CET Article No. 8
By CovSid67
April 14 2007
Despite deserving it, Mr. Dowie didn't win the 'Manager Of The Month Award' for March, but has been struck by the curse that goes with picking up said accolade - not winning your next few matches! Instead, Roy Keane won it, because his ever improving Sunderland side are still improving.
By CovSid67
April 14 2007
Despite deserving it, Mr. Dowie didn't win the 'Manager Of The Month Award' for March, but has been struck by the curse that goes with picking up said accolade - not winning your next few matches! Instead, Roy Keane won it, because his ever improving Sunderland side are still improving.
Maybe I'm biased, but I think managing to turn around the disaster that was Coventry City in such a short time, was a bigger achievement than keeping a team expected to gain promotion at the first attempt in the Top Six (Top One after Monday's fixtures!).
If there are any positivies to be gained from defeats against Birmingham and QPR, it's that a few players that might have conned Iain Dowie into believing they were worth keeping on for next season have now proved they are not! Momentarily last weekend, I thought I was having a 'Life On Mars' moment, dipping back to the past and watching a Mickey Adams team! (Or is it 'now', with Iain Dowie's managerial stint here still to happen in the future?!).
If Saturday really was the best response the players could manage after another local derby drubbing, then I hope Mr. Dowie's budget for the summer is as big as the points difference between us and the top two in our division, because the gulf in class sometimes seems to be. We were appalling.
QPR were poor, and In Lee Camp, they had a keeper that has recently conceded six goals - twice! - against us. Shoot on sight, not shoot off target, should have been the tactic. It's an over-used line when the season reaches April, but it was as if the Coventry players had already gone on their summer holidays....
I'm sure the majority of us know which players we would like to see stay, and who we would willingly drive to their next club, but such is my disappointment with the current squad, there are very few players I would shed a tear over should they wander through the exit door this summer. And that includes some that seem to have massively improved under new management.
We have a (Fairly) new manager, with new ideas, and I would like to see a lot of new faces that would give us real hope of a serious challenge for next season. While changing an entire squad is unlikely, and highly extreme(!), we know what the current crop of players can or cannot do, and in my opinion they are well short of a proper Top 6 challenge - unless a pre-season of Mr. Dowie's scientific approach to football really can improve the players game by 50%!
While I am realistic enough to know we are light years away from performances like Manchester United's awesome midweek demolition of Roma, they did show that there is no real answer to pace, so it should be a necessity of any summer signing that they can do the 100 metres in around 10 seconds!
In McKenzie and Mifsud we have two players with pace and trickery, so probably the most important task of the summer is trying to bring in a midfield player (Or two) capable of helping to exploit those qualities (Or getting Kevin Thornton to regularly perform to the high standards he often shows). They are potentially fans' favourites, and Mifsud is our best chance of having an entire nation (Malta) supporting the club!
In Marshall and Ward, there is the makings of the defensive part of the spine of the team. Reading the blurb on Marshall pre-season, I was worried that - like most of the horses I've backed recently! - he would fade in the latter stages of the marathon that is he Championship race. Thankfully he has proved me wrong, and seems to be a front-runner for 'Player Of The Season' .... not that there are many contenders for said award this term.
Colin Hawkins has also done well since re-joining, and has been a real unsung hero at the back. Whether or not he will be part of next seasons assault on the Top 6 remains to be seen though.
The top and the bottom of the Championship looks like having an exciting run-in this season, though the only thing Coventry City have to play for is pride, and a top-half-of-the-table finish. Let's hope season two of 'Operation Premiership' gives us more hope of a return to the promised land that is the Premiership....
If there are any positivies to be gained from defeats against Birmingham and QPR, it's that a few players that might have conned Iain Dowie into believing they were worth keeping on for next season have now proved they are not! Momentarily last weekend, I thought I was having a 'Life On Mars' moment, dipping back to the past and watching a Mickey Adams team! (Or is it 'now', with Iain Dowie's managerial stint here still to happen in the future?!).
If Saturday really was the best response the players could manage after another local derby drubbing, then I hope Mr. Dowie's budget for the summer is as big as the points difference between us and the top two in our division, because the gulf in class sometimes seems to be. We were appalling.
QPR were poor, and In Lee Camp, they had a keeper that has recently conceded six goals - twice! - against us. Shoot on sight, not shoot off target, should have been the tactic. It's an over-used line when the season reaches April, but it was as if the Coventry players had already gone on their summer holidays....
I'm sure the majority of us know which players we would like to see stay, and who we would willingly drive to their next club, but such is my disappointment with the current squad, there are very few players I would shed a tear over should they wander through the exit door this summer. And that includes some that seem to have massively improved under new management.
We have a (Fairly) new manager, with new ideas, and I would like to see a lot of new faces that would give us real hope of a serious challenge for next season. While changing an entire squad is unlikely, and highly extreme(!), we know what the current crop of players can or cannot do, and in my opinion they are well short of a proper Top 6 challenge - unless a pre-season of Mr. Dowie's scientific approach to football really can improve the players game by 50%!
While I am realistic enough to know we are light years away from performances like Manchester United's awesome midweek demolition of Roma, they did show that there is no real answer to pace, so it should be a necessity of any summer signing that they can do the 100 metres in around 10 seconds!
In McKenzie and Mifsud we have two players with pace and trickery, so probably the most important task of the summer is trying to bring in a midfield player (Or two) capable of helping to exploit those qualities (Or getting Kevin Thornton to regularly perform to the high standards he often shows). They are potentially fans' favourites, and Mifsud is our best chance of having an entire nation (Malta) supporting the club!
In Marshall and Ward, there is the makings of the defensive part of the spine of the team. Reading the blurb on Marshall pre-season, I was worried that - like most of the horses I've backed recently! - he would fade in the latter stages of the marathon that is he Championship race. Thankfully he has proved me wrong, and seems to be a front-runner for 'Player Of The Season' .... not that there are many contenders for said award this term.
Colin Hawkins has also done well since re-joining, and has been a real unsung hero at the back. Whether or not he will be part of next seasons assault on the Top 6 remains to be seen though.
The top and the bottom of the Championship looks like having an exciting run-in this season, though the only thing Coventry City have to play for is pride, and a top-half-of-the-table finish. Let's hope season two of 'Operation Premiership' gives us more hope of a return to the promised land that is the Premiership....
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