Thrashed 5-0 at home in the FA Cup; managed by an
Australian Rugby League coach; facing an uphill battle against relegation, we
can at least be thankful that Coventry City Football Club still exists. And for
that we can be grateful to Ray Ranson and Sisu.
However, Mr Ranson is going to need an enormous amount
of good judgement and good will to make a success of things. It is clear that
the biggest challenge he faces is how to balance a more hands-on role with the
need to keep out of the manager’s hair. Geoffrey Robinson invested a lot of
money in the club, either personally or through his family trust. But he wasn’t
directly answerable to as many people as Ray Ranson is. He could afford to say
to Micky Adams or Iain Dowie: “You’re the expert, you stand or fall by your
decision. If you really believe that so-and-so can make a difference, here’s
what we can afford.”
Ranson’s position is different. Those who have invested
a small fortune in saving the club in anticipation of its success and
profitability, expect Ranson - a football man - to be actively interested or
even involved in what’s happening on the pitch.
In welcoming Ray Ranson to the club and thanking him
for all he has already done for it, I would beseech him to be honest with
supporters. It doesn’t do much for public confidence when every twelve months
for the last seven years, the chairman of the board has been telling us, “Sorry,
we got it wrong. We need to sack the manager.”
As in any business, with a change of boss or after a
boardroom coup, there comes ritual back-stabbing. There may or may not be good
reasons for parting company with Iain Dowie. But let’s be clear about a few
things. Dowie accepted the job with the requirement to get the club back into
the Premiership within three years, only to find that anticipated funds to
enable him to do so were not forthcoming. So don’t let’s blame Dowie that his
team was not full of glittering young stars. And don’t forget that when he did
invest a few bob in Leon Best, it was the straw that nearly broke the camel’s
back.
It is crucial that Mr Ranson gets his message across.
It began badly with minority shareholders being inadequately informed about the
share situation. And then, after Mr Ranson had been down to Ryton to sack his
manager, he sought to appease public concern by saying that he didn’t think that
the chairman should be seen at the training ground. Why on earth not? Might the
chairman of Peugeot have boasted that he had never seen the shop floor or the
new models in production at the Ryton car plant? I remember 35 years ago
standing next to Derrick Robins on the touchline at an ‘A’ team game at Ryton.
He wasn’t there in order to tell his employees how to do their job; he was there
to witness how the young talent at the club was progressing, to see the
development of young people for whom, as chairman, he had ultimate
responsibility.
The messages you bring, Mr Ranson, are vital ones. Your
personal involvement is important. But please get your PR right, please be clear
with the public, and please be clear with your new manager, whoever he may be.
This club has been through years of turmoil. An awful lot now depends on you.
Jonathan Strange,
Chairman
Wembley, London
February 2007.
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