Let's all sing together.. in a sensible and well-mannered fashion.
As the January window nears its conclusion and the madness of deadline day looms upon us, it seems an appropriate juncture to journey back a few months to August and assess the impact of our only signing of that ill-fated period: Cody "please save us" McDonald.
It seems crazy that this is actually quite a risky post, given the news that we were already willing to sell him to Bournemouth earlier this month. But it's 1:00am, and I'm going to take a punt that he won't be sold by the morning..
Thorn's been chatting about Deadline day. Could be interesting..
We are really working hard and looking to bring some new faces in. If we could get a couple of players in, that would be great.
News breaking this morning that we've signed Gary Gardner from Villa on a short loan. Yep, a loan player - take a seat, this is actually happening!
Rumours about Sammy Clingan being pursued by Leeds do not make me happy.
Having already lost King, Westwood and Gunnarsson, along with the departure of a few slightly-less important names, our squad is looking mighty slim. Times are hard, and none of us are expecting to have a Football Manager-style squad to choose from next season, but Sammy Clingan controlling the middle is the difference between a solid Coventry City midfield, and down-right shoddy one.
The annoying thing here is that we’re once again left in a situation where a player of genuine monetary value is entering the final year of his contract, so can pretty much do what he likes. Having to part company with three contract renegades this summer for sod all was bad enough, but it’s not something any club can afford to get used to.
Unfortunately – and here is where I state even more of the bleeding obvious - while this financial instability looms over us, persuading good players to extend their stay here is going to prove incredibly tricky.
So what can we do? Putting finance and any other premature judgements based on Saturday’s game aside, I do think Andy Thorn has it in him to do well for us. I have confidence in him because I think that his approach is the right approach. He’s not a miracle worker though. Lose a couple more names from the squad, whoever they may be, and we’re relying on the injury and suspension Gods to smile kindly on us (and let’s face it, that ain’t gonna happen).
Lose Sammy Clingan, and we’re struggling regardless.
Options:
a) Sell Sammy, get a bit of money into the club and somehow hope we find a suitable replacement;
b) Keep Sammy, and let him go on a free come the end of the season. No money, but we keep a quality player for a year;
c) Persuade Sammy to sign a contract extension so we gain a bit more control on the situation;
Or
d) Find out that Hoffman’s men are well rich, let them buy the club, become brilliant, and have all our good players desperate to sign extensions, whilst we fly up the league on the back of Andy Thorn’s refreshing brand of football and ability to make everyone around him feel wonderful, yet maintain an underlying thirst to succeed.
I choose D, obviously. Unfortunately, I have a sneaky feeling if he doesn't go now, it’ll end up being secret option E: Sammy leaves for pittance in the January window - a rather annoying middle ground.
We wait in anticipation.
In other news, the notion of Clive Platt possibly going to Premiership Norwich made me laugh.
Well, that's that then. The obligatory photo-with-a-new-shirt-that-doesn't-really-seem-right has been released. Gunnar (or Gunny, as he's known by this blog - cheers Peep Show) has finally made his mind up and naffed off to Cardiff.
(Photo pinched taken from Official Cardiff City Website - please don't get cross).
He's got the physique, he's got the talent, he's got the mullet, he's got the bird. In fact, on the face of it, he's got a lot going for him has Gunny. I'm not going to sit here and let resentment cast a shadow over how much potential I think he's got. Physically and technically, he's quite a specimen.
The only thing that is going to stop Aron Gunnarsson fulfilling his potential is that supersized, all-too-aware, desperate to look good, head of his.
Ask any Coventry fan and they'll tell you that if he plays at full tilt, he's the best player on the pitch. When he knocks it and runs past a player, not many in the Championship can deal with that stride of his. You won't knock him off the ball without a fight.
Concentration and focus is where he comes unstuck though. His game at the moment shows an undeniably naturally gifted player, demonstrating this in a completely unnatural way. Gawping around, checking the scenery, dragged-out delays for treatment, exagerrated movement, desperate to look like he's making an effort. He's guilty of all these.
I once read Roy Keane say of Peter Schmeichel that he was a show off, exagerrating everything he did. I always think back to this when I watch Gunnarsson. Of course, the fans love the bravado, and I've no doubt he'll be diving into tackles and put everything into becoming the darling of the Cardiff supporters.
It's all too conscious though. If he's ever going to grow into the player his talent suggests he should become, he has to stop thinking about how he looks to the people watching him, stop trying to look like a footballer, and just grab each game by the scruff of the neck. He's good enough.
It's quite an obscure observation I know. Most Coventry fans should have an idea what I'm getting at though; Cardiff fans - have a look next year.
He's a talented guy, and (wally-brain aside) I'm sad to see him go. Coventry player or not, I just hope he can start to do himself justice.
I’m sure if we had started playing keep-ball the fans would have been disappointed, but when it’s that late in the day you should probably be a bit more professional about it and settle for the one point.
In an attempt to keep myself sane over the course of the 09/10 season, I decided to use this blog as a place to let off steam and vent my thoughts about Coventry City's progress.
That all seemed to go quite nicely (the blogging side of things, not the team performance), so two years later, and I'm still doing it - rambling away whenever there is something worth rambling about.
The plan is to focus my attention on writing in this, as opposed to indiscriminate ranting at anyone who'll listen, which always tended to be my main outlet. I never really envisaged it becoming a widely viewed Coventry City blog (as my points often annoy), but it's always good to see my posts popping up on forums with people discussing my waffle.
lt's also quite interesting to look back at how many times during the season I threaten to stop supporting them and form my own breakaway club; FC Coventry City Mönchengladbach Saint-Germain.
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