The Future (2 Viewers)

[RogerH]

When we finally come out of this SISU nightmare, and someone else takes us over, possibly Gary Hoffman and his backers, are we sure that this would take us to a better place ? Might we be exchanging one set of faceless money men for another? Would we end up 3 or 4 years down the line in the same place we are now ?
For these reasons, I believe that whoever takes over has to undertake a complete reconstruction of the club in the interests of the long term well being of the club. It is essential that the board is made up of people who have Coventry City Football Club at heart rather than people who see personal profit as the goal. Of course there has to be the expertise to undertake the complex issues that a modern football club has to deal with, but there has to be a completely different focus. I believe the club needs to become more community focussed, at the moment it is totally detached from the supporters and the City.
I think that the club should be given back to the supporters in the form of 51% of the shares, with a maximum of £100 worth of shares per person, and no minimum, so that, for example, if 4 year old little Johnny slaps his £1 coin on the table, he gets a share. I also believe that there should be a suitable supporter representation on the board, as a voice of the shareholders, and also to provide checks and balances to ensure that boardroom decisions are genuinely in the best interest of the club.

A credible board should open negotiations with the Higgs Charity to exercise the option to purchase the half share in the Ricoh Arena. Along with that, a meaningful relationship should be established with Coventry City Council to promote the Arena for the benefit of both the football club and the City of Coventry. It is a wonderful asset which should be maximised. Any success the football club enjoys raises the profile of both the Club and the City. I would appoint one board member as the Council liaison officer, the task being to establish a friendly working relationship with ACL or whoever manages the Arena.

The only thing about the club as it is now I feel proud of is the Academy, which should be encouraged to carry on the excellent work it does, and expand the scouting side so that all promising young footballers in the Midlands are given the opportunity to join the Sky Blues academy.

All these things I have mentioned have at their heart the long term health and well being of the club. I think that some supporters need to take a more realistic view of what Coventry City can achieve. Of course, if run properly, this club could once again achieve Premiership status, but never at the expense of the health and future of the club. Blackpool and Burnley have recently played in the PL but made it clear they would not break the bank to stay there. They will no doubt be challenging again for promotion in a few years. Norwich and Swansea are well run clubs who may enjoy more than one season in the top flight, but should they be relegated, will bounce back. They are similar size clubs to us and provide a template for us to follow.

I am old enough to remember how Jimmy Hill completely reconstructed the club in the 1960s, the people of Coventry were made to feel involved in what was happening, a truly wonderful era to be a Coventry supporter. Who says we cannot achieve something similar 50+ years on.

Just a few thoughts from a Sky Blues fan of 55 years standing.

 

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[Skyblue4u]

Way too many fonts

 

[Covfather]

I'll be still reading this..

 

[bamalamafizzfazz]

What a fantastically positive thread.

This is exactly what should happen. A shining example which should be followed is from Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga. Schalke were a team with successes in the in the early to mid 1900s and fell to almost extiction between the 70s and 80s but have taken a complete transformation in the last 10-20 years. The most pivotal point being,

5th December 1994
"The club constitution is changed. A supervisory board, whose members appoint the managing board, is installed. In doing so Schalke lead the way for the rest of the Bundesliga. The new constitution brings to an end the process of restructuring the club, in which debts approaching 20 million marks are paid off."

This is very much along the same sort of lines as you are describing RogerH and is achieveable if new owners include the fans and bring community back to Coventry City. If Hoffman is the man behind a new potential takeover then I am sure as a Cov lad he would welcome this type of approach. The fans are able to vote in and out senior management at the club as they have a credited membership status recognised by the club, the FA and the league.

Unlike what has happened at City, Schalke embraced their new stadium and fought tooth and nail to keep it even during tough times and it is the cornerstone of the business and the club's successes. I agree that the only way that the club can ever be transformed after these dark times is by taking that step to acquire the stadium and using it as the potential spectacle and tourist attraction that it could be.

I am sure many on here are aware of how Schalke is run and if not please take the time to have a look through their website as it is a really interesting read and for me should be used as a benchmark that Coventry should wish to emulate if any success can be brought back to our club.

 

[RogerH]

Links

For anyone interested in how football clubs should be run below are a few links, 2 about Swansea and 1 about football trusts. Food for thought
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...er-owned-model-says-Huw-Jenkins-article785602
http://www.swanseacity.net/page/SupportersTrust
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supporters'_trust

 

[RogerH]

Bamala.. Read about Schalke, very interesting, I thought I read somewhere that German clubs had to have some element of supporter ownership ?

 

[blueflint]

great post i remember the hill years with great affection we built a team from scratch got promoted and carried on the building.oh how we need that commitment now :blue::blue:

 

[oldskyblue58]

Totally agree with the principle RogerH. The fans need to own the club to a great degree. Would question some of the mechanics including minors having shares, or no limit on how many shares can be owned but thats a side issue. We must be more radical in our approach, simply going back to the same old forms of ownership and finance simply means the same old results.

Which ever way we do it though we need to prove proper financial control before the club could approach the Charity for the shares, that will mean dealing with the losses and some hard decisions and pain. The current financial day to day problems still need to be addressed before anyone at ACL will take any offer seriously. It wont necessarily mean we can get the investment we need immediately but it could stop the rot and provide a basis to build from. I also think that the hard decisions would be better supported because fans will understand why and feel involved.

But I agree with you we need proper fans involvement

 

[ajsccfc]

Bamala.. Read about Schalke, very interesting, I thought I read somewhere that German clubs had to have some element of supporter ownership ?

51% club member ownership according to here, although it points out that this can have drawbacks too - http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2010/03/11/fan-ownership-the-bundesliga-model/

 

[bamalamafizzfazz]

Ok, so having done a bit of reading this is exactly the sort of thing that should be promoted. I know a lot of people have a negative opinion about the Sky Blues Trust but it is accredited to Supporters Direct and is a tool that could be used to drive the current owners out of our club. The website has not had any articles since July 16th, is the trust still going?

I seem to remember that Natalie Cox stood down, is it time for Brinner and/or Ashbyjan to get involved with this as it could be a way for the fans to get a stake in our club?

I wouldn't know where to start with this but I am sure I have seen Ashbyjan talk on here before about the lack of action taken by the Trust to safeguard our club.

Can anyone shed some light n this at all??

 

[Covstu]

i think it is a really good idea however we would still continue to struggle with funds to push the club onwards. I still think that some fans are thinking that it will be all good when whoever takes over the club, they are still going to have to run a club riddled with debts and making a massive loss each month.

 

[oldskyblue58]

i think it is a really good idea however we would still continue to struggle with funds to push the club onwards. I still think that some fans are thinking that it will be all good when whoever takes over the club, they are still going to have to run a club riddled with debts and making a massive loss each month.

Thats what I meant about the difficult decisions Covstu, those issues are still going to be there and for a new ownership of any sort to be credible they have to rectify the losses and debt. A model that could work may be a mutual in much the same way as Coventry Building Society is. But no one should expect a smooth ride or that some the decisions taken by SISU are not the ones that will be necessary under new owners. we simply cannot continue to make losses and that affects expectations on the pitch

 

[@richh87]

I know we're talking about the bigger picture and the future here - but if any admin read this I think a songs page like Shalke's is a brilliant idea:

http://www.schalke04.co.uk/Schalke_Songs.php

That way any songs people come up with can be easily spread amongst our support.

 

[ICHAN]

Whoever/if anyone takes over it is going to still be a bumpy ride until things get sorted out and settle down there is not going to be a miracle happening where we suddenly become a big side punching above our weight so to to speak whatever division this maybe in.

 

[@richh87]

Whoever/if anyone takes over it is going to still be a bumpy ride until things get sorted out and settle down there is not going to be a miracle happening where we suddenly become a big side punching above our weight so to to speak whatever division this maybe in.

You're probably right Ichan.

If (big if) the takeover does happen before SISU sell all of our better players then i'd expect there to be money to add to the squad and possibly challenge next season. We'll see. I guess we can't be certain of anything.

 

[skyblueinBaku]

Importantly, fans' involvement in the club means that they would understand the strategic decisions made, even if they meant more pain. No more being kept in the dark.

 

[ICHAN]

It is a big if as well rich unfortunatly.

I think everyone is also dreading the January transfer window more than any other that has gone before, because either 2 things are going to happen.
1) Sisu sell anyone who anyone wants to buy from us, and this could affect 2.
2) We need to be taken over pretty much as/before the transfer window opens (which is looking very slight in happening) for any new owner chance in buying anyone to help strengthen the team, and also if they want there own manager which will take time as well, time which we just don't have on our side.

If sisu do sell anyone who is saleable, is this an indication of them trying to get any money they can get before they walk into the sunset with most fans boots up there arses, or will this be the usual thing that we are now used to where they just sell to try and balance their books without showing any commitment to try and get their money back by investing into the club on the playing side and try and make a last ditch push for any kind of success (think we are all well aware this won't happen) as they have proved themselves to have no ambition on this side, they tried when they first came in, but they just totally abandoned that plan and have been chasing their losses ever since.