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.’