The war is over, time for the peace treaty (1 Viewer)

[Godiva]

It's been a long battle and the collateral losses are unbelievable.

It started with the mismanagement that lead to the club selling Highfield Road and then all stakes in the Ricoh Areana even before a ball was kicked in our state of the art stadium. From that point it was ever really going to one way route to the bottom. With not enough income to cover the costs of the ambition to get back 'where we belong' the club has been losing money each and every year for too many years. Different managements have tried different strategies, but nothing has really worked out. The financial crisis was like a turbo accelerating the drive downhill.

The last battle has been especially exhausting and caused incredible damage (we all know the score) and I can't help using a metaphor: This must be what Coventry looked like in 1945. I am NOT trying to invoke Goodwins law already, but to hint there may be a brighter future ahead.

To end the downward spiral the club need to sit in its own stadium again. The club need to profit from each and every penny being spend by customers in the compound. And the final battle was all about making sure this could happen. From the club owners perspective it was all about taking over ACL or break the lease that bound the club as tenants for the next 40+ years. From the stadium owners perspective it was all about making sure the current club owners didn't take over ACL and make sure the club was taken over by the Hoffman/Elliott/Haskel consortium.
Now that battle is over the club owners achieved one victory: The lease is broken and the club is now in a position to move from tenants to owners of the stadium they play in. Either by building a new or taking over ACL (which isn't actually owning the stadium per se, but you know what I mean). On the other hand ACL lost their main tenants, the main purpose for the stadium, and their stakeholders like Compass, the Casino and all other businesses that profitted from the customers the club brought to them have lost a significant future income.

In the coming months we will most likely see and hear very little from the club owners - as usual.
But at the stadium side I expect quite a lot of activity. The stadium owners can surely not be happy with the outcome of this last battle with the club. They backed ACL's plan to replace sisu with new owners ... Hoffman/Elliott/Haskel the most promising prospects. So they took over the mortgage from YB - and in return got an invitation to visit the High Court to fight the legallity. They may have 'won' the first round there, but there may be more to come. And it doesn't look good when a council is summoned to a high court ... when there's smoke, there's bound to be fire somewhere.
The council also backed ACL in pushing the club into administration, losing all hope of promotion last term. Then they backed ACL when they refused to let the club exit administration causing the club to start the new season with a 10 point handicap ensuring a challeging new season.
All for nothing. sisu are still club owners.

So expect new ACL management in the not too far future. The first sign is CCc members wanting to look into the long term 'sustainabillity' of ACL. But in fact, that is simply the first step to remove the management. The ball is rolling.
And as the club continue to play in Northampton and when there are no more ACL vs Otium skirmishes the council need to back, I will expect a few council members will start to look into the ownership structure of ACL. We already know Higgs want out ... I can imagine the CCc wanting out too. ACL have become a political liability.

I hope the final peace treaty will include ACL being sold to Otium or SBS&L. This will effectively end the downward spiral and bring the team back to the city.
But don't take too long ... if the Council fail to come to terms with sisu, a new stadium will be build and the Ricoh may end as a financial libility as well as a political fiasco.

 

---

[RPHunt]

Quick summary, the war is over, SISU won, movie next week. Yawn....

 

[Sky Blue Kid]

On SISU terms eh? I don't for one minute think this is all "Done and dusted" by any stretch of the imagination!

 

[Astute]

It started with the mismanagement that lead to the club selling Highfield Road and then all stakes in the Ricoh Areana even before a ball was kicked in our state of the art stadium.

Didn't it start with the council stepping in and helping before a brick was laid?


But don't take too long ... if the Council fail to come to terms with sisu, a new stadium will be build and the Ricoh may end as a financial libility as well as a political fiasco.


So what stadium is this and where will it be then? There is plenty of proof one won't be built. Have you any proof that one will? And don't try and mention what Fisher said because his lips moved and we all know what that means

 

[blueflint]

It's been a long battle and the collateral losses are unbelievable.

It started with the mismanagement that lead to the club selling Highfield Road and then all stakes in the Ricoh Areana even before a ball was kicked in our state of the art stadium. From that point it was ever really going to one way route to the bottom. With not enough income to cover the costs of the ambition to get back 'where we belong' the club has been losing money each and every year for too many years. Different managements have tried different strategies, but nothing has really worked out. The financial crisis was like a turbo accelerating the drive downhill.

The last battle has been especially exhausting and caused incredible damage (we all know the score) and I can't help using a metaphor: This must be what Coventry looked like in 1945. I am NOT trying to invoke Goodwins law already, but to hint there may be a brighter future ahead.

To end the downward spiral the club need to sit in its own stadium again. The club need to profit from each and every penny being spend by customers in the compound. And the final battle was all about making sure this could happen. From the club owners perspective it was all about taking over ACL or break the lease that bound the club as tenants for the next 40+ years. From the stadium owners perspective it was all about making sure the current club owners didn't take over ACL and make sure the club was taken over by the Hoffman/Elliott/Haskel consortium.
Now that battle is over the club owners achieved one victory: The lease is broken and the club is now in a position to move from tenants to owners of the stadium they play in. Either by building a new or taking over ACL (which isn't actually owning the stadium per se, but you know what I mean). On the other hand ACL lost their main tenants, the main purpose for the stadium, and their stakeholders like Compass, the Casino and all other businesses that profitted from the customers the club brought to them have lost a significant future income.

In the coming months we will most likely see and hear very little from the club owners - as usual.
But at the stadium side I expect quite a lot of activity. The stadium owners can surely not be happy with the outcome of this last battle with the club. They backed ACL's plan to replace sisu with new owners ... Hoffman/Elliott/Haskel the most promising prospects. So they took over the mortgage from YB - and in return got an invitation to visit the High Court to fight the legallity. They may have 'won' the first round there, but there may be more to come. And it doesn't look good when a council is summoned to a high court ... when there's smoke, there's bound to be fire somewhere.
The council also backed ACL in pushing the club into administration, losing all hope of promotion last term. Then they backed ACL when they refused to let the club exit administration causing the club to start the new season with a 10 point handicap ensuring a challeging new season.
All for nothing. sisu are still club owners.

So expect new ACL management in the not too far future. The first sign is CCc members wanting to look into the long term 'sustainabillity' of ACL. But in fact, that is simply the first step to remove the management. The ball is rolling.
And as the club continue to play in Northampton and when there are no more ACL vs Otium skirmishes the council need to back, I will expect a few council members will start to look into the ownership structure of ACL. We already know Higgs want out ... I can imagine the CCc wanting out too. ACL have become a political liability.

I hope the final peace treaty will include ACL being sold to Otium or SBS&L. This will effectively end the downward spiral and bring the team back to the city.
But don't take too long ... if the Council fail to come to terms with sisu, a new stadium will be build and the Ricoh may end as a financial libility as well as a political fiasco.

sorry but thats absolute bollocks first rate wum tho

 

[RPHunt]

Sticking with the war theme - if you changed a few names, this could easily be mistaken for one of Lord Haw-Haw's broadcasts.

 

[thaiskyblue]

It's been a long battle and the collateral losses are unbelievable.

It started with the mismanagement that lead to the club selling Highfield Road and then all stakes in the Ricoh Areana even before a ball was kicked in our state of the art stadium. From that point it was ever really going to one way route to the bottom. With not enough income to cover the costs of the ambition to get back 'where we belong' the club has been losing money each and every year for too many years. Different managements have tried different strategies, but nothing has really worked out. The financial crisis was like a turbo accelerating the drive downhill.

The last battle has been especially exhausting and caused incredible damage (we all know the score) and I can't help using a metaphor: This must be what Coventry looked like in 1945. I am NOT trying to invoke Goodwins law already, but to hint there may be a brighter future ahead.

To end the downward spiral the club need to sit in its own stadium again. The club need to profit from each and every penny being spend by customers in the compound. And the final battle was all about making sure this could happen. From the club owners perspective it was all about taking over ACL or break the lease that bound the club as tenants for the next 40+ years. From the stadium owners perspective it was all about making sure the current club owners didn't take over ACL and make sure the club was taken over by the Hoffman/Elliott/Haskel consortium.
Now that battle is over the club owners achieved one victory: The lease is broken and the club is now in a position to move from tenants to owners of the stadium they play in. Either by building a new or taking over ACL (which isn't actually owning the stadium per se, but you know what I mean). On the other hand ACL lost their main tenants, the main purpose for the stadium, and their stakeholders like Compass, the Casino and all other businesses that profitted from the customers the club brought to them have lost a significant future income.

In the coming months we will most likely see and hear very little from the club owners - as usual.
But at the stadium side I expect quite a lot of activity. The stadium owners can surely not be happy with the outcome of this last battle with the club. They backed ACL's plan to replace sisu with new owners ... Hoffman/Elliott/Haskel the most promising prospects. So they took over the mortgage from YB - and in return got an invitation to visit the High Court to fight the legallity. They may have 'won' the first round there, but there may be more to come. And it doesn't look good when a council is summoned to a high court ... when there's smoke, there's bound to be fire somewhere.
The council also backed ACL in pushing the club into administration, losing all hope of promotion last term. Then they backed ACL when they refused to let the club exit administration causing the club to start the new season with a 10 point handicap ensuring a challeging new season.
All for nothing. sisu are still club owners.

So expect new ACL management in the not too far future. The first sign is CCc members wanting to look into the long term 'sustainabillity' of ACL. But in fact, that is simply the first step to remove the management. The ball is rolling.
And as the club continue to play in Northampton and when there are no more ACL vs Otium skirmishes the council need to back, I will expect a few council members will start to look into the ownership structure of ACL. We already know Higgs want out ... I can imagine the CCc wanting out too. ACL have become a political liability.

I hope the final peace treaty will include ACL being sold to Otium or SBS&L. This will effectively end the downward spiral and bring the team back to the city.
But don't take too long ... if the Council fail to come to terms with sisu, a new stadium will be build and the Ricoh may end as a financial libility as well as a political fiasco.

please explain why selling to shitsu will end this downward spiral ?, in my opinion selling to them would make whats happening now seem like nothing, and you say they will build a new stadium ?, i repeat again " are you on drugs " ?

 

[skybluetony176]

whats the weather like on your planet godiva?

 

[kmj5000]

Quick summary, the war is over, SISU won, movie next week. Yawn....

No! It's only just beginning!

 

[Moff]

sorry but thats absolute bollocks first rate wum tho

No calling him a wum is absolute bollocks.

Godiva is entitled to his opinion without getting a twatish comment that he is a WUM.

 

[_brian_]

Godiva - you Lady!!! LOL! That's the biggest load of Sh!tsu I've ever read*!

(*I cannot back this claim up with any evidence and it's quite possible that I've fallen foul of using gross exaggeration in an attempt to be liked by the majority of the SkyBluesTalk community. For this I apologise).

 

[NorthernWisdom]

and it's quite possible that I've fallen foul of using gross exaggeration in an attempt to be liked by the majority of the SkyBluesTalk community. For this I apologise.

Your like ratio's shit hot _brian_, more sense from you than anyone else I reckon based on the likes!

 

[_brian_]

Your like ratio's shit hot _brian_, more sense from you than anyone else I reckon based on the likes!

That's nice of you to say, NorthernWisdom! Maybe we could go for a drink sometime. Not in a gay way, just as chums - not bum chums though! Purely a heterosexual, bl00dy blokes kind of drink! Just to iterate, I'm not gay.

 

[thaiskyblue]

No calling him a wum is absolute bollocks.

Godiva is entitled to his opinion without getting a twatish comment that he is a WUM.

twatish comment " what is a wum " ?

 

[blueflint]

No calling him a wum is absolute bollocks.

Godiva is entitled to his opinion without getting a twatish comment that he is a WUM.

why can i not call him a wum as that is exactly what his post is i didn't call him a twat or anything else

 

[NorthernWisdom]

That's nice of you to say, NorthernWisdom! Maybe we could go for a drink sometime. Not in a gay way, just as chums - not bum chums though! Purely a heterosexual, bl00dy blokes kind of drink! Just to iterate, I'm not gay.

Sorry, I didn't quite get if you were gay or not?

 

[Grendel]

why can i not call him a wum as that is exactly what his post is i didn't call him a twat or anything else

The point is he argues his case well and you well - don't. Actually you don't a case at all. Rather like Thailand whatever he's called there's a band wagon and you just roll with it.

 

[Astute]

twatish comment " what is a wum " ?

Wind Up Merchant.....someone that posts bullshit to wind people up....and that post fits very well.

 

[Ashdown1]

What an utter pile of dribble, our Tim couldn't have written all that tripe any better if he had tried !

 

[edgy]

Apart from the last paragraph not suiting some of you, what part of it is "utter drivel"?

It's a sensible summary of events and probably outcomes.

 

[ohitsaidwalker king power]

That's nice of you to say, NorthernWisdom! Maybe we could go for a drink sometime. Not in a gay way, just as chums - not bum chums though! Purely a heterosexual, bl00dy blokes kind of drink! Just to iterate, I'm not gay.

Denial....

 

[Astute]

Apart from the last paragraph not suiting some of you, what part of it is "utter drivel"?

It's a sensible summary of events and probably outcomes.

Start with the two parts I quoted and highlighted the answers. There is more that is blatantly wrong.

 

[Moff]

why can i not call him a wum as that is exactly what his post is i didn't call him a twat or anything else

Ok maybe 'twatish' was the wrong word, and apologies for that.

What I was trying to say is that whether you agree or not I felt Godiva had put across a reasoned argument rather than just a post to inflame. As a long time poster surely you know as well as I that Godiva isn't a wind up merchant.

 

[Astute]

Denial....

Norman and _brian_ should go out for a drink

 

[NorthernWisdom]

What I was trying to say is that whether you agree or not I felt Godiva had put across a reasoned argument rather than just a post to inflame. As a long time poster surely you know as well as I that Godiva isn't a wind up merchant.

Whatever you think of his stance as well, he's always been consistent in his position... so hardly a wind-up merchant.

Not so long ago instead of mindless dribble, a post like that would have had the likes coming out of its ears.

 

[Hobo]

The war is never over. Each individual has their principles and morals. Their is nothing wrong with debate or in fact disagreement. Always respect others views and be open to change. But never accept progress and development is not attainable.

 

[Cheshire Sky Blue]

What a very poor analysis. Clearly constructed to satisfy the authors own views, whilst not really getting to understand the fundamental issues. I do believe that we are entering the end game, there will be no winners, only lasting damage.
Where I fundamentally disagree with Godiva is that SISI being the best owner for either CCFC or the RICOH.

I will make a prediction,(which I have stated before) If SISU gain ownership of the RICOH, they will become landlords to CCFC (That is the club will not own the stadium) The club will be made pay a rent probably equivalent to the rate charged by ACL and the football club will float around in Mediocrity for decades. Not ending the downward spiral, just sustaining it and prolonging the agony. True this scenario could exist with any new owner, but SISU have demonstrated how much they disregard the City and the Fans. My hunch is anyone else is preferable to SISU.

 

[thaiskyblue]

The point is he argues his case well and you well - don't. Actually you don't a case at all. Rather like Thailand whatever he's called there's a band wagon and you just roll with it.

thaiskyblue, band wagon ?

 

[WiganSkyBlue]

It's been a long battle and the collateral losses are unbelievable.

It started with the mismanagement that lead to the club selling Highfield Road and then all stakes in the Ricoh Areana even before a ball was kicked in our state of the art stadium. From that point it was ever really going to one way route to the bottom. With not enough income to cover the costs of the ambition to get back 'where we belong' the club has been losing money each and every year for too many years. Different managements have tried different strategies, but nothing has really worked out. The financial crisis was like a turbo accelerating the drive downhill.

The last battle has been especially exhausting and caused incredible damage (we all know the score) and I can't help using a metaphor: This must be what Coventry looked like in 1945. I am NOT trying to invoke Goodwins law already, but to hint there may be a brighter future ahead.

To end the downward spiral the club need to sit in its own stadium again. The club need to profit from each and every penny being spend by customers in the compound. And the final battle was all about making sure this could happen. From the club owners perspective it was all about taking over ACL or break the lease that bound the club as tenants for the next 40+ years. From the stadium owners perspective it was all about making sure the current club owners didn't take over ACL and make sure the club was taken over by the Hoffman/Elliott/Haskel consortium.
Now that battle is over the club owners achieved one victory: The lease is broken and the club is now in a position to move from tenants to owners of the stadium they play in. Either by building a new or taking over ACL (which isn't actually owning the stadium per se, but you know what I mean). On the other hand ACL lost their main tenants, the main purpose for the stadium, and their stakeholders like Compass, the Casino and all other businesses that profitted from the customers the club brought to them have lost a significant future income.

In the coming months we will most likely see and hear very little from the club owners - as usual.
But at the stadium side I expect quite a lot of activity. The stadium owners can surely not be happy with the outcome of this last battle with the club. They backed ACL's plan to replace sisu with new owners ... Hoffman/Elliott/Haskel the most promising prospects. So they took over the mortgage from YB - and in return got an invitation to visit the High Court to fight the legallity. They may have 'won' the first round there, but there may be more to come. And it doesn't look good when a council is summoned to a high court ... when there's smoke, there's bound to be fire somewhere.
The council also backed ACL in pushing the club into administration, losing all hope of promotion last term. Then they backed ACL when they refused to let the club exit administration causing the club to start the new season with a 10 point handicap ensuring a challeging new season.
All for nothing. sisu are still club owners.

So expect new ACL management in the not too far future. The first sign is CCc members wanting to look into the long term 'sustainabillity' of ACL. But in fact, that is simply the first step to remove the management. The ball is rolling.
And as the club continue to play in Northampton and when there are no more ACL vs Otium skirmishes the council need to back, I will expect a few council members will start to look into the ownership structure of ACL. We already know Higgs want out ... I can imagine the CCc wanting out too. ACL have become a political liability.

I hope the final peace treaty will include ACL being sold to Otium or SBS&L. This will effectively end the downward spiral and bring the team back to the city.
But don't take too long ... if the Council fail to come to terms with sisu, a new stadium will be build and the Ricoh may end as a financial libility as well as a political fiasco.

Just ignore this poster. If every post by this person was ignored then he/she would soon get bored and piss off.

This my last time of responding to this poster

 

[Sky Blue Kid]

@ RPHunt......Or "Comical Ali" in Bagdhad......"We are pushing the Allied forces back over the border to Kuwait".....As forces enter Bagdhad over his right shoulder.

 

[hill83]

Why is everyone calling Godiva a WUM and saying to ignore him/her?

 

[RPHunt]

@ RPHunt......Or "Comical Ali" in Bagdhad......"We are pushing the Allied forces back over the border to Kuwait".....As forces enter Bagdhad over his right shoulder.

Yes he did spring to mind, but I thought the nonsense in the original post was more in the spirit of this gem from Lord Haw Haw:

“The people of England will curse themselves for having preferred ruin from Churchill to peace from Hitler.” ​

 

[fernandopartridge]

He made a reasonable post about where he believes the situation is at the moment. It's based on the respective positions of ACL and CCFC.

Are the following facts true or false?

ACL is now earning £1.2m p/a less than it was with a rent paying tenant

ACL is also earning significantly less in its partnership with Compass due to not staging a minimum of 23 football matches from August to May.

There is absolutely nobody other than CCFC would look to rent the Ricoh Arena and bring in the same level of footfall on a consistent basis.

As a purpose built football stadium, financed partly through public funding, the City Council will face a lot of scrutiny if that football stadium is not put to use, regardless of whether they are to blame or not.

 

[jimmyhillsfanclub]

He made a reasonable post about where he believes the situation is at the moment. It's based on the respective positions of ACL and CCFC.

Are the following facts true or false?

ACL is now earning £1.2m p/a less than it was with a rent paying tenant

ACL is also earning significantly less in its partnership with Compass due to not staging a minimum of 23 football matches from August to May.

There is absolutely nobody other than CCFC would look to rent the Ricoh Arena and bring in the same level of footfall on a consistent basis.

As a purpose built football stadium, financed partly through public funding, the City Council will face a lot of scrutiny if that football stadium is not put to use, regardless of whether they are to blame or not.

Now I do like a good quiz....

I'm pretty confident on all of these....

..Here goes...

True.
True.
True.
True.

How did I do?

 

[NorthernWisdom]

Why is everyone calling Godiva a WUM and saying to ignore him/her?

I don't know! I will do him/her/it the courtesy of a reply as he/she/it deserves it Comments in bold:

It's been a long battle and the collateral losses are unbelievable.

Inarguable.

It started with the mismanagement that lead to the club selling Highfield Road and then all stakes in the Ricoh Areana even before a ball was kicked in our state of the art stadium. From that point it was ever really going to one way route to the bottom. With not enough income to cover the costs of the ambition to get back 'where we belong' the club has been losing money each and every year for too many years. Different managements have tried different strategies, but nothing has really worked out. The financial crisis was like a turbo accelerating the drive downhill.

Indeed. I remember saying when tghe club was set to move it was all very well selling the move on the back of increased gates, but as soon as all revenues bar ticket sales were sold off, increased gates became a bit redundant really.

The last battle has been especially exhausting and caused incredible damage (we all know the score) and I can't help using a metaphor: This must be what Coventry looked like in 1945. I am NOT trying to invoke Goodwins law already, but to hint there may be a brighter future ahead.

Incredible damage indeed.

To end the downward spiral the club need to sit in its own stadium again. The club need to profit from each and every penny being spend by customers in the compound.

It does

And the final battle was all about making sure this could happen.

Well, yes and no. I'd argue it was making sure the club became saleable. Within that, certain benefits to the club might intersect... that's been the straw to cling to throughout SISU's tenure mind you.

From the club owners perspective it was all about taking over ACL or break the lease that bound the club as tenants for the next 40+ years. From the stadium owners perspective it was all about making sure the current club owners didn't take over ACL and make sure the club was taken over by the Hoffman/Elliott/Haskel consortium.

In this, where criticism has been (rightly) aimed at SISU, I fear this has gone largely without comment, that much as SISU manipulated a situation of 'only alternative', there have been attempts to do similar with Haskell/Hoffman/Elliott. Frankly, they're not the only alternative, and nor should they be. Looking forward, a clean break should be a clean break.

Now that battle is over the club owners achieved one victory: The lease is broken and the club is now in a position to move from tenants to owners of the stadium they play in. Either by building a new or taking over ACL (which isn't actually owning the stadium per se, but you know what I mean). On the other hand ACL lost their main tenants, the main purpose for the stadium, and their stakeholders like Compass, the Casino and all other businesses that profitted from the customers the club brought to them have lost a significant future income.

I do get the theoretical point. I still struggle to be convinced the plan B of new stadium would happen though. pictures, details, and it'd have a positive effect in encouraging some more to go to Sixfields now, so it's not in their interest to hold them back if they exist.

In the coming months we will most likely see and hear very little from the club owners - as usual.
But at the stadium side I expect quite a lot of activity. The stadium owners can surely not be happy with the outcome of this last battle with the club. They backed ACL's plan to replace sisu with new owners ... Hoffman/Elliott/Haskel the most promising prospects. So they took over the mortgage from YB - and in return got an invitation to visit the High Court to fight the legallity. They may have 'won' the first round there, but there may be more to come. And it doesn't look good when a council is summoned to a high court ... when there's smoke, there's bound to be fire somewhere.

Hmmm. Unfortunately isn't this he point of the JR application, to introduce an element of smoke without fire? Having been thrown out (note, an application to go before a proper hearing, so not even thrown out at the hearing's stage!) it's safe to say in this particular instance, there is no smoke.


The council also backed ACL in pushing the club into administration, losing all hope of promotion last term. Then they backed ACL when they refused to let the club exit administration causing the club to start the new season with a 10 point handicap ensuring a challeging new season.
All for nothing. sisu are still club owners.

Promotion, relegation, irrelevant to me if the foundations of the club are solid. They're not, and regardless of that, promotion last season was a long shot anyway. As for motivation? I do buy into the 'desire to manipulate a preferred owner' narrative and, IMHO, that needs some digging too. However, it's also undeniable that in a business sense if you're owed money, what are you to do but try and get it back? Rejecting the CVA is maybe more damning, but as the football league ordered them to pay that settlement to ACL anyway (why on earth was this ordered?!?) then from ACL's POV, why wouldn't you reject the CVA? What was in it to accept it? The club breaks its contract, if you get the minimum settlemnent anyway, you may as well fight it further. In business terms, this surely makes absolute sense?

So expect new ACL management in the not too far future. The first sign is CCc members wanting to look into the long term 'sustainabillity' of ACL. But in fact, that is simply the first step to remove the management. The ball is rolling.

Isn't it as simple as politicking beginning? We saw when the Ricoh was built how sides partitioned for and against alongside lines of political advantage. Isn't this just more of the same? It does lead onto...

And as the club continue to play in Northampton and when there are no more ACL vs Otium skirmishes the council need to back, I will expect a few council members will start to look into the ownership structure of ACL. We already know Higgs want out ... I can imagine the CCc wanting out too. ACL have become a political liability.

No more skirmishes? With the CVA rejected, surely room for plenty more skirmishes!

I hope the final peace treaty will include ACL being sold to Otium or SBS&L.

Depends how. I remain to be convinced that owning ACL with their contract as is, is useful for the football club. It's a relatively short contract left for ACL, not appealing for owners wanting to sell on. Interesting you give an 'or' about who to sell it to also, as any deal must surely be specific, making sure it's sold first and foremost to the club.

This will effectively end the downward spiral and bring the team back to the city.
But don't take too long ... if the Council fail to come to terms with sisu, a new stadium will be build and the Ricoh may end as a financial libility as well as a political fiasco.

Back to that new stadium. We wait and see... but you would have to accept the evidence of that happening suggests it's the unlikely alternative as of yet? Surely the more likely choices are club united with Ricoh, or club dies... rather than this third way?