetic guess as to what they may be: administration, and what that might mean. What does ‘a reset’ mean in reality? Could we claw back a 15-point deduction?  We thought ‘something big is on the table’ and it looks like we were right.

02:23:18 Game by Game: We discuss who has the heating on before looking forward to Arbroath, Livingston, Annan, and Dumbarton

02:35.41 Competition Time! The return of Competition time, in which you can win a kid’s 30^th anniversary shirt. Courtesy of Mr Savage.

02:37:42 Final thoughts and bye for now

FIREWORKS

Welcome to the Wyness Shuffle. The ICTFC fan podcast, the podcast with fireworks!

On this pod: the physical departure of now ex ICT CEO Scot Gardiner, the long sought after and awaited return of former ICT Chairman Alan Savage, has Ketan Makwana been phygitally fudged, CEO Charlie Christie!, the views of the Supporter's Trust, some stuff about some football games, plus 30 years-worth of ICT references packed into 2 hours and 13 minutes of wild conjecture and mild distraction.

Let's shuffle!

LINE-UP

01.00: Boom! Fireworks and hellos.

02.00 The Headlines. Moff runs through a summary of events since the last podcast. Scot Gardiner is gone, Ketan Makwana has sailed away, and Alan Savage is the King! The boys provide their initial reactions and for the first time in many many months there is joy on this podcast!

13.09: Alan Savage! The one-time Chairman during one of our most successful spells has returned to the club, booted out Scot Gardiner, got rid of 77Ventures and provided some much needed sanity at Caledonian Stadium. The panellists discuss his return. 

21.05: Talk2Me. The Supporter’s Trust. Moff speak to George Moodie from the ICT Supporter’s Trust. George outlines the great relationship between the Trust and Alan Savage and how he sees events going over the next few months. 

51.30: Scot Gardiner. His five year term as ICT CEO is over, reported by the Scottish Sun to have ‘come to and end minutes after Alan Savage rejoined the club. We go through the most recent aspects of his reign. 

1.04.18: Ketan Makwana and Seventy7 Ventures. Only last month we were all getting phygital, he was all over the papers and social media, he had a meeting with the manager, and now he's sailing away into the Dubai sunshine. Join us for some fun-sense. 

1.11.25: Talk2Me: Charlie Christie. 314 games and 34 goals for ICTFC from 94/95 – 03/04. Managed the team from January 2006 until August 2007. Played for Caledonian. Played for Thistle. As a player won the Challenge Cup, won the Third Division, won the First Division. And now ICTFC CEO. Stevie spoke to Charlie Christie.

1.38.45: Game by Game. All in all this season that’s 1 win in 7 games. We analyse the league action to date with the games v Dumbarton, Annan, and Montrose. 

1.53.33: League Lookahead. It's a very tough round of fixtures coming up, albeit against teams you would think an ICT side would be beating. We judge our chances versus Kelty, Queen of the South, and Alloa.

2.06.00: Whatyousayinmun? A view from the terraces from ICT fans Beth Kemp, Lynn Macdonald, Mike Macrae and Hamish Maclennan.

2.10.37: Final thoughts on the myriad of Caley Thistle stuff and maybe a phygital quote to finish.

There's it. 

 

ICT PHYGITAL

ICT PHYGITAL: A 2024-25 SEASON PREVIEW

The league season we feared ICT might never see is nearly upon us, we still have a club, and things are still… interesting. Moff, Stevie, Sandy, AY, Lee and the P&J’s Paul ‘Chalky’ Chalk convene to discuss what the season might hold for the club on and off the pitch, and whether the future really is phygital. Let’s shuffle!

00:00:59 – Welcome. Moff introduces the panellists, hears about their incredibly boring lives, then gives a brief summary of the incredibly bizarre life of Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC since May, which leads neatly into a discussion of…

00:05:14 – New Investment. The panellists go over what we know so far (not much!) about the club’s potential new owner, Ketan Makwana of Seventy7 Ventures, and consider some of the many, many questions his proposed investment raises.

00:31:24 – League Cup Group Games / Current Squad. After a brief overview of the recent games against Annan, Bonnyrigg Rose, Arbroath and Dundee, we discuss the players who look like being key to our season, with particular focus on some of the academy players who have graduated to the first team. 

00:43:48 – Talk to Me: Ryan Esson. In an extract from a longer interview, the recently-departed under-18 coach and Scottish Cup-winning goalkeeper talks to Stevie about the club’s crop of young players.

00:52:54 – Areas for improvement. Concluding the discussion of the current squad, the panellists identify the areas in most need of strengthening.

00:55:28 – The Big Goodbye. We remember those players we have lost. And there’s a lot of them.

01:03:31 – Talk to Me: Aaron Doran. Stevie’s lengthy interview with Aaron will be released as a stand-alone podcast some time in the future, but in this extract he describes his final days at the club, his disappointment at the shoddy way he was treated by those in charge, and his debt of gratitude to the fans and his ex-colleagues.

01:18:20 – The Manager. A very brief discussion of Duncan Ferguson and whether there have been any signs of improvement in his tactics and his management in the first weeks of this season. 

01:23:17 – The Opposition: Who’s Who in League One. We run the rule over Alloa, Annan, Arbroath, Cove Rangers, Dumbarton, Kelty, Montrose, Queen of the South and Stenhousemuir, then give some predictions for final placings. This segues into…

01:43:51 – Opening Fixtures. A quick chat about our first four league games, against Dumbarton at home, Annan away, Montrose at home and Kelty away.

01:45:47 – The Immortal Howden Ender: Johndo Mackenzie. We remember one of the most devoted, most recognisable and most beloved characters in the ICT support. RIP, Johndo.

Back to Reality

AKA The Mark Ridgers Show!

Welcome to the third of our Caley Thistle Crisis pods, following on from the record-breaking download numbers of Long Way Down and 136 Miles from Home.

Since we last put a podcast out, the Kelty plan is off, the Chairman has gone and the CEO is going. We talk about all of the dramatic events of the last couple of weeks, look back at our last two pods, the innovatively defunct Kelty Plan, the ringfenced youth academy and focus on what the future may hold in terms of investment and the dreaded threat of administration.

And we do all that with ICT Number One Mark Ridgers! The now out of contract goalkeeper talks about this past season, offers his opinions on the current goings on and what the future may hold for him. Join Mark, along with Stevie Riley, Andrew Young, Lee Tarling, and Andrew Moffat as they dissect all things ICTFC.

01:30 Mark Ridgers: Mark talks the disappointment of relegation, the manager, teammates, and the fact that he is now out of contract but no one from the club has been in touch with him.  

06:44 Worries: What is the main thing worrying the boys at the moment? Will we have a club to support? What is the bronze license? Is administration inevitable?  

10:15 Downloads: Thanks to everyone for listening over the past few weeks. Some 3,200 people downloaded Long Way Down, our pod about Relegation and the Kelty announcement, and some 2,300 people downloaded 136 Miles from Home, our pod with now former ICT Chairman Ross Morrison.

11.17 Recap of events: A potted history of the series of events that led to this before we analyse the 137 word statement the club issued on 5 June. Mark gives his thoughts on the Kelty plan and the fact he and fellow players were not consulted.  

20:18 View from the Fans: Liz MacRae, Jonny Campbell and David Moffat (nothing like a bit of nepotism, or maybe we only added these at the last minute because we forgot to ask for any) offer their opinions.

22:03 The resignations: Ross Morrison has resigned, Scot Gardiner is leaving, we discuss both men and their efforts behind the scenes, while reflecting on Ross’ appearance on the last podcast. We go on to talk about the current situation both men are leaving behind and the football club’s desperate need for cashflow. Mark also reflects on his time at Hearts when the Jambos went into administration, before talking about his seven years at Inverness, and his thoughts about Duncan Ferguson and this past season.

59.04 The Youth Academy: Alan Savage, chief executive of Inverness-based Orion Group, has come in to save the youth academy, pledging to cover any shortfalls with sponsorships of various types from £50,000-£100,000 and make sure the youth system is protected. We discuss.

1:08:43 View from the fans: The finances

1:09:46 Price of Football: We managed to speak to the UK’s number one football financial expert, Keiran Maguire from one of the country’s most popular podcasts, with Kevin Day, The Price of Football. Kieran is a British academic, author, and broadcaster. He specialises in the accountancy of association football and wrote the book The Price of Football. His expertise is frequently sought within English football media. So what did he have to say about the situation at ICT and how worried should we be (the answer is very)?

1:27:40  Investment and Administration: We reflect on Kieran’s comments, the realities and processes of administration, how it could be avoided, debt, assets, other financial related stuff, how the situation affects current players and potential players, and what the likely scenarios might be for the football club.

1:53:03  Feedback: Amid the carnage of the last few weeks, as a podcast we’ve received some great feedback for the recent pods. Thanks for everyone whose dropped us a comment or message. We read some out.

1.55.15 Final thoughts from the Shufflers. ‘The Kelty battle has been won but there’s a bigger fight ahead.’