Gary Hoffman’s long-distance attempt to meet Coventry City’s chief Tim Fisher (1 Viewer)

Sub said:

Gary Hoffman fails to get meeting with Sky Blues chief to discuss Ricoh offer
15 Jul 2013 09:29

Former Coventry City vice-chairman interrupted his family holiday in Spain to fly back to the UK but it was all in vain




Gary Hoffman’s long-distance attempt to meet Coventry City’s chief executive Tim Fisher turned out to be in vain on Saturday.

The former Sky Blues vice-chairman interrupted his family holiday in Spain to fly back to the UK in a bid to meet Fisher at the match against Nuneaton to discuss his offer to enable the club to stay at the Ricoh Arena.

It is understood that Fisher had not been planning to go to the game. Fisher and fellow City director Steve Waggott were allegedly threatened at the club’s Ryton training ground last week.

Hoffman continued with his plans for a meeting and contacted both Fisher and fellow City director Mark Labovitch to request their presence.

Hoffman came up with an offer last week which would see him and some fellow investors pay the rent at the Ricoh Arena for the next three years to enable the club to stay in Coventry, even if owners Sisu press ahead with plans to build a new stadium.

He has also offered to pay any ‘get-out’ fee in the groundshare deal the club already have with Northampton Town and give the club ticket sales from gates at the Ricoh after recovering their costs on the rent, while any additional revenue would go to the Academy.

Fisher, however, has dismissed the offer and was quoted in The Times on Saturday saying: “It is not a real deal. He says it is rent-free, but then wants take part of the money we earn through ticketing. It’s a financing deal at 25 per cent. Not even the Mafia charge that.”

Hoffman refutes the allegation that he is trying to make money, insisting he simply wants to recoup the rent charge.

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Fisher is right, if they wanted they could pay the Ricoh rent and use the ticket sales to pay for it themselves, this deal changes nothing.

What a fucking clown....

This man appears so PR hungry its getting ridiculous......

What sort of utter tit interrupts his own family holiday to attend a meeting that only exists in his own mind.

....And If Hoffman refutes the allegation that he is trying to make money out of the club, then he better back track on his statement released via the Telegraph last week.....which clearly stated that he & his investors were to take a return.

Christ.....if this bloke is our only hope....we are proper fucked.

Bloke is starting to make Jojar Dihnsa look credible.....

jimmyhillsfanclub said:

What a fucking clown....

This man appears so PR hungry its getting ridiculous......

What sort of utter tit interrupts his own family holiday to attend a meeting that only exists in his own mind.

....And If Hoffman refutes the allegation that he is trying to make money out of the club, then he better back track on his statement released via the Telegraph last week.....which clearly stated that he & his investors were to take a return.

Christ.....if this bloke is our only hope....we are proper fucked.

Bloke is starting to make Jojar Dihnsa look credible.....

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how you ideas to save the club wiorking out ?

ccfcway said:

how you ideas to save the club wiorking out ?

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I support Hoffman and I appreciate what he has done but, this isn't saving the club, it's just making sisu pay the rent with tickets basically

ccfcway said:

how you ideas to save the club wiorking out ?

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Probably as well as Hoffmans......


....and I've done fuck all.


...PS. I bet you're President of the debating society with such well structured arguments.

skybluegod said:

I support Hoffman and I appreciate what he has done but, this isn't saving the club, it's just making sisu pay the rent with tickets basically

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Exacly.....

He is showing SISU up for their simple REFUSAL to pay the rent, as opposed to not be able to or not be able to speak to ACL.

Even the NTFC chairman said that he isnt worried about SISU paying Northamptopn rent, as they have the money they just choose not to pay ACL.

Hoffman has done nothing other than point oit to FL that the is more than an OPTION to play at Ricoh if you get teh right people round he table..

In my book, this was a welcome intervention

I saw this as just trying to be an intermediary between SISU and ACL, something a lot of people have been asking for. Maybe save a little face on both sides if it had worked?

ccfcway said:

Exacly.....

He is showing SISU up for their simple REFUSAL to pay the rent, as opposed to not be able to or not be able to speak to ACL.

Even the NTFC chairman said that he isnt worried about SISU paying Northamptopn rent, as they have the money they just choose not to pay ACL.

Hoffman has done nothing other than point oit to FL that the is more than an OPTION to play at Ricoh if you get teh right people round he table..

In my book, this was a welcome intervention

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That's not the point of what he trying to do though? I think he honestly thinks this changes something and that him offering it is a a good offer. It's not, I may as well have made the offer

jimmyhillsfanclub said:

What a fucking clown....

This man appears so PR hungry its getting ridiculous......

What sort of utter tit interrupts his own family holiday to attend a meeting that only exists in his own mind.

....And If Hoffman refutes the allegation that he is trying to make money out of the club, then he better back track on his statement released via the Telegraph last week.....which clearly stated that he & his investors were to take a return.

Christ.....if this bloke is our only hope....we are proper fucked.

Bloke is starting to make Jojar Dihnsa look credible.....

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Actually someone who met Hoffman at the game has said that Hoffman received a text from Fisher in the morning just after Hoffman got off the plane stating that the meeting was cancelled. So I think it is fair to say that Fisher is a wanker and Hoffman is not a clown.

it all just smacks of desperation, the simple fact is this, when ACL and / or higgs offer to sell he ricoh to our owners we will be back in the ricoh like a shot.

thats the game here guys, its about the ownership of the ricoh, and do you know what - i cant see the council/acl winning here, they will have to leave the arena and allow sisu in simply put to save their own skins. the fans are already starting to realise the mess the council have made of this, muttons comments and the refusal to sell the arena in the past is what has led to this. once the council sit and think through wether they are willing to keep funding the loss making ACL and reach the conclusion they will not be able to because they can not we will be back in the ricoh.

expect the sale to go through in the next 14 days. sisu will win this battle have no doubt whatsoever

jimmyhillsfanclub said:

What a fucking clown....

This man appears so PR hungry its getting ridiculous......

What sort of utter tit interrupts his own family holiday to attend a meeting that only exists in his own mind.

....And If Hoffman refutes the allegation that he is trying to make money out of the club, then he better back track on his statement released via the Telegraph last week.....which clearly stated that he & his investors were to take a return.

Christ.....if this bloke is our only hope....we are proper fucked.

Bloke is starting to make Jojar Dihnsa look credible.....

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I really don't think he deserves such a wankerish slating. Completely unjustified.

true sky blue said:

it all just smacks of desperation, the simple fact is this, when ACL and / or higgs offer to sell he ricoh to our owners we will be back in the ricoh like a shot.

thats the game here guys, its about the ownership of the ricoh, and do you know what - i cant see the council/acl winning here, they will have to leave the arena and allow sisu in simply put to save their own skins. the fans are already starting to realise the mess the council have made of this, muttons comments and the refusal to sell the arena in the past is what has led to this. once the council sit and think through wether they are willing to keep funding the loss making ACL and reach the conclusion they will not be able to because they can not we will be back in the ricoh.

expect the sale to go through in the next 14 days. sisu will win this battle have no doubt whatsoever

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You're even worse.

true sky blue said:

it all just smacks of desperation, the simple fact is this, when ACL and / or higgs offer to sell he ricoh to our owners we will be back in the ricoh like a shot.

thats the game here guys, its about the ownership of the ricoh, and do you know what - i cant see the council/acl winning here, they will have to leave the arena and allow sisu in simply put to save their own skins. the fans are already starting to realise the mess the council have made of this, muttons comments and the refusal to sell the arena in the past is what has led to this. once the council sit and think through wether they are willing to keep funding the loss making ACL and reach the conclusion they will not be able to because they can not we will be back in the ricoh.

expect the sale to go through in the next 14 days. sisu will win this battle have no doubt whatsoever

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You sound very pleased by that.

true sky blue said:

it all just smacks of desperation, the simple fact is this, when ACL and / or higgs offer to sell he ricoh to our owners we will be back in the ricoh like a shot.

thats the game here guys, its about the ownership of the ricoh, and do you know what - i cant see the council/acl winning here, they will have to leave the arena and allow sisu in simply put to save their own skins. the fans are already starting to realise the mess the council have made of this, muttons comments and the refusal to sell the arena in the past is what has led to this. once the council sit and think through wether they are willing to keep funding the loss making ACL and reach the conclusion they will not be able to because they can not we will be back in the ricoh.

expect the sale to go through in the next 14 days. sisu will win this battle have no doubt whatsoever

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what the fffin hell are you on m8 not this planet obviously

true sky blue said:

it all just smacks of desperation, the simple fact is this, when ACL and / or higgs offer to sell he ricoh to our owners we will be back in the ricoh like a shot.

thats the game here guys, its about the ownership of the ricoh, and do you know what - i cant see the council/acl winning here, they will have to leave the arena and allow sisu in simply put to save their own skins. the fans are already starting to realise the mess the council have made of this, muttons comments and the refusal to sell the arena in the past is what has led to this. once the council sit and think through wether they are willing to keep funding the loss making ACL and reach the conclusion they will not be able to because they can not we will be back in the ricoh.

expect the sale to go through in the next 14 days. sisu will win this battle have no doubt whatsoever

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cant see it myself

ACL are loss making cause they had tennents that were not paying rent !

If they have no obligations to those tennents, they can source alternative sources of income.

skybluegod said:

Fisher is right, if they wanted they could pay the Ricoh rent and use the ticket sales to pay for it themselves, this deal changes nothing.

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that only makes them a worse bunch of twats then don't it:blue::blue::blue:

blueflint said:

what the fffin hell are you on m8 not this planet obviously

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They don't need to sell the Arena to anybody, make far more money without the club being there with concerts year round, and other sporting clubs queueing up around the block to get in.

Apparently.

are some people being a bit harsh here ,didnt he offer to let sisu keep ticket money for the projected attendances they will get at northampton i.e 4000 tickets sold you keep that we have the rest ,cant see how and why people would slag off gary hoffman , its absolutely awful sitting here reading the shite some people saying about what seems to be our only real hope of saving the club ,throughout it all he and elliot have looked far and wide to try and find investment and new owners ,yet all he gets is shit ,absolute scabs

ccfcway said:

cant see it myself

ACL are loss making cause they had tennents that were not paying rent !

If they have no obligations to those tennents, they can source alternative sources of income.

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what some of our less business sensed fans dont seem to remember is the fact that Sisu entered into a deal to buy the club (with its massive debts) and with a clear agreement to the arena being sold to them as part of the deal. the council put a stop to that taking place. Mutton may have been only the mouthpiece but when the council said the arena will never be sold to Sisu that was when the swords were drawn. Since then it has always been a fight for the arena. the council have paid 14 million pounds simply to enable ACL not to crumble and be forced to sell to Sisu.

so you guys honestly dont think the end game here is ownership of the Ricoh? and your insinuating im mad? your all off your trolleys. its simple: acl or higgs sell at a realistic price under these poor market conditions and we play our football at home. dont sell to Sisu and we play away... leaving ACL to go completely bust. leaving the council left to explain where 14 million pounds of Coventry persons taxes have gone!!

this story by the way is only just beginning, personally i think coventry city council are in deep deep trouble.

ccfcway said:

cant see it myself

ACL are loss making cause they had tennents that were not paying rent !

If they have no obligations to those tennents, they can source alternative sources of income.

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You'd think they'd be paying NTFC to take a bad tenant off their hands, rather than suing them to get them back in that case then wouldn't you?

true sky blue said:

it all just smacks of desperation, the simple fact is this, when ACL and / or higgs offer to sell he ricoh to our owners we will be back in the ricoh like a shot.

thats the game here guys, its about the ownership of the ricoh, and do you know what - i cant see the council/acl winning here, they will have to leave the arena and allow sisu in simply put to save their own skins. the fans are already starting to realise the mess the council have made of this, muttons comments and the refusal to sell the arena in the past is what has led to this. once the council sit and think through wether they are willing to keep funding the loss making ACL and reach the conclusion they will not be able to because they can not we will be back in the ricoh.

expect the sale to go through in the next 14 days. sisu will win this battle have no doubt whatsoever

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You got one thing right - I look forward to the day when SISU are no longer owners of CCFC, then ACL can be sold and become part of the club.

:blue:

But, if they sold it to someone else, who then paid back the councils £14M, it could get them off the hook re the JR (if they are on a hook...), and would then have a much bigger fighting fund to use vs Northampton, the FL, and SISU.... and with the Ricoh prize gone, what's then in it for SISU?

Would that be better or worse than what we have now?

Nonleagueherewecome said:

I really don't think he deserves such a wankerish slating. Completely unjustified.

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...Well, based upon the content of the OP, I think it is justified.

If TF had taken a international flight to attend a meeting that didn't exist, and then refuted parts of his own statement that, in itself, appeared to be released purely for PR purposes, he'd be slated beyond belief.

IMHO, the bloke just seems to revel in getting City fans to blow smoke up his arse....yet so far, and after so many near misses with business syndicates, far-east backers, cash offers, fans gestures, blah blah blah.....what has he achieved?

Put up or shut up.....

..Better still....Shut up until you're sure you can definitely put up.....we've had enough false dawns FFS.

true sky blue said:

what some of our less business sensed fans dont seem to remember is the fact that Sisu entered into a deal to buy the club (with its massive debts) and with a clear agreement to the arena being sold to them as part of the deal. the council put a stop to that taking place. Mutton may have been only the mouthpiece but when the council said the arena will never be sold to Sisu that was when the swords were drawn. Since then it has always been a fight for the arena. the council have paid 14 million pounds simply to enable ACL not to crumble and be forced to sell to Sisu.

so you guys honestly dont think the end game here is ownership of the Ricoh? and your insinuating im mad? your all off your trolleys. its simple: acl or higgs sell at a realistic price under these poor market conditions and we play our football at home. dont sell to Sisu and we play away... leaving ACL to go completely bust. leaving the council left to explain where 14 million pounds of Coventry persons taxes have gone!!

this story by the way is only just beginning, personally i think coventry city council are in deep deep trouble.

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No, they themselves didn't seriously try to buy the arena. Business sense? Yes, SISU have shown a lot of that in their tenure, haven't they? :facepalm:

true sky blue said:

what some of our less business sensed fans dont seem to remember is the fact that Sisu entered into a deal to buy the club (with its massive debts) and with a clear agreement to the arena being sold to them as part of the deal. the council put a stop to that taking place. Mutton may have been only the mouthpiece but when the council said the arena will never be sold to Sisu that was when the swords were drawn. Since then it has always been a fight for the arena. the council have paid 14 million pounds simply to enable ACL not to crumble and be forced to sell to Sisu.

so you guys honestly dont think the end game here is ownership of the Ricoh? and your insinuating im mad? your all off your trolleys. its simple: acl or higgs sell at a realistic price under these poor market conditions and we play our football at home. dont sell to Sisu and we play away... leaving ACL to go completely bust. leaving the council left to explain where 14 million pounds of Coventry persons taxes have gone!!

this story by the way is only just beginning, personally i think coventry city council are in deep deep trouble.

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Haven't seen any evidence to back up the idea that the council have ever actively blocked the sale of ACL, can you provide some? Also when was it agreed that they would be buying the Ricoh, the club share is in ACL not the Ricoh and held by the charity?
I do think that at some point in the future after SISU have been starved out, the club under new owners will get ownership of ACL but I can't see that happening under SISU ownership of the club.

:blue:

Hoff not heard of a mobile phone/Skype?

SonOfSnoz said:

Hoff not heard of a mobile phone/Skype?

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But over the mobile/skype they couldn't use the

Any handshakes – and not everybody shook hands - were purely as a “goodbye” gesture and not as a sign of “deal agreement”

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get out excuse.

true sky blue said:

it all just smacks of desperation, the simple fact is this, when ACL and / or higgs offer to sell he ricoh to our owners we will be back in the ricoh like a shot.

thats the game here guys, its about the ownership of the ricoh, and do you know what - i cant see the council/acl winning here, they will have to leave the arena and allow sisu in simply put to save their own skins. the fans are already starting to realise the mess the council have made of this, muttons comments and the refusal to sell the arena in the past is what has led to this. once the council sit and think through wether they are willing to keep funding the loss making ACL and reach the conclusion they will not be able to because they can not we will be back in the ricoh.

expect the sale to go through in the next 14 days. sisu will win this battle have no doubt whatsoever

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I think it is about the ownership but I wouldnt hold your breath that they would ever sell to a SISU backed CCFC.

Just because TF says it is a failing business does not mean it is. Thats not saying the site is fulfilling its potential though - even ACL directors would say it can do better. The stadium part of the complex may be empty for the time being doesnt mean it will remain that way or that the rest of the complex is not busy or profitable

Just to be absolutely clear ACL in the last 2 years accounts published to 31/05/12 the ACL Group made a total of 1.55m trading profits and had net assets at £6.6m including £3.9m in the bank. Now the situation is not that simple obviously but the assertion it is loss making is not correct at all. Nor is the assertion that it is all councils fault - yes they have made mistakes, all involved have, there is "blame to be apportioned to all involved.......... but the reason the club is in such a perilous position is the rank bad management and financial control of successive owners & directors.

There is no chance of a deal with SISU in the next 14 days regarding ownership of ACL or the Arena

the issue for ACL is whether they can replace the footfall generated by CCFC with anything else. That equates to 325,000 visits on match days season 2012/13.

But it isn't that simple because the actual margin that ACL makes from CCFC excluding rent is apparently £100k (which they were prepared to give to CCFC apparently). Now if you replace the CCFC footfall with say events that pay a greater return the footfall necessary to produce the same is reduced accordingly. Say they achieved a return on events of £200k then footfall requirement would approx be halved to 162k. So that leaves the rent to make up. The old rent is done and gone so forget the £1.3m (yes its in the lease licence agreement but I dont think you would find anyone at ACL expecting to get that. So take it as what they offered last time £400k - that is approx £7,700 pw to find in new business to rent space in the complex. Is that possible - I would have thought so. Especially when CCFC accounts for 9% of ACL income now and ACL still profitable

It is a tough time both club and arena. But there is no deal for ownership likely between SISU, Council or ACL

** edit
nd to be clear yes of course the best deal is for the club and stadium to be joined - it is in everyones interest especially the clubs

James Smith said:

Haven't seen any evidence to back up the idea that the council have ever actively blocked the sale of ACL, can you provide some? Also when was it agreed that they would be buying the Ricoh, the club share is in ACL not the Ricoh and held by the charity?
I do think that at some point in the future after SISU have been starved out, the club under new owners will get ownership of ACL but I can't see that happening under SISU ownership of the club.

:blue:

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Wasn't it in some court papers that SISU had agreed to buy 50% and go halves on the debt but the council then took on 100% of the debt when they refinanced? OR something like that?

Nonleagueherewecome said:

No, they themselves didn't seriously try to buy the arena. Business sense? Yes, SISU have shown a lot of that in their tenure, haven't they? :facepalm:

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you dont think Sisu have shown any good business strategy? they have kept a club alive (when in reality its dead as door nails) with massive debts most companies would have crumbled under. yet we are still alive. you dont think Sisu show good business sense? Sisu have pandered to our fans buy sacking every manager when the fans have a majority asking the manager to go, Sisu have invested in good players with great reputations -only to be let down by the players, Sisu have staved off a proper attempt by the council/acl to have our club liquidated (something our fans seem blind to), Sisu have sought to save this club by manoeuvring the rent issue - wether you as a fan like what they have done or not doesnt matter - the fact is Sisu acted in the best way forward for the BUSINESS .. AND THE CLUB.

You dont think Sisu have kept us from being liquidated? what do you think has just taken place in the last couple of months?

JUDICIAL REVIEW: there is no higher rate of claim than a judicial review. the council have paid 14 million pounds to prop up a business they are partners in!! unless there has been a law change councils can not invest council owned monies into business they have a part in, it unethical and i believe it is against the law. There have been a few cases of council doing this in the past and they have been hammered for doing so. also there is the question : why do the council need to be so closely involved in our club? why?? they have nothing to do with football, they should need to be involved but they are - i am not going to say too much for fear of being sued however do not be surprised to find a proper controversy and scandal hitting Coventry city council in the upcoming months - obviously around the time of the JR

i dont think ive ever heard such a lot of moaning little whiners in my life ... back the owners against the council, the council tried to fuck our club up - when are you deluded mothers going to get it? they started administration proceedings against to liquidate us!!! and yet we still have fans backing the council. pathetic truly.

thanks Tim

Hoffman's offer still sees the club get a hell of a lot more net income at the Ricoh than it would at Northampton. There is no profit in it for him or the other folk putting money in.

in fact - fuck off tim