dongonzalos
Well-Known Member
As I write this piece my beloved Coventry City sit 18th in the third tier of English football, playing in a vital relegation clash against Stevenage at another team’s ground, 35 miles away from the city who they represent.
No disrespect to Stevenage but only a few short years ago this match would have been viewed as a potential cup banana skin, not a relegation six-pointer.
In January, the club sold our leading goalscorer and his replacements haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory.
Maybe we should be grateful that Callum Wilson was injured and is therefore still able to lead the line, for now at least.
We have several other key players whose contracts are expiring at the end of this season yet there appears to be no effort being made to retain the services of Franck Moussa and Joe Murphy, a pair who must have earned us a dozen points on their own. Also Cyrus Christie appears to have decided that his future lies elsewhere.
Several weeks ago the club published its accounts, trumpeting the fact that they had filed them on time (a legal requirement for all companies yet a special occasion for CCFC).
The accounts make shocking reading, covering the season where City were still at the Ricoh when rental payments were not fully paid yet turnover was down more than £4million, losses were more than £7million, borrowing from the mysterious Cayman Islands-based ARVO up by £5million.
The shareholders (ARVO & SISU investors) owed more than £42million plus interest. Yet when the club is asked some basic questions about these frightening numbers nothing is forthcoming. The Sky Blue Trust even offered to organisea forum where the club could answer supporters’ questions but this was firmly declined.
In that season the interest payments to “investors” including ARVO were £1.8 million, extrapolating forward it would not be unreasonable to assume that soon, if not already, we could be paying out more in interest than we will in player’s wages.
Supporters are understandably concerned about the future of their club yet the silence from Otium is deafening. Instead of answers we get distractions about who said what about who, yet the real issues are quietly ignored. It is hard to see what sort of side we will have on the pitch next season under the turnover-based restriction of financial fair play?
The club is at the lowest ebb I can remember, marooned near the bottom of the third tier, with more than £44m net debt despite having gone through the pain of administration, key players look likely to leave, playing 35 miles from home and having a fan base that has become disillusioned, fragmented and disheartened.
No disrespect to Stevenage but only a few short years ago this match would have been viewed as a potential cup banana skin, not a relegation six-pointer.
In January, the club sold our leading goalscorer and his replacements haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory.
Maybe we should be grateful that Callum Wilson was injured and is therefore still able to lead the line, for now at least.
We have several other key players whose contracts are expiring at the end of this season yet there appears to be no effort being made to retain the services of Franck Moussa and Joe Murphy, a pair who must have earned us a dozen points on their own. Also Cyrus Christie appears to have decided that his future lies elsewhere.
Several weeks ago the club published its accounts, trumpeting the fact that they had filed them on time (a legal requirement for all companies yet a special occasion for CCFC).
The accounts make shocking reading, covering the season where City were still at the Ricoh when rental payments were not fully paid yet turnover was down more than £4million, losses were more than £7million, borrowing from the mysterious Cayman Islands-based ARVO up by £5million.
The shareholders (ARVO & SISU investors) owed more than £42million plus interest. Yet when the club is asked some basic questions about these frightening numbers nothing is forthcoming. The Sky Blue Trust even offered to organisea forum where the club could answer supporters’ questions but this was firmly declined.
In that season the interest payments to “investors” including ARVO were £1.8 million, extrapolating forward it would not be unreasonable to assume that soon, if not already, we could be paying out more in interest than we will in player’s wages.
Supporters are understandably concerned about the future of their club yet the silence from Otium is deafening. Instead of answers we get distractions about who said what about who, yet the real issues are quietly ignored. It is hard to see what sort of side we will have on the pitch next season under the turnover-based restriction of financial fair play?
The club is at the lowest ebb I can remember, marooned near the bottom of the third tier, with more than £44m net debt despite having gone through the pain of administration, key players look likely to leave, playing 35 miles from home and having a fan base that has become disillusioned, fragmented and disheartened.
