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| I'm off then lads |
I think I
speak for every City fan when I say how great it is that we've actually signed
a player. It’s more a sense of relief that the club have been able to make a signing;
any signings looked bleak in the midst of the transfer embargo. Of course the club haven't paid
any money for said signing, but the fact is that instead of news about Bristol
City nicking our physio Michael McBride or Gary Deegan being
suspended being reported on Sky Sports News for at least five seconds they will
report that, 'Coventry City have signed Stephen Elliott on a free from Hearts'.
However the question remains who is he?
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| Stephen Elliott |
You'll not be surprised that
Stephen Elliott hasn't exactly been the most prolific
striker English football has ever seen, or for that matter Scottish
football (11 goals in 56 appearances for Hearts). Although that is still a
better goals per game ratio than both Clive Platt and Freddy Eastwood so it’s
not all bad. Elliott has previously played for Norwich, Preston and Wolves but
it was at Sunderland where he thrived. He scored 16 goals in his debut season
(04/05) with the black cats, a season in which Sunderland won the championship
and promotion to the Premiership. Injury derailed the majority of his Premier
league season and the rest of his Sunderland career, despite this he was still
able to provide the mackems with their best moment of that dismal season an absolute
screamer against Newcastle.
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| Bye Rich |
This encouraging news was met with the announcement that
Martin Crainie had rejected the contract offer and would leave the club on a
free. Whatever way you look at it this is a big blow for the club, his
partnership with Richard Keogh was one of few good points of last season.
During his three years with the club he filled in at both left
and right back but it was his impressive performance at centre half
which endeared him to the fans. The calming influence he gave to the team
was enhanced when he was paired up with Richard Keogh at the start of last
season. Our good performances and wins from last season would always
be as a result of the strong defensive work the pair put in. I would imagine if
you asked city fans would they would rather keep many would say Keogh, the
problem is that with the departure of
Crainie many expect Keogh to follow suit. A strong partnership on the pitch is
matched by their friendship off it, with Crainie even driving Keogh
to training and I wouldn't be surprised if the same arrangement
occurs again maybe in Cardiff or Middlesbrough.
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| John Fleck |
What also became clear with the signing of
Elliott and departure of Crainie, is that we are close to signing
former Everton and Hull winger/left-back Kevin Kilbane or as the
Evertonians called him, 'Zinedine Zilbane' and Rangers wonder
kid John Fleck. I see no problem with Kilbane a player with previous
league 1 experience with Huddersfield and given our lack of left-back
cover with Chris Hussey the only recognised left-back in the squad (He is also a rapper).
As regards John Fleck, finally we potentially have a creative player
who isn't 35 plus (sorry Don Hutchison and Dennis Wise). Fleck who made
his Rangers debut aged fifteen is another player like Charlie Adam and Chris
Burke to come through the Rangers academy and promise so much and not
deliver. But as Adam and Burke will testify their drop down or should that be
up to the championship has seen them be among the most exciting
and influential players in that division. Burke played well in many
play-off campaigns with Cardiff and Birmingham. Charlie Adam got promoted with
Blackpool and subsequently moved to Liverpool. If we do sign Fleck (that is a
big if knowing our luck) he could be the catalyst to a promotion push. We are
in desperate need of a player who wants the ball and can create chances unlike
the many midfielders we have signed over the years; Michael Doyle, Stephen
Hughes, Ellery Cairo, Michael Hughes, Julian Gray, Khalilou Fadiga, Tim
Sherwood, David Bell, Neil Wood, Chris Birchall and Colin Cameron. The list
goes on. Now enjoy Vanilla Kilbane PUSB
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