Wasps owner Derek Richardson explains Coventry move and rejects "franchise" tag (5 Viewers)

[Nick]

How do you propose we get CCFC back to where we want them?

And please do offer a better suggestion than lets make £5 million a year and have a go. Soon you will have to accept the inevitable conclusion that this, league one is now our level. Best we can hope for is a short stint in the championship every now and then.

Make 6 million?

 

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[Deleted member 5849]

Wasps have got everything going well at the moment,

Certainly got the tune of self-interest going well...

 

[italiahorse]

How do you propose we get CCFC back to where we want them?

And please do offer a better suggestion than lets make £5 million a year and have a go. Soon you will have to accept the inevitable conclusion that this, league one is now our level. Best we can hope for is a short stint in the championship every now and then.

Then you might as well give up now and let the rest of us get on with it.
Your whinges get longer.

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

Then you might as well give up now and let the rest of us get on with it.
Your whinges get longer.

Why would I give up, I love football, I'm from Coventry, what reason would I have to give up? If everyone gave up because of that reason then Crewe, Walsall, Rochdale, Colchester, Port Vale, Scunthorpe, Notts County would have 0 attendances every week. Would you tell there fans to give up as well as the best they can aspire to is the rare year in the championship and the rest of the time in L1 and 2?

I've given up on ever reaching the top flight, but give up on the club? No not for me

 

[italiahorse]

Why would I give up, I love football, I'm from Coventry, what reason would I have to give up? If everyone gave up because of that reason then Crewe, Walsall, Rochdale, Colchester, Port Vale, Scunthorpe, Notts County would have 0 attendances every week. Would you tell there fans to give up as well as the best they can aspire to is the rare year in the championship and the rest of the time in L1 and 2?

I've given up on ever reaching the top flight, but give up on the club? No not for me

But you sound as if you have if all you aspire to is a rare appearance in the Championship.

We are £5M short on commercial incomes on contenders in the Championship. That's peanuts in the PL and with our potential fanbase maybe irrelevant.
A successful CCFC with fans lapping up merchandise, businesses filling vacant corporate capacity and advertising it becomes just a distant excuse this 365/24/7 reasoning.
With a peppercorn rent, effectively kept low because ACL take the F&B and no stadium debt, in my mind there is a chance of pulling it round.
We just need to get into the Championship, become more saleable and perhaps, just perhaps, Sisu might get an offer they can take.

Sisu have given up and I hate it when I feel fans have done the same.

 

[stupot07]

But you sound as if you have if all you aspire to is a rare appearance in the Championship.

We are £5M short on commercial incomes on contenders in the Championship. That's peanuts in the PL and with our potential fanbase maybe irrelevant.
A successful CCFC with fans lapping up merchandise, businesses filling vacant corporate capacity and advertising it becomes just a distant excuse this 365/24/7 reasoning.
With a peppercorn rent, effectively kept low because ACL take the F&B and no stadium debt, in my mind there is a chance of pulling it round.
We just need to get into the Championship, become more saleable and perhaps, just perhaps, Sisu might get an offer they can take.

Sisu have given up and I hate it when I feel fans have done the same.

What a load of tosh.

So all these teams that have £5m commercial revenue than us because they own or 365 day lease their entire stadium, make money (on top of what we currently do) stadium sponsorship, stand sponsorship, 100% parking, 100% F&B's, more Pitchside/high level advertising, renting out rooms for weddings/functions, etc, renting out the pitch for PL U21's, etc

Forget all of that. We don't need that, only PL rugby teams need that.

And what offer do you expect a buyer to make when they will never own the Ricoh? Wake up and smell the coffee. We're fooked and we're not getting back to the PL for a long time.

This isn't "being the victim", this is looking at the reality of the situation. We are where we are

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - so please excuse any spelling or grammar errors

 

[Moff]

How do you propose we get CCFC back to where we want them?

And please do offer a better suggestion than lets make £5 million a year and have a go. Soon you will have to accept the inevitable conclusion that this, league one is now our level. Best we can hope for is a short stint in the championship every now and then.

Then you might as well give up now and let the rest of us get on with it.
Your whinges get longer.

Thats poor for you Italia.

CCFC writes an honest question about how we get the club back on its feet, and an assessment of the situation, and you basically tell him he is whinging, and should leave it for others such as you to sort out.

First who are you to tell somebody they should or shouldnt support the club, secondly why cant he whinge we all do at times for a variety of reasons relating to the club, and thirdly he raised a genuine point and yet it appears rather than address it you just insult, without telling him how you or 'the rest of us' can actually sort it out.

In my humble opinion you can do better than that.

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

But you sound as if you have if all you aspire to is a rare appearance in the Championship.

We are £5M short on commercial incomes on contenders in the Championship. That's peanuts in the PL and with our potential fanbase maybe irrelevant.
A successful CCFC with fans lapping up merchandise, businesses filling vacant corporate capacity and advertising it becomes just a distant excuse this 365/24/7 reasoning.
With a peppercorn rent, effectively kept low because ACL take the F&B and no stadium debt, in my mind there is a chance of pulling it round.
We just need to get into the Championship, become more saleable and perhaps, just perhaps, Sisu might get an offer they can take.

Sisu have given up and I hate it when I feel fans have done the same.

I just think thats the reality of where we are, as I said in respect of ever getting back to the top flight I have given up. That doesn't mean I've given up on the club though I've just lowered my expectation level accordingly in line with the situation we are in.

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

Thats poor for you Italia.

CCFC writes an honest question about how we get the club back on its feet, and an assessment of the situation, and you basically tell him he is whinging, and should leave it for others such as you to sort out.

First who are you to tell somebody they should or shouldnt support the club, secondly why cant he whinge we all do at times for a variety of reasons relating to the club, and thirdly he raised a genuine point and yet it appears rather than address it you just insult, without telling him how you or 'the rest of us' can actually sort it out.

In my humble opinion you can do better than that.

I suspect in an ideal world italia would have everyone who speaks out against Wasps banned from the Ricoh and just have himself and his merry men supporting Cov in becoming a scavenger and beggar to Wasps table scraps, he'd have us signed up to a long term deal which entitles us to no revenues and probably an increase in rent (the Ricoh is a world class facility after all). The seats are ripped out and changed to black and gold but maybe Wasps upgrade us from a paste table to a regular table and he can talk about how generous and reasonable they are.

We'd rake in the revenues on the new half an half Wasps/CCFC scarves though.

 

[Captain Dart]

Yes, I'm sure the letters editor would provide you with style guidance! Keeping it civil, short and clean is probably sufficient.

But vitriolic, long winded and rambling is much more entertaining!

 

[italiahorse]

All I'm saying is that we are where we are and that the constant Wasps blaming will do nothing. We can't afford a new stadium and if we could it pile us with debt, be poorly supported and actually imho leave us in a worse position than we are now.
The Sisu plan to get round this was to bankrupt ACL and force CCC to sell the complex for peanuts with no tenants.
Whilst this sounds great for CCFC fans in reality all it does is gat round CCFC historic managerial incompetence and for CCC ratepayers is a big no.
I suspect a lot of people on here need to hate Wasps because they still see the original Sisu plan as achievable once Wasps have failed.. Some even slag the fans that go to Wasps because they need to stop going first to force the failure.
Some of us see that as many more years of decline and can't be arsed with it. A lot have gone already.
Okay carrying on at the Ricoh might not get us back to the PL but nothing is 100%, ask Bournemouth.

IMHO if we get to the PL that £5M will be nothing and our fan base will keep us there.

To me this constant whinging just distracts from the real issue which is forcing Sisu to get on with managing our club better or leave. That is where our efforts need to be.

 

[Nick]

Who is blaming Wasps and for what?

Who has slagged the people who go to watch Wasps because of the NOPM style force them out?

 

[EastLancsCov]

What did everyone moan about before Wasps turned up?
You don't like them?? Then don't watch them. Don't read about them. Don't worry about them. Get on with your lives and worry about CCFC instead.
It really is that easy.

 

[Nick]

What did everyone moan about before Wasps turned up?
You don't like them?? Then don't watch them. Don't read about them. Don't worry about them. Get on with your lives and worry about CCFC instead.
It really is that easy.

I think people moan because it could affect CCFC. I am not sure many on here are moaning about Warrington or Wigan.

 

[chiefdave]

This isn't "being the victim", this is looking at the reality of the situation. We are where we are

Spot on, there seems to be a big section of our fanbase who seem to think we just need to get rid of SISU and / or ask Wasps for all the revenues we need and everything will be sorted. Not going to happen.

Unless something drastic happens, either with the whole of football or the Ricoh, we are now on a par with teams like Yeovil and Walsall.

The best we can hope for is to spend the majority of our time in L1 with occasional seasons to the Championship and quite possible occasional seasons in L2, maybe a trip to Wembley in the JPT or play offs. We will never see players like Wilson play to their full potential, we'll get one or two seasons out of them before they are off. We will struggle to get close to filling the Ricoh unless its a big cup tie and over time it will increasingly feel less like our ground as I have no doubt when it comes time to replace the seating, for example, it will not be Sky Blue seats being used.

That's not being the victim, that's the reality of our situation and people need to accept that. For those of us that can remember better days its not a pleasant prospect but its either that or give up supporting the team completely.

 

[italiahorse]

Spot on, there seems to be a big section of our fanbase who seem to think we just need to get rid of SISU and / or ask Wasps for all the revenues we need and everything will be sorted. Not going to happen.

Unless something drastic happens, either with the whole of football or the Ricoh, we are now on a par with teams like Yeovil and Walsall.

The best we can hope for is to spend the majority of our time in L1 with occasional seasons to the Championship and quite possible occasional seasons in L2, maybe a trip to Wembley in the JPT or play offs. We will never see players like Wilson play to their full potential, we'll get one or two seasons out of them before they are off. We will struggle to get close to filling the Ricoh unless its a big cup tie and over time it will increasingly feel less like our ground as I have no doubt when it comes time to replace the seating, for example, it will not be Sky Blue seats being used.

That's not being the victim, that's the reality of our situation and people need to accept that. For those of us that can remember better days its not a pleasant prospect but its either that or give up supporting the team completely.

In your opinion.
I believe differently and that if we don't make the best of the situation we are in we will just disappear.

 

[chiefdave]

In your opinion.
I believe differently and that if we don't make the best of the situation we are in we will just disappear.

It is my opinion you're right but all the available evidence suggests it is correct. We've seen comparative revenues from when we were last in the Championship, we've had independent experts on CWR and in the CT and the only club in a comparable situation to us, Stockport, have been in freefall.

The argument against seems to be to magic millions out of thin air.

 

[italiahorse]

It is my opinion you're right but all the available evidence suggests it is correct. We've seen comparative revenues from when we were last in the Championship, we've had independent experts on CWR and in the CT and the only club in a comparable situation to us, Stockport, have been in freefall.

The argument against seems to be to magic millions out of thin air.

No the argument is to make an effort to turn it round. The club shop is a classic waste of money and without doubt the same commercial incomes are controlled by the same incompetent people.
We can do so much better.

 

[stupot07]

No the argument is to make an effort to turn it round. The club shop is a classic waste of money and without doubt the same commercial incomes are controlled by the same incompetent people.
We can do so much better.

You're talking about the ineptitude of the shop, etc, now.

We comparing championship revenues/turnover/finance 3-4 years ago, way before Sixfields, when we had a decent club shop onsite, had decent sponsorship, had a larger active fanbase.... The commercial side wasn't that bad 3-4 seasons ago.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - so please excuse any spelling or grammar errors

 

[hutch1972]

All I'm saying is that we are where we are and that the constant Wasps blaming will do nothing. We can't afford a new stadium and if we could it pile us with debt, be poorly supported and actually imho leave us in a worse position than we are now.
The Sisu plan to get round this was to bankrupt ACL and force CCC to sell the complex for peanuts with no tenants.
Whilst this sounds great for CCFC fans in reality all it does is gat round CCFC historic managerial incompetence and for CCC ratepayers is a big no.
I suspect a lot of people on here need to hate Wasps because they still see the original Sisu plan as achievable once Wasps have failed.. Some even slag the fans that go to Wasps because they need to stop going first to force the failure.
Some of us see that as many more years of decline and can't be arsed with it. A lot have gone already.
Okay carrying on at the Ricoh might not get us back to the PL but nothing is 100%, ask Bournemouth.

IMHO if we get to the PL that £5M will be nothing and our fan base will keep us there.

To me this constant whinging just distracts from the real issue which is forcing Sisu to get on with managing our club better or leave. That is where our efforts need to be.

force CCC to sell the complex for peanuts . that is exactly what they did do ,was it not ?. Add to that the probable loss of 20 years interest on the loan and you have a total f..k up.

 

[EastLancsCov]

I think people moan because it could affect CCFC. I am not sure many on here are moaning about Warrington or Wigan.

But that's not the fault of Wasps, Richardson or the Cov Telegraph. There's only one person/organisation to blame. The bitterness towards Wasps is pointless and a little bit sad really.

 

[Nick]

But that's not the fault of Wasps, Richardson or the Cov Telegraph. There's only one person/organisation to blame. The bitterness towards Wasps is pointless and a little bit sad really.

Who is the one organisation? Must have been Ann Lucas holding the Gun to Wasps and the Council's head.

Who can blame Wasps for moving for monetary gains? My gripe is the inconsistency of the press and fans.

 

[torchomatic]

No, there's not one person or organisation to blame:

SISU - for fucking up
CCC/Lucas - for selling to Wasps despite saying a club "should never be ripped from its community"
Derek Richardson/Nick Eastwood for...well, ripping their club from its community

SISU and Richardson are two peas in a pod. Money is all that matters. Fans don't. It's all in black and white now.

But that's not the fault of Wasps, Richardson or the Cov Telegraph. There's only one person/organisation to blame. The bitterness towards Wasps is pointless and a little bit sad really.

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

Okay carrying on at the Ricoh might not get us back to the PL but nothing is 100%, ask Bournemouth.

IMHO if we get to the PL that £5M will be nothing and our fan base will keep us there.

That would be great if we get a billionaire prepared to bankroll a charge to the premier league in the way Bournemouth but those sort of things don't happen to us.

Its absolutely SISUs fault that Wasps are here, had we never left then I'm sure they would have never arrived. The bitterness towards Wasps is understandable, again using the ex analogy that has been used for, if someone who you still love gets with a new guy. You aren't gonna then be best chums with that person regardless of how great and amazing you think he is, it's human nature.

The only ones who aren't upset are those who were against the club getting the Arena under SISU because they either disapproved of the methods or just distrust of the owners, now we will never get the Arena under any ownership for at least the next 250 years.

Its the reality of where we are now, unless something drastic happens L1 is our level.

 

[hutch1972]

I really despair at some of our supporters , anyone who can see just one thing right about this situation has not got ccfc truly in their hearts.
First we got stripped by our own council, then they financially rape us for years ,and finally whilst scrambling around for our trousers they allow a team of LONDON gypsies to shaft our rear end again.
"But its not their fault" i hear time and time again, maybe its not but its not ours either.
The sporting supporters of this city , along with all the media should hang their heads in shame with the ease of which they accepted this situation.
Remember that most of the newspaper hacks along with the radio commentators are not coventry born people and so couldn't give a shit either way , but to have city fans kissing the arses of these people is truly soul destroying.

 

[italiahorse]

You're talking about the ineptitude of the shop, etc, now.

We comparing championship revenues/turnover/finance 3-4 years ago, way before Sixfields, when we had a decent club shop onsite, had decent sponsorship, had a larger active fanbase.... The commercial side wasn't that bad 3-4 seasons ago.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - so please excuse any spelling or grammar errors

I'm not the one saying that revenues will never be good enough for the Championship. I'm saying they should be with a bit of effort. If Sisu , as others, think it's not worth the effort then it will never happen.

 

[italiahorse]

I really despair at some of our supporters , anyone who can see just one thing right about this situation has not got ccfc truly in their hearts.
First we got stripped by our own council, then they financially rape us for years ,and finally whilst scrambling around for our trousers they allow a team of LONDON gypsies to shaft our rear end again.
"But its not their fault" i hear time and time again, maybe its not but its not ours either.
The sporting supporters of this city , along with all the media should hang their heads in shame with the ease of which they accepted this situation.
Remember that most of the newspaper hacks along with the radio commentators are not coventry born people and so couldn't give a shit either way , but to have city fans kissing the arses of these people is truly soul destroying.

So CCC should have not let Wasps have it and waited for Sisu to make an offer some time in the future whilst trying to bankrupt ACL and planning a new stadium.
Sisu fucked up at our expense and you know it.

 

[italiahorse]

force CCC to sell the complex for peanuts . that is exactly what they did do ,was it not ?. Add to that the probable loss of 20 years interest on the loan and you have a total f..k up.

Sisu have already quoted it was not worth it even at that price. Previous to that the offer to Higgs was a charitable £2M for something they said had no value.
Get real.

 

[stupot07]

I'm not the one saying that revenues will never be good enough for the Championship. I'm saying they should be with a bit of effort. If Sisu , as others, think it's not worth the effort then it will never happen.

No you're saying that with a little bit of effort we can easily make £5m on top of what we used to make in the championship and that will make us a force in the championship, despite the fact ranson, sisu, pre-sisu, fletcher, robinson, maginnity, etc have all struggle to make the required revenue in a venue we only have 23-26 matchday access to and limited access to revenues.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - so please excuse any spelling or grammar errors

 

[italiahorse]

No you're saying that with a little bit of effort we can easily make £5m on top of what we used to make in the championship and that will make us a force in the championship.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - so please excuse any spelling or grammar errors

No , on the graphs shown we need to generate £5M in the championship to be competitive. Not an additional £5M.
If a successful CCFC in the Championship with 20K + crowd can"t make £5M from commercial revenues then those responsible need sacking.

 

[Nick]

Sisu have already quoted it was not worth it even at that price. Previous to that the offer to Higgs was a charitable £2M for something they said had no value.
Get real.

Not a bad offer when you look at it was it, sounds about right that £2m.

 

[italiahorse]

Not a bad offer when you look at it was it, sounds about right that £2m.

Didn't they also want It unencumbered ?

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

No way we'd average over 20k in the championship now, I'm not even convinced we'd beat our 15k when we got relegated.

 

[italiahorse]

No way we'd average over 20k in the championship now, I'm not even convinced we'd beat our 15k when we got relegated.

I disagree.
We need to be winning and pushing for the top though.

 

[Nick]

Didn't they also want It unencumbered ?

Did they?