The original business plan didn't work and phase I ended as textbook example: Shuffle at the board, sacking of AB and eventually RR (don't buy into this whole 'resigning' spin).
The emerging new business plan will involve buying the Ricoh Arena to make sure the club sees more revenue. The original plan was to buy the Arena when the club got promoted, but alas - that didn't happen. The original plan said it would not make sense to buy the Arena when still in the Championship as the added income would not make up the added costs. I still believe this to be true, but the option on the Higgs owned part runs out in 2013 and so the time is running out.
If the club can get the other half at a cut down price, then it would - maybe - just make sense to buy the rest at the 10mio price tag.
So the next step is to get in investors - not to buy players - but to buy the Arena.
The new boards main objective in the short run is to bury all the negative publicity and get some good vibrations going. With all the negative wibes there is no chance in Hell new investors will come in. And the club needs new investors - not as a replacement for SISU, but to get more wallets to share the risk and lessen the burden SISU is carrying alone at the moment.
Should the board manage to gain some positive momentum then more faces will turn up at the gates and maybe the club can finally get into black figures.
I fear their task is quite immense and that failure is more likely than success.
Success would require the team to get out of relegation trouble next season - on an even tighter wage pot than this season. It would require the supporters to think and talk positively about the club. It would require the new CEO to be open and well respected by the supporters. It would require the board to stay silent for the most of the time and even more importantly - it would require unity at the top including SISU, the board, the chairman, the CEO and the manager.
It is positive that they have managed to get in enough money to stay in business, but I am quite sure that if that money came from SISU they will come with a label: This is the last penny this club will get from SISU!
Phase II failure is quite easy to achieve. Should the team get relegated then there will be no mercy. The are no way the club will get through a season in league 1 without losing a lot more money. In that case SISU will pull the plug and most likely wind up the whole thing saving what little they can.
Another easy road to failure is keep overspending and not be able to attract new investors. The 'stick to the budget responsibility' will be placed at the CEO but the 'get new investors responsibility' will be SISU's. If the CEO fails then SISU's task will become even more difficult.
Interesting times are ahead. Will it be a quick failure or a long haul success?
The emerging new business plan will involve buying the Ricoh Arena to make sure the club sees more revenue. The original plan was to buy the Arena when the club got promoted, but alas - that didn't happen. The original plan said it would not make sense to buy the Arena when still in the Championship as the added income would not make up the added costs. I still believe this to be true, but the option on the Higgs owned part runs out in 2013 and so the time is running out.
If the club can get the other half at a cut down price, then it would - maybe - just make sense to buy the rest at the 10mio price tag.
So the next step is to get in investors - not to buy players - but to buy the Arena.
The new boards main objective in the short run is to bury all the negative publicity and get some good vibrations going. With all the negative wibes there is no chance in Hell new investors will come in. And the club needs new investors - not as a replacement for SISU, but to get more wallets to share the risk and lessen the burden SISU is carrying alone at the moment.
Should the board manage to gain some positive momentum then more faces will turn up at the gates and maybe the club can finally get into black figures.
I fear their task is quite immense and that failure is more likely than success.
Success would require the team to get out of relegation trouble next season - on an even tighter wage pot than this season. It would require the supporters to think and talk positively about the club. It would require the new CEO to be open and well respected by the supporters. It would require the board to stay silent for the most of the time and even more importantly - it would require unity at the top including SISU, the board, the chairman, the CEO and the manager.
It is positive that they have managed to get in enough money to stay in business, but I am quite sure that if that money came from SISU they will come with a label: This is the last penny this club will get from SISU!
Phase II failure is quite easy to achieve. Should the team get relegated then there will be no mercy. The are no way the club will get through a season in league 1 without losing a lot more money. In that case SISU will pull the plug and most likely wind up the whole thing saving what little they can.
Another easy road to failure is keep overspending and not be able to attract new investors. The 'stick to the budget responsibility' will be placed at the CEO but the 'get new investors responsibility' will be SISU's. If the CEO fails then SISU's task will become even more difficult.
Interesting times are ahead. Will it be a quick failure or a long haul success?