OK here goes.
#
question: if you were the owners (sisu) and you had to make a business decision (based purely on money and nothing else) would you
A) buy the Ricoh for £70 million (pay up on debts to acl within that payment) and payout to all the staff whom work in the ricoh, pay for the running costs of the ricoh (remember they have been running at a loss)
or
B) build your own stadium holding 25000 (more than enough seats for us) for £35 million (maybe a shinier build for £45million but its a saving of £25million or more! it is a no-brainer)
it doesn't take a genius to work out why SISU have the upper hand in this scenario. of course they want to build, if they cant own the ground and be able to use the land opposite, buy into infrastructure, and make profit they will have no other business choice than to build and own outright! why are our fans finding this so hard to understand!
sorry but i disagree with a lot of fans here. i have just joined this forum after reading this post by Torchomatic. I seriously do not want us to continue playing in the ricoh arena. To be honest with you the place is toxic and has never ever been an advantage to our team. I understand that is also down to a complete lack of numbers in fans but the results have been terrible at home since the Ricoh opened OVERALL.
I can not stand the atmosphere, many of us would prefer a smaller compact stadium based on highfield road for numbers of seats because a half filled ground is still better than a third filled super arena. you only have to look at some of the grounds we have been to last year in league 1 - seven thousand fans in the ground and the atmosphere being 20 times better than we can ever raise in the Ricoh. for me football is not only about the ball play, the skill and the admiration of the dedication by players - loyalty etc... but atmosphere is the main consideration for me. If i want to be a purist football fan the truth is i wouldn't need to watch a poor team play at a standard so low in front of 10,000 fans in an arena fit for the premier league ... no, the truth is there are better non league sides that play in front of 1 to 2 thousand and the atmosphere is 10 times better.
add to this the problems with transport, parking, the astronomical pricing structure (for div 3!!!) the over zealous stewards, the non banter crowds, the fighting between ourselves in the stands, the players really not putting in a full game, umpteen managers, the price of the rent causing so much strife, the council backing ACL with 14 million preventing a takeover by sisu, the dogfights being played on and off the pitch, the embarrasing morgue atmosphere, the booing, the lack of real entertainment, the loss of 15 thousand disenchanted fans!
in truth i believe the row between the council and remember ACL is actually the council, (the 14 million makes them owners by proxy) in truth the only thing that would bring most of the 15 thousand missing fans back would be a brand new fresh start, a new stadium sounds very good to those disillusioned fans. if there is one thing you can be sure of is SISU would build an stadium fit for purpose and the surrounding areas would be a huge money spinning venture. councils near to Coventry on the borders would bend over for sisu to invest in their area. !! the pay offs for some of those smaller councils would clearly outweigh any loyalty they have to Coventry council. its food for thought guys, I just think that although there is a percentage on this forum want is to play in the ricoh and remain there - there is a bigger percentage who will never go to the Ricoh again. if you want a bigger fan base you need to remove the ricoh.