Jordan: Takeover deal is not ‘do-able’
FORMER Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan has claimed Sisu are “riding the Hogwarts Express” over their valuation of Coventry City.
The 49-year-old claimed he has made enquiries with “people that are in touch” with the club and backed off after classing the price tag for the Sky Blues as “living in Narnia”.
Mr Jordan told the Telegraph in January that he had looked at investing in the club a few years ago and that he could be interested in being part of a takeover consortium.
He seems to have followed that interest up but told Jim White’s talkSPORT show this afternoon that a takeover deal was not “do-able” because of Sisu’s stance.
When asked by Mr White about his interest in City, Mr Jordan said: “That’s not a deal that’s do-able.
“I spoke to various people that are in touch with that club and these guys are living in Narnia.
“They are riding the Hogwarts Express about what they think they can get for that club.
“So unfortunately for Coventry fans I think that’s got to go a bit further down the chain.”
The Telegraph has asked Sisu for a comment. More than 20,000 people have signed the Telegraph petition calling on the club’s hedge fund owners to put the Sky Blues up for sale after nine years of failure under their ownership.
The club is bottom of League One, ten points from safety, with this fifth season in the third tier of English football likely to see a drop into League Two. The one bright spot is a return to Wembley in the Checkatrade Trophy final on Sunday April 2. The club’s deal to play at the Rioch Arena runs out in summer 2018, the Academy’s deal to use the Alan Higgs Centre expires this summer and the first-team training base at Ryton is being lined up for a housing development. The Telegraph is currently banned from talking to City players and staff following its call for Sisu to sell up and go. Asked whether he thought Coventry supporters would have to live with Sisu a bit longer, Mr Jordan added: “I just can’t see a deal that’s do-able until these guys get realistic about what they can and can’t get for a football club that is in freefall.
“It’s all well and good that producing a balance sheet that is making a profit but your club is dropping down the pyramid.
“Ultimately for Coventry that is a tragedy because they were an inaugural part of the Premier League, they are a big club and it has just been very badly managed.”
Jordan then disagreed with the notion that Coventry City could not be successful without owning their own stadium.
He added: “Man City don’t own their stadium either.
“I think the dynamics of the reasons Sisu bought Coventry is because they thought they were going to get a very quick turn around on their money.
“They thought Coventry were going to bounce back to the Premier League, and what they effectively got at the time was a pup.
“Football is the most brutal industry that exposes you if you don’t know what you’re doing. If you make the wrong appointments and you get the wrong culture in the club you will drop.
“That is a fact.”
I spoke to various people that are in touch with that club and these guys are living in Narnia. Simon Jordan