PSB Group - Once Again, We've Been Failed

We have been quiet of late. Largely because we have been satisfied with the way things have been going both on and off the pitch.

 We have always said that if and when SISU do something right we'll give them the credit they deserve... and we have done on numerous occasions.

 The handling of the James Maddison situation however has forced us to speak up. Now we are not naive people. It was obvious that Maddison would not be a Coventry City player forever. We knew ultimately that his talents were destined for a bigger stage. 

Players of James Maddison's ability deserve to ply their trade at Premier League stadiums. We get that, we knew it was going to happen.

We were prepared for him to go in the summer, even that would have been too soon in our opinion but we accept that following a promotion season for the Sky Blues a season long loan arrangement in the Championship might then have been an acceptable compromise with all the time James standing in the game on the rise. Or even keep him with us in the championship with his value only going one way, up.

Instead the club owners have panicked and sold our prize asset with indecent haste. 

 New Managing Director Chris Anderson has spoken at length in trying to convince us what a great deal this is for the long term future of the club. It's nothing of the sort. 

Tim Fisher said not so very long ago that Coventry City fans should be proud and excited that the club was producing players of such quality. Where is the excitement though in seeing the family silver flogged off on the cheap after playing only a handful of games. 

 Absurd as it may seem the people of Coventry want to see our home grown players actually playing for the club for a worthwhile period of time. Why he has gone now in the final minutes of the final day of the January window makes no sense whatever.

 Presumably Chris Anderson was drafted in to replace Steve Waggott for a reason. Clearly it has nothing to do with maximising return on an asset. Would James have been worth less in the summer? of course he wouldn't. Would there be fewer clubs interested in his signature? almost certainly quite the opposite and bigger and richer clubs than Norwich too.

 There's every chance that Norwich will be in the Championship next season. If City get promoted as they should do,then it makes Monday's rushed transfer look ridiculous. SISU clearly haven't learnt from selling Callum Wilson for an amount that was a fraction of his actual value. The clubs ambitions are so short sighted.

We have a team now that is good enough to win League One but what then, what happens come the summer when all the loan players depart, when Cole, Ricketts and co hang up their boots, when the players of the calibre we need to survive and prosper in the higher league are out of our financial reach. That's when we'll need the quality of Maddison or at least the decent amount of money that a transfer at the right time, for the right amount for the right reasons would bring. 

Some will point to potential add ons in the Norwich deal but who knows what that actually entails. It's an insult to fans that clubs hide behind the non disclosure clause. We're sure though it's an agreement that suits the secretive world of our hedge fund owners.

Once again we've been failed. Not just the fans but Tony Mowbray and Mark Venus too. As you'd expect they've both acted with great dignity but neither can be happy. 

We just hope their professionalism and vision of what can be achieved means that they see the job through. We wish James Maddison every success at Carrow Road. We know he will be a star turn there and wherever he ends up thereafter but we ask again and await the deafening silence that will follow but just what was the obscene rush to sell our star player ? 

PSB GROUP