CT Article 2 - 07/08
By CovSid67
September 27 2007
Hindsight is a wonderful thing! And with the benefit of it, this article could have been so different! A couple of poor results, and poor defensive displays left me fearing the worst for our trip to Old Trafford. Below is the article, (Almost) as printed in today's Telegraph - alongside page-after-page of glorious victory!
Hopefully by the time you read this we will be celebrating another famous victory at Old Trafford! But, unless the defending has considerably improved over the space of a few days, I can only see a drubbing.
Some have said Manchester United will probably play their third team (If rumours are true, said third team includes: Hargreaves, Rooney, and Saha!), which is quite apt with our defending against Bristol City and Ipswich being third rate.
What does it say about our defence when a left-back is preferred in the centre of defence to (Probably) our best central defender, and a midfield player playing at right-back is the only player guaranteed to start in the back four versus Charlton?
Some have suggested the players minds might recently have been on the trip to Old Trafford - if that's the case, a fair few players probably played themselves out of a start! If the Bristol and Ipswich displays are anything to go by, I certainly hope so....
Two things have become clear over the last three league matches: we can't do without Julian Gray, and we probably can do without De Zeeuw - at least until he's re-gained his fitness with a few reserve games. Gray has been accused of drifting in and out of games, but I think he is a touch of class in this division, and is vital to our chances of a decent season.
Switching Tabb to the left in Gray's absence has seen his displays take a downward turn too, with Tabb's replacement on the right, Ellary Cairo, looking okay in patches, but also not quite up to speed (Though he could be quite a prospect when he reaches the necessary level of fitness).
Despite looking as though we had strength in depth, injuries to key players are showing we're not quite as strong as we first thought (The Chelsea of the Championship!). With Thornton back from injury, and Gray hopefully not to far away, competition for place should liven things up a bit soon.
I know I'm not the only person who thought Borrowdale could play at both left- and right-back, so why Marcus Hall was played there versus Bristol City is a mystery! Quite what it is about Coventry City managers and not actually bringing in a right-back to play at right-back (When our only proper option is injured) is another mystery that needs solving! I thought it was left-sided players this country was short of? Dale Jones could have been a decent option....
The slightly gloomy tone of this column is not me turning against the team because of a couple of defeats. I was as pleased as anybody to see us top the table, but knew even during those victories that our flimsy defence would end up costing us against better opposition. I hope Mr. Dowie can sort out the defensive frailties to ensure the season stays on track after nothing more than a minor blip.
On a (Sort of) positive note, the decision to finally give the Arena the railway station it should have had from day one is fantastic - the fact that it won't actually happen for two or three years not so! The powers that be should be pulling out all the stops to make this happen sooner, because it is costing the club potential customers, and much needed revenue. And we'll have to put up with another couple of years moaning from those attending concerts in the summer!