Contrasting fortunes of Southampton and Coventry after SISU bids
1:20pm Thursday 3rd November 2011
IT’S a look at what might have been for Saints.
As the league leaders travel to the Midlands to take on third bottom Coventry at the Ricoh Arena on Saturday, Saints fans will get a glimpse of how different life might have been.
It was just over five years ago that London based hedge fund SISU tabled an offer to buy Saints but, having got nowhere with it, completed a deal for Coventry.
For several years it seemed as though it was Saints who were the club on the back foot, suffering boardroom disputes, relegation and administration while the Sky Blues harboured hopes of a
Premier League return.
But now, having been rescued by
Markus Liebherr, it is Saints who are riding high again whilst Coventry are on something of a downward spiral.
They are saddled with debt, were looking at the prospect of administration themselves not long ago and the fans have been protesting against their owners.
There is one familiar face amongst it all.
Former
Southampton PLC chairman Ken Dulieu, pictured left, who resigned after the SISU bid for Saints fell through, is now chairman at Coventry.
For Saints fans, who had to endure the Coventry celebrations when the sides met at the Ricoh Arena in the first match after their SISU deal went through, it will be a day for reflection on a crazy period for the club that is now consigned to history.