Mr Alan Dugdales Moustache, based upon your name you are probably a more mature member of the Sky Blue Army, may I suggest you take off your sky blue spectacles and start living in the real world. The football club is being strangled, by SISU and SISU alone, they are ultimately responsible for the direction the club is taking, to blame any other party is blinkered and irrational.
Thing is, ultimately other parties will have some responsibility for the direction of the club as they have made decisions which affect the direction of the club along with SISU. This is not as clear cut as just SISU being to blame. Most fans agree that. Most fans agree other parties have impacted on the club. This is not a defence of SISU. This is just looking at it for what it is. Some will say CCC reacted to what SISU did but did they have to retaliate by selling the stadium to a London rugby club (which again most people apart from yourself acknowledge) for 250 years. Has this not now directed on the action SISU take with the club?
You do know that Wasps didn't steal anything, they purchased ACL and took on it's 14m debt, the negotiations happened when SISU had marched the team to Northampton, without any respect for it's fans or history. SISU wanted their own stadium, you remember the statements "That ship has sailed", the photoshopped picture of a sparkling new arena, the Sandra Garlick meetings to engage the fans, we are down to three sites on the outskirts of the city, the secret commercial negotiations on a site etc. etc. We now know it was all bluff, all designed to fool the FL & the fans.
You do know the club were paying 1.3 million a year in rent for just matchdays and received nothing other than ticket receipts. Yes they also had corporate but this was bought before sold on. Same with parking I believe. The clubs rent effectively kept ACL going. ACL were not run as well as they could have been by the council, Bob Ainsworth admitted as much to me. They didn't grant a longer lease intially which would have helped ACL. Point is, the councils ineptitiude at running ACL, impacted and increased SISU's ineptitude at running CCFC. See how others can impact on SISU and their actions? Correct SISU marched the club to Northampton wholly unnessecarily, they should have resolved the situation by hook or by crook, particuarly if they knew Wasps were lurking. Without any respect for it's fans or history? Interesting. You don't give a shit about Wasps fans and their history. Try and excuse the move by saying they were only called London Wasps for 15 years. Ignoring the fact they were located in West London for majority of their years. SISU bluffed and gambled and failed spectacuarly, has anyone ever disagreed?
SISU aren't and never were interested in rebuilding, they were the ones trying to steal the stadium for personal gain & if they had do you really think it would of been for the benefit of CCFC? Really? Of course it wouldn't, all profits would of been siphoned off to some offshore bank account, to pay off the enormous loans the club has been saddled with. CCFC would probably be in the same state as it is now, neglected and kept alive in D1 on the smallest budget possible, because SISU have no interest in running a football club, to them it's merely a means to an end.
Rightly as you say, SISU didn't/don't want to build a future for CCFC, they want their money back. Rightly as you said they attempted to distress ACL to gain an asset on the cheap. Did Wasps not take advantage of the SISU plan not quite working in SISU's favour? Is that any better or different? The only benefit would of been an asset on the books. Something for new owners to want. Siphoned off? How many times do we have this and go over and over it. There is no proof of this happening. Interest is being added and deferred, yes. No money is being taken out though. The club has been saddled with loans as they have been making losses. Wasps made losses issued, issued the bonds upon purchase of the Ricoh. Richardson then promptly paid himself back. You think that is fine though but call SISU for it? Hypocritical? Me thinks so.
Wasps (and it's silly not to Capitalise their name, but I suppose it helps you vent) are a big rugby club, whether you like it or not and are already prospering and embedding themselves in Coventry.
A big rugby club? In whose eyes? All their new fans in Coventry who are overwhelmed with flags and TV replays? Are they as big as say Leicester or Northampton? Did they win anything last year? Embedding in Coventry? Too soon to comment. Maybe got into bed with some people from Coventry, yes.
As for gates, you have to put it into perspective, at Adams Park they would of been lucky to get 5K at the weekend, so 12K is a success, they'll grow when the European matches start. While CCFC's appear to be on a new downward spiral 8K last weekend, talk about empty blue seats.
When the European matches start. Is that because the opposition bring more fans? CCFC are on a downward spiral because we're not playing well, scoring goals or winning matches. Win a few games and the attendance will creep back up. It's a results business, rugby is too. I would think Wasps would need to win something soon too, so as to live up to this big name billing people are giving them.