Ranson Interview, part 3

23 December 2010 11:20
Club finances, The Ricoh and regrets In the third part of the Ray Ranson Interview with the Coventry Telegraph, the City chairman speaks about the options about buying The Ricoh Arena, sales of players and the state of the club's finances. C.T: Having had a taste of the sort of crowd the club can attract for the Leeds game, are you hopeful that gates will improve in the second half of the season? R.R: “Yes I am always hopeful of that because A, it generates more income so the shareholders don’t have to fund the losses and B, it creates a better atmosphere in the ground for the players to play in, which has got to be a big help for them and has got to be a bit more intimidating for the away teams." “So for those reasons and nothing to do with Ray Ranson, I do hope we convince the fans over the next couple of weeks that we are going to hopefully have a successful season.” C.T: What’s the current state of play regarding the club’s finances? R.R: “We are still losing a hell of a lot of money per week, per month and per year but until we get bigger gates or exercise our option to buy the stadium, that will be the case. To run the wage bill that we do, we run at a substantial loss but thankfully we have got good shareholders and we run a tight ship because we haven’t got that additional income." “We haven’t got gates like Derby and we don’t own the stadium and that additional revenue so it is tough. We are totally reliant on season tickets, shirt sales and TV money and that’s it, but I have brought Brian Phillpotts in, who I have know for a very long time and who is an ex-Premier League and Football League commercial director and he has had a huge impact in a short space of time, albeit it with limited resources, but everyone is straining at the leash and working hard to turn the football club around both on and off the pitch, so I have got no complaints from my side." // '); // ]]> “In fact it is quite the opposite because everyone is doing their best and we have got a lean and mean team, both at the Ricoh and at Ryton  and everyone pulls on a Coventry shirt in the morning." “If you look at the commercial team, in the summer we signed a national sponsor in City Link and there are some Premiership clubs struggling to get shirt sponsorship.” C.T: What’s happening regarding the ownership of the stadium? R.R: “We can’t afford to exercise the option and that’s it. I think the day we get in the Premier League then we have a conversation about it but, until then, we are a tenant and very well looked after by ACL and that’s where we are.” C.T: Three years on from taking over at Coventry, are you as driven and excited about the project as you were on day one? R.R: “Yes I am actually. I have had my moments and I wasn’t best pleased 12-18 months ago when we sold Scott Dann and Danny Fox, but we have recovered from that and I look round and I think we have made a great impact  and on the odd occasion I go to Ryton it is a pleasure to drive in there and see a really fantastic working environment and a squad of players who have got a chance." “It’s not Carrington but it is fantastic compared to when I first arrived when you wouldn’t have kept pigeons there. So we have made a huge impact in the last three years. “Because of the limited revenue sources we don’t own the stadium but I like to think we have had a huge impact on and off the pitch. If you look at the squad of players we have got and it’s all good.” C.T: Do you think that given how well Scott Dann has done in his career since, that losing him set back the club’s progress? // '); // ]]> R.R: “Yes. I came here to build a young team capable of gaining promotion and sustaining that, so to lose two players that I brought in and I did bring them in, it was disappointing and set us back a bit. "With all due respect to the lads we have got now, if we had Scott Dann and Danny Fox in this team, I think we would be a real force, but we have got some good players and they have moved on but I would rather have kept them than sold them, but that’s market forces in football for you.”

Source: FOOTYMAD