SUPPORTERS MEETING WITH JOJAR DHINSA BY KEV MONKS
Please note this report is written without comment,so that you can make up your own minds.
On a cold Saturday morning,twenty Coventry City supporters, a representative from the Sky Blue Trust acting as an observer, yours truly.representatives from Coventry City Ladies and a number of local media attended a breakfast meeting with Jojar Dhinsa and his PA Chris Thomas.
Prior to the meeting, two questions were submitted in writing by all the supporters so that everyone was able to ask Joe Dhinsa at least one question (Apologies to all those who sent in questions).
After an enjoyable breakfast,Mr Dhinsa dressed in a black suit admitted that he could not name the 1987 FA Cup team and on being asked why,as a successful businessman did he want to invest in Coventry City.
He revealed that it was 70% due to being born in Coventry and 30% that Coventry City FC needs to earn money. He described himself as a bad supporter,not having seen City play live for a number of years, but felt that Coventry are not a Championship club and are capable of winning a trophy and playing in Europe.
I asked the question about would he still be interested in investing in the club if God Forbid,City were relegated and he said that he would. He hates losing but is a realist and admits that in life you win some and you lose some.
Dhinsa admitted that Peter Reid is not his first choice of manager and that the current City boss was restricted to the resources he had and with no money,he could not buy players capable of transforming the team.
He had spoken to Gerard Houllier during the summer. In fact,he had interviewed three potential managers and went on say that the blame for a bad performance should be levelled at the manager,players and the board.
He would want results from Day One with no airs and graces,but admitted that it was easy to make mistakes. He felt that with 25,000+ supporters to report to, it would be hard to hide and would operate an open book approach.
Mr Dhinsa had received nine death threats so far,but that was just the motivation to spur him on.
He agreed it would have been easier to buy a club like Bolton or Southampton,but he did not want to be seen as just a club owner. He wants Coventry because he is Cov. Born in Walsgrave Hospital and a resident of 85 Eagle Street in Hillfields,his mother still lives in the City,his father died two years ago and neither could read or write.
In the last two years, he has been approached by Leeds,Leicester,Notts County and "A.N.Other" but felt that Coventry is a good challenge and has ability to get back in the Premiership.
Moving on to funding,he said that the funding was in place but would not be drawn on where it was coming from. The road map had been brought forward so that a bid can be made in mid-November. Both Mr Dhinsa and Chris Thomas were quick to stress that they would not admit to a date in case the bid turned out to be a day or two late.
The question of the Russian investment was mentioned and Mr Dhinsa said that these were a family with two or three investors who did not want any publicity. He had worked with them for fourteen years,advised them on the potential of the club as well as the risks as part of a long term strategy.
These people were already investors in Dhinsa's Athlone Group.
Mr Dhinsa's gut feeling was that the board would reject the bid but he would keep trying.
He felt that Mike McGinnity, who on the day of the "Let's Kick Racism Out Of Football Day" had told two long standing Asian supporters who travel from London that their support was not wanted, talks at you rather than to you.
On the occasion, he had spoken to the current City Chairman, he received a stern "no comment" from Mr McGinnity when asking about where the money from the Robbie Keane transfer had gone and whether the current Chairman had an open book policy.
After admitting that he would not be drawing a salary from the club should his bid be successful ,he said that he had come into the world with nothing and would die with nothing but would be gutted if he lost 75% of his wealth which he is prepared to invest
Mr Dhinsa admits that he had not spoke to shareholders but would allow supporters to buy shares if he were to take over.
Mr Dhinsa said that he wanted to build a two relationship with the current owners of the club and that his door was always open to Mr McGinnity.
He felt that he could not work with Mr McGinnity,as he had no trust of him and did not know him well enough.
It was stressed that the bid had been brought forward in order to stop the distraction to the rest of the club and it's players and supporters.
Bryan Richardson would not and is not part of any bid and the "fan on the board" idea was one that he had come up with. This person would be a non-executive director and there would be an election every two years for a replacement.
Those not invited to the meeting but were present had done so by texting a question to Mr Dhinsa at 25p a time. Chris Thomas who owned up to be an Arsenal fan said that they thought this would keep away the abusive texts and that the genuine would apply. Over 500 texts were received and a vote was taken as to whether the money should be donated to charity. This was wholly approved.
Mr Dhinsa stated that he would not walk away if things did not go as planned if he was in charge of the club and accepted that he could be putting himself on a pedestal and ending up as the most hated man in Cov. However,he was prepared to put up with all the crap.
Something else he was also involved with, was an organisation that would create 5,000 football related jobs in a manufacturing company, not all would be in Coventry but the company would be Coventry based. He refused to enlighten those assembled with this registration but said it would be in conjunction with the local council,the football club and another football club more than 100 miles away and was part of a ten year plan.
Talking of the Council,Mr Dhinsa knows he will not be able to buy the Arena but admitted that he did want 100% ownership and stressed that he was not a real estate broker and would bid for the club regardless.
He felt the club was like a gang which need the right handshake in order to join and that the current board would use whatever means possible to throw him off.
He had originally planned a nine figure sum bid but said it would be less now that the Arena was not available. He would take on the debt but not write it off and offer a fair price.
There would be money for players with £10 to £12m available to buy players and a first year wage budget of between £3m and £5.5m.
He said that no players was worth the £100k a week some are on and that the players had to take responsibility.
He said that he would be interested in backing Coventry City Ladies Football Club if it benefited the club.
It was raised that this was a unique experience and this was a different and novel approach to matters Coventry City FC. Mr Dhinsa was keen to stress that he is approachable and a number of people who were present had his mobile number.
He stressed the importance of City winning matches in order to progress but admitted that he hated queuing for tickets (not a problem at CCFC, it was pointed out). He felt that Mr McGinnity had to go and was concerned that City currently have no chance of promotion.
He wants to get the product right,make the arena a family place and hopes that we would have success within 3-5 years.
He had no PR company working for him and know that he could not make City supporters like him and admitted that along the way,he would make mistakes but he would be not afraid to admit them.
Just before the meeting finished, I was praised for the work I had done on behalf of City supporters which I duly acknowledged.
As Mr Dhinsa who was warmly applauded for his comments and views, met an elderly Asian supporter draped in a City flag who wanted to put the players on performance related pay (something not allowed by the PFA), there was a media frenzy with the CET and Radio WM as well as Sky asking questions about the meeting from those who attended.
I avoided all these reporters as the people I report to are you,the City supporter who reads this article and did not want anything I said to be misquoted.
So that is what happened and I leave it up to you to make up your own minds.