whatever you say about SISU they saved us from going bust. OK they aint rich Arabs but they never claimed to be and at the time we would have gladly accepted anyone to help us which they did...did we have much choice??
I would love to be a fly on the wall to see what SISU do or plan. They won't make much money unless we get promoted or own the ground and we can't do that without investment.
I can't say I am aware of all the ins and outs and the boardroom politics, and all of the SISU take-over history - I will use the excuse of being 1000's of miles away. So please forgive me if I am way wide of the mark with my views.
It appears to me that SISU have taken on something with a huge amount of historical bad management which SISU are having to deal with. For whatever reason the new stadium is not ours which is a bad situation especially when you look at all the extra income generated from other events, which I guess the club see none of. The question is was the club in a position to even build the Ricoh in the first place at the time they decided to? From what I can gather the club is loosing a huge amount of money each year, how much is this is down to previous regimes? Are we a club that is actually punching above its financial weight?
I would love to see Coventry challenging for the Championship title and back in the premier League and all those goals - but I would not want that at the cost of the club's existence itself. Conversely I do not want to see relegation. But do we as fans not need to become more pragmatic in our expectations and support SISU? After all they took a risk and saved the club from administration which, if it had happened, would have already seen us as a league 1 club. We are not going to be attractive to any potential investors without ownership of the ground which also suffers from a lack of fans. I am also at a loss as to why a city of nearly 310000 people cannot at least 80% fill the stadium, even through the tough times we're going through. Could something as simple as market research give some pointers as to why people do not go to games? I am sure the product (an unsuccessful team) is a huge factor - but we were in a promotion place early in the season, surely that should have attracted a few more fans. Why else do people not turn up each week? What would entice them? Does the club do fan days, reduced ticket prices and so on (I know that sometimes can be a problem from the point of view of a season ticket holder).
Perhaps behind the scenes SISU are doing a good job of financial management but for whatever reason are not communicating that with the fans, more transparency would help one way or another.
There, that's my 10 NZ cents worth, which at the current rate of exchange is equal to my 4 English pence worth.
good article bish wish i knew the answers just keep hoping that things turn round and support comes back along with promotion and a team that doesn't colapse after xmas imp:
to add a positive spin on a dire situation, put yourself as a Blackpool fan 2 years ago. A Team of nobodies but introduce some shrewd, cheap buys with an attacking mentality & hey presto. It is down to the Manager to buy wisely, within budget via a network of old boys doing the scouting. This simpler model needs to be adopted here assuming a rich Shiekh does not fancy the CCFC life!
Buying Robbie the robot Simpson shows how not do do this, by way of an example of how poorly CCFC have purchased. Look at jokebox this year. Deary me, mamby pambied through a sterile youth system endemic in the UK, sold to us & he is so poor it beggars belief. A waste of money for someone who hardly played a competitive match since he was 10!!
Feel the force everyone & do not give up. Being a lifelong fan means trials & tribulations all the way.
great points, the club cannot go forward without the fans....the only revenue the club gets other than the club shop which must be a pittance of what is required to build a team let alone buy even half the stadium. We as fans need to look at ourselfs and no matter how crap we are playing need to get behind the team. Derby get over 30,000 a week, leeds in league 1 got over 30,000 a week as did Man City and so many other clubs that are now on the up. We obviously aint one of those and never will be without support, people need to get real. Its strange we dont have the support, being in such a fantastic cactchment area with no near rivals, so its down to marketing in the local areas amongst other things....
To be fair we have Birmingham, Villa and Leicester that are within 20 miles so the catchment area isn't massive.
We have never had a massive fan base and I think even in the Premier League our attendances were not the best and are attendances now are no way near the worst in the Championship.
It is ok saying it is down to the fans to put bums on seats but after the show the last 2 weeks at the Ricoh why would people want to waste their money? It isn't the fans fault the club don't own the ground so don't make any money and it isn't the fans fault that finances are shocking.
It has actually just lately started making me angry and in a bad mood leaving the Ricoh which it hasn't ever done.
fair enough we have leicester villa and blues within around 20 miles but coventry has over 300,000 people living in it not to mention Leamington,Warwick,Rugby,Nuneaton and stratford.
For reasons unknown, Rugby and Nuneaton people seem attracted to verminous Foxes, while Leamington, Warwick and Stratford favour The Villains. I do however, accept that the people of Coventry should be encouraged to support the team, especially during the lean times. I never consider it fair that We are compared to Derby and Leicester, as both are county towns who have no other clubs to compete with, so in effect draw a smaller percentage of their respective catchment areas than us. During many seasons at Highfield Road, we could only dream of Crowds approaching 15,000. Another team that we are compared with, Norwich City are also the county town of Norfolk and the same occasion applies.For instance, in the case of Leicester, they could only muster an embarrassing 25,000 in their cup final against us, which approx. 2.78% of their 900,000 catchment, while our average of 16000 equates to approx.5.33%. Almost twice that of the foxes. And with just a hint of success, we no that fair weather fans could double that figure. The same could not be applied to the others.
I always have and will buy a season ticket and always will, because i could never imagine life without them. PUSB