Right, a call to action! (9 Viewers)

[Otis]

By my reckoning, at least 80% of us on here do not want Sisu to get their hands on any part of the stadium.

At the same time though, I am pretty sure that the same sort of majority, in fact pretty much all of us, would be happy to see Sisu receive a rent reduction (as we would with any owner of course).

I suggest we all contact John Mutton and let it be known that we are happy to see a rent reduction discussed but do not want Sisu to get any part of their hands on the Ricoh ownership.

[email protected]

The council are our representatives and it is they we should contact. Was thinking we could do a petition, but think it would be much better for us all to email the council leader and let him know in no uncertain terms that we are not at all trusting of Sisu and their intentions.

 

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[ccfcchris]

Excellent idea Otis.

 

[coundonskyblue]

<p>Can someone not do a template we can all copy &amp; paste from? As much as people agree with this, most (including myself!) are lazy and are less likely to email him if they have to think what to say, type it out etc.</p>

 

[ccfcchris]

Mines sent.

 

[Otis]

BSB did a really good email to Andy Turner, so maybe he could draw up a template.


How many different ways can there be to instruct the council to tell Sisu to fook off?

 

[Tad]

Great idea Otis. But I do think a petition would be good too. If the council saw a list of people that actually live here and want them to do what the public want (we run them after all), then they'd have to listen. The wording has to well thought out though. It needs to come across as though SISU aren't just wanted at the club, but in Coventry as a whole. We don't see them as bringing any good to the city and we don't trust or want them in control of a city landmark like the Ricoh arena.

This goes beyond football. If SISU get there hands on the Ricoh it's bad for the city as a whole. The Ricoh is used to host many different things from concerts, sporting events and everything in between. This is why I think a petition is needed. You don't have to like CCFC or football to see why this is bad for Coventry. Just think of how many events have been held at that Staduim.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

I'm at work Otis Could definitely write one at lunch though if folk still need ideas

 

[ccfcjohn]

i'm not into politics - but are there are any local councillors that are true SKy Blue Fans we can get on this as well for some support???

 

[skybluemarky]

Think about it guys. At the moment nobody will want to invest in Coventry because we have, quite literally, no assets.

Whether we want SISU as owners of the club or not having the owners own the stadium can only help the club. If SISU still can't find a buyer at least they will have control of the income streams and a chance to secure the survival of the club. If they can find a buyer, and it increases the chances they will, then the new owner will already have access to the income streams and that will mean any investment they put into the infrastructure of the club will be actual investment, rather than the situtation SISU are in where the investment has only met running costs.

The club owning the stadium is the only way forward for us.

 

[Otis]

Yes, the club owning the stadium, but not Sisu though!

As has been said before, the council and ACL will be prepared to deal with owners they can trust.

Why on earth would you believe that any income streams would be put into the infrastructure of the club? :thinking about: Sisu is a hedge fund. Get in, make money, fook off. They don't care about the club.

 

[WestEndAgro]

Yes, the club owning the stadium, but not Sisu though!

As has been said before, the council and ACL will be prepared to deal with owners they can trust.

Why on earth would you believe that any income streams would be put into the infrastructure of the club? :thinking about: Sisu is a hedge fund. Get in, make money, fook off. They don't care about the club.

Well said Sir, good point well made

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

The assets we have are secured under a debenture by ARVO.

 

[coundonskyblue]

I'm not very good at this type of thing but I've given it a go.

Feel free to make changes/improvements.

Dear Cllr Mutton,
I am concerned by recent reports and rumours that Coventry City FC are currently in negotiations to buy a share in ACL, the owners of the Ricoh Arena.

As a Coventry City supporter and a Coventry Council Taxpayer I am very much against the Football Club having any involvement in ownership or running of the Ricoh.

Since the current owners Sisu took over the Club 5 years ago its position has gone from bad to worse both on and off the field. I have seen/heard nothing from Sisu that convinces me they would run ACL any differently to how they have run the Football Club in the past.

I implore you as a fellow supporter and a Coventry citizen to do the right thing for our City and not allow these people any form of ownership over this wonderful Coventry asset.

Yours Sincerely

...................

 

[skybluealan]

Giving SISU access to the ground will be the finish of CCFC. The ground would be sold within a few years. I for one would be very happy to email the Council to stop any takeover.

 

[Otis]

I'm not very good at this type of thing but I've given it a go.

Feel free to make changes/improvements.

Dear Cllr Mutton,
I am concerned by recent reports and rumours that Coventry City FC are currently in negotiations to buy a share in ACL, the owners of the Ricoh Arena.

As a Coventry City supporter and a Coventry Council Taxpayer I am very much against the present incumbents of the football club having any involvement in ownership or running of the Ricoh.

Since the current owners Sisu took over the Club 5 years ago its position has gone from bad to worse both on and off the field. I have seen/heard nothing from Sisu that convinces me they would run ACL any differently to how they have run the Football Club in the past.

I implore you as a fellow supporter and a Coventry citizen to do the right thing for our City and not allow these people any form of ownership over this wonderful Coventry asset.

Yours Sincerely

...................

Would change that to make it clear it is the owners we have now.

 

[rob9872]

Template:

Dear Mutton

I realise you are a low-life wannabe politician who spends more time getting fat at business lunches than actually working and who is not only a waste of taxpayers money, but like much of local government is a complete waste of oxygen, however I was wondering if you could get off your fat lazy arse and without using any brown paper bags of used currency, get involved with the rent arrangements at the Ricoh Arena (the big soul-less bowl on the outskirts of Coventry near the M6).

I'm sure you're aware of a corrupt bunch of fraudsters who have many names and many owners and hide behind the front of a hedge fund called SISU. They are more untrustworthy than a local counciller and stole the club from the fans and owners because nobody else was interested. They are paying a lot of rent after your predecessors and the inept mismanagment of a previous Coventry City regime, struck the worst possible financial deal in the history of business but then it was involving a coke snorting politician and a West Brom fan who didn't care.

Basically what happened was that your council decided that the club hadn't been shafted hard enough and needed a real kick in bollocks whilst it was lying on the floor and pretty much took all of the ground, naming rights revenue, cash from the Tesco sale and all of the revenue streams for a deal equivalent to the £1 Gary Hoffman and his chinese contacts are now trying to buy the club back for.

Anyhow I digress, to this end, SISU (we'll call them that for the sake of consistency) have decided that as they have mismanaged the team on the pitch and now the potential revenue has been slashed, that the ridiculously high rent deal is now unsustainable and need a reduction.

Therefore as one crook to another, please can you resolve between you the possibilty of reducing the rent to market value, but ensuring that SISU NEVER get even the tiniest part of any ownership in the soul-less bowl.

If you could achieve this without increasing the council tax due by the whole of Coventry, then that would be the best scenario, although I believe the residents have still yet to see the benefit of the millions of pounds that the council has stole from the football club, so if you could also enlighten me on that, then I would be most grateful.

Yours sincerely

Mr C.O. Ventry

 

[ccfcjohn]

agree with Otis - great start though Coundon. make it clear it is the current owners due to lack of trust, and lack of a business plan that we can all see and understand, that we don't want to own the Ricoh.

i think we would all want the right owner of the club to own the Ricoh, probably our only chance of making any money to buy players/pay wages.

 

[Otis]

If he reads past the first line of that he is truly an idiot!

 

[rob9872]

i'm not into politics - but are there are any local councillors that are true SKy Blue Fans we can get on this as well for some support???

John Clarke or John Mutton would be your best bets - both Sky Blue fans. Failing that you could always try former MP Geoffrey Robinson who I also belive has some Sky Blue connections. I hope this was helpful.

 

[mark82]

Template:

Dear Mutton

I realise you are a low-life wannabe politician who spends more time getting fat at business lunches than actually working and who is not only a waste of taxpayers money, but like much of local government is a complete waste of oxygen, however I was wondering if you could get off your fat lazy arse and without using any brown paper bags of used currency, get involved with the rent arrangements at the Ricoh Arena (the big soul-less bowl on the outskirts of Coventry near the M6).

I'm sure you're aware of a corrupt bunch of fraudsters who have many names and many owners and hide behind the front of a hedge fund called SISU. They are more untrustworthy than a local counciller and stole the club from the fans and owners because nobody else was interested. They are paying a lot of rent after your predecessors and the inept mismanagment of a previous Coventry City regime, struck the worst possible financial deal in the history of business but then it was involving a coke snorting politician and a West Brom fan who didn't care.

Basically what happened was that your council decided that the club hadn't been shafted hard enough and needed a real kick in bollocks whilst it was lying on the floor and pretty much took all of the ground, naming rights revenue, cash from the Tesco sale and all of the revenue streams for a deal equivalent to the £1 Gary Hoffman and his chinese contacts are now trying to buy the club back for.

Anyhow I digress, to this end, SISU (we'll call them that for the sake of consistency) have decided that as they have mismanaged the team on the pitch and now the potential revenue has been slashed, that the ridiculously high rent deal is now unsustainable and need a reduction.

Therefore as one crook to another, please can you resolve between you the possibilty of reducing the rent to market value, but ensuring that SISU NEVER get even the tiniest part of any ownership in the soul-less bowl.

If you could achieve this without increasing the council tax due by the whole of Coventry, then that would be the best scenario, although I believe the residents have still yet to see the benefit of the millions of pounds that the council has stole from the football club, so if you could also enlighten me on that, then I would be most grateful.

Yours sincerely

Mr C.O. Ventry

You should send that.

 

[kingharvest]

If we're doing this can someone splash it all over twitter as well? There are alot of Cov fans on there that would do this - most of whom, i would imagine, don't visit this site.

You might also pick up other fans in the 'football family' who are willing to send an email.

 

[ccfcjohn]

is John Clarke still a councillor?

anyone think a protest outside the council house would do any good? get some national news coverage instead of just CET???

 

[Tad]

Template:

Dear Mutton

I realise you are a low-life wannabe politician who spends more time getting fat at business lunches than actually working and who is not only a waste of taxpayers money, but like much of local government is a complete waste of oxygen, however I was wondering if you could get off your fat lazy arse and without using any brown paper bags of used currency, get involved with the rent arrangements at the Ricoh Arena (the big soul-less bowl on the outskirts of Coventry near the M6).

I'm sure you're aware of a corrupt bunch of fraudsters who have many names and many owners and hide behind the front of a hedge fund called SISU. They are more untrustworthy than a local counciller and stole the club from the fans and owners because nobody else was interested. They are paying a lot of rent after your predecessors and the inept mismanagment of a previous Coventry City regime, struck the worst possible financial deal in the history of business but then it was involving a coke snorting politician and a West Brom fan who didn't care.

Basically what happened was that your council decided that the club hadn't been shafted hard enough and needed a real kick in bollocks whilst it was lying on the floor and pretty much took all of the ground, naming rights revenue, cash from the Tesco sale and all of the revenue streams for a deal equivalent to the £1 Gary Hoffman and his chinese contacts are now trying to buy the club back for.

Anyhow I digress, to this end, SISU (we'll call them that for the sake of consistency) have decided that as they have mismanaged the team on the pitch and now the potential revenue has been slashed, that the ridiculously high rent deal is now unsustainable and need a reduction.

Therefore as one crook to another, please can you resolve between you the possibilty of reducing the rent to market value, but ensuring that SISU NEVER get even the tiniest part of any ownership in the soul-less bowl.

If you could achieve this without increasing the council tax due by the whole of Coventry, then that would be the best scenario, although I believe the residents have still yet to see the benefit of the millions of pounds that the council has stole from the football club, so if you could also enlighten me on that, then I would be most grateful.

Yours sincerely

Mr C.O. Ventry

Quoting this purely because it's funny haha

If we're doing this can someone splash it all over twitter as well? There are alot of Cov fans on there that would do this - most of whom, i would imagine, don't visit this site.

You might also pick up other fans in the 'football family' who are willing to send an email.

This is why it's easier to have people sign a petition. On twitter etc, you could have a message written out saying what we're hoping to achieve and why we need your support. Again, this doesn't just effect CCFC it effects Coventry as a whole, which is why we shouldn't just talk about CCFc in the message.

 

[mark82]

Can someone with access to a PC start an epetition. Think it is worth doing. Something along the lines of:

Coventry City Council should block any attempt by SISU, the hedge fund that currently owns Coventry City Football Club, to buy a share in the Ricoh Arena (or in Arena Coventry Ltd), which is 50% owned by the council.

SISU have shown they are incapable of running a football club in a fit and proper manner. Their constant threats to liquidate the club could leave the City of Coventry without a football club and without a stadium if it was signed over.

Instead, other options such as decreasing the over-inflated rent or giving the club access to revenue streams in the stadium should be investigated.

 

[torchomatic]

But surely the club is a more attractive proposition for investors/buyers if we have ownership (or part) of an asset like the Ricoh. If we only get a rent reduction then SISU will stay longer. The important thing for me is that the Club (CCFC) start to make money.

 

[diggerdaley]

Wiki state that the Ricoh cost £113 mil. to construct,where would Sisu get that sort of money ?

 

[mark82]

Can someone with access to a PC start an epetition. Think it is worth doing. Something along the lines of:

Coventry City Council should block any attempt by SISU, the hedge fund that currently owns Coventry City Football Club, to buy a share in the Ricoh Arena (or in Arena Coventry Ltd), which is 50% owned by the council.

SISU have shown they are incapable of running a football club in a fit and proper manner. Their constant threats to liquidate the club could leave the City of Coventry without a football club and without a stadium if it was signed over.

Instead, other options such as decreasing the over-inflated rent or giving the club access to revenue streams in the stadium should be investigated.

This is the link to do it:

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/


Tried doing it from my phone but it's not playing ball.

 

[torchomatic]

Under Bryan Richardson's mattress.

Wiki state that the Ricoh cost £113 mil. to construct,where would Sisu get that sort of money ?

 

[ccfcchris]

They want their 40m investment back so the club is secondary in any actions they take.

 

[mark82]

Exactly Chris. If someone creates a petition, we can get it out there on twitter, Facebook, etc. we could maybe also put it onto other clubs forums in the hope of getting some signatures from the wider football community. Although maybe not Sunderland!

 

[torchomatic]

You could say the same thing about ACL, which is why we had the resignation.

the club is secondary in any actions they take.

 

[ccfcchris]

The petition is a great idea mark. Anyone good at these things?

 

[mark82]

The petition is a great idea mark. Anyone good at these things?

I think they are pretty easy to put together. Would do one but not got access to a pc at the moment. Think we just need an agreed message that someone can copy & paste into a petition.

 

[ccfcchris]

You could say the same thing about ACL, which is why we had the resignation.

All the more reason to bring things to a head. What we really need is a strong well funded supporters club acting as one powerful voice in the best interests of the club.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

Dear Councillor Mutton,

I write to you regarding the current negotiations between Coventry City Council, the Higgs Charity, ACL, and SISU, the present owners of Coventry City Football Club. As a proud Coventrian and Coventry fan yourself, I am sure that you like all fans are saddened by the demise of the football club over the past decade. The reasons for this demise as you well know are many and complex in nature-of that, there is no doubt. However, the 5 years experienced under the present owners has been one initially of relief as the club was rescued from the jaws of administration, ultimately concluding in anger and humiliation with relegation to the third tier.
During the past 3 years we have seen numerous changes at boardroom level, more assets sold than replaced, and the quality on the pitch steadily, then steeply, decline. Chairmen and board members have resigned in protest at the way SISU have run the club, new regimes have been installed and have repeatedly failed to show signs of real change. We have been promised transparency and been delivered none. We have been told that mistakes have been made, but mistakes continue to be made. We have been told repeatedly that the owners have the best interests of the club at heart, but their actions to date show them to be having their own interests at heart with the club a secondary concern. Die-hard fans have refused to go and watch the club they have supported for decades because the hurt is too much for them to continue.
That brings me to the focal point of this e-mail. Currently, the Council and 2 other parties find themselves with SISU at the negotiating table. Through these negotiations, SISU hope to acquire access to the lucrative benefits of stadium revenue and stakeholdings in the Ricoh Arena. Again, I implore you, as a Coventrian as well as a Coventry City fan, to fight tooth and nail to prevent such a secretive, devious organisation from acquiring such rights. The people of Coventry do not deserve such a valuable and core asset to the community to go to the wall whilst SISU seize the benefits-and nor should these people be allowed to have a terrific venue placed into their hands.
The stadium should ultimately belong to the football club, which itself belongs to the people of Coventry. Few people disagree with that. With these negotiations, the Council has an opportunity to fight for the people it is supposed to represent-handing over the reins to people who have laid waste to our football club is not what anybody wishes to see. In summary, my message to you is this: The club is of infinitely greater value to this city than a hedge fund can ever be-and for that reason, it is the club that should benefit from its home ahead of its devious owners. Put the club first, and I trust you to do what is right by Coventrians at home and far away.

Best regards, ____________