ASSISTANT BOSS fOLLOwS ThORN OUT ThE RICOh DOOR
COVENTRY City have sacked assistant manager Richard Shaw * less than four months after he returned to the club and barely six weeks after he was assured his job was safe.
The Sky Blues legend was drafted in by Andy Thorn in June following the departure of Steve Harrison, reuniting the former Crystal Palace team-mates for the first time since they hung up their boots.
And when Thorn was axed three games into the League One cam paign, development director Steve Waggott insisted that his replacement would have to work with the backroom staff, declaring: “We've had discussions with Richard Shaw and Lee Carsley because historically what happens in football is that a manager comes in and brings his entire backroom staff, physios, everybody he's worked with, everybody he thinks he can trust.
“That can't be the case here * one we can't afford it and two it wouldn't be right because these are two ambitious guys with their own ideas who have just wiped their feet on the welcome mat.“
Shaw, who chalked up over 350 appearances during his ten-yearspell with the Sky Blues, was installed as caretaker manager and, after opening with a spectacular Capital One Cup win against Birmingham City, admitted that he wanted the job full-time.
A sequence of four successive league defeats wrecked that ambition but City confirmed that he was on their three-man shortlist before appointing Mark Robins who, within 24 hours of taking charge, drafted in Steve Taylor, his right-hand man at Barnsley and Rotherham, as the club's new first-team coach.
Taylor was full of praise for his new colleagues, declaring: “I know Lee Carsley from when I coached him at Derby and Richard Shaw has been fantastic as has Steve Ogrizovic and I'm really looking forward to working with everybody.“
And although Shaw was given a watching brief in the stands for Robins's first match against Carlisle, he has been alongside the new boss on the bench since then and played a full part in the pre-match routines. Yesterday, however, he was informed that his services were no longer required. And although it is expected that the club will cite financial reasons for the decision they will now have to compensate him for the rest of his three-year contract in addition to paying off Thorn.
Shaw, who earned huge respect from the fans for his consistent, totally committed performances in sky blue, won Player of the Year in 1998/99 and Players' Player of the Year in 2002/03, and was granted a testimonial year in 2005/06 before he left the club to play for Millwall where he developed his coaching career.
COVENTRY City have sacked assistant manager Richard Shaw * less than four months after he returned to the club and barely six weeks after he was assured his job was safe.
The Sky Blues legend was drafted in by Andy Thorn in June following the departure of Steve Harrison, reuniting the former Crystal Palace team-mates for the first time since they hung up their boots.
And when Thorn was axed three games into the League One cam paign, development director Steve Waggott insisted that his replacement would have to work with the backroom staff, declaring: “We've had discussions with Richard Shaw and Lee Carsley because historically what happens in football is that a manager comes in and brings his entire backroom staff, physios, everybody he's worked with, everybody he thinks he can trust.
“That can't be the case here * one we can't afford it and two it wouldn't be right because these are two ambitious guys with their own ideas who have just wiped their feet on the welcome mat.“
Shaw, who chalked up over 350 appearances during his ten-yearspell with the Sky Blues, was installed as caretaker manager and, after opening with a spectacular Capital One Cup win against Birmingham City, admitted that he wanted the job full-time.
A sequence of four successive league defeats wrecked that ambition but City confirmed that he was on their three-man shortlist before appointing Mark Robins who, within 24 hours of taking charge, drafted in Steve Taylor, his right-hand man at Barnsley and Rotherham, as the club's new first-team coach.
Taylor was full of praise for his new colleagues, declaring: “I know Lee Carsley from when I coached him at Derby and Richard Shaw has been fantastic as has Steve Ogrizovic and I'm really looking forward to working with everybody.“
And although Shaw was given a watching brief in the stands for Robins's first match against Carlisle, he has been alongside the new boss on the bench since then and played a full part in the pre-match routines. Yesterday, however, he was informed that his services were no longer required. And although it is expected that the club will cite financial reasons for the decision they will now have to compensate him for the rest of his three-year contract in addition to paying off Thorn.
Shaw, who earned huge respect from the fans for his consistent, totally committed performances in sky blue, won Player of the Year in 1998/99 and Players' Player of the Year in 2002/03, and was granted a testimonial year in 2005/06 before he left the club to play for Millwall where he developed his coaching career.
