Coventry City in crisis

With Coventry supporters continuing to protest against owners Sisu and the team facing the prospect of relegation, the future looks bleak for the Sky Blues, writes Adam Bate.

When Coventry City host Sheffield United on Thursday as part of Sky Sports’ series of 10 Football League games in 10 days, the spotlight will shine on the home side. Not everyone associated with the club will be comfortable with that. Coventry are in crisis.

It’s not just the team’s position in League One that’s contributing to the gloom surrounding the Sky Blues, although that’s bad enough. Coventry lie in the relegation zone, only one point off the bottom and seemingly heading for the fourth tier for the first time since 1959.

Nor is it merely the uncertainty over the leadership since Tony Mowbray’s resignation in September left long-time assistant Mark Venus at the helm. They are now on a run of five defeats, with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink understood to have rejected the chance to take over.

There’s a bigger issue that continues to exercise the bulk of Coventry fans. It’s the Sisu hedge fund that many supporters blame for the club’s dismal fortunes. They have presided over the most miserable period in Coventry’s history – and it’s getting worse.

Sisu acquired the club in 2007 but five years on they were down in League One and, by 2013, playing 30 miles away at Northampton’s Sixfields Stadium. Rows over unpaid rent, frozen bank accounts and transfer embargoes were hallmarks of a club in a mess.

Now back at the Ricoh Arena, they still do not own their own stadium – something Sisu boss Joy Seppala admits is “critical” – with no signs of an imminent solution. Seppala is an unpopular figure, although chairman Tim Fisher once quipped she deserved a statue in her honour.

Far from resolving the problem, land has yet to be acquired for a new ground and the club is already into the option period on their match-day lease. Wasps, the rugby club who now own the ground, have halted talks regarding an extension beyond the summer of 2018.

Sadly, the stadium is one of a myriad of issues. Wasps move into the academy site next year. Even the training ground is eyed for a housing development. Court cases and disputes engulf the ownership – directly or indirectly – with key figures at odds with the city council.

How great is the …

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