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[Blog] The Perils of Coventry
Written by SheffieldBlue1 on Wednesday, 8th Feb 2012 15:55

Whilst travelling back home on the train from the Ricoh Arena on Saturday, I realised something, a thoroughly unnerving thought that had been lurking in the back of my mind for a while. I am scared of Coventry City.

Now, I don't mean I am scared of the city itself, or the Coventry fans or players or anything like that. I am scared of Coventry because of what they represent, a club who are a mere shadow of their former selves, a club who are becoming embedded in a quagmire of mediocrity and a club who Ipswich are showing some perturbing similarities with.

Until 2001, which saw them relegated into the Championship, Coventry City had been in the top tier of English football for 34 consecutive years, with only Liverpool, Everton and Arsenal having longer periods in the top flight.

Since then, the club has achieved another record for consecutive years in a league, its current 11 consecutive seasons in the Championship being a record. In recent seasons they have the dubious honour of not finishing above 15th since the 2005/06 season, whilst always avoiding relegation at the same time.

At the start of the season I can remember mocking this statistic, but looking now as Ipswich stagnate at 19th in the league, most fans presently are not thinking about pushing on for play-offs next season, but at avoiding the drop into the footballing quandary that is League One.

There are, however, startling similarities between Coventry’s current demise and the state of our current football club. Their 11 seasons in the Championship have been riddled with economic insecurities and debt, managerial mishaps, dwindling attendances and lacklustre playing squads.

When it comes to the economics of the two clubs, primarily the threat of administration, massive wage bills and questionable boardroom decisions, I am not going to talk at great length, as I am not going to pretend to be an expert, as I like many have no way of knowing the true nature of what goes on in the wings at either Coventry or Ipswich.

It is noteworthy however, to look at the character of transfers that the two clubs undertake. Players no longer join a club like Coventry looking to ‘push on and help them get promotion’ no matter what they say as they first arrive, but they use the club as a shop window, as a stopgap to show their talents before a bigger club swoops in and snatches them up.

Look here at Lukas Jutkiewicz, a player who Coventry signed as a promising youngster for little money from Everton in 2010, who then went onto to impress before securing a move to Middlesbrough in the recent transfer window.

The transfer of Jutkiewicz to Boro smacks of a club trying to cash in its prize assets in consolidation for life in a lower league. Ipswich is in danger in becoming one of these clubs. If JET starts to show more of his undoubted promise and really starts scoring, and if Ipswich is in the same situation last season, I can see him leaving for a Premier League club or even a highly achieving Championship club.

After this season, players are more than likely going to join Ipswich for two reasons, either to use the club as an advertisement of their talents in hope of a future transfer, or as one final payday, see Lee Bowyer, Jimmy Bullard etc. This would leave us with the sort of lacklustre playing squad Coventry currently have, as I’m sure I wasn’t the only one on Saturday struggling to recognise the majority of their squad. Unfortunately, I can see how an opposition fan could look at our current squad and say much the same thing.

An attendance of 13,464 watched Coventry play us on Saturday, which is a risible amount for a ground the size of the Ricoh Arena. The chants of ‘your grounds too big for you’, whilst probably factually true, were also laced with a hint of hypocrisy.

I do not pretend to be a regular at Portman Road, if I had the finances and availability I would go every week, but as a student in Sheffield I have neither of these. Portman Road has seen falling attendances for the last few seasons, as presumably fans become both disillusioned with the football they are seeing and the high ticket prices. For me, however, this doesn’t seem to be a problem yet. Yes, we do not get a full stadium every week, but I feel that Ipswich has a foundational core support that turns out every week that eclipses that of Coventry’s.

Games such as a the 5-1 drubbing of West Ham, and ticket schemes such as the reduced tickets for Boro at the weekend should keep punters coming. The attendance will only become a problem if Ipswich becomes veiled in the continuing mediocrity that currently haunts the Ricoh, as the thought of Portman Road becoming like the soulless graveyard that Coventry play in is mildly upsetting and disheartening.

Lastly, Coventry have been continually thrown into instability by constant managerial changes and almost provides empirical reasons why Paul Jewell should be given more time as our manager. Since 2005 the position has been held by Mickey Adams, Iain Dowie, Chris Coleman, Aidy Boothroyd and their current manager Andy Thorn. None of these managers was able to turn around Coventry's dire fortunes, all failing to lift them from their current slumber as a club.

Of course, it is impossible to know how the club would be faring if any one of these managers was given more time, but is relevant to speculate how the constant changes could have had a debilitating effect on the club's fate. None of the managers were given sufficient time to build a team of their own of any merit.

Here, granted, the argument can be made that Paul Jewell has had time to build his own team, and the project he has undertaken has failed, but, after the last two performances I honestly believe he can turn around our situation, given time. He genuinely seems like a manager who is so arrogant he won’t admit his own failures and will learn from his mistakes.

Another managerial sacking at this point will just bring instability and let’s be honest, we would just appoint another average Championship level manager. Whilst we can sit at our laptops crying out for Alan Curbishley, Neil Warnock and George Burley, we are much more likely to end up with a manager more of the calibre of the ex-managers of Coventry I listed previously.

In conclusion, Ipswich must be wary of the case of Coventry. The parallels are there for everyone to see and Ipswich must take heed of the mistakes Coventry have made to make sure our own beloved club doesn’t follow down the same road.

If Ipswich were to become engulfed in the same pedestrian existence Coventry has become overwhelmed by, it could cripple the club. The effects would be lowering attendances, underwhelming transfers and a slow demise into League One, which would be heartbreaking for everyone who loves the club.

Next season, Marcus Evans must let Paul Jewell invest in the team and turn us into play-off contenders, as if we don’t keep up our mantra that we seem to get at the start of each season of ‘play-off contenders’, we will start the dangerous slide.

I hope the parallels I have outlined here due to a visit to the Ricoh Arena are not then confirmed by another visit to the same stadium, in a couple of years in the mire that is League One.




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Mauricio added 16:46 - Feb 8
Totally agree with the subject of the blog - it is a comparison I often draw and one that makes me shudder! We are more than halfway towards 'doing a Coventry' (as they will surely finally go down this year after years of mediocrity), lets make sure this is our tipping point and we start to make progress towards the upper echelons of the league sooner rather than later.
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BathBlue2 added 17:00 - Feb 8
A sobering analysis and having read some of the Coventry Fans' comments after Saturday's game, you could easily be forgiven for thinking that they were simply rewriting many of the Ipswich Fans' comments from our last three or four months - apart from the name of the club and the manager, they seemed to be saying exactly the same thing and fearing the same thing... Division 1.

Of course, the real parallel, and what probably does separate from the other struggling clubs, is what you say regarding our common, lengthy histories as Top Division clubs... the management team at ITFC really do have to be careful that our glorious past does not fade to just that: 'the Past' and the allure of Suffolk is not enough compensation, if the club itself has become less than mediocre.

Dismal thoughts, but more of the last two games and we can all return to being the happy, smiling, optimists we all want to be!

A 3rd successive win on Saturday, will be a perfect riposte to all the misery... COYB!!!
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rosseden added 17:58 - Feb 8
interesting blog, and agree somewhat, however, i think there are other factors to be considered when drawing comparisons..... regarding followings etc, Cov have many more clubs in a close proximity, so as clubs dwindle in performances, the local kids may well support a different local club, they have WBA, Wolves, Villa all near by, they have Birmingham in the same division but further up, there is also a huge multi-cultrual contingent in Cov which I think in some cases can mean the club can struggle to engange as much locally as it could do in a more 'traditional' uk town such as Sheffield / Derby / Ipswich. I would draw more of a comparison between ITFC and Sheffield Weds, who i think we could run the risk of copying if we go down!

The other thing to bare in mind is we're run by a business man, and a very successful one at that. Cov, much like Pompey have been passed from consortium to random owner and back, with no real decision makers, i dont think clubs can be run by committee, they have to have a defined strategy and plans. I do think though that there are learnings to be had and some really big watch outs when learning from Cov. I was reading recently a new stadium increases your gates by an average of 30% for the first season, and assuming youre good, you maintain it. but as Cov show, you have to maintain it, or you have a big fancy ground with no fans in it.... ill stick with Portman Road over a Ricoh any day......


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Pip50 added 20:21 - Feb 8
You are missing the bit about boardroom squabbles uncertain ownership, equity holding companies with Cayman domicile and the aggressive approach of Hoffmans syndicate.
Other than that yes we are similar.
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Vic added 12:14 - Feb 9
You make some thought provoking points, but the unmistakable fact is that Coventry had 30 years of mediocrity in the Prem, we didn't! We were ground breakers and pace setters for most of the time. We were the club that many aspired to be, we have a heritage, they do not. We have something to regain, they do not - which is why I think we'll have the greater impetus and desire to get back up to the Prem again.
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thechangingman added 08:21 - Feb 23
What a thought-provoking and, in my opinion, very well written blog. It is really refreshing and encouraging to read an insightful, reflective and engaging opinion on TWTD. Often I feel as if it is merely a forum for extras from the Jeremy Kyle show to vent their spleen at anyone who happens to disagree with whatever is the current 'received wisdom' (at the moment: be positive about the club, support Jewell, or shut up!)
So, for me at least, whilst I am VERY sad to find myself wholeheartedly agreeing with your sentiments, I am nonetheless gratified to remember that not all Town fans are grunting neanderthals...

Let's learn from the past, learn from our mistakes as a club and move onwards and upwards, realistically and honestly...

COYB!!!
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