another miscommunication (5 Viewers)

[SydneySkyBlue]

They are not football people, and you'd do very well indeed to find owners who care less than they do about a club

This.

TA is correct in saying that it's SISU's prerogative whether they "invest" in us any further but that doesn't help poor little Coventry City does it?

Even the puppets that they've put in charge of our club are struggling to convince them to fund us. They simply don't care about us. It was an investment of theirs that went south over 2 years ago and they've been trying to cut their losses ever since.

The original plan of bringing young talent in on the cheap was working well in my opinion. You had a great scout in Andy Thorn and a footballing brain in charge in Ranson. It may have taken longer than other clubs who simply threw caution to the wind but with the likes of Westwood, Fox, Dann and Gunnarsson we were slowly building a good team.

Then for some reason, and I assume it was the credit crunch, SISU moved the goal posts and not only did the funds dry up but they started forcing us to sell.

Ranson could the see the way it was going and this is why he threatened to resign when we sold Fox and Dann. He has also since said that had SISU backed him with the necessary funds the likes of Jordan Henderson and Andy Carroll may have been Coventry City players.

The moment that SISU gave up on CCFC as an investment it was always going to go downhill.

Yes it's SISU's prerogative what they do with their money but until they're gone we're going to stagnate and possibly be relegated.

We need people in charge of the club who care about its plight, it's as simple as that. With Hoffman you have not only a City fan but a banking expert under whom the club would be in safe hands. The sooner his consortium takes control the better.

 

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[Nonleagueherewecome]

And we haven't even been given a formal explanation of why they changed strategy, we just have to assume it's the credit crunch. But we don't know for sure and we never will. Even Ranson doesn't know-I think his words were "for some reason, SISU's plan changed".

The communication from these owners has been the worst I've ever known. At least with BR his scams were prettty obvious, what with his cheeky scamp grin as he shafted us an all...

 

[cloughie]

Please define 'lost' for me.
Have they lost all or how much do you think they have lost.

And also please explain why they should leave.
Is because you want them to or because you think they will want to leave at this point.

They came into CCFC with a view to quickly turn us into a premiership club and make a good return on their investment. They have failed and their gamble has not paid off. They will have wanted to leave a long time ago but are in limbo of continue to loose money or get out now and take what they can get. How can any one, except sisu, know how much they put in to CCFC.

 

[Jack Griffin]

I don't think SISU ever wanted anything more fom the club than a quick buck (in a 3-4 year time frame for promotion, then a sell-on). It all went tits up when the financial system needed rescuing & their asset values collapsed, now they are just trying to cut their losses & get the hell out.

Presumably the negotiations centre around whether SISU are prepared to take a hit on the losses they incurred. I imagine the figure they are thinking of is £0 & Mr Hoffmann is probably saying they have to swallow £5-10M plus.

It won't get settled soon I feel, as SISU will be in a better relative position once the new footy finance rules come into force at the end of the season, if the club has not been relegated that is. If relegation comes & I fear it will, we could well be in League One for 3-5 years, don't scoff, it happened to Norwich, Southampton, Leeds, Stoke & Sheffield Wednesday amongst others, we're overdue a visit unforunately.

I have never been so disheartened about the plight of the club I support.

 

[Godiva]

Look, SISU was never the initiating part in the takeover three years ago. Equity funds simply does not work that way.
Somebody came to SISU and presented a business opportunity, a vision and a plan.
And that somebody was Ranson. It was Ranson who wanted a football club in the first place - never SISU!

Ranson headed the take over negotiation but in constant close contact with SISU. During the long talks and many meetings a budget was formed and when everybody were ready to sign the dotted lines the budget was frozen.

Sadly the income declined as the credit crisis and Colemans defensive style of football kept many fans from going.
It is always pretty easy to budget costs, but income is more tricky as so many factors are out of the clubs control. Any sales manager predicting next years sales will tell you this.

When income is down and cost is on budget the club run out of money. What do you do? You go to the bank and ask for more credit. In our case the bank is SISU and they agreed to more credit - new loans. Extended credits always comes with conditions - cut more cost, increase income, decrease the deficit, and if those conditions are not met then at some point ANY bank says 'stop, no more'.

But saying 'no' to further credits is not the same as calling in the loans and look for a way to get out.
When SISU last winter - after two years - said no, Ranson and Hoofman had no other alternative than to resign.

A New board has apparrently produced a new plan and a new budget, and subsequently SISU have again extended the credit. But be damned sure that the plan is focused on getting income and cost in balance, which is the only road to long term survival.

It is often said that SISU have lost on their investment. Tell you what - they have lost exactly £0 till now. They have provided a lot of millions to the club, but all the money are listed as loans in good standing. This means that the loans are assets of full value in SISU's accounts. They will not have lost anything until they accept an offer that buy the loans with a discount.
And one more thing about the loans - the club does NOT pay interest!

Calling for new owners/investors are ridiculous at the moment.
If we got new owners they will be investors too. They will also place their investments as loans (as this is how it's done), but there is no guarantee they will not demand an interest.
New investors will want a return in the long run - just like SISU, and the only way to achieve this is to match income with cost. If no further income is provided, then costs must come down - and players sold and replaced with freebies.
The only thing that will change with new investors is the board. New faces will sit in office, but their objectives will be exactly the same as the current (and previous) board.

A new chaiman could be Hoffman - a lifelong supporter. But he can only be succesful if he manage to balance the books. Otherwise he will suffer the same faith as Ranson.

SISU are here to stay, and there is not much we can do about it.
If you can't get the one you love ...

 

[Nonleagueherewecome]

Well I guess we'll have to beg to differ on every single point you make there. I think you're wrong, you think I'm wrong...just please understand why I think you and a few others are SISU moles because I will never, ever, be able to see things from your perspective and still call myself a CCFC-or even a football-fan. Sorry.:blue::blue::blue:

 

[SydneySkyBlue]

Godiva, if we applied that logic we'd never progress.

Yes when a new consortium takes over at a football club they are looking for a return on their investment - of course - but at least there's that initial input of funds!

SISU stopped putting any real investment into the club 2 years ago, now they're happy just to keep the club afloat while they wait for an offer they deem suitable - god knows how long that will take. It's definitely not in the best interests of our club though.

So we either continue like this and very probably get relegated or we have a fresh input of funds from a new board, stay in the league and go from there.

Ok we may be in the same position again in a few years' time depending on what the input is and how we're run but at least we'd stop this rot. No?

 

[Jack Griffin]

Cracking post Godiva. The most important sentences are......

"the (current) plan is focused on getting income and cost in balance"
"Tell you what - they have lost exactly £0 till now"
"(Hoffman) can only be succesful if he manage to balance the books"