The Last Eight Days....

By CovSid67
January 15 2006

A win in the F.A. Cup at Brighton, a win away for the reserves against Portsmouth, followed by a defeat away to Premiership-bound Reading.

The latter of which I didn't even get to listen to on the radio due to suffering from "man flu" - though from information found elsewhere, it seems we resorted to our usual "play for 0-0" tactic, before going a goal behind, then giving the table-toppers a run for their money. If only we had belief in our own ability....

Our away league record against Brighton is abysmal (Though we did beat them in the League Cup in the 1980/81 season), so a fair few of us would have taken a draw at their place and a replay - a cracking McSheffrey goal saved us the bother. And if the away section had been 50 yards closer to the pitch, those without binoculaurs might even have seen it!

Once again McSheffrey should have been awarded a penalty too, but it now seems if you hack at him with a machete, or fire a machine gun in his general direction, he's obviously faking hitting the floor, and is more likely to be yellow carded than given any decision.

Ince made a rare start in goal, though had Spurs known what was to follow a day later, the man hoping to go to the World Cup with Trinidad & Tobago might not have gone through the agony of doing well enough but being left out again a week later.

Duffy picked up his eighth booking of the season after half-an-hour, with the returning Hughes also seeing yellow, along with Adebola, while Claus Jorgensen was brought on as an injury time substitute for the second week in succession!

Highlights were at a premium (As you can probably tell by what's written above!), but it mattered not as Coventry City earned themselves a place in the Fourth Round of the F.A. Cup (Against Middlesboro or Nuneaton Boro - and after Saturday's drubbing at the hands of Arsenal, and confidence low, the outcome of this might not be as obvious as so many might expect it to be!).

The reserve game against Portsmouth was notable for two reasons: the first being the fact Coventry City recorded only their second away victory of the season (Thanks to a goal from Vijay Sidhu); and the second being the return from injury of Neil Wood - with Stephen Hughes still struggling with injury, it might finally be time for him to show he's ready and able to stake a claim for a first team place.

The match against Reading - one of the few away grounds where we can boast a decent away record (Three 2-1 victories on the trot) - saw us produce a fine display of defending in the first half, followed by a fine display of attacking in the second half, yet earn nothing.

Coventry managed to avoid conceding during the first 45 minutes, despite being under pressure for almost the entire first half, but it took less than a minute of the second half for the home side to take the lead through Kitson - and the goal looked all to easy too.

This forced Coventry City into abandoning camping in and around their own penalty area (According to Five Live!), and a succession of chances were created - including a Marcus Hall effort that hit the bar - before Kitson added his and Reading's second. It was harsh on Coventry, but again it looked a little to easy....

Plaudits from Reading supporters that we were the best team they've played against at home this season (Which makes a nice change from being called the worst!) will count for nothing if we fail to beat some of the strugglers we are due to play over the next month or so.

In other news, Don Hutchinson signed on with us for the third time (Having signed for an extra week last week, but not acutally bothering to play), this time 'til the end of the season.

Wolves striker Ganea has been linked with a move to the Arena, but, with Wolves saying they don't want to enter contract talks 'til they know which division they are in, this would suggest his wages are way beyond what we could afford.

New MD Paul Fletcher unveils his new plan to get us into the Premiership within three seasons....