Ketan Makwana says no changes at the top at Inverness Caley Thistle until he knows ‘what’s working, what’s not working’ through ‘my own audit’
There will be no changes to Inverness Caledonian Thistle’s hierarchy until the prospective new majority shareholder Ketan Makwana has spoken to “every single human that is in that club”.
A number of people online including the ICT Supporters Trust have been keen to see changes at the top of Caley Thistle and that is something Mr Makwana recognises after a difficult financial and sporting period for the club.
That is something Mr Makwana recognises but he argued that before that can happen he said the “first thing you do is make an assessment – what’s working, what’s not working.”
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He expects that it will take between five and seven years to get the club “back to where it belongs,” saying: “I want a period of rehabilitation, a period of stability and then I want a period of fast growth”.
His decision is based on three main points – he is unwilling to rock the boat before the final deal is agreed, he does not want to “lose any opportunity within the existing set-up” and he needs to do his “own audit”.
He said: “Look, let’s make no bones about it – the club had a strategy, it was trying to execute on something and unfortunately it didn’t work and it has left a bitter taste in the fans mouth because they feel that the club has been quite mismanaged.
“We have very, very ambitious plans – not just for the club but the city of Inverness,” he said. “But the first thing on our agenda is the football club and the reason we are here is to help it get to where it should be.
“Back in the day when the club was in the SPL and coming third and playing in Europe and winning the Scottish Cup – that is where we want to get to but that is not going to happen in five minutes.
“It will probably take five years, maybe even seven years but what we have got to do is ensure the way in which the club is protected from anything like the financial risk it is in today.
“We are business people as much as we are football fans and I was looking at it as a business case, imagine you have just purchased a new business and the first thing you do is make an assessment – what’s working, what’s not working.
He added: “I want a period of rehabilitation, a period of stability and then I want a period of fast growth” by ensuring “there is a business mechanism around the club to make sure it has the financial power to make sure it can move from rehabilitation to stabilisation to growth.”
Asked about changes at the top whether they concerned the board or the chief executive or the coaching staff, Mr Makwana said he needs to talk to “every single human that is in that club” to then “understand what I need to do.”
He said: “I put in a force majeure already that no decisions could be taken about people leaving without or being dismissed or even people coming into the club without our knowledge or consent to a certain degree.
“That is only because we are so close to finishing the deal we want to make sure that we do not lose any opportunity within the existing set-up.
“The other fact is that I have done due diligence but I have not done my own audit, I haven’t sat in there, I haven’t engaged with every single human that is in that club. I want to speak to every single person.
“I need to see the whites of their eyes and I need to feel where their passions and concerns are and that is what fills in the colour between the lines for me to then be able to understand what do I need to do.
“Am I looking at restructuring, am I looking at rebuilding, am I looking at enhancing the work that people have been trying to do.
“Look, let’s make no bones about it – the club had a strategy, it was trying to execute on something and unfortunately it didn’t work and it has left a bitter taste in the fans mouth because they feel that the club has been quite mismanaged.
“But the truth of it is that the best laid plans go astray, you just don’t know for sure if something will work, you just keep at it but it is a slippery pole.
“So for me to come out at this early stage and go we have already got an idea of what we want to do with people is the wrong thing and the wrong way to actually behave.
“Until I have been given the chance to really understand these people and what it actually means to them with their lives I am not going to be making any decisions about any changes anywhere.”
