The squad has been strengthened with some interesting signings and is now one of
the strongest in the division outside of the relegated clubs and we have to hope
that the new signings bed in quickly to City's style of play.
My major concern
is the home form. Last season Mark Robins' team had a very average home record
with nine wins, eight draws and six defeats. I appreciate that three of those
losses occurred after the FA Cup semi final when it was clear there were a lot
of tired legs in the squad but there has to be improvement if a serious
promotion challenge is going to be made. Last season the team were 14th highest
for home wins with even lowly Plymouth and relegated Birmingham recording more
home victories. The top six teams all won 15 home games or more. Generally
successful teams have strong home records and it is certainly the case with
Coventry City. In the promotion seasons of 1936, 1959, 1967 and 2020 the team
lost only one home game in each season with two defeats in the 1964 Division
Three title campaign. In 1936 they won 19 out of 21 home games. In 1959, 18 out
of 23. In 1967, 17 out of 21. The facts speak for themselves, good home form
leads to success. The incredible atmosphere inside the CBS Arena should also
play its part and with 25,000 or so home fans likely to be inside the noisy
stadium there is no excuse.
An opening day trip to Stoke brings back memories of
a bad defeat at the Potters' old ground, the Victoria Ground, in 1979. Big
summer signings Gary Collier and Dave Jones made their debut in Gordon Milne's
team but Garth Crooks (2) and Viv Busby put the skids under the Sky Blues and
the home side led 3-0 just 10 minutes into the second half. A Barry Powell brace
restored some pride but the newly-promoted Potters were deserved 3-2 winners.
Collier, a club record £350,000 signing from Bristol City, was made the
scapegoat for the defensive disaster and made only one further appearance for
the club before joining Portland Timbers in the NASL the following year.
If you
enjoy this column and would like to hear more about Coventry City's history you
can listen to the Sky Blue History Podcast which is available on Spotify and
YouTube. Claudio Cardellino and I talk about all things Sky Blue.
The latest
podcast features the history of Highfield Road and can be found here:
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6tQLAR8PJdHXVvgJncnHRh?si=CNLx_igCQuyctEC3D-C2ug
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoMVwjLuo4Q
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