Ok maybe my choice of words wasn't great either. I don't necessarily believe that they will liquidate the club, however I think there is a possibility. I don't know much about how business works so I am not going to suggest anything as fact. However from rumours I have heard, and looking at things broadly, I do think that they have made money out of us, and have found it fairly easy to "sweep it under the carpet". I think it comes down to asking yourself why were they so keen to buy the club back out of administration and what have we found out from the liquidation process?
Honestly?
My own optionion is they've made bog all money, but instead have had to bung masses into the club;
Ultimately though we're an investment in a portfolio of investments. The choices are either carry on spunking oney and hope it turns round, get out, or tey and do something about it so the investment's not as bad.
The latter's what they've chosen, and the latter's why it's been hardball all the way. Ultimately getting out by just handing over to somebody else probably doesn't get you your cash back after all (would be genuinely interested for Robinson to come forward and say what the deal was re: his debts... but I suspect I'll be dead first before that happens!). Carrying on sending cash into the club clearly doesn;t work either; the club has been intrinsically broken for years.
So the classic thing to do in such circumstances is cut costs as much as possible, make the business look some way together... get out once you have something someone may actually want to buy, as opposed to just take on, on a whim.
The problem comes when it's not really worth your while selling it as-is. What are they going to get for it after all? A pile of debts, only Ryton as an asset, 'goodwill' and a place in the league - nobody's realistically going to do more than just agree to take on the liabilities, and maybe make you a promise of some cash back if success ever comes.
But is that really worth doing? Football clubs tend to survive more on emotion than realism, any other business would have been wound up back when the co-op had enough of Robinson. If you're owned by a business whose sole reason to exist is financial return then the emotion goes out the window. Even then the only buyers are those who are in the business of making high risk investments, and aren't really interested in the sport, more the risk, with less thought as to the consequences of said risk... In fact while most people, it's probably in their interest to 'save' a club, it's probably in SISU's overarching interest to confirm their reputation as hardball negotiators - any loss that comes out of hardball negotiation is probably worth a 'win' elsewhere, as it means you take them seriously when they come in front of you with a proposal.
So I would take the threat of oblivion very seriously if this doesn't pay off. Now to an extent, this all might be good for us as fans long term, as the club's been crippled for years, going round in ever decreasing circles. Something had to give... what I expected to give was the liquidation and oblivion of the club one day - I didn't expect the trauma of this year.
But ultimately the consequences of either club set fair(ish) on a restructured course, or its oblivion and the chance to start again might be better than the slow drip of Coventry Water Torture. Admittedly it's a bit like deciding whether you want cat shit or dog shit for breakfast...
The concern as well probably comes if the club is restructured, moves back to the Ricoh, but still doesn't succeed. What's to be done then? tbh the only other thing I can see is housing on Ryton, but it might be worth considering what other avenues are open after this, before deciding if restructuring is better than oblivion.
