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Tim Fisher says he wants to give Coventry City fans “hope” that the club will return to the city and the Ricoh Arena.

The Sky Blues chairman has revealed he hopes to have renewed talks with stadium owners Wasps in the near future but says the football club’s owners, Sisu, are pressing ahead with plans to build a new ground.

Speaking on talkSPORT’s Jim White show today, Fisher was first asked if he was still aware of the dislike fans have towards the owners.

“The narrative has kind of moved on, as it should do because the wake-up call was Bury,” he said.

“And while the fans, certainly the ones that talk to me, of course want to play in Coventry, they also understand that we have to put the football club first and making sure we play the fixtures is critical. And the only place we could fulfil our fixtures was Birmingham.

“And I do have to say the narrative seems to have changed.”

Explaining how the deal to extend City’s stay at the Ricoh broke down over the summer, he added: “The commercial deal was all agreed and it came down to legals and the two share holders, that’s the one for Wasps and the one for the football club, weren’t able to agree and, as the management of the football club, we had a Plan B.

“We don’t want to do a Plan B, clearly, but we have to have one and fulfil our fixtures, so we have a deal with Birmingham City.

“Are we hopeful of getting back to Coventry? Of course we are.

“We’d love to play our games at the Ricoh Arena but as we stand here and have this conversation, that isn’t happening.

“But like all things in football, it’s about hope, so we hope that we will be able to have some discussions with the Wasps at some stage in the near future and try to move it forward.”

Asked if he can give any indication as to when that might be, Fisher said: “I want to see Coventry in their own home, absolutely.

“So I want to see Coventry in Coventry.

“It’s not a small undertaking to move your football club out of the city that bears its name.

“However, as we sit here today we are playing our games at St Andrew’s. That is for the foreseeable.

“Now is that measured in weeks? Is that measured in months? I don’t know.

“But for as long as we are playing our games we are members of the Football League and that’s paramount. We have got to maintain our membership of the EFL.”

When it was put to the chairman that given City’s current league position at the top of the division the fans would “fill” the Ricoh Arena if the club went back, he responded: “Jim, you’re kicking in an open door.

“We’d love to play at the Ricoh, absolutely. But at this moment in time we’re playing our games away from the city, which is really regrettable, and I am so thankful to every fan who makes the considerable effort to get there.

'I never bluster or mislead'

“Do I want to give the fans hope that we will get back to Coventry? Of course I do but Jim you know me, I never bluster or mislead.

“I just tell it as it is and at the moment we are playing our games at Birmingham for the foreseeable. But, things change.”

As for the thousands that opt to stay away from St Andrew’s, he said: “We know the risk.

“People get out of habits. Saturday is when you go to games with your wife and kids and you’ll find something else to do on a Saturday and that’s what we don’t want.

“We do want to get back to Coventry but at this moment in time we are simply focusing on the games at St Andrew’s.”

Asked if he can reassure fans that the club will be around for many years to come, Fisher said: “That’s our hope. That’s our aim.

“That’s why we do what we do, to ensure we keep the football club in the front of everyone’s minds, and that’s why we’re playing at St Andrew’s.

“We are determined to do well on the pitch; we have seen what Mr Robins is creating.

“We’re obviously delighted with the sporting performance. Mr Robins and his young team are out performing, that’s for sure, and the brand of football is great. It’s great watching, it really is. It’s good football.

“We are eternally grateful to every fan that turns up, and we know it’s hard.

“Last night we had traffic problems and getting to the ground is not easy but what we’re finding is the fans are getting behind Mr Robins and the team. The atmosphere at the ground is great and we just want to encourage more fans to come along.

Absolutely clear

“But to be absolutely clear, we know how hard it is and we are very grateful as a football club.

“It’s not about Sisu and the management of the football club other than on the sporting side. It’s about the team and getting behind the team. And the fans at St Andrew’s are having a good time.”

Jim White responded, saying: “But they want to be at home Tim,” to which Fisher replied: “Everyone agrees but we just have to try to unlock the Enigma code and try to get back to Coventry.

“But, in the meantime, we have got football matches to play, which we’re doing to more than the best of our ability.”

Former Sky Blues striker Clinton Morrison was a studio guest on the radio show and asked if the club still intend to build a new stadium, to which Fisher replied: “The way we separate the football club is that I am the director and responsible for the operational side, making sure the club runs on a day to day and week to week basis.

New stadium

“And the owners have taken responsibility for sourcing a site and building a stadium.

“And I can tell you that they are fully committed to a new stadium.

“They have spent a lot of time in front of me describing what they are doing and the project they have got running. And of course there are undertakings with the Football League because obviously they want to make sure there’s a new stadium in process.

“Sisu have a responsibility to report to the Football League on progress, which is what they do.”

Taking a question from a fan who said the owners were not willing to pay the asking price for the Ricoh and that the groudnshare situation is the club’s own fault, he responded: “That’s not right.

“I led the negotiations when we were looking to buy half of the Ricoh Arena and I am afraid that all the politics got in the way, and that’s a crying shame.

“We are a community asset and this football club needs to be in the middle of its community and we’re not.

“I can tell you we are trying our best. We want to play in Coventry. We do not want to play in Birmingham and, as I say, we remain hopeful.”

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