Jim's column 11.2.23

Regular reader Keith Ballantyne watches the BBC Quiz show Pointless and alerted me to last week's show where the final featured a question on Coventry City. The finalists were asked to name Coventry City managers from 1919 and the two female contestants named Gordon Strachan and (incorrectly) Steve Bruce. Strachan wasn't a pointless answer (four people had named him) but there were numerous pointless answers including Terry Butcher, Chris Coleman and Joe Mercer. Keith tells me that his immediate thought for the most obscure answer was Bob Dennison and then wondered what Bob's record had been during his brief spell as Caretaker Manager in 1972.

Bob was City's chief scout under manager Noel Cantwell when, in March 1972, chairman Derrick Robins sacked Cantwell after four and half years in charge. The Sky Blues had suffered a shock FA Cup defeat at home to Hull City and lay 18^th in Division One, five points off the relegation zone. Robins asked Dennison to take the manager's role on a caretaker basis which was expected to be until the end of the season. His first game in charge was a home game with West Brom and ended in a 2-0 defeat and four days later there was a 1-1 home draw with West Ham. By this time the team had gone eight league games without a win and a trip to bottom club Nottingham Forest ended in an embarrassing 4-0 loss. Defeats at Tottenham (0-1) on Good Friday and at home to Manchester United (2-3) the following day set the alarm bells ringing and left City just two points above the relegation zone as their rivals picked up valuable points.

                              Bob Dennison with son Richard

On Easter Tuesday City's poor run finally ended with a thumping 4-1 home win over Everton with goals from Ernie Hunt (2) Willie Carr and Chris Chilton. A 1-0 win at Huddersfield a week later virtually ensured safety and left the Terriers on the brink of relegation. In the final four games the Sky Blues managed a good home win over Sheffield United, a draw with Manchester City which effectively ended the Blues' title hopes and there were defeats to Leicester and Arsenal. Bob, who had said from the outset that he wasn't interested in the job long term, ended with an unspectacular record of played 12, three wins, two draws and seven defeats. We will never know whether City would have been relegated if Cantwell had been still at the helm but Dennison ensured the club were safe well before the end of the season.

Whilst he was in charge there was the Brian Clough saga with chairman Robins convinced Clough would leave Derby, despite the Rams being close to lifting the League trophy. Unfortunately Clough used City to increase his package at the Baseball Ground and probably had little intention of coming to Highfield Road.

Dennison, who played for Newcastle, Forest and Fulham before World War Two and Northampton for three seasons after 1945, was an experienced manager before he joined City as Chief Scout in 1967. He had been elevated to manager at Northampton in 1948 after his playing days were over and managed the Cobblers for six years. In 1954 Middlesbrough, just relegated from the First Division, lured him to the North East but in nine seasons he was unable to take them back up but did unearth some outstanding players including the goalscorer extraordinaire Brian Clough. In 1962 he signed Ian Gibson from Bradford Park Avenue, a player that went on to play a key part in the Sky Blues history. Prior to coming to Coventry he had managed non-league Hereford United for four years. After his caretaker role in 1972 he went back to scouting before retiring in 1978. His son Richard was assistant secretary at the club from 1969-76. Bob died in 1996 at the age of 84.

Coventry have had numerous caretaker managers in their history including Don Howe, Steve Ogrizovic, Adrian Heath and Lee Carsley. There have been periods also when there has been no manager and team affairs were handled by the chairman at the time or a director. This was the case in 1928 after the departure of James Kerr, in 1947 following the death of Dick Bayliss and in 1953 between Harry Storer leaving and Jack Fairbrother arriving. Over the next few weeks I will attempt to cover the various caretaker managers in the club's history.