One of the new Coventry City directors was forced to apologise the the club chairman Ray Ranson yesterday following remarks he made on the social networking site Twitter.
The Canadian businessman Leonard Brody caused the controversy when he tweeted that Mr Ranson had authorised the transfer of the talented Academy starlet Conor Thomas to Liverpool. The remarks were made after reports revealed that not only former vice chairman Gary Hoffman, but Ray Ranson as well were against selling Thomas.
In the wake of the Tweets, it has now emerged that Brody was forced to back down and apologise to Mr Ranson (pictured below) for making misleading comments.
Brody said in an exchange on Twitter with Coventry City fans about the transfer of Thomas, "Those are Ray's decisions and we back him."
Brody, along with Ken Dulieu, joined the Coventry City board several weeks before the appointments were made public and were at the board meeting that sanctioned the transfer of Thomas to Liverpool. Coventry businessman John Clarke was also appointed as a director after Joe Elliott left the board to become Life President.
It has now emerged that the decision to allow Thomas to leave was a 3-2 majority decision in favour of allowing the move with Mr Ranson and Mr Hoffman voting against and Brody, Dulieu and Onye Igwe, all Sisu appointed directors, voting for the move.
It was this decision that ultimately led to the resignation of Mr Hoffman from the board. It then emerged that Mt Ranson was also against the sale of Dan Fox and Scott Dann a year and a half ago and he offered his own resignation in protest, but was dissuaded from leaving by former chairman Joe Elliott, who has also now left the board to become Life President of the club.
What is not certain is whether the actions of Brody will have further undermined the resolve of Mr Ranson, who holds 20% of the shares in the club, to remain as chairman of Coventry City
Brody also claimed in other Tweets that he thought the fans deserved to be better informed about what was going on at the club. Many fans have been annoyed at the lack of information coming out of the club and would welcome the occasional report from the boardroom.
The secrecy that surrounds SISU has led to suspicion and resentment among the group who were once hailed as the saviours of the club and all for want of a little information.
What has become apparent from all of the recent boardroom upheaval is the difficult job Mr Ranson is doing balancing the needs of the club with the requirements of the majority shareholders SISU. In public Mr Ranson has defended SISU, while in private he has been struggling to maintain his vision of taking Coventry City forward.
Coventry City supporters were told that the appointments of Brody and Dulieu were good for the club as they had a strong track record in business, finance and on line media.
As we reported on Wednesday, Brody also Tweeted: "I think we also owe you better communication.. which is what I am trying to work on."
"My plan is to be here talking to you as much as possible. Actually hope to share a lot on Twitter."
There can be little doubt that Brody has the connections which could be useful to Coventry City, he is the president of Clarity Digital (a subsidiary of the Anschutz Corporation, a large US-based sport and entertainment group) and he dropped hints that the fortunes of the club were about to change for the better.
He said in yet another Tweet: "We are grateful that you have stuck by the club. We have some great stuff in store… stay tuned."
He then later added: "Look, things take time in running a club. Especially one with historical issues. We are on it."
Picture copyright of Covsupport News Service. Credit CNS/SB