Away wins against teams we never beat, fightbacks to snatch points we'd usually surrender without a fight, wins when we're playing bloody awful, and now the latest hoodoo defied; not bottling a game to move ourselves into the top 6.

Hugely premature, but something different seems to be happening with the Sky Blues this season. I can't put my finger on it just yet, because in all honesty, we're still playing some really sloppy football. Confusing, but nevertheless, we've already won some games that in previous seasons, we'd have been punished badly for. Luck, or can we attribute it to something else?

Influenced in no small part by Roy Keane's autobiography, you probably recall I spent the majority of my time last season ranting on about the importance of attitude and ambition. After each game we heard Christopher tell us that we're not a good team and the aim was to improve on the previous year's nonsense. And game after game I went mental because it appeared obvious to me that there was no pressure on the players to achieve above mid-table, resulting in us not achieving above mid-table. Pretty simple Coventry City logic, there. 

At the beginning of last week however, I looked at the fixtures and for the first time in ages, managed to predict how things might pan out. In my mind, Cardiff are the best team in the league. So when you play the best team in the league, it's always going to be difficult. I looked at the table, looked at the 2 home games we had coming up, and after all that looking, realised that 3 points from the 2 home games would see us into the top 6. That'd do us.

Don't get me wrong, I still thought we could beat Cardiff, and as it transpires, we missed a real opportunity to get one over on them. While they have the attacking players and the strength in depth, they don't seem particularly organised at the back and allowed things to open up for us right loads. If we had more confidence and purpose about our play when going forward, we'd have beaten them that night. 

Instead, we were sloppy in attacking positions, and let them off every time they messed up. Cardiff didn't deserve the win, but the positive for me was that the best team in the league was shown to be more than beatable. Shame we couldn't manage that, but looking at the bigger picture, and the attitude going into that game, it showed how far we've come in such a short period. .

By not beating Cardiff, this heaped the pressure on us to beat Barnsley and finally enter the top 6. Too often we've had these opportunities, and thrown them away. Our form this season would suggest that we may not be able to assume as much about these 'predictable' fixtures any more, though. We're still nowhere near playing to our potential, but that doesn't seem to be affecting the results we're getting. This intrigues/excites me.

Barnsley was relatively straight-forward, in that I always felt we'd win the game. In seasons gone by, 80 minutes of missing chances would have resulted in us eventually getting punished (mainly because we'd be lining up on our own line and refusing to do anything other than hold on).

This year, yet again, things went differently (you may notice a pattern emerging). Our manager wasn't scared to make changes, and our players weren't scared to move beyond the half-way line and kill the game off. We left it late, but Baker and Clarke's goals were worth it.

I know, we've been here before, but what I think's different this year is that when we have lost a game, we've had the toughness to make sure we don't lose the one after that. That's a massive step forward in our book and gives me genuine hope.

It also helps when you've got a manager who is demanding of his team, and not content with second best. (#justsaying... to pinch an annoying hashtag from Twitter.)

So, Sheffield Utd next, who are having a right poor time of it under Speed. Only one thing we need to concern ourselves with - let's go there and do 'em.

And freeze we did. If I was one of those people who think it's wicked to turn everything into a website address rather than an actual description, I'd say that it was Brrrr.com.

Gladly, I'm not.

It was disgracefully cold.

Anyway, it's a bit of a shame that while we were all freezing anatomically in the stands, the players did the same for lots of the match -  only metaphorically. There were many poor touches and a lack of urgency, in the first half especially.

To be honest, that's the main criticism I have - now for the cliché: We did what all good teams should do and won when we didn't play very well.

It's true though, there were some pretty dodgy performances out there. But the good thing was that this was balanced with some solid ones too. McIndoe, Barnett and Bell were all off the pace for most of the game. But Clingan was influential, Freddy is oozing confidence, and Stephen Wright had his best game of the season.

One thing I'm not very pleased about is the over-the-top criticism Leon Barnett though. Let's put this into perspective for a minute; during our 3 match winning streak, Barnett was an ever present. So, there shouldn't have been such surprise why he was brought back into the team. He couldn't play against Portsmouth, but before that game him and McPake had been playing very well and forged a good understanding.

Yes, everyone can see that he had a very nervy game. I'm not denying that. But it's too easy to jump on the bandwagon after one bad performance. I didn't hear anyone saying that he was "the worst defender they've ever seen" during the winning streak.

Basically, just get a bloody grip. He had a mare, but he's had plenty of good games too.

I suppose what makes this reaction seem even more strange is that on the pitch at the same time you have a player like Michael McIndoe who has consistently put in below-par performances this season.

He's missing the edge he once had, and he's just not a threat for us. Can't blame anyone for this, because it happens - he was worth a punt given how he has performed against us in the past, and having a left-sided player on the left does give us good shape. But if you're analysing his individual performance this season, it's been a dramatic fall from grace for him. I read about how the opposition pick him out as a threat, but what does this actually mean? If he was playing against us this season, we'd do the same. I'm sure he loves the compliment, but it's all based on reputation, rather than form.

What spoke volumes was that Carl Baker came on and managed to have more of an impact on the match in his 10 minutes, than McIndoe has in the last 10 games. Nice to have options on that side now.

Generally, it's quite clear that we weren't brilliant. But there were positives which we must take to the next game.

- How clinical we were in the first half to punish their lack of cutting edge. That's such a vital quality.
- We looked far more likely to create opportunities than we did month or so ago.
- Clingan, Gunnarsson, Best, and Eastwood showed how good they are technically, and matched this with determination. So important.
- With everyone now fit, it's great to see some options and real competition for places.

And I was very pleased to hear Coleman keeping their feet on the ground afterwards. Yes, we won and that is great which he acknowledged. But I think he's realised over the last few weeks that we can't accept a return to nightmare performances of November. What we have to do is make sure we don't make the same mistakes again. We can't play the same way against Ipswich - one thing Roy Keane demands is that they always win the physical battle and show more desire than the other team.

If we do that, and continue to show the footballing qualities of the last few weeks, we should be beat Ipswich. And we have to be looking to beat them if we've got any ambitions of pushing our way up the league.

Rather coincidently I read Roy Keane's autobiography the other day. Whether you love him or hate him, the man is a winner. I'd recommend reading this if you want to get inside the head of someone who understands how you achieve in football. Also if you want to know why I waffle on about the importance of ambition and attitude, Roy Keane('s ghost writer) explains it in way that a mere spectator like me never could.

I'm considering sending a copy to our boys before the Ipswich game.

But first, the small hurdle of Portsmouth in the FA Cup to negotiate ...

Wonderful. Life is wonderful again.

I wasn't planning on the "alphabetical order" card being redundant quite so early (as a matter of fact, I was already working out ways we could use it later on in the season), but following the win at Barnsley, we're already the only team in the league with a 100% record. In other words; we're all top on merit, and that.

That's nice. Doesn't matter that it's only the 2nd game either - top is top.

Mind you, I tell you what else is quite nice; Leon Best masquerading as John Arne Riise.

Seriously, where did it come from? All the talk has been about Clingan being the set-piece expert, and how Michael McIndoe fancies himself a little bit. But I never thought Leon had the shooting technique for anything like that. Coleman says he practices them in training, and it showed.

In the words of that Villa prat Andy Gray, "Take a bow, son... Take a bow".

We never really looked in any trouble during the game. Our shape held strong throughout, and moving Ozzy into the midfield was just what we needed to ensure that solidity. It also gave Osmund the Defensive the opportunity to score his first goal in about 9000 appearances. There he was, inside the area, clear route to goal, no challenge in sight, the headlines ready to write themselves..

Yes. He missed by a very big margin. Chin up Oz - you just weren't born to be a goalscorer. You were however, born to supply sumptuous crosses for Clint. More on that after I've yapped on about the defence for a paragraph.

Cranie had a useful debut at centre-back, although I'm sure I wasn't the only one to have worrying McNamee-esque flashbacks when he had to go off. Turns out it was just a bit of cramp, so that's understandable. I'm still not entirely convinced with the back line though, but when everyone is fit, you'd like to think we'd have enough choice there to create a decent unit.

And finally, to the man with the most expressive face in football. The man who makes Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink look like the Mona Lisa. I congratulate you on your goal, Mr Clinton Ventura.

We all know he doesn't lack confidence. And last season we waited patiently for him to back up the talk and hissy fits with a consistent run of goals. That didn't really happen, but after the start this season there are signs that he might just be starting to get the service he needs to score the goals he talks about so often.

The one yesterday was a lot harder than it looked. Deep cross by Osbourne and a neat finish at the back post from a tight angle. One that Fred would have probably struggled with. So kudos to you Clinton.

So all in all, I'd go as far to conclude that it was a positive day in Coventry City's attempt not to be crap for another season. We should be confident going into the Doncaster match given the positive signs so far. The big question is whether we can continue to show the new professional attitude that has been there as well in these early games.

My only gripe would be the BBC's Football League show giving us about a 40 second mention, with Ipswich and Newcastle gaining all the chat-time again. Oh and Steve Claridge's "haircut", clichés, lack of knowledge of any club other than Leicester etc.

Basically, Steve Claridge being a pundit on the show in general.

"They show a real unity".

You read that in the paper you sausage.