Always happy to cause yet another ruckus...if only to receive the burden from the regulars ;-) I have no idea why I don't post on here all the time really. It's a fantastic place for an intelligent, well-reasoned and polite exchange of views and information.
It's simple: when you are – quite rightly – blaming SISU for many of our current problems, you need to be aware of all of the people that operated under the SISU banner and how they contributed to the situation
- Ranson & Onye as the instigators, with SISU heralded as the saviours from our previous owners who had got us relegated and into financial troubles, losing our ground etc.
- The other directors such as Hoffman, Brody, Dulieu etc.
- More recently Seppala, Fisher, Labovitch, Deering etc.
Maybe someone can ask Hoff for more information on Ranson's conduct as Chairman, his contract and the investigations into those just prior to his resignation? It's not to damn them or praise anyone else by default, it's about making sure that 'anyone but SISU' doesn't end up with us in a deeper pile of shit than we are now. (And if you don't think that's possible, look into how Stockport County have fared since we played them in our first game post-Prem relegation.)
The reason we have so much debt is down to the failures following the Ranson/SISU takeover. Ranson whining about SISU turning the tap off is absolutely priceless. The reason SISU are hanging on is because they don't want to write it off / nobody wants to take any of that on. Why shouldn't the boards that operated under SISU's ownership take any responsibility?
Ultimately, as OSB has pointed out in his thread today, the way of taking over the club is complex and will take time and 'not be a repeat of past mistakes'.
There is no quick or easy solution to this. Any bid must (a) tempt SISU, (b) not burden the club future (c) not be do a deal at any cost (d) not be a repeat of past mistakes (e) only be in the best interests of the club......... going to be very hard to balance all that, especially if SISU playing hard ball and doesn't need to sell
(For the record, I never wanted SISU/Ranson here in the first place. I was one of a very few people at the time who refused to hand over our shares. They were carpetbaggers having hawked their way around the country trying to grab any failing club they could on the cheap and having a hedge/hybrid fund in tow raised all kinds of red flags. I've been anti-SISU for longer than 99% of Cov fans and it was only when the administration saga started, with the unnecessary refusal of the CVA & subsequent points deduction, that I realised that they weren't 100% to blame (still more to blame than others tho') and that any solution to CCFC's problems would have to involve all the warring parties coming to some kind of mutually agreed solution rather than each trying to tip the others over a financial cliff.
Losing the Ricoh was a massive blow to the club and completely shut off an easy departure route for SISU. As much as people might have hated them getting any access to ACL etc., it would have given as the possibility to see them off and the club / new owners would have an asset.
That's all in the past now and we're fucked really. With the club breaking even(ish) and Joy seemingly happy to just sit on the situation we're further away from an exit than ever...unless one of these hail Mary bids gets any traction and even then, we could be repeating the same mistake we made when it was 'anyone but BR/GR' and SISU were hailed as saviours.)