This week: It’s 50-up for the Lamptey boys, and they celebrate in the only way they know how; with absolutely no mention of the special occasion. Following Joey’s meeting with the main men at the Council, it includes a special guest appearance from his partner in crime for that discussion – Andy Powell.
Contains plenty of chit-chat about what happened against Bradford too.
Enjoyed listening as usual. However, I have to disagree with your pessimism about the possibility of City returning to the Ricoh in the not-so-distant future. In the podcast, Paul raised many issues about ACL / the Council’s position that lead me to believe that sooner rather than later, they are going to have to come to terms with the club / SISU. In fact, it’s a pity that Paul didn’t interview the ACL / Council men himself as I think that most of the points he touched on (the impossibility of drawing a big-name sports franchise to the stadium, the inability to develop the land around the stadium etc.) reveal that the ACL / the Council position is untenable. Personally, I think it’s patent that neither side can continue with the current situation that they find themselves in for much longer. Furthermore, the ACL / council stance must eventually have political consequences; I’m out of touch with Coventry politics after 23 years in Spain, but surely a council that is cutting back on jobs will have to answer questions about pumping taxpayers money into a stadium at some stage. When are the next elections? Furthermore, when the club first moved to Northampton, most of the blame seemed to be apportioned to SISU but since then it seems (at least judging by the forums) that more and more questions have been raised about ACL / the council’s role. SISU are not in much better shape and after woefully misjudging the fans’ reaction to the move to Northampton face years of pumping more money into a club that is losing thousands every month. I know that the accepted opinion is that they have millions to spend, but surely logic dictates there will come a point when investors will want a return on their money. Unfortunately, however, logic has dictated very little in this farcical comedy of errors, but I think (hope, pray…) that we will see negotiations that take the club back to Coventry before the end of the season. Come May I will possibly be wondering how I could have ever been so optimistic, but the political and financial implications that the two sides are facing must eventually have an effect.
For what it’s worth as one quarter of the show, I agree with you Paul. Obviously this is all interpretation at this stage – so I can understand how the guys may have read the meeting differently – but from what I heard it felt as though there’s a recognition that a resolution needs to be found. Which is positive. AL and JS have met which IS a step forward, and there has been no backlash from either side – it’s strange to think in those terms, but after everything that’s gone on, that in itself feels positive too.
The crux clearly comes around this ownership/rental impasse between ACL/Council/Sisu, and the fact that each side wants a different resolution. It’s delicate, but I’m not too sure that’s completely insurmountable either, now, as you say, they must be starting to recognise the implications this’ll have in the long term. Nobody can move forward while the current limbo remains.
It’s hard to have any basis for an opinion while so little is being disclosed by either side, but at least they’re talking to each other in some form. That was the first barrier that needed navigating – we all agreed on that. Now for the compromise, which will take time I’m sure. But I won’t give up hope off the back of this latest round of insight. I see no reason to.