3 months away....so what's changed on here? (1 Viewer)

Paxman II

Well-Known Member
Reading through some post, absolutely nothing. ;)
 

ccfcway

Well-Known Member
26th June 2013 - Tim Fisher says Coventry City are closing in on deal for new stadium site. Sky Blues chief executive expects decision within three weeks.

8/1/2014 - CET have taken a guess at where it will be

 

Paxman II

Well-Known Member
26th June 2013 - Tim Fisher says Coventry City are closing in on deal for new stadium site. Sky Blues chief executive expects decision within three weeks.

8/1/2014 - CET have taken a guess at where it will be


...as I thought same old, same old.
 

Paxman II

Well-Known Member
So where you been Pax?

I was away for a month cruising round the Med with clients then I moved house and BT Open Reach took over 2 months to connect me, yesterday! (They will pay dearly)
- VOR I'm even closer to you now :)
I see we have a few newbies joined too.
 

cloughie

Well-Known Member
welcome back Pax

yet the demise of our club and its owners actions are unfortunately slowly making some us loose interest.

sometimes people just get fed up with bullshit that we know is bullshit

as below

[h=2]Trust: 6 Local Authorities say no discussions. Rugby say no.[/h]
 

Paxman II

Well-Known Member
Could the stadium happen? My view is yes but less likely. If all else fails I see a stadium being developed but I think it's highly more likely a return to the Ricoh will eventually come to fruition when the council, ACL and the football club owners stop their spats and put a sensible offer and solution for all on the table. This must happen for me during this close season at the latest. Regardless the legal wrangling's still on-going - they need to draw to a conclusion but this should not preclude the protagonist from making the right sound bytes and give optimism and reasoning to the process that respects the supporters of this fine football club, instead of having it's reputation as an innovator in football circles (first all seater stadium, the Jimmy Hill era etc etc) tarnished.
I understand business is tough and fighting for what you believe in and want is never pretty so I see where Otium are coming from, even if I dislike it. The council though I understand even less. They act as though the stadium is their given right to own and do with as they please, conveniently forgetting all that went before and why they now own it on behalf of the cities tax payers. They must find a way to relinquish their hold and help unite club and stadium before this terrible cycle ends in disaster for all.
You don't have to like the owners of the football club. How many clubs supporters anywhere could say that? What matters is still having a football club we can call Coventry City and preferably without the influence of a local council. We know what Otium seek and to a large extent that can be satisfied if certain people want it to be. That will see them out the exit door eventually, with our club still intact. Failure to act could still lead to our demise.
Make no mistake, SISU will forever have blood on their hands but how will the council be seen if they too fail to take some initiative? There are so many ways to skin a cat and these sides must start that debate and find common ground. They both have that responsibility and need to recognise that.
 
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Paxman II

Well-Known Member
Nothing. You're still a Sisu rent boy so go fuck yourself.

Arhh you list your occupation as 'Jaguar Land Rover' and have been a CCFC supporters since age 7.

Apart from acting like you are still age 7, we have a lot more in common than you might think :)
 

Astute

Well-Known Member
Failure to let SISUE have the Ricoh could lead to the demise of our club? Bit late for that isn't it.
 

Paxman II

Well-Known Member
Failure to let SISUE have the Ricoh could lead to the demise of our club? Bit late for that isn't it.

Last I looked Astute we still had a football club kicking a ball around in Northampton and 20 odd other football league grounds week in week out?
Though not ideal it never the less has happened. The club was only paying rent to play on a pitch at the Ricoh and use a few offices. That clearly was going to fail. Even a buy out of 50% in the management company shares from the Higgs charity was no route to financial cash flow.
Rent was aggressively too high for such little in return. Anyone arguing with that is simply not at the races.
Now what SISU subsequently did by not paying rent and the eventual mess with which it has all led to was in my opinion the wrong way to go about matters. But it's where we are now. The council acted with equal virility and one could say vindictiveness. Indeed we started this season minus 10 points because of it.

Both have acted unreasonably. Both need to respect the Town, the fans and history of Coventry. Football has become a hard nosed business from the model we saw a few decades ago. It's no longer just about the love of the game. It's about money. The money it takes to run a club and the money it generates for the City and reputation. SISU have damaged it almost beyond repair but it is still salvable. They are willing it seems to stay in and not just cut and run. I'll give some credit for that. The council likewise need to act with guile and intelligence in seeing the bigger picture in all this. Help move the club forward. It's an asset to the town not just a business that currently has disagreeable ownership. The Ricoh with a football club is a far better option than one without.
 

The Gentleman

Well-Known Member
Last I looked Astute we still had a football club kicking a ball around in Northampton and 20 odd other football league grounds week in week out?
Though not ideal it never the less has happened. The club was only paying rent to play on a pitch at the Ricoh and use a few offices. That clearly was going to fail. Even a buy out of 50% in the management company shares from the Higgs charity was no route to financial cash flow.
Rent was aggressively too high for such little in return. Anyone arguing with that is simply not at the races.
Now what SISU subsequently did by not paying rent and the eventual mess with which it has all led to was in my opinion the wrong way to go about matters. But it's where we are now. The council acted with equal virility and one could say vindictiveness. Indeed we started this season minus 10 points because of it.

Both have acted unreasonably. Both need to respect the Town, the fans and history of Coventry. Football has become a hard nosed business from the model we saw a few decades ago. It's no longer just about the love of the game. It's about money. The money it takes to run a club and the money it generates for the City and reputation. SISU have damaged it almost beyond repair but it is still salvable. They are willing it seems to stay in and not just cut and run. I'll give some credit for that. The council likewise need to act with guile and intelligence in seeing the bigger picture in all this. Help move the club forward. It's an asset to the town not just a business that currently has disagreeable ownership. The Ricoh with a football club is a far better option than one without.

Understand what you are saying even if I disagree with some of it. However, you say the council could take the initiative in this, did they not try with the latest free rent and then 2 years low rent offer with negotiating about buying from there. Sisu/Otium were the ones who dismissed it out of hand despite admitting that they would be financially better off (which would benefit the club no?) Sisu are the owners and they should be the ones to put their cards on the table, be honest, open and have a continual dialogue with it's own customers. If they did this then people may better understand their thinking, they might not agree but at least people could start to make informed decisions instead of trying to guess and second guess everybodies next move. This in itself creates division with everyone forming their own opinions and thinking their right when to be honest, most of us have no real idea.

Hope that wasn't to mouth frothy for Steveo1987.
 

Paxman II

Well-Known Member
Understand what you are saying even if I disagree with some of it. However, you say the council could take the initiative in this, did they not try with the latest free rent and then 2 years low rent offer with negotiating about buying from there. Sisu/Otium were the ones who dismissed it out of hand despite admitting that they would be financially better off (which would benefit the club no?) Sisu are the owners and they should be the ones to put their cards on the table, be honest, open and have a continual dialogue with it's own customers. If they did this then people may better understand their thinking, they might not agree but at least people could start to make informed decisions instead of trying to guess and second guess everybodies next move. This in itself creates division with everyone forming their own opinions and thinking their right when to be honest, most of us have no real idea.



Hope that wasn't to mouth frothy for Steveo1987.



I see what you are thinking and would at first thought seem reasonable but not logical or sensible. Not offered formally anyway and who in their right minds would seek a free rent followed by low rent deal leading to eventual ownership? What's the point? What's the thinking behind that? Ownership from the get go would ensure a proper financial plan and business plan from day one. Would any company want to put their livelihood in the hands of a council controlled situation for a few years first? The club would not be getting control of it's own future until a few years down the road....why? It's easy for the council...just sell it. They seem to find the concept of that very difficult. SISU are the owners as you say and should put their cards on the table. They have made no secret of the fact they want to own the Ricoh have they not? As for dialogue with it's own customers....it's about par for the course I suspect for most football club owners. Mr Tan at Cardiff makes the SISU regime look tame! And you would hardly expect details on unresolved issues, outstanding legal proceedings and the intricacies of their business to be public knowledge? They have stated they will fund the club at Northampton for up to 5 years and intend building a stadium if they can't have the Ricoh. Those of us who choose to disbelieve all that can't use that to suggest SISU have not stated their intent? Yes I'm suspicious too of that intent but I have not heard the council offer any valid formal offer of intent either?
 
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Astute

Well-Known Member
What is intent to buy worth when they won't make an offer? They just keep feeding us crap. They want the Ricoh for next to nothing, but the council wouldn't be able to do it even if they wanted to. There are laws and regulations that cover it. And whilst they attempt everything they can think of it is us fans that suffer.

The only offer they have wanted to put in was to buy out the mortgage at a reduced rate after sending CCC/Higgs to the wall. But it failed. Hence the JR. They need to build a bit of trust with the council. Cut out the bullshit. They are used to bullying their way to get what they want. It isn't working this time.
 

Spionkop

New Member
Paxman, here is an extract from the Questions and answers thread that anyone can see on this site. It quite clearly has an answer from ACL on the question of a greatly reduced rent. As you can clearly see ACL did offer such a rental agreement. Whether it was passed to Sisu/Otium, the Football League is immaterial. For you to suggest that it wasn't made is just plain wrong. The offer was made, the Football League passed it on to Sisu. The Football League have yet to receive a reply from Sisu. It says it all.
Stop moving the goalposts. Without labouring the point, the thread goes on to say further rental agreements were proposed for the following two seasons. On very good terms. Sisu have ignored those as well. In addition to blanking ACL, they're blanking the Football League.
The majority of us fans recognise what their game is. Your 3 months away seems to have played tricks with your memory.

"Q2. Did ACL ever provide proposals for the Football League to put to Otium Entertainment Group that included a rent free period for the 2013/14 season?
A2. On 5 November 2013, ACL directly handed to Shaun Harvey CEO of the Football League, an offer letter for the Directors of Otium Entertainment Group, which was accepted by the Football League. Mr Harvey later confirmed he had passed the offer letter to Otium’s Directors. The offer provided for a rent free period commencing 1 January 2014, to the end of the 13/14 season."
 

dongonzalos

Well-Known Member
Somebody facing the alternative of borrowing 30-40 million to build a far inferior stadium incurring huge losses over the 5 years of building it and no doubt in the future.
With very little realistic opportunity of achieving financial equilibrium in the future by selling it. I would say would probably jump on rent free with low rent over the long term working towards ownership.

Please Paxman can you explain how borrowing 30-40 million on top of that already that the club are in debt for. How will SISU ever recoup their loses.

I can see how they could do it with a long term low rent.

I think they could break even if they got us somewhere near the championship play offs then sold the whole package for 50 million.

I cant however see them selling Coventry City making huge losses every month due to management fees and debt repayments in a 12k stadium for 100 million.
 
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The Gentleman

Well-Known Member
I see what you are thinking and would at first thought seem reasonable but not logical or sensible. Not offered formally anyway and who in their right minds would seek a free rent followed by low rent deal leading to eventual ownership? What's the point? What's the thinking behind that? Ownership from the get go would ensure a proper financial plan and business plan from day one. Would any company want to put their livelihood in the hands of a council controlled situation for a few years first? The club would not be getting control of it's own future until a few years down the road....why? It's easy for the council...just sell it. They seem to find the concept of that very difficult. SISU are the owners as you say and should put their cards on the table. They have made no secret of the fact they want to own the Ricoh have they not? As for dialogue with it's own customers....it's about par for the course I suspect for most football club owners. Mr Tan at Cardiff makes the SISU regime look tame! And you would hardly expect details on unresolved issues, outstanding legal proceedings and the intricacies of their business to be public knowledge? They have stated they will fund the club at Northampton for up to 5 years and intend building a stadium if they can't have the Ricoh. Those of us who choose to disbelieve all that can't use that to suggest SISU have not stated their intent? Yes I'm suspicious too of that intent but I have not heard the council offer any valid formal offer of intent either?

Thing is though, you talk like CCC/ACL have some sort of absolute obligation to help out CCFC even if it is detrimental to them as long as it helps out CCFC. Surely CCC biggest obligation is to the people of Coventry and lets not forget out of the 300k+ residents, how many exactly are active supporters or even sleepers (so to speak). I would hazard a guess that there is more fans of other clubs or not fans at all rather than CCFC fans. Should the CCC just forget about them just to give into Sisu/Otium bully boy tactics. I know it keeps being said on here but as long as some people have the view that the onus lies with CCC then others will state that although ACL would prefer CCFC as a tenant, it seems that (according to reports) they can live without them and move on so do not need to sell. If as you say Sisu do indeed want the Ricoh, surely it is up to them to get 3 valuations and just make an offer. What else do you want ACL/CCC to do or what else can they actually do ?
 

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