Inverness Caley Thistle academy director Charlie Christie says potential investment into youth set-up would be a ‘godsend’
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Charlie Christie has said that ongoing discussions over new investment could be a “godsend” for the Inverness Caledonian Thistle academy.
The former Caley Thistle player and manager, and current academy director, attended the Supporters’ Trust’s open meeting last night with the intention of dispelling some myths about the club’s youth set-up.
However, fans’ ire was far more focused on the decision to move first team training to Kelty, with the vast majority of attendees saying they would rather the club be put into administration than follow through with that plan.
At one stage, a supporter called on Charlie Christie to hear his thoughts, with the 58-year-old commenting: “The fact that I’m here speaks volumes.”
However, he would later go on to expand on his viewpoint of the ICT academy, which club chairman Ross Morrison has openly said is at risk due to their financial difficulties.
“I was going to speak more about the academy, because I’ve said in the past week to the CEO and the chairman that the disappointment for me, as academy director, is that after years of having great success in introducing young players into our first team, we’ve lost our way with that,” he explained.
“To be fair, the chairman Ross Morrison agreed with me wholeheartedly on that.
“I think we really need to get back to introducing boys to the first team matchday squad on a regular basis. I have been told that is in the club’s plans going forward, which is good news, but the proof will be in the pudding.
“At the moment talks are ongoing with a major sponsor to try and keep the academy going. We are actually meeting on Friday.
“It has been a godsend. He has basically come to the rescue of the academy, because the club have basically stated we can’t afford it. I hope we can get it over the line, but there’s still a lot of work to do.
“We have had so much success for 20-odd years in developing young talent, and obviously my son has been the shining light of that. We need to get more boys back to being introduced into the matchday squad.
“There are very few silver linings of getting relegated, but I’m hoping that one of them will be that we see more academy-based players in the first team.”
With the tension between Caley Thistle’s decision makers and supporters clear for all to see, Christie also wanted to gauge the mood of fans first-hand.
He was expecting lots of frustration, and that is what he found – admitting that even he finds it difficult to see what the best route ahead looks like.
“I thought about not going to the open meeting, but I wanted to gauge the feeling and I thought the academy would come up, so I wanted to be there to answer questions about that,” he added.
“There are a few untruths going around about the academy, so I wanted to be there to clarify anything. To be fair, there wasn’t too much talk about the academy, and the Supporters’ Trust are behind it.
“The focus was more on the training move, and I expected that, but I’m not in a position to comment on that.
“I was plenty surprised by the growth, and anyone who takes interest in the club is a good thing. We have struggled with that at times in the past, but the turnout was terrific – to the point the venue couldn’t really accommodate the numbers.
“I just wanted to see what the feeling was, but my main reason for being there was to clarify any questions that came up about the academy. People in the Supporters’ Trust told me they are desperate for it to continue, and I wanted to say thank you for their support too.
“Obviously the more people involved with the club and who support the youth academy, the better. That’s just common sense.
“I wasn’t surprised at the opinions. I think everyone would agree that it has been a hot topic – everyone is talking about it in Inverness because it’s such a radical move, and it has surprised so many people.
“I don’t know if I would hold any sway in the room, but all I want is what’s best for Caley Thistle. It’s hard, so many things were mentioned and I don’t know what the best thing for the club is.
“One thing I do know is that getting more academy players – who have to be at the right level – is definitely better for the club. I made my feelings quite clear that we need to get that pathway open, and I think that’s what the fans want as well.”
