EXCLUSIVE: Coventry City chairman Tim Fisher dismisses takeover rumours and insists Mark... (2 Viewers)

Otis

Well-Known Member
COVENTRY City’s chief executive Tim Fisher meets owners Sisu this week to ask for the cash to fund an immediate return to the Championship.

He says that manager Andy Thorn is “front and centre” in the restructuring proposals he will present to the owners and that he is determined to do everything possible to hold on to star asset Richard Keogh – who has just one season left on his contract – and the Academy graduates who have broken into the first team this season.

Speaking barely an hour after Coventry’s relegation had been confirmed on Saturday, the man who was thrust into the hot seat in December stressed: “It would be really easy to have the knee-jerk reaction – fire the manager, get rid of a load of players – but that’s not what this is about.


"The one thing we have lacked over a number of years is a little bit of stability.

“We’re going to review what has happened this season when there have been a number of mistakes on and off the pitch and we all know what they are. We’re going to learn from those and, following the post-mortem, we’re going to restructure.

“Sisu have asked me for a plan – ‘if we go down into League One, how do we get back?’

“We are working on that plan and we will crack on with re-assessing where we are and then rebuilding.


“It’s a negotiation between the board and the owner; we will ask for a budget, and it will be a bounce-back budget.

We want to have a robust bid to get out of League One; there’s no ‘let’s go down and consolidate for a couple of years and see where we get to’ – we are going to make a bid to get out.”

The Sky Blues need Sisu to confirm that they will bankroll the club for the next 12 months before their outstanding accounts can be signed off and their transfer embargo lifted.

“They have to look at the plan, look at the numbers,” said Fisher. “They may say that it isn’t acceptable, but I think they like the idea of bouncing back.

“Sisu haven’t signed off that budget because in effect they were waiting to see what would happen, was it Championship of League One. Talking to Joy Seppala, she’s clear in her mind – ‘if we’re going to go down, we’ve got to come back up, right?’

The Sky Blues have worked their way through ten managers since they slipped out of the top flight 11 years ago but Fisher stressed: “This is where we need to draw a line in the sand and say enough – enough of firing managers. We need to get out of that habit and, to draw a football analogy, put our foot on the ball, give Andy a chance to reorganise the resources.

“Andy is front and centre stage at the moment and we are going to work with him to make sure that he’s got all the resources lined up.

“We’re sitting down with him to decide which players he wants to keep. We need a spine, we need the key players and, as reflected in all the awards he has won, Richard has been the heartbeat of that team.

“He’s a good player and there will be intense pressure from outside to extract him, without a doubt, but this week he gave us a provisional commitment that he wants to stay and we’ll do our best to keep him.

“There is always a figure X but it would have to be a big figure; I think the value of Richard staying would far outweigh a little bit of cash with money on appearances and so on and so forth.

“Certain things we’d like to do but may be out of our hands. Some players who are out of contract, I suspect, may leave; we respect that and we’ll have to bring in some additional resources.

“It is a highlight of the year for me that those Academy boys have grown into men and it would be a shame if we were to get rid of them now.

“We’d like Ollie Norwood to stay and I think there is a chance he will.

"I suspect a Championship club will come in for Alex Nimely on loan but he has indicated that he would be delighted to stay.”

The supporters’ disenchantment has deepened after Thorn was denied any opportunity to replace stars like Marlon King and Aron Gunnarsson while Ben Turner and Lukas Jutkiewicz were sold to cut the debts.

“There is a general acceptance that mistakes were made,” said Fisher, “and one of those mistakes was letting players in key positions leave and not replacing them with talent. That is recognised by the owner.

“I’ll do my best to ensure that Sisu remain motivated to keep going; that’s one of my principal roles here – showing them the positivity.

"When we were eight points adrift and pulled it back, that was motivational for them; unfortunately we had that recent slump in form that has killed us.

“It’s difficult for Sisu to reconcile investing £40m and the antipathy that we’ve all seen.

“What happens on the pitch is the key to all of this; if you get that right what happens off the pitch becomes secondary, even tertiary. That is why we’ve got to get that bit right.

A bit different that one though, don.

That one talks of asking Sisu and negotiating with Sisu and him doing his best, certain things he would like to do but that are out of his hands, having to look at the numbers etc.

This new one definitely sounds more positive and comes across like it will happen (not saying it will, just the way it comes across). He says there WILL be an increased recruitment budget. No talk of having to ask for such.

Absolutely fine to be sceptical, but I am one not to just jump to the conclusion that it is all bullshit.

As someone said, actions speak louder than words and we will see soon enough if this is all hot air and more of the same.

Thing is, he can't keep bringing out bullshit. At some point it becomes the boy who cried wolf once too often and absolutely no-one will never, ever believe him. Some are already there I am sure.

We all know it needs a change of direction. It has to happen otherwise the club will just fritter away to nothing.

Let's wait and see. We will clearly see soon enough if this is just more empty rhetoric.
 

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rupert_bear

Well-Known Member
Otis, the man will never be trusted, if this statement had come via Sepalla she should follow it through in my opinion with a statement herself and replace him if she values her business with ccfc and it's paying customers, my betting she hasn't a scooby about this statement. It stinks of self preservation before this meeting on Monday. If you read it thoroughly there aren't any meat on the bones. This statement imo won't be selling STs certainly not new ones and he hasn't retracted recent previous negative statements regarding the Acadamy and reduction in player budget which he said on national radio. My hope is this is a deadman walking trying for a last hurrah.
We recently had a new addition to the board supposedly a commercial director or was it ?
 

oldfiver

Well-Known Member
Or me and the three people I go with - now you know of six!

Genuine question - do the statements from the chairman, or the club in general, really have that much of an influence on people's decision to buy an ST?

With minimal investment and a decent manager (I.e. worst case scenario for us next season), we can perform well in L2. If TF is to be believed, then with the proposed budget and Robins we should definitely be challenging.

And me!
 

Otis

Well-Known Member
Otis, the man will never be trusted, if this statement had come via Sepalla she should follow it through in my opinion with a statement herself and replace him if she values her business with ccfc and it's paying customers, my betting she hasn't a scooby about this statement. It stinks of self preservation before this meeting on Monday. If you read it thoroughly there aren't any meat on the bones. This statement imo won't be selling STs certainly not new ones and he hasn't retracted recent previous negative statements regarding the Acadamy and reduction in player budget which he said on national radio. My hope is this is a deadman walking trying for a last hurrah.
We recently had a new addition to the board supposedly a commercial director or was it ?
But I'm with Nick here. I don't think anyone would buy a season ticket purely based on a statement like this.

People will either buy or not buy. Signing a good player could sway influence. Simple words though would hold no credence in forming fans' opinions in my opinion.

And besides, surely if everyone believes this is pure bullshit, isn't he going to get more stick as a result at the SBT meeting?
 

Kingokings204

Well-Known Member
No I agree Otis but it's annoying existing fans more. We have heard it all before and it's just utter contempt for us long suffering fans. No realistic honesty or admittance of failure, it's just more crap and no plan. I would also argue he has made his bed on this one also so even if he was telling some truth who in their right mind would believe him? It's all very nicely timed as well and fans see through it.

He was telling us a month or two ago we have a very bad business model and that we need to break even at all costs so has that changed? If not then how can he expect to be competive on 3k season tickets almost half of this year it will be. If it has changed why? Why couldn't we of stayed in league 1.

End of the day he is full of it and fans aren't falling for it. Go and support the team fine and try and enjoy it but don't expect things to of changed and all of a sudden MR to perform a miracle. It won't happen.
 

bawtryneal

Well-Known Member
A boycott is an official stance not based on natural declining factors. Relegation naturally reduces attendances but sales will still be around the 3,000 mark and attendances at around 5-6,000 minimum.

If we are challenging at the top of Div 2 the attendances will be higher than 5-6K in my opinion. If mid table or below by Xmas I reckon 4-5K
 

dongonzalos

Well-Known Member
A bit different that one though, don.

That one talks of asking Sisu and negotiating with Sisu and him doing his best, certain things he would like to do but that are out of his hands, having to look at the numbers etc.

This new one definitely sounds more positive and comes across like it will happen (not saying it will, just the way it comes across). He says there WILL be an increased recruitment budget. No talk of having to ask for such.

Absolutely fine to be sceptical, but I am one not to just jump to the conclusion that it is all bullshit.

As someone said, actions speak louder than words and we will see soon enough if this is all hot air and more of the same.

Thing is, he can't keep bringing out bullshit. At some point it becomes the boy who cried wolf once too often and absolutely no-one will never, ever believe him. Some are already there I am sure.

We all know it needs a change of direction. It has to happen otherwise the club will just fritter away to nothing.

Let's wait and see. We will clearly see soon enough if this is just more empty rhetoric.

Sorry Otis I think for the majority the boy that cried Wolf status is already there.
It's not just that we are going to get bounce back budgets, it's a multitude of other things and it's not just Tim Fisher.
We have people on here wondering if with our new scouting set up we should consider ditching our academy and use the new scouting network instead!
Club officials were telling us about our new scouting network in 2014.
Then we didn't have a single scout in 2015 and we we're putting in a robust system. Now in 2017 we need a new scouting network!!
The new stadium, It was the only plan.
We were. never coming back to the Ricoh unless we were owners.
Apparently we needed consistency at the club and we can't keep changing managers.
We were buying land in 3 weeks.
We had narrowed it down to one site.
Plan A is the Ricoh, Plan B is a new stadium.
Plan A is a new stadium.
We cannot be under the duristriction of Coventry City Council.
Plan A is The Butts.
The academy is to be the cornerstone of the club.
We have relied too heavily on the academy.
We have to breakeven we are not there yet there is no other option.
Next season crowds will go down yet MR is going to get an increased budget?

Sorry Otis it can sound the most positive thing in the world but we have heard it all before. The boy who cried wolf is alive and kicking.
Hence why I won't be attending the trust meeting. From now on it has to be actions speaking louder than words for. However I will keep an open mind.
 
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Grendel

Well-Known Member
Regarding the comment about shaw saying the first thing they new about Bigi being sold was when he wasn't at training that's not that unusual at a lot of clubs.
 

Skyblueweeman

Well-Known Member
clubs with more money succeed more. Our fans are our only source of income unlike many other teams. Spend more money=more chance of success. Less fans = less money = more chance of failure.

Arsenal probably have the most money in the back of the PL clubs and they've not won anything for how long? I kind of agree with what you're saying but it isn't always the case.
 

shy_tall_knight

Well-Known Member
This is one of the most bizarre posts that I have ever read on here. I have a good feeling following the appointment of MR and secured me and my lad's wembley tickets but TF is a master of spin & bull$hit radio silence then suddenly meeting the fans alongside rumours of a takeover, new manager appointed everything seems bright even though we'll be relegated to the fourth division in a couple of weeks with no academy / ground etc..

Can't help but think the Ministry of Information (Cov Observer) are colluded with SISU to create a fake news story with no substance.
 

Liquid Gold

Well-Known Member
Arsenal probably have the most money in the back of the PL clubs and they've not won anything for how long? I kind of agree with what you're saying but it isn't always the case.
I agree that there are inconsistencies and it isn't necessarily the case 100% of the time but as a genera rule teams with a higher income succeed. If anything if there were 20k of us there each week then it would make it more difficult for sisu not to spend the money.
 

rupert_bear

Well-Known Member
I just hope Fisher is given real hard time at this meeting, and not waste too much time about the past, it is the future that's important the Acadamy, where we are going to play after May 2018, what is the situation re the Golden Share if we can't guarantee where we play and what will happen if season ticket sales drop significantly and where does that leave the player budget for MR
 

oldskyblue58

CCFC Finance Director
Still comes back to can we put our faith in Fisher. There is a lot of history that clearly says no. It isn't just the things that didn't happen or did (wont all be his fault) but it is the on going contradictions in what he says.

There is of course always some truth in what is being said, along with management of perception and where we are directed to look. But it seems to change dependent on who Fisher is talking to or at. There is no consistency, very little transparency. Plenty of upbeat snippets that are easy said far harder to see through. But we have heard it all before several times, or at least every time there is a change of manager. Yes this latest missive is slightly different but only in arrangement of words the message is still we are in charge and you have to believe in us to put it right. Where is the plan, the time frames, the commitment, the action that proves the trust is well founded. What is the substance. Fisher/CCFC has to match the standards he has demanded of others

The club has to develop and earn the trust of series of key partnerships. Firstly the fans. That means creating a winning team first and foremost. Fans will put up with a whole load of stuff if their team is winning. It is not but a couple of months that Fisher seemed to be pointing a finger of blame at the fans, simply shrugging shoulders at season ticket holders giving up. Now we have an upbeat rallying call to get behind a new manager, we are all in it together ...... are we?. What will it be in a couple more months? what happens if the club continues to fail on and off the pitch? The SB Trust might have its faults but if he could prove to them that he has a plan, the finance, the drive and honesty would that be a step in the right direction ? probably. Would make a much more cohesive front to have the Trust on side with the club, but as fans they need convincing and that's the way it should be - in the past support for their actions was simply expected & demanded, that does not work. There are some good people on the trust who understand business, finance & legals - convince them, but simple/clever words will not be enough

Like it or not the second partnership CCFC need is with CCC. No matter what the history has been they simply must build bridges with the council, show commitment and to a large degree transparency plus consistency. If their "ambition" is to relocate to BPA then they absolutely must have a better relationship with the local council. If that means a bit of humility and stroking a few key egos then sorry that's what needs to be done by Fisher

It seems CCFC have a decent enough partnership with CRFC. However how meaningful does that continue to be if CCFC actually becomes a blockage in the development of BPA. Clearly CRFC need to develop the site, however their own set up is not so heavily cost based (ie they don't have the same wage bills) so you could suggest that the income levels required for them to go it alone are not so large as a joint venture with CCFC

For now CCFC has to have a working relationship with Wasps. It is the only place we can play at this time in Coventry. That doesn't mean begging and accepting crap, but it does mean both sides being professional and business like. The recent articles might make decent copy or clickbait for the author, who seems to be the official CCFC PR provider, but it does not make an already difficult operations any easier, indeed it seems to make it harder.

Local media. Clearly CCFC needs this on side. It seems that a particular paper has been chosen as the official outlet. Surely whoever the owners a club needs access to all media. If there is a new start, a new transparency what is there to fear for the football club. If CCFC is something different, completely separate to SISU i am tempted say where is the problem for CCFC & CT. I would think things have gone too far and someone's ego or several egos will need to be bruised to solve it. This new start heralded yesterday needs to be communicated to as many as possible, followed by positive coverage by all media of the actions that follow. Why be frightened of scrutiny from anyone. Clear the air and keep egos, personal agendas and arrogance out of it

Local business. A successful partnership is vital. Yes there are the sponsors but it is in having many positive relationships throughout the City and surrounding areas that CCFC prospers. The season tickets are vital but so too are the business networks. That means making sure the experience at our home ground is positive which of course means working with not butting against Wasps/ACL. You want repeat business, new connections, follow up, a sense of valuing the business you connect with.

Obviously some of the above requires finances to support it. That's where I see the commitment fall down if I am honest. But if the relatively small amounts needed fall down then what does that say about other elements of this latest new start? This cant be a six month wonder until the next manager has his new start too. It can not be a short term plan, but it has to be committed to in time money & effort.

It means drawing a line under the past, convincing people, fans, businesses, councils, landlords that some things are out of CCFC control but that the club and its directors will do everything in their power to create the right relationships and act to build our club again. Yes I know some will say it isn't all down to the club, no probably not, but the club is the one in need and sometimes you have to put history, ego, arrogance etc to one side and with some humility make things work. Is Fisher and his way of seeing things the one to drive all of the above? I have serious doubts on that.
 
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skybluetony176

Well-Known Member
Regarding the comment about shaw saying the first thing they new about Bigi being sold was when he wasn't at training that's not that unusual at a lot of clubs.

A) How would you know.

B) So what. It doesn't excuse it. It's a shitty way to treat a manager and coaching staff and most likely endemic of the respect (or lack thereof) they treat them with in every aspect.
 

shmmeee

Well-Known Member
I agree that there are inconsistencies and it isn't necessarily the case 100% of the time but as a genera rule teams with a higher income succeed. If anything if there were 20k of us there each week then it would make it more difficult for sisu not to spend the money.

And if my aunt had bollocks she'd be my uncle. But the fact is you don't get 20k on promises alone, especially not promises from a proven liar.

They had 20k, through mismanagement they lost them. It's like saying "if this pub was buzzing every night we could afford to serve proper beer and not piss mixed with rainwater". I mean sure, but maybe it's dead because no one wants rainy piss.
 

Grendel

Well-Known Member
A) How would you know.

B) So what. It doesn't excuse it. It's a shitty way to treat a manager and coaching staff and most likely endemic of the respect (or lack thereof) they treat them with in every aspect.

I know because manager biographies relate such stories.

Also it happened under a certain Mr Mginnity with a certain player and a manager
 

st john

Well-Known Member
COVENTRY City’s chief executive Tim Fisher meets owners Sisu this week to ask for the cash to fund an immediate return to the Championship.

He says that manager Andy Thorn is “front and centre” in the restructuring proposals he will present to the owners and that he is determined to do everything possible to hold on to star asset Richard Keogh – who has just one season left on his contract – and the Academy graduates who have broken into the first team this season.

Speaking barely an hour after Coventry’s relegation had been confirmed on Saturday, the man who was thrust into the hot seat in December stressed: “It would be really easy to have the knee-jerk reaction – fire the manager, get rid of a load of players – but that’s not what this is about.


"The one thing we have lacked over a number of years is a little bit of stability.

“We’re going to review what has happened this season when there have been a number of mistakes on and off the pitch and we all know what they are. We’re going to learn from those and, following the post-mortem, we’re going to restructure.

“Sisu have asked me for a plan – ‘if we go down into League One, how do we get back?’

“We are working on that plan and we will crack on with re-assessing where we are and then rebuilding.


“It’s a negotiation between the board and the owner; we will ask for a budget, and it will be a bounce-back budget.

We want to have a robust bid to get out of League One; there’s no ‘let’s go down and consolidate for a couple of years and see where we get to’ – we are going to make a bid to get out.”

The Sky Blues need Sisu to confirm that they will bankroll the club for the next 12 months before their outstanding accounts can be signed off and their transfer embargo lifted.

“They have to look at the plan, look at the numbers,” said Fisher. “They may say that it isn’t acceptable, but I think they like the idea of bouncing back.

“Sisu haven’t signed off that budget because in effect they were waiting to see what would happen, was it Championship of League One. Talking to Joy Seppala, she’s clear in her mind – ‘if we’re going to go down, we’ve got to come back up, right?’

The Sky Blues have worked their way through ten managers since they slipped out of the top flight 11 years ago but Fisher stressed: “This is where we need to draw a line in the sand and say enough – enough of firing managers. We need to get out of that habit and, to draw a football analogy, put our foot on the ball, give Andy a chance to reorganise the resources.

“Andy is front and centre stage at the moment and we are going to work with him to make sure that he’s got all the resources lined up.

“We’re sitting down with him to decide which players he wants to keep. We need a spine, we need the key players and, as reflected in all the awards he has won, Richard has been the heartbeat of that team.

“He’s a good player and there will be intense pressure from outside to extract him, without a doubt, but this week he gave us a provisional commitment that he wants to stay and we’ll do our best to keep him.

“There is always a figure X but it would have to be a big figure; I think the value of Richard staying would far outweigh a little bit of cash with money on appearances and so on and so forth.

“Certain things we’d like to do but may be out of our hands. Some players who are out of contract, I suspect, may leave; we respect that and we’ll have to bring in some additional resources.

“It is a highlight of the year for me that those Academy boys have grown into men and it would be a shame if we were to get rid of them now.

“We’d like Ollie Norwood to stay and I think there is a chance he will.

"I suspect a Championship club will come in for Alex Nimely on loan but he has indicated that he would be delighted to stay.”

The supporters’ disenchantment has deepened after Thorn was denied any opportunity to replace stars like Marlon King and Aron Gunnarsson while Ben Turner and Lukas Jutkiewicz were sold to cut the debts.

“There is a general acceptance that mistakes were made,” said Fisher, “and one of those mistakes was letting players in key positions leave and not replacing them with talent. That is recognised by the owner.

“I’ll do my best to ensure that Sisu remain motivated to keep going; that’s one of my principal roles here – showing them the positivity.

"When we were eight points adrift and pulled it back, that was motivational for them; unfortunately we had that recent slump in form that has killed us.

“It’s difficult for Sisu to reconcile investing £40m and the antipathy that we’ve all seen.

“What happens on the pitch is the key to all of this; if you get that right what happens off the pitch becomes secondary, even tertiary. That is why we’ve got to get that bit right.
Thanks
 

Liquid Gold

Well-Known Member
And if my aunt had bollocks she'd be my uncle. But the fact is you don't get 20k on promises alone, especially not promises from a proven liar.

They had 20k, through mismanagement they lost them. It's like saying "if this pub was buzzing every night we could afford to serve proper beer and not piss mixed with rainwater". I mean sure, but maybe it's dead because no one wants rainy piss.
So because sisu are shit we should all give up?

When we last had 20k regularly turning up we were losing £5m a year. Now we're supposedly breakeven a 2.5x increase in our main revenue source would massively increase pressure on sisu to invest. Alternatively if they didn't a club making a profit with 20k fans in league two would be an attractive investment opportunity.

All this damaging ccfc to hurt sisu is like burning your house down because you're unhappy with your mortgage.
 

Nick

Administrator
And if my aunt had bollocks she'd be my uncle. But the fact is you don't get 20k on promises alone, especially not promises from a proven liar.

They had 20k, through mismanagement they lost them. It's like saying "if this pub was buzzing every night we could afford to serve proper beer and not piss mixed with rainwater". I mean sure, but maybe it's dead because no one wants rainy piss.

Same piss with rainwater playing at Wembley isn't it?
 

shmmeee

Well-Known Member
So because sisu are shit we should all give up?

When we last had 20k regularly turning up we were losing £5m a year. Now we're supposedly breakeven a 2.5x increase in our main revenue source would massively increase pressure on sisu to invest. Alternatively if they didn't a club making a profit with 20k fans in league two would be an attractive investment opportunity.

All this damaging ccfc to hurt sisu is like burning your house down because you're unhappy with your mortgage.

No, it's just a reality innit? We haven't got 15k staying away because of a Sisu directly. We've got maybe 1k and the rest have just wandered off because it's shit and we've dropped two divisions (almost).
 

Nick

Administrator
Bore off. This has been done to death. A one off cup final and a decade of shit and lies are not comparable.

No, I was just talking about the players (the quality).

It's the same as when people moan about "the product" and say they will go to away games only.
 

Grendel

Well-Known Member
Bore off. This has been done to death. A one off cup final and a decade of shit and lies are not comparable.

We had 17,000 at as league game last season.

Sorry but the new stadium impact massively heightened crowds to an artificial level that's was already starting to decline. There is a natural trend of decline every year and a sharp steep in the relegation year

A natural championship level for is was always 14,000.
 

skybluetony176

Well-Known Member
I know because manager biographies relate such stories.

Also it happened under a certain Mr Mginnity with a certain player and a manager

So you don't know then. Didn't think so.

The same principle. Just because Mginnity did doesn't excuse.

If Mginnity jumped of a bridge would TF have to? That is the level you are at with your excuse making.
 

skybluetony176

Well-Known Member
All Bullshit!! Didn't we have a scouting network as a priority before? I think it was SP that said there wasn't one and that had changed. WTF happened to it? so we need new scouts again? this club is a joke

Same story when TM was appointed full time. This will be the third time in around three years. Funny how we have to keep putting the same infrastructure in place annually. You would think once would be enough.
 

shy_tall_knight

Well-Known Member
We had 17,000 at as league game last season.

Sorry but the new stadium impact massively heightened crowds to an artificial level that's was already starting to decline. There is a natural trend of decline every year and a sharp steep in the relegation year

A natural championship level for is was always 14,000.

Southampton's crowds have held up as have Stokes and Derby's following their new stadiums might have something to do with success on the pitch
 

SkyBlueCharlie

Well-Known Member
We had 17,000 at as league game last season.

Sorry but the new stadium impact massively heightened crowds to an artificial level that's was already starting to decline. There is a natural trend of decline every year and a sharp steep in the relegation year

A natural championship level for is was always 14,000.

It would appear that our average attendance for the Championship years was a little over 17000.
2012 15.119
2011 16.31
2010 17.305
2009 17.408
2008 19.123
2007 20.342
2006 21.18
2005 16.048
2004 14.816
2003 14.813
2002 16.15

Total: 188.614 Average:17146
Source: England historical attendance and performance
 

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