Jim's column 25.3.2017

A week tomorrow Coventry City are back at Wembley after a break of thirty years. As I have written previously, only City & Fulham of teams from the top three divisions have not appeared at the old or new Wembley in the intervening years. The circumstances however are very different. In 1987 City were having the club's best league season for almost ten years. Under the shrewd management of George Curtis and John Sillett they had been comfortably in the top ten all season, winning 14 out of 21 home games and since reaching Wembley by beating Leeds in the semi-final, they had lost just once in eight games. Confidence was high and although they finished tenth in the league they were only three points off sixth place.

Thirty years on it is a different story with the club in one of its worst runs ever with only two wins in 23 league games and on their fourth manager of the campaign. Relegation to the fourth tier is virtually certain and the team will struggle to reach forty points. There have been numerous nightmare games, home and away, and we can only hope that the team puts on a good performance at Wembley, win or lose. It would be a sad day if the players didn't perform on this big day for the club and the supporters who will turn the great stadium into a sea of sky blue. Have a great day City fans, you deserve it!

Arthur Warner, a regular reader from Binley wrote to me recently:

Your article about Christmas matches a few weeks ago brought back memories of the Liverpool Boxing Day match of 1967. I was there in the Sky Blue Stand at the Kop end which was the end that Gerry Baker scored the equaliser in the 1-1 draw. I remember the sending off of Ian St John for the punch on Brian Lewis, a hard midfield player who gave no quarter. The that the company I worked for in the 1980's had a forum at Highfield Road, and after lunch there was a talk from Ian St John. He talked about his time with Liverpool and talked about his sending off against the City in 1967. He told us that the great Bill Shankly, the Liverpool manager at the time, told him to report the next day at the training ground. On reporting Shankly told him to strip off and proceeded to black him up in the lower regions. It appears that it was a Gascoigne/Vinny Jones moment that caused the sending off. Shankly then invited the press in to show them what Coventry had done to 'his boy'.

Relating this story to friends in the pub before the Port Vale game someone suggested that in those days you had to do something pretty bad to get sent off, normally involving punches and fighting, and players rarely got sent off for bad fouls. I thought I would do some research into City's red cards over the years.

The first conclusion is that there were far fewer dismissals in those days; the chart below analyses City's 144 red cards since they joined the league in 1919.

1920s	4
1930s	2
1940s	4
1950s	3
1960s	5
1970s	11
1980s	17
1990s	32
2000s	43
2010s	23
Total	144

Before the 1960s dismissals were very rare indeed and in the six seasons that Jimmy Hill was manager (1961-67) only one player, George Hudson, got his marching orders. 'The Hud' was sent off at Huddersfield in 1965 for flooring John Coddington with a punch. I can only find one dismissal before the 1970s that was not for fighting or raising hands – Frank Kletzenbauer was sent off for two bad challenges on QPR's Clive Clark in an FA Cup match in 1960. Older fans will remember Maurice Setters and Liverpool's Alun Evans being ordered off at Highfield Road in a nail-biting 0-0 draw that kept City up in 1969.

In the 1970s retaliation became popular and Chris Cattlin, Donal Murphy and Jimmy Holmes all got sent off for that offence with the real culprits (Bobby Gould, Kenny Burns & Francis Lee) all getting off scot-free.

In the 1980s it was still more common for players to be sent off for punches or, in Steve Hunt's case, a head-butt, and Steve Jacobs, Terry Gibson (twice), Gary Bannister & David Speedie all saw red for adopting Marquis of Queensbury rules. The 1990s saw a rapid growth in red cards for the Sky Blues with the peak being hit in 1996-97 when six red cards equaled the total of the 20 mid-war years. That was topped in both 2001-02 and 2002-03 when City had seven men sent off in each season. However there has been a downturn since 2010 with only one dismissal in 2012-13 and two the following season. The type of offences has changed too – of the 54 red cards since 2002 only three players have been sent off for striking an opponent, Michael Doyle, Marlon King and Reda Johnson, and there are far more dismissals for persistent fouling, dissent and foul language.

This season City have picked up five red cards, the highest number since 2002-03, with young players bearing the brunt. It was more the exuberance of Ben Stevenson & Dion Kelly-Evans rather than malice that got them sent off in their first season, and Willis, Turnbull and Page were probably let down by their relative inexperience.

Finally, we are only two weeks away from the 10^th annual Legends Day organised by the Former Players Association (CCFPA). Already more than 40 Sky Blue stars of the past are lined up to attend & it promises to be another great day on 8^th April. A large contingent from Scotland will be in attendance including Tommy Hutchison, Roy Barry and Ian Wallace. The 1967 Division Two championship side, celebrating their 50^th anniversary will be well represented and include Bill Glazier flying in from Spain and John Tudor coming from the USA. It's also 30 years since the FA Cup victory and the 1987 side will be well represented. The football club are still taking bookings for the day and fans interested in being in the presence of our Legends should contact Suzette or Tynan at 024 7699 2330

Jim's column 28.2.15

Last Saturday's 2-2 draw at Bramall Lane together with results elsewhere pushed Coventry City into the bottom four of League One & precipitated the departure of Steven Pressley, after two years in charge. I think it is always sad when a Coventry City manager leaves the club in these circumstances but especially so in the case of Steven. There is no question that he worked tremendously hard to achieve success for the club & he unquestionably had his share of bad luck but ultimately it is about results & no club can afford relegation from any division these days with the financial rewards & crowds usually dropping after a demotion. Every manager is under pressure & with few exceptions, forced to work with a lower budget than they would wish for. The number of managerial casualties increases every season – a staggering 17 managers have left their posts in the Championship this campaign.

Steven took over as manager in March 2013 after Mark Robins jumped ship to join Huddersfield & had his best period in the first half of last season when boosted by the goalscoring feats of Callum Wilson & Leon Clarke, the team quickly wiped off the ten point deduction & at one stage looked set for a play-off challenge. His decision to give Wilson his chance, when others preferred Shaun Jeffers, is probably his greatest legacy at the club. Last season he was hamstrung in the transfer market & forced to play his inherited players, some of whom he clearly didn't fancy, but when the handcuffs came off a number of his loan players were disappointing.

Last summer he was again hampered in the transfer market but his signings have, with a couple of exceptions, been poor & although the defence has looked more secure he never remotely got close to replacing Clarke & Wilson.

At Bramall Lane a two-goal lead against the ten-man Blades was thrown away – not for the first time on Pressley's watch. Last season two-goal leads were frittered against Bradford & Crawley with woeful defending.

Steven had exactly 100 games in charge (87 league & 13 cup) – only four managers since 1986 have had more (Sillett, Adams, Strachan & Coleman). His league record in the same period the stats rank him as 11^th out of 18 managers for win percentage, appreciably better than Messrs McAllister, Thorn & Atkinson. His home form was the Achilles heel however, with only fifteen victories out of 43 games (34%) but he is not alone in this – only Roland Nilsson out of the 18 managers had a better than 50% win ratio at home.

	CCFC managers since 1986
		Games	W	D	L	Wins %
1	Mark Robins	25	13	5	7	52.00%
2	Eric Black	23	11	3	9	47.83%
3	Roland Nilsson	40	19	5	16	47.50%
4	Iain Dowie	43	16	9	18	37.21%
5	Micky Adams	90	31	24	35	34.44%
6	John Sillett	128	44	37	47	34.38%
7	Terry Butcher	49	16	11	22	32.65%
8	Phil Neal	58	18	18	22	31.03%
9	Peter Reid	29	9	8	12	31.03%
10	Aidy Bothroyd	36	11	8	17	30.56%
11	Steven Pressley	87	26	28	33	29.89%
12	Bobby Gould	54	16	19	19	29.63%
13	Gordon Strachan	183	52	52	79	28.42%
14	Chris Coleman	107	30	35	42	28.04%
15	Gary McAllister	68	17	25	26	25.00%
16	Ron Atkinson	64	14	24	26	21.88%
17	Andy Thorn	59	12	21	26	20.34%
18	Don Howe	19	3	8	8	15.79%
	League games only

The goal-glut at the start of last season means that Pressley's goals per game is the fourth best of the 18 – only Robins, Black & Nilsson had better scoring rates. Steven's cup record was a mixed bag also. Only six of the 13 ties was won & five of the victories were against lower opposition with the win at Barnsley in last season's FA Cup a rare highlight. This season's defeat to Worcester has to go down as one of the worst results in the club's Cup history.

Craig Richards asked if City managers had been sacked in previous relegation seasons. The club have only been relegated four times in their league history, in 1925, 1952, 2001 & 2012. In 1925 manager Albert Evans was fired in the November with secretary Harry Harbourne taking over the reins. In 1952 the great Harry Storer was in charge & survived a further fifteen months after relegation. In 2001 & 2012, Gordon Strachan & Andy Thorn were respectively sacked a few games into the following season.

On Saturday Sheffield United's Jose Baxter became the first opposition player to be shown a red card since January last year when Preston's Kevin Davies was sent off at Deepdale. In the time since then the Sky Blues have had six men ordered off – a pretty frightening statistic. Baxter's red card came in the 19^th minute – the quickest opponent's dismissal since August 2011 when Leicester’s Darius Vassell was ordered off after only 10 minutes.

Jim's column 15.3.14

 

Two away defeats in four days have increased the pressure on Steven Pressley & the Sky Blues & once again they are looking over their shoulders at the teams fighting to get away from the bottom four in League One. The result at Gillingham on Tuesday night was a pretty disastrous one but was a unique game in Coventry City's history being the first time that four penalties were scored in a game involving the club. Gillingham's Adebayo Akinfenwa scored two from the spot with Callum Wilson & Carl Baker netting for the Sky Blues. I am certain that there has not been another instance of four penalties scored in a City game since the Second World War but some of the pre-1939 penalty scorers are a bit uncertain.

There has been two post-war instances when four penalties have been awarded. The first was a game at Leicester City's Filbert Street in 1977. City's Mick Coop netted twice from the spot with Jon Sammels replying for the Foxes but Leicester's first penalty by Dennis Rofe was saved by Jim Blyth. City won the game 2-1. The second was in September 1990 at Highfield Road against Nottingham Forest when City were awarded three penalties. Brian Kilcline scored one and missed one, Forest's Nigel Jemson scored from the spot and added a second from open play before Brian Borrows netted City's third penalty two minutes from time to rescue a point in a 2-2 draw.

Akinfenwa is not the first opponent to score two penalties in a game against the Sky Blues - Liverpool's Jan Molby managed three in the League Cup tie at Anfield in 1986 and other players to match Akinfenwa include Swindon's Jan Age Fjortoft (1994), West Ham's Ray Stevens (1984), Tottenham's Glen Hoddle (1980), Manchester City's Gary Owen (1978), West Ham's Geoff Hurst (1969) and Sunderland's Neil Martin (1967). I think Martin is the only opposing player to score two penalties at Highfield Road and he later scored two penalties in a game against Crystal Palace for the Sky Blues.

Another interesting statistic from Tuesday night's game was that stand-in captain Dan Seaborne became the first City player to receive a red card in a league game this season. Earlier in the season Dan was punished with a three-match ban after video evidence showed he had committed a red card offence against Oldham. Carl Baker was, of course, shown a red card in the League Cup tie at Leyton Orient this season. With only one red card last season (Jordan Stewart at Walsall) it is now almost two years since a City player was sent off in a home game - that was Richard Keogh in the final home game in the. Championship.

Red cards are one way of measuring a team's discipline and the above are positive signs for the Sky Blues. However another measure is the number of penalties conceded and the Sky Blues' record this term is appalling with the total now 11 in 35 league games. Admittedly Joe Murphy has saved four of them (a record for a City keeper) the total is the worst in the club's history, surpassing the 10 conceded in 2004-05.

Back to a positive statistic & Callum Wilson's goalscoring feats. Three goals in the last three games has taken his league total to 17 in 27 games and he is now joint top of the League One scorers. He has scored more league goals in a season than any other City player since 1997-98 when Dion Dublin topped the Premiership scoring lists (with Michael Owen) with 18 goals.

With eleven league games remaining Wilson is capable of overhauling some other all-time great  City scorers. Over the last 50 years the top seasonal scorers are as follows:

24 George Hudson 1963-64

24 Bobby Gould 1966-67

21 Ian Wallace.  1977-78

19 George Hudson 1964-65

18 Dion Dublin  1997-98

17 Callum Wilson 2013-14

17 Mick Quinn 1992-93

17 Terry Gibson 1983-84

Callum's efforts this season are outstanding especially when you consider he was only a fringe player with only one senior goal to his name before the season kicked off.

Jim's column 6.4.13

                                                 City's goal v Walthamstow Avenue 1957

Two weeks ago I mentioned Coventry City's FA Cup First round tie in 1957 against non-league Walthamstow Avenue. Arthur Warner of Binley wrote to me with his memories of the game:

They were a strong amateur team as you said- I remember they gave City one hell of a game. I was behind the goal on the Kop with the lads again-aged 12-nearly 20,000 crowd (19,064 to be precise). Big Ken McPherson scored the only goal, at the Kop end , towards the end of second half if my memory serves me right. I am sure that Walthamstow  played in green and white hoops and City played in red as both teams normal colours were blue.

Rod Dean too, has vague memories of the game: 'It was 56 years ago! I seem to remember Walthamstow in quartered shirts and City in red'

I did a bit of research and found an old newspaper picture from the game (of McPherson's goal I think) and of the two players in the background the closer one is wearing a quartered shirt (green, I suspect) and is a Walthamstow player. The other looks like City player Ray Sambrook, and is wearing City's away kit of that time, red shirts and white shorts. Both teams would have changed shirts because of the colour clash to comply with the FA rules at the time. The match report says that the amateur side had been the superior team in the first half but after a half-time lecture from manager Billy Frith, City improved a lot and McPherson scored the only goal after 56 minutes.

Arthur also remembers Steve 'Kalamazoo' Mokone who I wrote about two weeks ago:

Concerning Steve Mokone, I was at the game in October 1956 when steve scored his only goal for City against GIllingham -we won 4-1, and the crowd of nearly 17,000. I was behind the goal, at the Kop end where all us young ones went in those days. i am sure he scored it at the covered end- later known as the West end. i do remember that he picked the ball out of the  back of the net,  put it under his arm, and ran back to centre circle, waving to the crowd, and placed it on the centre-spot, amid great cheering from the crowd. He was a exciting talent to us young ones and was like a breath of fresh air in the games I saw him play- first team and reserves. The football was pretty grim under Harry Warren I seem to remember.

Alan Gamble of Longfollow Road also has fond memories of Mokone:

I was 9 years old “city fan “and used to go to South Street School, after school a crowd of us would have a kick about at the bottom of Days Lane by the Vauxhall Tavern. One day Kalamazoo joined us, he was really friendly and mesmerized us with his skills, and I got his autograph and treasured it, until sadly lost it in a house move 20+ years ago.

CCFPA committee member Mike Young has been in contact with ‘Kalamazoo’ who recently celebrated his 81^st birthday and lives in Virginia, USA. He is a member of the FPA & would love to come over for a Legends Day however his health is not great but has promised to try and make it next year. 

What a disastrous result at Walsall, although by many accounts it wasn't that bad a performance but the red card for Stewart, City's first sending off of the season, and a stunning display of finishing by Walsall saw City beaten. It was their biggest league defeat of the season and the largest since the final day defeat at Southampton last season. In fact before Monday the team had only conceded more than two goals once in league games (at Shrewsbury in September).

I have written about City's topsy-turvy form, 11 away wins but only seven at home but there is another fascinating feature about the league record this season. Looking at a league table based on games against top half sides the Sky Blues are top of the league but on a table based on games against bottom half sides the Sky Blues are 17th. City have performed far better against the top sides & have done the double over Doncaster and Bournemouth and taken four points off Sheffield United and MK Dons. Conversely their form against lower sides has been dire with Shrewsbury & Carlisle doing the double over them and teams like Stevenage and Scunthorpe winning at the Ricoh. The Good Friday win over Doncaster Rovers was the second time this season that the Sky Blues have beaten the league leaders following the win over Tranmere in January.

JIM'S COLUMN 12.3.11

A disastrous home defeat to Bristol City last week saw Marlon King receive his second red card of his short stay at the club – City’s fifth red card of the season. This is the club’s worst season for dismissals since 2002-03 when seven players were sent off. Seven in one season is the club’s worst campaign and was also the total in 2001-02. This season’s culprits are:

Carl Baker (Millwall away)
Aron Gunnarsson (Norwich home)
Marlon King (QPR home)
Martin Cranie (Leicester away)
Marlon King (Bristol City home)

Surely it is no coincidence that four of the red cards have been dished out during the current bad run started in December. Conversely no opponent has been sent off this season and if that situation continues until the end of the season it will be the first time since 1996-97 that no opposing player was given a red card. King emulates players like David Thompson, Kevin Kyle and Leon Barnett who received two red cards in one season.

Dean Nelson pointed out that David James, the Bristol ‘keeper on Saturday, played 18 years after his first appearance against the Sky Blues and wondered if it was some kind of record. 40-year old James first played against City for Liverpool in 1993 in a 4-0 defeat for the Sky Blues -almost 18 years ago last Saturday. Dean asked how many times he had played against City in that period and I make it 17 including the two games this season for Bristol City. He has only appeared on the winning side six times in that time and Saturday’s game was only the second winning side he has played in in Coventry. Considering that eleven of the 17 games were for Liverpool it is not that impressive. He was between the sticks at Anfield for all three of City’s great victories there – in 1995, 1997 and 1998.

As far as I know James’ record is topped by two players. When Teddy Sheringham appeared as a substitute (and was sent off) for Colchester at the Ricoh in 2007, aged 41, it was 19 years and 12 days since his first appearance against City, for Millwall in 1988.

The record however is held by Peter Shilton who first played against City for Leicester in December 1967 and played his last match in April 1991, over 23 years later, for Derby at Highfield Road. In total ‘Shilts’ played against City 42 times for five different clubs (Leicester, Stoke, Nottingham Forest, Southampton and Derby) and was on the winning side 19 times.

The longest City career (in time) is also held by a goalkeeper Alf Wood. Alf made his debut in February 1937 and although the war intervened, he made his final appearance over 21 years later in December 1958 at the age of 43 years.

City had three different captains during the match with Bristol, which must be some sort of record. Keiron Westwood captained the side from the kick-off but handed the armband to King when he went off at half-time. When King was red-carded he passed the band to Gunnarsson. Then on Tuesday Richard Wood was captain.

Today’s special guest of the Former Players Association at the Hull City game is Peter Bodak. Birmingham-born Peter played a big part in the 1980-81 League Cup run to the semi-final but was unable to attend the recent reunion of that team. He will be best remembered for two stunning goals, the first in the 5-0 quarter final victory over Watford, the second, the following season at Maine Road where his delicious chip clinched a famous FA Cup win and won Match of the Day’s goal of the season.
Fans will be able to meet him in the corporate areas before the game and after the game in the G-Casino.


Finishing touches are now being made for this year’s grand reunion of our former players at Legends Day 2011 (which is less than a month away). This will be held on Saturday 2nd April 2011 at the Sky Blues’ home game against Watford. Over 40 Former Players have already confirmed their appearanceand it is expected that 2011 will be the biggest and best Legends Day so far. We will reveal on the website www.ccfpa.co.uk who is coming nearer the date.
The funeral of former Coventry City defender Eric Dobbs will take place at Canley Crematorium on Monday 14 March at 11.30 am.