Ray Ranson December 2009 (1 Viewer)

[coundonskyblue]

Coventry City chairman Ray Ranson says that the club are not likely to exercise their option to buy half of the Ricoh Arena any time soon.
Ranson believes that stadium ownership is not his number one priority.
"At some point in the future it will make financial sense to do it," Ranson told BBC Coventry & Warwickshire. "But not at the moment.
"There's a false perception that it solves all our problems, it doesn't. It doesn't even come close."
Ranson added: "We've got other priorities at the moment. The option is until 2015.


"If we're in the Premiership or top half of the Championship with 25,000 people and we've got a team that's established and really doing well, then we'll look at it."
This month marks the second anniversary of Ranson's arrival as chairman, when his company Sisu saved the cash-strapped Sky Blues.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/coventry_city/8390019.stm

What has changed since then? Why is the Ricoh blamed for all our problems now but it didn't seem an issue 4 years ago?

 

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[ccfcway]

we have gone down

lost a lot of our best players

more fans have walked away

Jimmy Saville has been found out

Masood has left his wife for a young Geordie

Ken Delieu sat on a bench

A dog won a talent competition

Petrol is now the same price as gold

to buy a house you need to have won the lottery for the deposit

Fat Pat died

Mark Robins has been dontated to medical science as he has sky blue blood

Starbucks pay as much tax as SISU do in rent

Roy O'Donovan nearly scored

All food contains horse

some guy in america fell down a hole

Gamnam style

Marlon Kings out of prision

Think thats it............

Do me a favour, Dan doesnt know any of this.

 

[WillieStanley]

Not to mention we now have had two different boards with two different agendas since then. FFP has also come in
to place.

What was then a luxery is now a neccessity. Priority then was spend to build. Now its fight to survive.

 

[coundonskyblue]

Not to mention we now have had two different boards with two different agendas since then. FFP has also come in
to place.

What was then a luxery is now a neccessity. Priority then was spend to build. Now its fight to survive.

Are you suggesting then that the Ricoh wasn't a problem then and it has only become an issue due to Sisu's mismanagement of the club?

 

[lordsummerisle]

Coventry City chairman Ray Ranson says that the club are not likely to exercise their option to buy half of the Ricoh Arena any time soon.
Ranson believes that stadium ownership is not his number one priority.
"At some point in the future it will make financial sense to do it," Ranson told BBC Coventry & Warwickshire. "But not at the moment.
"There's a false perception that it solves all our problems, it doesn't. It doesn't even come close."
Ranson added: "We've got other priorities at the moment. The option is until 2015.


"If we're in the Premiership or top half of the Championship with 25,000 people and we've got a team that's established and really doing well, then we'll look at it."
This month marks the second anniversary of Ranson's arrival as chairman, when his company Sisu saved the cash-strapped Sky Blues.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/coventry_city/8390019.stm

What has changed since then? Why is the Ricoh blamed for all our problems now but it didn't seem an issue 4 years ago?

Ranson was just full of shit really, 2 years earlier:

Coventry City's new chairman Ray Ranson plans to return 50% of the Sky Blues' stadium ownership to the club. Ranson's group Sisu Capital took over the Championship club on Friday and saved it from administration.
Coventry's Ricoh Arena was jointly funded by the council and a charity called the Alan Higgs Trust and is run by Arena Coventry Limited (ACL).
"We've negotiated an option to acquire 50% of the Ricoh Arena," Ranson BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek.

606: DEBATE
Give us your reaction to the news about Coventry
"It's a leisure business with a casino, club and hotel - and it's a very exciting package."
Coventry had a debt of around £40million before the takeover, and Ranson added: "I can imagine people looking at the books, but we looked at them slightly differently - and now the club has a fantastic future going forward."

 

[stupot07]

I don't get it - are you trying to say that the rent and no access to match day income isn't an issue at all?

 

[coundonskyblue]

I don't get it - are you trying to say that the rent and no access to match day income isn't an issue at all?

Ray Ranson & Sisu didn't seem to think it was an issue in their early years.

 

[lordsummerisle]

Ray Ranson & Sisu didn't seem to think it was an issue in their early years.

When they first took over as you'll see from my post, they apparently did.

Using anything Ranson says as some sort of "proof" isn't the most reliable.

 

[WillieStanley]

He didn't say it wasn't an issue he said it wasn't a priority. Two very different things. Yes, I am saying it should have been prioritised then.

 

[steveo1987]

Not to mention we now have had two different boards with two different agendas since then. FFP has also come in
to place.

What was then a luxery is now a neccessity. Priority then was spend to build. Now its fight to survive.

Don't forget another club record,5 potential managers in one season

 

[bradwellskyblues]

the fair play rules make a huge difference

 

[coundonskyblue]

When they first took over as you'll see from my post, they apparently did.

Using anything Ranson says as some sort of "proof" isn't the most reliable.

Why didn't they go through with it then?

Your post also states that ACL were more than happy to sell, that blows away a few theories on here.

 

[stupot07]

Ray Ranson & Sisu didn't seem to think it was an issue in their early years.

And? Things change, priorities change. Just because it wasn't the highest priority when they arrived doesn't mean it isn't important now.

 

[coundonskyblue]

And? Things change, priorities change. Just because it wasn't the highest priority when they arrived doesn't mean it isn't important now.

Yes, so going back to my earlier post, WHY is it a higher priority now?

 

[stupot07]

Yes, so going back to my earlier post, WHY is it a higher priority now?

Because we are in a lower league, with lower attendance and lower income and now constrained by FFP the wage bill was slashed considerably last season, and although relatively high this season will be a coupe of million less than last seasons. They will continue to cut the wage bill next season. They looking to cut expenditure and maximise income with the aim of making us break even and become self sufficient.

This isn't rocket science.

 

[lordsummerisle]

Yes, so going back to my earlier post, WHY is it a higher priority now?

You're ignoring that apparently it was a high priority when they took over.

 

[coundonskyblue]

Because we are in a lower league, with lower attendance and lower income and now constrained by FFP the wage bill was slashed considerably last season, and although relatively high this season will be a coupe of million less than last seasons. They will continue to cut the wage bill next season. They looking to cut expenditure and maximise income with the aim of making us break even and become self sufficient.

This isn't rocket science.

All of which the current owners have contributed too.

 

[coundonskyblue]

You're ignoring that apparently it was a high priority when they took over.

Well it couldn't have been that high if they didnt do anything about it.

 

[lordsummerisle]

Well it couldn't have been that high if they didnt do anything about it.

Another reason why anything that Ranson has ever said doesn't need to be taken with a pinch of salt but the whole salt cellar.

 

[Otis]

Yes, so going back to my earlier post, WHY is it a higher priority now?

As I said many, many months ago, if the rent is too high (and at 1.3m it does seem excessively high), then it has always been too high!

1.3m was far too high in the Championship too, so not quite buying the argument.

If as Torch reported the other day, the rent was identified as a big concern that needed addressing, then CCFC and Sisu should have constantly and consistently pressed to negotiate with ACL on the matter from that day forwards.

It was quite clear to myself and many others back in December 2011 that we were all but certain to be relegated to League One.

The rent is far too high, even ridiculously so, but to let it just fester for so long is nothing short of incompetence.

 

[covman]

As I said many, many months ago, if the rent is too high (and at 1.3m it does seem excessively high), then it has always been too high!

1.3m was far too high in the Championship too, so not quite buying the argument.

If as Torch reported the other day, the rent was identified as a big concern that needed addressing, then CCFC and Sisu should have constantly and consistently pressed to negotiate with ACL on the matter from that day forwards.

It was quite clear to myself and many others back in December 2011 that we were all but certain to be relegated to League One.

The rent is far too high, even ridiculously so, but to let it just fester for so long is nothing short of incompetence.

Don't worry Torch will be along in a minute to clear it all up for you. He will make you understand just what a great job SISU are doing and how they are our only option. God help the poor bloke if he is walked all over in every other aspect of his life!

 

[Otis]

I, I think am quite clearly on neither side.

Totally agree that the rent is a complete joke, but at the same time I have to say Sisu have been totally inept and incompetent.

 

[coundonskyblue]

I, I think am quite clearly on neither side.

Totally agree that the rent is a complete joke, but at the same time I have to say Sisu have been totally inept and incompetent.

Which is exactly the reason why the Council doesn't trust them.

 

[Otis]

Yep, well fully understand that.

The two sides do need to bang heads together though. It's gone past the stage of each side having a go at each other. They simply need to do the right thing for the benefit of CCFC and the people of Coventry.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

Don't worry Torch will be along in a minute to clear it all up for you. He will make you understand just what a great job SISU are doing and how they are our only option. God help the poor bloke if he is walked all over in every other aspect of his life!

Do you know of any other options?

 

[shy_tall_knight]

Ransom & co understood the financial position of operating losses when they took over which were partially explained by the high rent but why they never negotiated these down is strange but were they confident of getting us to the Premiership that they didn't give this the attention it deserved.

They bought us to make a financial profit for their investors, have failed miserably and now their solution is just to play "chicken" with our club. I'm sure a deal could have been secured with less secretive owners but SISU have lost the trust and faith of so many.

 

[covman]

Basically Ranson and Sisu's plan was to throw money into the team and get promoted within a few years thus dramatically increasing the value of CCFC. The Ricoh could then be brought by the increased revenue from premiership rights, ticket sales etc... SISU then bottled it at the vital moment and started the cycle of decline. Everything has changed now and they are left floundering. Basically they failed. Unfortunately they fail to admit this and let anyone else take a turn ....and before anyone says there is no one else, how do you know? ....and before anyone else says how do you know there is?I don't! Although what I do know is that this club is going nowhere with SISU based on several years of evidence. Take a risk and GET SISU OUT!

 

[Otis]

And I don't think you need to be on either side to talk common sense.

 

[covman]

Do you know of any other options?

Do you know there are not? How much more of a mess does our club have to be in before you would take a risk and find out? I would rather the club go completely tits up now than carry on watching the slow drawn out death. Where is people's self respect nowadays? I actually pity the people who put up with this crap.

 

[Lord_Nampil]

my worry is the deal Compass have with the catering! We have only heard snippets in the past and in the media about the deal, but if ACL can not offer the club more than what this offer gives us what happens then?

 

[Grendel]

Do you know there are not? How much more of a mess does our club have to be in before you would take a risk and find out? I would rather the club go completely tits up now than carry on watching the slow drawn out death. Where is people's self respect nowadays? I actually pity the people who put up with this crap.

Southampton Leeds Norwich Manchester city forest all have been in this division in recent times. Are you saying they had no self respect or that we are bigger than them?

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

I, I think am quite clearly on neither side.

Totally agree that the rent is a complete joke, but at the same time I have to say Sisu have been totally inept and incompetent.

I couldn't disagree with that.

We need to get a better rent agreement, or, we'll wither away and cease to exist because no sane person would invest in CCFC in our current state.

I do believe that if it weren't SISU negotiating, the fans would be on the CCFC's side, not ACL's and I also think ACL would've compromised by now.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

Do you know there are not?

I don't know that, but I am certainly not willing to risk the future of the club on the possibility that there are.

Why did we sell to the much-despised SISU? Because, presumably, there weren't many other players. The men who got press coverage - from the club! - were a couple of jokers like Dhinsa and David. Now the club is in even worse shape ...

How much more of a mess does our club have to be in before you would take a risk and find out?

We are a league club making an admirable fist of things in L1 with a five-figure fanbase. If we were playing our games at the Memorial Park, then I'd be more inclined to agree with you.

I would rather the club go completely tits up now than carry on watching the slow drawn out death. Where is people's self respect nowadays? I actually pity the people who put up with this crap.

Self-respect would be a collective effort to help the club. Whipping the people of Coventry to support their club, because SISU's interests are really the same as ours. I'm not sure what is so self-respectful about putting the club next to the furnace and then praying for someone to save us.

 

[covman]

Southampton Leeds Norwich Manchester city forest all have been in this division in recent times. Are you saying they had no self respect or that we are bigger than them?

Ha ha, none of those clubs were being mismanaged like we are now! The ones you could slightly compare are Leeds and Southampton who were both taken over by new owners before they started climbing back up the leagues. I'm not disgruntled by our league position so much as being on the verge of extinction. Thanks for substantiating my previous post.

 

[skybluehugh]

And I don't think you need to be on either side to talk common sense.

Well said Otis, I have never thought we should be paying the rent that we were (we are not paying anything at all now, as everyone knows). BUT how they have gone about trying to force ACL out of business and also when it became a massive issue for SHITSU was just another excuse for the mess-up they have over seen