Back from the Game - Coventry City

[Sun Tzu]

As the City support which numbered about a thousand and included three from Norway plus a good number of supporters from London and the Home Counties, Sussex, Southampton, South Wales, Cambridgeshire, and the rest from the Midlands, taunted those from a town full of Chelsea fans,

What a very surreal comment ! Despite this we still seem to get as many people at games as they do, and we've probably even had a Norwegian at games in the past !

[RoyalBlue]

Why was Rasiak's header disallowed? Couldn't be offside as it came off a Cov player.

If it is a deflection off the player (which IIRC it was) then I believe that under the laws of the game Rasiak was offside.

[Terminal Boardom]

The budget will be set and that will be that!

So you'd rather have no budget seat and the manager able to spend whatever he likes? Isn't that what happened at Portsmouth?

A few quick thoughts about today :

Someone in the video box has said that Karacan's shot was going wide, so it's a damn good thing that Rasiak got in the way - deliberately or otherwise.

Morrison ows McAnuff big-time - they're still m8s from their days at Palace, and if Jobi hadn't taken him to one side and calmed him down things might ahve been even worse.

Matt Mills is rapdily turning into a Royals-hero!

Dirkers, you misunderstand me. I am more than happy for SJM to lose the pin code to his little bit of plastic. Too many clubs live beyond their means. Not just at the top end of the game but also at grass roots level and it can not continue. I want the club to maintain a strict spending policy and hopefully, some of the supporters will realise that demanding signings left right and centre ala Football Manager is unrealistic.

[Terminal Boardom]

Why was Rasiak's header disallowed? Couldn't be offside as it came off a Cov player.

If it is a deflection off the player (which IIRC it was) then I believe that under the laws of the game Rasiak was offside.

If Rasiak was offside when the ball was played in then end of debate!

[biscuitman]

God what a piss poor report from Coventry Mad. Deffo under 1,000 fans aswell.

[Southbank Old Boy]

So you're not confident? If the right man had got the job in the summer, I think we would have done a lot better this season, this team should have made play offs.

We've got a young improving team, who I believe will get better next season. Their characters are too strong to be one season wonders. We have a manager who I trust in the transfer market and a Chairman who will once again make enough funds avaliable (with all the cloth cutting JM still left us with a squad good enoough for promotion this summer). I actually think Church/Long/Hunt is a pretty strong front 3 and while I think we will sell Rasiak, he again proved today that he can score goals.

Not sure this team should have made the play offs. We havent got the consistent performers for that and so much work had to be done in the first few months to settle the team down and give the youngsters their chance. Expecting them to perform like they have over the last 3 months for the whole of this season is unrealistic

Next season, who knows

[RoyalBlue]

The budget will be set and that will be that!

So you'd rather have no budget seat and the manager able to spend whatever he likes? Isn't that what happened at Portsmouth?

Here we go again! Pick on the extreme case and ignore all the clubs who set a bigger and perhaps more realistic budget to match their stated ambitions without going bust!

There is a middle way and that doesn't mean arguing for no budget to be set.

Incidentally, when did Portsmouth cease to exist? Even in their case the bogey man of spending too much still hasn't led to their extinction!

[Woodcote Royal]

Way back on Dec 28th, Brian McDermott suffered what is still his worst performance in charge at RFC. Having played 2 days earlier, on Boxing Day, he elected to make just one change to his line up and we were beaten out of sight by lowly Plymouth.

Faced with exactly the same dilema today, in came a fresh central midfield and 2 man strike force with Long and Gilfy relegated to the bench and Howard nowhere in sight.

As expected, the change was seamless other than we were starting with 4 fresh pairs of legs. Not even the 106 team could make so many changes to the starting line up and still produce such a comprehensively superior 45 minutes of football. There were times when I just looked on in disbelief at how far we've come in such a short time. As is so often the case in these situations, the second half failed to live up to expectations. Coventry, not surpringly, were obviously intent on avoiding embarrassment and, with some of our team having played more than half a game with 10 men just 48 hour earlier, a clean sheet was a more than decent out come.

Coventry were not dire we just made them look that way and I, too, made the observation today that this team is so much better to watch than anything Brendan looked like producing in the three years he thought he deserved regardless of any noticeable progress on the pitch.

I agreed with Mick Gooding in that we would have been a match for anyone in that first half. Simply, we are now one of the best teams in the division and way too good for average Championship sides like Coventry.

Kebe was immense, Mills is a class act and Karacan did exactly what was required but I'd give Jay Tabb a special mention. He's really starting to look like the lynch pin around which we can build next seasons team............................................and, I would not have fancied being one of several Coventry players who he beat in the air today when Chris Coleman broached the subject in the dressing room

I fear the season will run out of steam with most of us clamouring for more but we must all cast our minds back just a few months and thank our luck stars.........................and this new bloke called Brian.

[Jack Celliers]

First half was brilliant.
Did the wind mess things up in the second-half, or was it that both teams were content with 3-0?

I didn't see any red-card tackles today, so the ref did well to keep it to yellow cards. From a distance, the Morrison thing just looked wierd, but there was no violence, so it was difficult to see why he should have gone as well.

Federici 8

Griffin 6
Bertrand 6
K 6
Mills 7

Tabb 6
Karacan 7
McAnuff 9 Just MotM, becuase it can't always be Kebe
Kebe 8

Church 8
Rasiak 5

[Fluff]

Just a couple of months ago, if I had been offered a mid table place, I would have bitten your hand off.
Now I would feel slightly dissapointed.

[Sun Tzu]

The budget will be set and that will be that!

So you'd rather have no budget seat and the manager able to spend whatever he likes? Isn't that what happened at Portsmouth?

Here we go again! Pick on the extreme case and ignore all the clubs who set a bigger and perhaps more realistic budget to match their stated ambitions without going bust!

There is a middle way and that doesn't mean arguing for no budget to be set.

Incidentally, when did Portsmouth cease to exist? Even in their case the bogey man of spending too much still hasn't led to their extinction!

There aren't too many clubs who have actually achieved what we have in recent years so the mythical 'budget' can't be too far wrong can it ?

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

Reading fans make me laugh! This season was a complete right off and we were doomed with a clown of a manager. Sure BMcD has turned things around but we rely too much on loan players. I winced when Zurab went down in the second half. The prospect of a central defensive partnership of Pearce and Cisse had me reaching for the valium! We will need to strengthen in the summer. Much depends on who leaves and who stays. And don't expect any favours from SJM. The budget will be set and that will be that!

Being optimistic is one thing and there is no harm in that. However, being completely dillusional and devoid of rational thought another.

I don't see what is completely dillusional or avoid of rational thought in stating that I believe we will do well next season.

JM will do us as much favours, this summer as he did last.

[Ian Royal]

The budget will be set and that will be that!

So you'd rather have no budget seat and the manager able to spend whatever he likes? Isn't that what happened at Portsmouth?

Here we go again! Pick on the extreme case and ignore all the clubs who set a bigger and perhaps more realistic budget to match their stated ambitions without going bust!

There is a middle way and that doesn't mean arguing for no budget to be set.

Incidentally, when did Portsmouth cease to exist? Even in their case the bogey man of spending too much still hasn't led to their extinction!

Would those be all the clubs who are of a similar size if not bigger than us which we regularly compete with pretty successfully? For example Wolves, Sheffied United, West Brom, Birmingham?

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

So you're not confident? If the right man had got the job in the summer, I think we would have done a lot better this season, this team should have made play offs.

We've got a young improving team, who I believe will get better next season. Their characters are too strong to be one season wonders. We have a manager who I trust in the transfer market and a Chairman who will once again make enough funds avaliable (with all the cloth cutting JM still left us with a squad good enoough for promotion this summer). I actually think Church/Long/Hunt is a pretty strong front 3 and while I think we will sell Rasiak, he again proved today that he can score goals.

Not sure this team should have made the play offs. We havent got the consistent performers for that and so much work had to be done in the first few months to settle the team down and give the youngsters their chance. Expecting them to perform like they have over the last 3 months for the whole of this season is unrealistic

Next season, who knows

I think the team would have settled much quicker if BR had not tried to change so much.

Granted I wouldn't expect us to have been playing the way we have the last few months all season and any manager would have strugled at 1st.

[Wimb]

Not much more to add really,

First half we cut them to shreds and could have had more if Jimmy had got a toe on a cross whizzed in.

Second half was tedious and would have been even worse had it not been for Morrison going ape shit

Coventry were about as awful as Wednesday with the difference being they actually fought in the 2nd half and didn't just give up. Still its encouraging to be dispatching these mid-table teams with such ease as its these games that will be key if we're to make a promotion push next season.

[Mad Dog's Ghost]

Tell you what, if it wasn't for team xxxx being the worst side we've played all season (Barnsley - twice -, doncaster, coventry - twice - , Sheff weds, Derby etc) we'd be in a lot of trouble.

Another brilliant 45 mins and the game was done. A bizarre second half.

One thing. Matt Mills. As good a ball winner as you'll see at this level. Wins every header, virtually every challenge. Think he'll be off in the summer though. He's precisely what a promoted side needs and would be a good buy for £4m - £5m. Too good for this level and I think he knows it. Thought his little hissy fit at the ball boy was well out of order ... we were three up for feck's sake. And he was very, very lucky not to be sent off. Awful challenge, motivated by perceived injustice that cov were playing on after kish went down injured. But, a top player and one of the many reasons why we have been transformed.

[IcelandicStokie]

LOL @ walking it.

Rasiak, Church and Long are all just about capable of 15 goals in a season if they play most games. But we're reliant on Kebe and McAnuff showing top form, Sigurdsson not being a one season wonder and staying, and being able to bring in 75% of a defence.

I think its quite obvious that Gylfi Sigurdsson will leave this summer sadly as I think he is a perfect fit at Reading. I would think Reading would get around 2-3 million for him and if that money is invested into the team it would be good for all parties. Its sad that he only played one real season at Reading.

[prostak]

Quite confused by the criticism of the ref, above. Thought he had a good game, marred by a couple of strange decisions in the 2nd half such as the 'foul' Church gave away. Still not entirely sure what he had supposedly done there. Agreed that the ref did well to keep both teams at full strength, though i'm not convinced Morrison deserved more than a yellow. Turn it the other way round, if one of ours charged across the pitch to stick up for a team mate, we'd probably praise his team spirit.

As an aside, i winced at Robson-Kanu's lunge at their leftback. I don't want to criticise the kid without seeing a replay, and i'm sure it wasn't deliberate, but it looked a potential leg-breaker a la Shawcross. And i can't even say for sure whether HRK is 'that sort of player'...

[prostak]

Ups...

[Rex]

I still hope Siggy stays. That though could depend on MaccyD getting signed up for another season at least.