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| Richard Shaw |
A lot has
happened since my last blog on September 5th, a new manager, new players and
for the first time in a long while a sense of optimism amongst Coventry City
fans. Before I get onto what is new at the club I have to address the
final days of the previous regime. I stated in my previous post that as much as
I respected Richard Shaw for what he did as a player here and as a coach at
Millwall, I felt that he was not ready for management. This lack of managerial
experience was shown in the next three fixtures, as the Sky Blues slumped
to three of the most embarrassing defeats in the club's history.
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| McGoldrick on debut |
The first
being against Stevenage, the game was also televised live on Sky which
lead to the usual comments from viewers such as, 'Is the volume on mute? Oh no
the Ricoh is just that empty'. What the viewers did witness was a wonder goal
from new signing David McGoldrick (a sign of things to come) and then a
complete capitulation as Stevenage exposed our defensive frailties and won
the game 2-1. The following Monday there were various calls from the fans to
get the new manager in asap, yet the club didn't expect to name Andy Thorn's
successor until after the Shrewsbury game on Tuesday 18th thus forfeiting 6
points there and then. The second game saw the City travel to Birkenhead to
face surprise league leaders Tranmere Rovers, the players put in an improved
performance up until the 79th minute when we were horrendously exposed
twice in four minutes by Jake Cassidy and Andy Robinson. The defensive problems
were highlighted after the game by Carl Baker, 'Everyone
who was at the game could see that we probably looked the better team but at
the end of the day when they need to defend they are defending and we’re not,
and, personally that’s where I think we’re going wrong'. For a team put
together by a centre half in Andy Thorn and now under the 'leadership' of
another centre half in Richard Shaw you would think that getting a team
defensively stable would be straight forward, yet it appeared that this was not
case.
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| Not quite the Managerial Dream Team |
Along came Tuesday and a short trip to Shrewsbury Town for
Richard Shaw's final game at the helm.....for a long, long time. I
must show my appreciation to all 610 of the Sky Blue Army who
travelled down to the New Meadow only to observe one of the worst performances
by a City eleven. 4-0 down after 64 minutes against a team who were in League 2
last season is possibly a bad as it can get for a City fan, and many were
asking whether we could come back from this. After this result Shaw
admitted he hadn't tried anything tactically different since the
departure of Thorn to prevent the players having to change their approach again
if he wasn't installed as the manager. This coming from a man who openly
admitted to wanting the job is frankly amazing, this was
an opportunity for Shaw and Carsley to put their own stamp on the
club yet they did nothing, throwing away priceless points in the process.
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| Mark Robins |
September 20th 2012......remember this date it could well be
the start point to the rebuilding process of this once great football club.
This was when weeks of speculation came to an end and finally it was announced
that Mark Robins was to be the Manager of Coventry City Football Club. For
weeks we were hearing about the likes of Chris Wilder, Dennis Wise and Phil
Brown being touted for the job, so Robins was a bit of curveball. A minority
were questioning the appointment before he had even taken the obligatory
picture with the City shirt, highlighting the pressure managers face day in day
out. Robins’ record speaks for itself twice getting Rotherham into the upper
echelons of League 2 only for point deductions to foil any promotion hopes.He
was then hired by Barnsley and kept an average group of players in the
championship on a shoestring budget, underlining his ability to work with clubs
with tight finances (Like Ourselves!).
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| McGoldrick scores in Robins first game |
Robins immediately was saying
the things City fans were yearning to hear, 'It’s
got tradition and potential and I am going to try to build on that. There has
been a ten-year slide in terms of results and we have got to try to stop that'.
He certainly talked a good game, but he had to get to work straight
away with Carlisle to come in the next few days. As Saturday arrived there was
the initial optimism that comes with a new manager, yet many had seen too many
managers come in and say the right things yet be out the door several months
later to get too excited. There was little optimism after the game as
the City slumped to a 2-1 defeat to the Cumbrians, despite the loss in the two
or so days Robins had been in the job he had already made slight improvements
to a squad with no confidence in their ability which Robins alluded to after
the game, 'The clear thing to come from the game is that we are
totally bereft of confidence. They are better players than the opposition –
there’s no doubt in my mind about that – but they’re just not showing it. It’s a mental thing and you can’t wave a magic wand
and suddenly everything’s great again because it’s more deep-seated than that'.
For once a manager was seeing exactly what the fans were seeing, next for
Robins was the daunting prospect of Arsenal in the League Cup. Robins was also
at work in the transfer market bringing in Franck Moussa, Conor Henderson,
James Bailey and Jamie Reckord.
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| Ball gives the City fans something to shout about |
9000 City fans made the mid-week journey south
to London with no hope or expectation, but came away with a sense of belief in
what Robins was trying to do with the team. Despite the 6-1 scoreline for 40
minutes we matched Arsenal for possession, shots and ability on the ball, Robins had talked about the players
having ability and for 40 minutes against an Arsenal side that included Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain, Oliver Giroud, Theo Walcott and Andrey Arshavin we saw this
ability come out. The quality of Arsenal eventually showed along with their
ruthless finishing, but I left that night knowing that if we could repeat some
of the play we had shown at the Emirates in League 1 then something special
could happen with Robins at the helm of our club.
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| McGoldrick bags the winner against Bournemouth |
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| He just can't stop scoring |
Fast forward to the 13th
October and the Sky Blues are walking off the County Ground pitch annoyed that
they hadn’t beaten league title contenders Swindon Town having given up a 2-0
lead, nevertheless we are still unbeaten in five games under Robins which
include wins over Oldham, Bournemouth and York and a draw against MK Dons. Each
game there have been improvements and players again playing with confidence,
Robins has overseen the squad in action for just over three weeks now, seeking
out those who are reluctant to change and getting the best out of
them like Chris Hussey who looks a rejuvenated player in a left
midfield role. He is attempting to change the whole image and mentality of the
club like a certain Jimmy Hill did all those years ago, of course its early
days but everything he has said he has gone and done. He has removed players
who just aren't ready yet like Billy Daniels and players that are
over the hill like Kevin Kilbane. The thoughts of Callum Ball emphasise the effect Mark Robins is having, 'Since he has come in it has
been brilliant; training has been more enjoyable and everyone has been buzzing
and looking forward to games. Since the
gaffer has come in, there is a lot more discipline. There are a few fines being
thrown out there with one of the fines being if your man scores at a set-piece,
it’s a £100 fine'. Discipline, confidence and ability are what Robins has
talked about since coming in; he has disciplined the players, he has given the
players confidence and allowed them to express their ability. Is this the start
of a Revolution under Robins........I believe so
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| The Robins Revolution |
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