Coventry 1 City 1
This should have been the match in which City turned round their abysmal start to the season and started to climb the table. Based on the percentage of possession they had and the number of corners compared with Coventry, they should have won by a hatful – but we all know that these things are meaningless unless you finish the job.
Sadly, although they played some nice football, their touch deserted them in front of goal and not surprisingly confidence appears to be at rock bottom. So after a spell in which it is not an exaggeration to say that City had about three-quarters of the possession, Coventry scored with only their second attempt on goal. It was a header from a long way out but it looped over Ikeme’s head, the on-loan keeper starting for the first time. Weale did not even make the bench, so it looks as if he is not fully fit yet.
There were several other changes, with a welcome return for Fryatt, partnering the fans’ favourite Martyn Waghorn, signed on the last day before the transfer window slammed shut. Waghorn was as lively as we remembered him but Fryatt, despite some nice touches, seemed to have lost his killer instinct in front of goal. Both were substituted as were the lively Dyer, who looked most likely to break the deadlock.….
In defence, Neilson and Morrison were both restored to the starting line-up and neither disappointed; Neilson has had nothing short of a metamorphosis under Sousa and has shown what Pearson saw in him.
Coventry scored on 40 minutes and this seemed to knock the stuffing out of City for the rest of the half, although an obvious handball – right in front of the City fans – was missed by the officials. If a penalty had been given then, so soon after the Coventry goal, we might have gone on to win it.
As it was, the City players continued to play some attractive football but too often played it across the pitch, or backwards, both of which infuriated this particular fan. But, as the man next to me pointed out, Coventry had nine men behind the ball, and more than one should have been booked for blatant time-wasting.
After City scored in the 76th minute – a cheeky chip over the goalkeeper by King – Coventry had to come out and make more of a game of it. Both sides could have scored again and the worst offender was N’Guessan, who hesitated too long when in a perfect position and the opportunity was lost.
The statistics (to be found on the BBC website) show that City had 11 shots on target to Coventry’s one, and the same number of corners compared with two for Coventry. All we have to do now is to turn this superiority into points and what better time to start than the week ahead when we play the top two in the table, neither of whom has lost yet this season.
There were a couple of interesting articles in Saturday’s Mercury and it seems that we fans need to be patient for a bit longer, and allow the players time to settle down under the new regime. We need to keep reminding ourselves that O’Neill’s first few matches were hardly memorable; unfortunately, these days everyone wants instant success, however unrealistic.
As usual, the City fans made up a good proportion of the crowd of just over 20,000 and for once the taunt of ‘your ground’s too big for you’ was true! There were some nasty fouls by Coventry players and at least one deserved more than a yellow card; one came very early in the game when Dyer was scythed down, but the player was not even booked.
So a lot of promise, now let’s see that turning into points – please!
City: Ikeme, Neilson, Berner, Hobbs, Morrison, Oakley (c), Wellens, King, Dyer (N'Guessan), Waghorn (Gallagher 74), Fryatt (Howard 80).Subs (unused): Logan, Moreno, Kennedy, Moussa
Booked: Wellens
Coventry City: Westwood, Keogh, Clarke, Wood, Turner, Carsley (c), Clingan, McSheffrey (McSheffrey, 36), Ward (Gunnarsson 67), Jutkiewicz (Doyle 76) , Platt
Subs (unused): Ireland, Cameron, Bottomer, O'Donovan,
Booked: McIndoe, Carsley, Clingan
Referee: A. Taylor. Attendance: 20, 060
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation