Would agree that the whole truth is more than the published docs but they are the real details we have to go on. The club got themselves in this mess, it wasnt caused by the council.
I know the "You" isnt directed at me, and you wont get an arguement from me about the logic, i have argued long and often on here that the club has to have a plan that lives within the means available to it, ie can it afford the borrowing or debt it takes onboard, be that bank, institutions or from owners. Personally i would support SISU not allowing the club to spend what it doesnt have, trouble is that isnt a plan they have as they forecast losses of 3m or more this season........ the debt gets bigger and bigger with precious little in assets to offset it. Similarly i did not believe in the glorious plans ala Richardson & co ....... if something seems too good to be true it usually is and their plans (it wasnt just Richardson the whole Board share responsibility) were built on the shifting sands of self interest and poor financial control. The club did not have the means to do it, it never had the means to do it. It mystifies me why successful business men leave their brains behind as soon as they enter a football club.
Too many people fail in my opinion to allocate the blame fairly............ "we were screwed by the council", "the council are ripping us off", etc. The blame is squarely on the shoulders of those that have run the club for the last 15 years - all have contributed in their own way to a monumental cock up. Had they taken their responsibility seriously, left egos & self interest behind we would be far better off and not looking to Council or charity to ride to the rescue on more than one occassion. Those board members failed to safeguard the club, for no other real reason than self interest and huge egos. A club is far more than its board, they are only custodians, the fans are key and are here far longer
If you look at it from a council perspective, any deal that was done had to have the interests of the city of Coventry placed first and then further down the list the interests of Coventry City FC. The council isnt here to bail out football clubs, but it is here to get the best for its rate payers. Yes there is ego involved in council too but you would be incorrect to view the deal for the Ricoh as being done just to help the football club. It was and is much more than that. The football club had their chances, whilst intent on over paying average players (wages 112% of turnover for example) the directors took their eyes off the first real prize - in so doing lost the prize and put it all at risk. The council did what any business, investor or football club director should do - sought to maximise their investment for their shareholders (the rate payers), unlike the business sector however they tempered it with a lot of patience and a strong sense of community they took less than they could have.
In short we have not had in the last 15 years a board of directors capable of running a successful club and of safeguarding the clubs future........... the really disappointing thing is that the situation continues in my opinion.