Coventry City's poor
form continued at Barnsley on Tuesday night with a 2-0 defeat to the
division's form team. This following hard on the heels of Saturday's
home defeat to Fleetwood means City have won only one of the last
eight games and three of the last fifteen (since that incredible
performance against Gillingham. With only two home wins in eight, the
team's form is of great concern and it is only the inconsistent form
of the clubs around them that keeps them in the top six before today.
City fans have become
accustomed to these slumps but they are not usually from such strong
positions and I thought I would recall two such dips in form. In
2002, City's first year down from the Premier League, the Sky Blues,
under Roland Nilsson had an impressive autumn run which enabled the
fans to forget about the woeful start which cost Gordon Strachan his
job as manager. At the end of October they briefly reached top spot
but over the winter despite their form being inconsistent they kept
in touch with the top six. In February six wins in eight games pushed
them up to fourth and with seven games remaining a play-off place
looked on the cards. Then disaster struck and the side recorded just
a solitary point from 21 and finished tenth. In the final reckoning
if City had got nine points from those seven games they would have
clinched a play-off place. The slump cost Nilsson, somewhat unfairly,
his position and since then the club have never been near the
play-offs.
In 1963-64, when there
were two points for a win) Jimmy Hill's team were nine points clear
at the top of Division Three on 3rd January after a
stunning first half of the season. 68 goals in 27 games and 18 wins
out of 27 had in most people's eyes clinched promotion to Division
Two. Then the wheels fell off and the team went until the last
Saturday in March (11 games) before recording their next win. The
results were as follows:-
January 11 (a) Reading
drew 2-2
January 18 (h) Luton
drew 3-3
January 22 (a) Oldham
lost 0-2
February 1 (h) Hull
City drew 2-2
February 8 (a)
Mansfield lost 2-3
February 15 (h)
Brentford drew 2-2
February 22 (a) Wrexham
drew 1-1
February 29 (h)
Bournemouth drew 2-2
March 7 (a) Watford
drew 1-1
March 13 (h) Southend
lost 2-5
March 21 (a)
Bournemouth lost 1-2
By the end of February
the Sky Blues' lead had been cut to one point with Crystal Palace on
their shoulders and Watford a further point back. On 14th
March Palace, with their tenth win out of 12, sailed past the Sky
Blues and City fans, unable to see another victory were giving up on
promotion (there were no play-offs in those days and only two were
promoted). A week later Palace extended the lead to four points and
Watford drew level with City, and with a game in hand, with several
other clubs on their heels. Finally on 28th March City
recorded a win, beating Oldham 4-1 at Highfield Road thanks to new
signing George Kirby's hat-trick.
Two draws and two more
wins put City back on tracks and on top with three games remaining
but a draw at Millwall and defeat at Peterborough meant they went
into their final game at home to Colchester two points behind Palace
and level with Watford but with a superior goal average. Older fans
will know the story had a happy ending – Palace and Watford both
lost what looked easy games on paper, City scraped a 1-0 over
Colchester and finished top. Interestingly Palace failed to win any
of their last seven games.
This week, as in March
1964, some City fans are writing off the prospects of finishing in
the play-off places. Some are saying that with our form our chances
have gone. I believe form is a small part of the equation over the
coming weeks. City's form in 1964 indicated that promotion was out of
the question but that massive win over Oldham turned the tide for
Jimmy Hill's side and although they had to rely on other team's
mishaps, they regained their composure and achieved their goal. 1964
was a leap year, let's hope that is an omen for Tony Mowbray's team.
Hats off to former City
boss Steven Pressley last week. He set up his Fleetwood side to
frustrate the Sky Blues and took three points away to help their
fight against relegation, before following up with a victory over
Gillingham on Tuesday evening. He was the first former City boss to
return and win a league game in Coventry since Harry Storer in 1947.
Since then numerous managers have returned but failed including Jack
Fairbrother (with Peterborough), Gordon Milne (Leicester), Bobby
Gould (Wimbledon), Iain Dowie (QPR), Micky Adams (Sheffield United)
and Mark Robins (Scunthorpe). Gould did manage a Full Members Cup
victory at Highfield Road in 1989.
Storer, for many as
important to the club's history as Jimmy Hill, left City to join
Birmingham City in 1945, after revolutionising the club in the eight
seasons leading up to World War Two. He brought the Blues to
Highfield Road for a Second Division game in October 1946 and got a
0-0 draw but in August 1947 the Blues won 1-0 on their way to
promotion to Division One. Walter Aveyard scoring the goal in front
of 30,558. Just over a year later Storer amazingly resigned from his
job at St Andrews to return to the Highfield Road hot-seat and
steered the club away from the relegation zone.
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