SBA

MATCH REPORT from the CET

Saturday 28 February 2004

CITY 2
Staunton 37 (pen)
Safri 90

Norwich City 0

City Leave Little Shef With Plenty On His Plate

When the Sky Blues released Gary McSheffrey to Norwich City earlier this season he went with the club's very best wishes for a successful future. The 'Little Shef' made his return to Highfield Road on Saturday but may need to move clubs again in the near future if he wants to return to his hometown club any time soon.

McSheffrey looked the most likely to deny City another three points with Norwich looking like a side already destined for the Second Division next season. They can however take hope from the way the Sky Blues have lifted themselves from a similarly perilous position to now sit comfortably in mid-table. City took the points on Saturday, no surprise there. However on this occasion they did it without the prolific Mark Goodman finding the net.

Stephen Warnock was suspended for the game so SBA recalled Geoff Pitcher who played alongside Safri and Osbourne in the centre of midfield. Osbourne soon found himself needing treatment after a meaty challenge and was replaced after 15 minutes by Pipe, who himself had initially made way for Barrett on the right.

City were very slow to get going as an attacking force. Indeed it was McSheffrey who twice blasted over the crossbar when a goal on his former home ground seemed imminent. The Coventry kid looked a frustrated figure on many occasions as the likes of McVeigh (who is leaving the club in the summer) seemed to lack McSheffrey's hunger to spring a shock result.

Referee George Cain spotted an infringment on Geoff Pitcher amongst a crowded penalty area just as it looked as though the teams would go into half time goalless.

STAUNTON struck home his sixth goal of the season from the spot-kick to give City a rather flattering lead.

The Sky Blues were much more like their recent selves in the second half although Goodman went through the entire game without a single chance to notch his tenth goal in a Sky Blue shirt. He was withdrawn in the latter stages with Suffo asked to lead the line.

With McSheffrey shaving the bar at one end it was not long before City made the game safe at the other.

Suffo held the ball up well on the edge of the area. He spotted SAFRI making a dart from midfield and the transfer-listed Moroccan blasted the ball first time into the roof of the net.

This was by no means City's best performance of the season but they produced the result which virtually guarantees their safety. They will also know how Norwich feel as the visitors left Highfield Road without reward despite a display more akin to a side much further up the Division One ladder.

City remain in 15th position in Division One. They are without a game this midweek and travel to Gresty Road, Crewe (7th), next Saturday.

MATCH STATS

Goal Attempts

Coventry City 4
Norwich City 3

Corners

Coventry City 4
Norwich City 0

SBA

SBA Talks Exclusively To CM Stories

Wednesday 3 March 2004

It was nice to be able to follow up our heroics at Reading with a far more routine victory against Norwich City on Saturday.

Had that game been played early on in the season it is very unlikely that we would have emerged as winners. Norwich saw enough of the ball to have punished us. Had Gary McSheffrey brought his shooting boots with him then I'm sure they would have done. I hope his re-discovers his eye for goal in the weeks ahead. Despite this we never panicked and stayed patient believing we would get the opportunities to take the game ourselves.

Norwich came to Highfield Road bottom of the table and desperate for points with games running out in which to save their Division One lives. I'm just thankful that we managed to reverse our worrying plight when we did.

The win takes us up to 43 points and we go into the month of March knowing that should we be able to sustain our 2004 run of league results then we could even become involved in the play-off shake up during the run-in.

Anyone speaking with such optimism during January would probably have been instructed to seek medical advice!!

Such is the condensed nature of the division that the play-offs are not out of our reach but we mustn't forget that it was not so long ago that I'd set a target of mid-table safety - and we would still be delighted with that.

This Saturday we travel to Gresty Road, Crewe. We managed to secure our third successive success at The Madejski Stadium ten days ago. Crewe has also been a happy hunting ground for the club since dropping into Division One. In our only other visit there we trounced the home side 6-1. To expect a repeat of that scoreline really would be a case of unrealistic expectation!!

We are hoping to see plenty of City fans in the stands as we run out for the game and I can confirm that they really have enjoyed rewarding your loyalty in recent times.

SBA

SBA

SEASON 2003-04

Review of the Season so far: FEBRUARY

February Results

(h) Preston North End won 2-0 Goodman, Barrett
(h) Wimbledon drew 1-1 Goodman
(a) Rotherham United lost 1-0
(a) Reading won 2-3 Goodman (3)
(h) Norwich City won 2-0 Staunton (pen), Safri

LEAGUE POSITION

City are currently 15th in Division One. They have 43 points having won 10, drawn 13, and lost 11 of their 34 games played. They have scored 38 goals and conceded 38 goals.

City are 7 points above the relegation zone, 7 points below the play-off places and 13 points below the automatic promotion places.

Leading Goalscorers (All Competitions)

Goodman 9
Adebola 7
Joachim 7
Staunton 6
Barrett, Morrell, Suffo 2
Davenport, Pead, Pipe, Safri, Singh 1

Average Player Ratings

Figure on far left indicates full appearances. Figure in brackets indicates substitute appearances.

1. 10 (1) Mark Goodman 7.09
2. 11 Eddie Stanford 6.91
3. 35 Andrew Whing 6.89
4. 29 (5) Steve Staunton 6.88
5. 31 Calum Davenport 6.81

SBA

MATCH REPORT from the CET

Saturday 6 March 2004

Crewe Alexandra 2
Bell 58
Smart 65

CITY 2
Goodman 16, 67

City Make Their Point Against Alex Youngsters

The Sky Blues saw a half time lead reversed before fighting back and, in the end, clinging on to a useful away point at Gresty Road this afternoon.

Although a double from the prolific Mark Goodman will again make the headlines SBA will be under no illusion that his defenders and goalkeeper played an equally as important part in securing this result.

Whing and Davenport again formed the central defensive pairing with Konjic missing out meaning that Craig Pead was deployed at right back. It is unlikely that Pead would hold down a regular place in his preferred midfield slot - with those being the most hotly contested positions at the club. Pitcher, Safri and Warnock were given the nod this time.

Scott Shearer was kept busy all afternoon - and his first call of duty brought a fantastic finger-tip save - arguably his most impressive of the game.

City were soon ahead with Eddie Stanford once again providing the ammunition as he found GOODMAN in space in the penalty area. He made no mistake in firing past the home side's rookie 16-year old goalkeeper.

Crewe fielded a very young side but what they lacked in experience they certainly made up for in appetite which has seen them climb to a play-off threatening position in Division One.

City were never given a minute to settle on the ball with Ashton and Smart's pace up front always a cause for concern.

At the other end Stanford missed two excellent opportunities to finally open his Sky Blue account but blasted over on both occasions.

Steve Staunton picked up a knock early on in the second half with SBA forced into dragging Warnock back to replace him on the left with Graham Barrett taking the field.

City were rocked by two goals in the space of seven minutes, the first of them a real goal of the month contender as Shearer was beaten from all of 30 yards. The second saw City breached by a route one long ball as the back line failed, in what had been previously successful, attempts to catch Crewe offside.

SBA has instilled a never-say-die ethos into his players and that has been borne out by City scoring several late goals to dig out results in recent times. On this occasion they were required to show mental toughness at the other end of the pitch after that man Goodman had again given his team-mates something to fight for.

City were only behind for 90 seconds with Safri winning the ball and releasing Goodman who exchanged passes with Pipe. Pipe's return ball had looked to have maybe run too far for the striker but it didn't matter as GOODMAN stretched at the far post to turn the ball in.

Crewe then rallied with City reduced to the odd break-away. Goodman could have repeated his hat-trick at Reading a few weeks ago before being surprisingly replaced by Patrick Suffo with ten minutes remaining.

City's defensive rearguard held firm despite Crewe's best efforts to snatch a winner. It was certainly a point gained for SBA who was quick to acknowledge how impressed he was with the home side.

The Sky Blues face lowly Bradford City in midweek at Highfield Road before travelling to Pride Park to take on top-of-the-table Derby County next Saturday. City remain in 15th position in Division One.

MATCH STATS

Goal Attempts

Crewe Alexandra 15
Coventry City 6

Corners

Crewe Alexandra 4
Coventry City 2

SBA

MATCH REPORT from the CET

Wednesday 10 March 2004

CITY 2
Whing 23, 44

Bradford City 1
Muirhead 52 (pen)

Bantams Have Their Whings Clipped

Virtual ever-present Andrew Whing scored his first goal for the Sky Blues to set them on their way to this latest triumph. Having clearly acquired the taste for it, he promptly added a second to give City the decisive edge against struggling Bradford City at Highfield Road this evening.

Whing's goals were similar in that he twice pounced on rebounds after Mark Goodman had seen his own efforts denied by, first the goalkeeper, and then the post. City are now into the top half of the First Division, lofty heights indeed after being confined to the basement area for much of the season.

SBA made two changes from Saturday's side as Craig Pead missed out while Mo Konjic was recalled, allowing Whing to move across to right back from where he was able to deliver the knockout blows. There was a recall for Isaac Osbourne in favour of Safri.

City went in front midway through the first half after spending most of the game chasing Bradford who seemed to be making a mockery of their lowly league position. They were unable to make use of their territorial advantage and, once behind, never looked like going back up north with anything other than another defeat.

Yet again Eddie Stanford produced a cross from which Goodman forced a good save from the visiting 'keeper. The ball ran kindly for WHING who slotted the ball into an empty net from an acute angle.

City grew in stature from then on despite the blow of having Geoff Pitcher sidelined with an ankle injury. Lee Fowler was his replacement and slotted into midfield alongside the consistent Warnock and Osbourne.

Things got even better before the break with Goodman unfortunate not to add to his impressive goalscoring record as his effort came back off a post following a set piece. WHING again found himself perfectly positioned to blast City 2-0 in front.

Bradford won a penalty early in the second period with Davenport adjudged to have brought Cadamarteri down. Ben Muirhead converted the kick but City seemed to be stirred into action and had numerous chances to regain their two goal lead before the end.

Suffo, on for Goodman, was twice denied and Warnock, along with Stanford, should really have put the game well and truly to bed.

SBA will have been pleased to see that his side can win without the goalscoring contribution of Goodman but will be hoping that a goal is not too far around the corner for Stanford. If anyone at the club deserves a goal it his him but, despite clocking up an impressive number of 'assists', is yet to open his goalscoring account.

City are up to 12th position with this win. A seven point gap separates them from the play-off positions. They have ten games in which to make up the ground.

Saturday sees them go to Derby who don't need too many more victories themselves before they can book a Premiership place for next season.

MATCH STATS

Goal Attempts

Coventry City 13
Bradford City 2

Corners

Coventry City 5
Bradford City 3

[This message was edited by SBA on 03 March 2004 at 23:20.]

SBA

SBA Talks Exclusively To CM Stories

Thursday 11 March 2004

I had no problem motivating the players for last night's game against Bradford City.

It brought back painful memories of the fixture at Valley Parade in November. We were turned over 3-1 with the Bantams at the very foot of Division One at the time.

It could have been argued that Bradford's need was the greater last night but at the same time we felt we 'owed' them one.

Andrew Whing was probably the last player I would have expected to come up with the goal that set us on our way but once we got the breakthrough I think we were full value for the result.

Going back to Saturday I thought the game at Gresty Road provided excellent entertainment for those present.

It was nice, even as manager, to be able to appreciate a game of that nature and both sides' contribution to it with the four goals shared. That would not have been possible earlier in the season when the pressure was at its highest.

We now go to Pride Park on Saturday with The Rams looking set for a Premiership return.

Hopefully we can catch Derby off their guard and produce a result that could catapolt us up to a position from where we could challenge the play-off positions during the run-in.

SBA

SBA

Friday 12 March 2004

Time for a chat with Sky Blue Fanzine contributor, Graham Abraham ...

CET: Welcome back Graham. I guess you're becoming increasingly impressed with the impact the new manager is having at Highfield Road ...

Graham: We'll never be completely happy until we're back in the top flight where we belong but the improvement in results as we've gone through the season has been excellent.

We're now looking like emerging as dark horses for the play-off places. How do you rate City's chances of making the top 6?

Well, we've got ten games left and we'll probably need to win eight of them to even have a chance. Definitely next season we'll be looking to get in there. We just need more consistency next season. The performances haven't been too bad all year but it's only been recently that we've been seeing the results come in.

Who do you see as the key players who are making the difference at the moment?

You can't ignore Mark Goodman. He's provided that missing ingredient from earlier in the season - goals. Elsewhere Whingy has been our most consistent player and Davenport has continued his improvement from the last few years. Scott Shearer has made some great saves recently - hopefully there's a lot more to come from him. The midfield has been strengthened by the manager bringing Pitcher in, and hopefully we can hold on to Warnock for next season because he's always full of energy. Stanford and Pipe have been real bonuses in laying on the chances.

We'll look forward to seeing you next time Graham, which will be the last time for the season.

Yeah, I'd like to see us preparing for next season even as early as now. A good run from now until May could leave us full of optimism looking ahead to August.

SBA

MATCH REPORT from the CET

Saturday 13 March 2004

Derby County 1
Junior 3

CITY 1
Suffo 56

Suffo Maintains Sky Blue Pride

Substitute Patrick Suffo emerged from the shadows of Mark Goodman to save a point for the Sky Blues at Pride Park this afternoon, a result which means that City have lost just one game in their last ten outings.

Suffo struck early in the second half to give City a deserved share of the spoils as Division One leaders Derby failed to break down a City backline for a second time.

SBA named an unchanged side from midweek with the effective 'little and large' combination of Morris and Junior up front causing early problems for City.

Unfortunately the Sky Blues were again guilty of losing concentration early in the game as Konjic was attracted out to the left hand side trying to win the ball. He'd have been better off staying with his man Junior who ran on to beat Shearer from the resultant through ball.

As has happened often in recent times, the early setback seemed to spur City on and Goodman, after seeing his initial shot parried, really should have done better with the rebound.

David Pipe found himself bearing down on goal not long afterwards but lifted his shot over the crossbar.

Derby were looking for a second goal but were mostly limited to long range efforts with Shearer rarely called into action.

At half time SBA took the step of moving to a 4-4-2 formation as Suffo entered the scene at the expense of Osbourne. Suffo and Goodman have rarely been given the opportunity to play alongside each other in attack and, on this evidence, might just tempt SBA to switch from his preferred starting line-up of 4-5-1 in future weeks.

Shearer did well to palm away a header following a corner and ten minutes into the second period City stunned the home side with the leveller.

Andrew Whing knocked the ball down the channel for Pipe to run on to and he steered the ball into the edge of the six yard box. SUFFO muscled his man out of the way before prodding the ball home much to the delight of the impressive numbers of travelling supporters.

Although there was to be no more goal action it was in fact City who looked the more likely side to grab a winner although over the ninety minutes the draw was the fair result.

Stanford had to be withdrawn midway through the half with Safri replacing him and also Warnock looked uncharacteristically jaded towards the end and gave way to Fowler.

This game provided further evidence of the giant strides forward the Sky Blues have taken during this ten game run.

Although the solitary point meant that their flickering play-off hopes faded somewhat, the performance should again leave them full of Sky Blue pride.

City drop a place to 13th in Division One. Next Saturday's visitors to Highfield Road are Gillingham, who are currently going well and fourth in the league.

MATCH STATS

Goal Attempts

Derby County 11
Coventry City 6

Corners

Derby County 2
Coventry City 2

SBA

SBA Talks Exclusively To CM Stories

Tuesday 16 March 2004

The run-in to the end of the season is now under way with just nine games remaining of what has been an interesting (to say the least) first season in charge of Coventry City.

We now find ourselves with enough points (48) to be assured of First Division football next season.

As the season has progressed I have often touched upon the season's aim of, first ensuring safety, and then putting the club on a more stable financial footing from which to launch a genuine promotion push next season.

The first of those aims has been achieved with time to spare and so we now have five months to achieve the second.

We will be helped by contracts running out during the summer to ease the strain on the club's weekly outgoings but I will also being seeking to trim other unnecessary edges off the squad during the months ahead. We need to be confident that best use is being made of the expense we accrue.

I was pleased with the way we fought for the result on Saturday.

Once again, having shot ourselves in the foot early on I saw a collective team effort to turn things around.

The players who really do want to play for this club now have nine games in which to stake their claim for a place in next season's squad. Those involved in Saturday's draw, at a side on top of the table, certainly did themselves no harm.

Now that we have dug ourselves away from the danger area I may be inclined to experiment with other formations. I was pleased to see an attacking 4-4-2 pay dividends in the second half on Saturday. Patrick Suffo has done nothing wrong but the emergence of Mark Goodman has seen him left on the subs' bench more often than not.

I will now be looking to start games with the both of them up front to see if they can convince me that a 4-4-2 might work long term.

This weekend sees another game against a side riding high in the Division with fourth placed Gillingham the visitors to Highfield Road.

Having gone in front at The Priestfield, we considered ourselves very unfortunate to come away with nothing during a game where we had more than enough chances to win.

SBA

SBA

MATCH REPORT from the CET

Saturday 20 March 2004

CITY 2
Goodman 5, 40

Gillingham 0

Goodman Guns Down Gills

After going a couple of games without a goal, Mark Goodman helped himself to his 12th and 13th Sky Blue goals as City comfortably overcame promotion-chasing Gillingham at Highfield Road this afternoon.

The Sky Blues have now recorded three straight home victories. The points were in the bag by half time as Gillingham were brushed aside by a City side full of confidence.

SBA kept to his word and started with both Suffo and Goodman up front with Isaac Osbourne the man to miss out, leaving City a man short in midfield. However the tenacious Warnock and passing ability of Pitcher, who had an excellent game, meant that City still held the upper hand in that department.

Mid-table City made the perfect start with Staunton hurling a long throw into the feet of Suffo who unselfishly squared the ball to GOODMAN who, after seeing his first shot saved, snapped up the rebound to give his side the lead.

Having come away from the home of the league leaders with a point the previous week City were never going to be intimidated in facing a side in fourth place at the start of play. David Pipe and Stephen Warnock both stung the palms of the Gills' 'keeper while Paul Shaw and Marlon King posed little threat at the other end.

After Staunton picked up a yellow card City doubled their lead not long before the break.

Pipe lifted the ball beyond the last defender as Gillingham stepped out attempting to play off-side. GOODMAN read the situation brilliantly as he delayed his run before running into lots of space in behind. He got to the ball a fraction of a second before the 'keeper and watched as the ball crept just inside the left hand post.

Shearer was not forced into a save of note all afternoon with the Sky Blues defence growing in confidence despite the recent loss of loan man Matthew Kilgallon.

Calum Davenport was forced off the field with an injury in the second half with SBA bringing on Craig Pead with Whing moving back alongside Konjic.

The second half was a very low key affair. City were always comfortable although the crowd would have liked them to go on and add to their tally.

Suffo was withdrawn towards the end, giving Lee Fowler some valuable pitch time as SBA reverted back to the 4-5-1 formation.

Pipe squandered City's best chance to make it three before Staunton sent what would have been another one of his collector's items just the wrong side of the post.

City left the field to the refreshing sight of a standing ovation from the majority. It is very unlikely that they will be able to break into the play-off picture. They are still eight points short of sixth place. But refreshing it is to be concentrating our thoughts on the top half of the Division rather than the bottom half.

City are now 12th in Division One. They now have a break between fixtures and are next in action on the last day of the month at Vicarage Road, Watford.

MATCH STATS

Goal Attempts

Coventry City 10
Gillingham 2

Corners

Coventry City 1
Gillingham 1