A bit about you:
Name: Phil Coling
Current home town: Rugby
Birthplace: Rugby
How long have you supported your team? As long as I can remember, and I turn 50 this year.
Overview of your club:
Favourite thing about your home ground: I loved the intimacy of Highfield Road, but the CBS is a massive step up. The concourses are big enough to cope and there isn’t a bad view anywhere in the stadium. It has become a bit of a fortress too over the last couple of years or so…we don’t lose many at home. It’s not our own stadium though, which is still a sore point and has been at the heart of all our troubles over recent years.
Favourite match played by your team & why: I’m going for the obvious one – FA Cup Final 1987. No explanation needed.
Favourite player of all time who played for your club: That’s a tough one, growing up it was Cyrille Regis & Steve Ogrizovic, but latterly Gustavo Hamer with players like Dublin, Keane, Huckerby & dare I say it Gary McAllister in between.
The Season So Far:
As you nearly got promotion last season, do you feel your squad this season has been improved or weakened ? The squad is definitely stronger, we were overly reliant on 2 very special players last season, who have both now moved on, but the money has been reinvested well. We are not reliant on any one player this season and have strength in more areas.
How do you feel you new signings have done ? It took a while for them to settle in – as Mark Robins said it would – but they are now gelling, and results have improved dramatically.
Where would you ideally strengthen your squad during this transfer window? A Gus Hamer type midfielder as that was the one area we didn’t really strengthen in the Summer, but as I write this, we’ve just signed Victor Torp who appears to be that signing. I don’t know anything about him, but I do trust the recruitment process and look forward to seeing him in action.
About our forthcoming match against you:
Your favourite current player in your squad and why? Callum O’Hare…the Solihull Messi! Get that contract extension signed!!!
Player in your squad we should most fear and why? On recent form I’d say Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, our superstar from Tokyo…he’s been integrated into the team gradually, but he’s been on top form of late & his tricks will leave your full backs flummoxed!
Player in our squad you most fear and why? I don’t think it’s any one player that’s the problem for everyone else and the reason that you’re running away with the league…you have quality and threats all over the pitch and strength in depth too.
Up and coming prospect in your squad? I’m going to say Fabio Tavares, who has just come back from a year out with an ACL injury…he may well go out on loan to get game time for the remainder of this season, but he is one for the future certainly.
After a poor start, you have been on a good run recently, so where do you now think you’ll finish this season ? There are a lot of similarities with last season, slow start, building momentum etc…so let’s hope for a repeat of last season…a play-off place and this time a win a Wembley…why not?
How do you think you’ll do against us? It’s about time we beat our local neighbours, and you are definitely due a defeat, so for someone who is naturally pessimistic for once I’m going to predict a Cov 2-1 win. PUSB