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IT'S becoming depressingly inevitable that in any given week Coventry City will concede at least one horrendously freakish goal and experience some sort of off-the-field resignation.

This week was no exception, as again I was forced to watch the agonising highlights of our clash with Brighton from behind the sofa. The Football league show is fast becoming the scariest programme on television.

There was no solace to be sought off the field either, as Ken Dulieu became the 4000th person to resign from a position at Coventry City in the last 6 months.

To The Board of SISU,

Over the last few years the loyal and passionate fans of Coventry City have endured no information or little information.

You have been responsible for making a very proud and ground-breaking family club into the laughing stock of the Football League.

You have sold our best players. Despite promise after promise to put things right, these promises are as empty as your bank account.

We are second from bottom of the Championship, 6 points from safety, but still you do nothing!

Do you really think we will swallow the fact that one of the best Scouts in the Football League is unable to find ONE Premier League player that is willing to come to Coventry on loan when the rest of the Championship are signing 3 or 4 each?

AS an extremely tumultuous chapter in the Coventry City story drew to a close last night, it's fair to say that things aren't half as bad as they could have been.

Thanks to a combination of Blackburn's lavish spending and Cardiff's pursuit of Ben Turner, we were able to hold on to both our club captain and our only goal scorer this season.

Add to that the fact that we were able to recruit an outfield player, and low and behold, it feels like Christmas has come early.

UPROAR will no-doubt be the order of the day once Ben Turner's inevitable move away from the club is sealed.

I am of course being fairly presumptuous, given that Turner is currently only on the verge of leaving the Sky Blues. We know all too well that transfers can have an irritating tendency to crumble at the eleventh hour, as we've often found out to our detriment.

If he is to leave, he can do so with his head held high.

Gary Hoffmans formal bid has been received by Coventry City.

We have waited a long long time to hear such good news, but i feel the waiting will go on for a little longer yet.

As I explained in my earlier article, SISU don't give a jot about our Club, they are asset strippers, the plan was to take us into the Premier League by borrowing money from the Bank, with their investments as security.

Then came the Credit Crunch and the investments didn't look so rosey to the Bank, and so our slow journey into the abyss began.

Make no mistake, SISU have got themselves into a huge hole here, they own something that stands them £20 million plus, the Bank have told them to sell it by the end of the season or they will foreclose.

Now Gary has come along and offered them £1 for it, yes, they will take on the considerable debts of the Club, but they will not pay the £20 million SISU owe back to the Bank.

Let me take you back to last time we were in this position.

We had been relegated and not reacted well to it, we were days away from Administration and the possibility of being wiped off the League table.
SISU came along and offered £1 for the club as long as all shareholders gave up their shares for nothing, to some people, like Geoffrey Robinson, that meant losing Millions of pounds, SISU took it to the wire and wouldn't shift, we were half an hour away from goodbye when the shareholders relented and handed the shares over.

They did that because, like us, they love this club more than anything, and would do anything for it.

SISU are a totally different animal, they don't care a cows bum about this club, all they want is a profit on their investment, or at least their money back.

If rumours of the formal offer are to be believed, GH is doing the same as SISU did, and asking them to walk away for nothing.

It will take more than that to persuade such hardnosed people to walk away having failed.

Under such circumstances SISU would no doubt think that putting the Company formed for the purchase of the club into administration and walking away without any liability whatsoever would be the better option.

I think that, such was the reception on Saturday, there will be a compromise and we will win the day.

But hold on tight and expect it to go to the wire.

A very strong rumour persists that the Transfer Embargo that hit The Sky Blues last season has still not been lifted.

Under League rules we were allowed to sign a Goalkeeper because our two senior keepers had come to the end of their contracts and left the Club.

Joe Murphy was a free agent, so he wasn't subject to transfer rules, neither was the young prospect from Northampton Town.

Sources close to the Club have told me that SISU have still not paid money owed to Bolton for our very brief loan signing, and that is the reason why we haven't signed one outfield player, not even on a free transfer or loan.

Until that money is paid we will not be allowed to sign anyone, and although SISU's Bank have agreed to fund the wages and rent, this is only until a sale can be agreed, with the Bank setting a time limit of the end of the season.

Had the Bank not agreed to this, the Club would have gone into administration and the Bank would have lost everything.

It has been well documented that the money "pumped into the club" by SISU, is just a loan, a loan that would be paid back to SISU when promotion to the Premier League was realised.

Unfortunately for SISU their profits have taken a dramatic downturn since their takeover of the club, and so any further investment in the team has not been possible.

But that leaves a huge mess.

SISU cannot sell the Club for £1 because they need to pay the Bank back, Gary Hoffman and his investers will not pay SISU's Bank back, they may have made some kind of offer to pay SISU when promotion is ours, but, as previously mentioned, the Bank have set a deadline of the end of the season.
They could, perhaps, be persuaded to extend that deadline, but that would mean far higher interest rates, something that wouldn't be commercially viable.

So, that gets us to where we are now.

SISU owe 20 million plus to the Bank, and now need to sell something with very little value at all for £20 million, nobody with a Central Nervous System would pay anything like that for our beloved club and take on such huge liabilities.

That leaves Administration, something that should have happened at the end of last season, giving us the summer to regroup and get new people in.

A ten point deduction would not be the end of the world at this stage of the season, if we could get new investment in fast, signed 4 or 5 quality players and bank roll a couple of high profile loans i think we would be ok, and perfectly capable of a top six finish, but as we all know SISU's byword is Brinkmanship, and they will go to the last second to get something substantial out of this deal.

Gary is doing everything he can, all we can do is keep up the protests up and show how much we love this Club.

Tottenham, or Chelsea, or SISU or anyone, they won't defeat us, we'll fight til the day is won!!

PUSB


SISU have challenged Gary Hoffman to "show them the money".

Is that because they are serious about slinging their hook, or is it that they have forgot what a lot of money looks like?

The Company accounts make very interesting reading indeed.

In 2005 SISU'S filed accounts show a balance of £511,611.00, a year later the balance was over £9 million, and in 2007 it rose again to £11.3 million.

Then the bubble burst, after a slight drop in 2008 to £9.5 million their world came tumbling down to just £1.9 million in 2009, falling again last year to just £1.1 million.

The only assets they have left have names and numbers on their backs! and will, in all probability be sold as quickly as possible, starting with the Captain to Leeds, Juke to the highest bidder and Ben Turner joining Birmingham to name but three.

I call on every Coventry fan in the land to turn up to the Norwich game and stage a protest to get these Leeches out of our Club, before they suck us dry, and I also call on every Creditor of the Club to call in their debt immediately.

I would rather start the season on -10 points and with Andy Thorns fighting spirit than watch our mortally wounded club on its knees with the Vultures circling above.


PUSB's

Strong rumours abound that unless there is either new investment in the Club, or a takeover is completed in the next four weeks the Club will be forced into Administration.

The Club have been mortgaging everything in their grasp for months to keep afloat, including securing "payday"loans on forthcoming money from the League, but that will only cover 2 months outgoings, and with no income being generated from gates for a few weeks, things are looking pretty bleak.

The problem with securing any decent kind of loanee from the Premiership has nothing at all to do with the move not being quite right for the player, but the fact that SISU are not willing to guarantee the payments for the duration of the loan, or, indeed, invest another penny in the Club prior to any proposed takeover in the Club.

The only thing they will be interested in now will be stripping enough assets to minimize their losses.

We know how good SISU are at Brinkmanship, they took the Club to within half an hour of Administration to get the deal they wanted, and it will take that kind of nerve to secure a deal to get them out, they are not bothered about Coventry City and have never been interested in Coventry City, all they are interested in is a return on their investment.

This Football Club has a beating heart, a rich history and a very loyal and passionate fanbase, it should not be treated as some kind of high interest account.

SISU, this is one battle you will not win, please go and go now, or face the wrath of the City of Coventry and beyond.

The Nazi's couldn't break the spirit of Coventry, so what chance do you think you have got??


PUSB



The biggest pre-season game for Coventry City has already kicked off and looks to be far from a friendly affair.

Coventry City fan and successful businessman Gary Hoffman has achieved what many others have failed to do over recent years and has found real financial backers who are prepared to pump an initial £30 million into Coventry City to bring an end to the shameful antics of the current owners. SISU have assembled what they deem to be a high flying board with the ability to reduce or at least slow the leak in the CCFC finances and are clinging to their investment in the hope that it can become the cash cow that they hoped it would be.

According to reports the initial offer of £1 plus a commitment to invest an immediate £20 million to make the club financially stable and to strengthen the playing squad (at last) with a further £10 million allocated to buy half of the Ricoh Arena. This has been rejected by SISU for a technicality saying that it was not received on the correct headed paper. Reading between the lines, which we have to do as we never seem to hear any news of consequence from the current board, the offer is either not enough to satisfy the SISU exit policy, the club is actually not for sale as per the Chief Executive Paul Clouting's statement or is there so much bad blood from Hoffman's previous tenure as Vice Chairman that SISU just do not want to sell to him!

Dealing with the options one at a time, an offer of £1 may not seem attractive, but balanced with the fact that SISU have shown no intention of investing hard cash in the club and must surely be running out of assets to liquidate to cover losses now, has to be valued at £6 million per year with a promise of all of their losses refunded if the club becomes successful. Even as a first offer that does not sound too bad to me, especially when you consider that there is very little evidence of cash being invested by the current owners other than the sale of players, prozone and loans against next seasons income.

To hear a Chief Executive stating that "the club is not for sale" cannot possibly be true. Everthing and indeed in football everyone has their price, which brings me to point 3. Gary Hoffman resigned as he was unhappy with how SISU were (and are) running the club and made it public knowledge what we all feared. Has that caused such a breakdown in relationship that this takeover can only be seen as hostile. I truly hope not for the future of Coventry City as this shambles has gone on for way too long. We thank SISU for "saving the club" in 2007 but they are now making it worse and we have the opportunity of real investment with a fan at the helm. Please put aside your differences and get this resolved.

Whatever the result the club will continue in some format long after the SISU v Hoffman battle has completed so lets play nicely lads and then we can start talking football and not finances for once.

So once again we find ourselves on the brink of financial disaster, a transfer embargo and a ten point deduction before we have even kicked a ball in anger.

The way our precious Club, and the fans of our Club are being treated is nothing short of disgusting.

The writing was on the wall a long time ago for SISU, like i said in my last article, why invest in a failing football club if you are not prepared to invest in the infrastructure of that Club and take it forward?

And then, when Gary Hoffman gives them a way out of the black hole that they have created, the Brody Bunch don't like the paper it's written on!

SISU, it doesn't matter who you draft in to sit around your table (Paul Clouting apart) to listen to your weird and wonderful suggestions to "turn this club around". Neither does it matter who you try and prevent from having a voice around that table, because those people are part of the Sky Blue Army, and care passionately about our club and the people that support it through thick and thin.

I am sure I speak for just about every fan of Coventry City when I say, SISU, you are not wanted at our Football Club any more, and you are not welcome at our Football Club any more, this Footbal Club belongs to us, irrespective of who's name is above the door.

You have bought this Club into disrepute and made it the laughing stock of the Football League, you have lied to us and treated with utter contempt, the hard working and loyal fans of Coventry City Football Club,

Please now, do the decent thing, pick up the phone to Gary Hoffman, arrange a meeting as soon as possible, agree to the deal put forward, sign it without delay, and close the door on your way out!

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