blunted
Well-Known Member
Alert, this may go on a bit, as is my wont, so if you are the type of person who only copes with the odd paragraph, please feel free to jog on now, and please no Parklife.
Hands up, I am a Cassandra, I always fear the worst, but am rarely proved wrong in the long run.
As background, I come from a family that has supported Coventry (almost but not quite) from the very early days of our inauguration. I was brought up with stories of Clarrie Bourton and how the war ruined (one of our great teams) a chance at the top league. I have watched the City from the age of five (with an orange box), either going to every home match paying in, or as a season ticket holder (only missing one year when Butcher was in charge and when SISU took us out of my town). I was one of the 8k that soldiered on at Highfield Rd. I used to always go away but that has now stopped, as other commitments cut in. We were a family who major events and holidays had to fit around matches. I have passed the disease on to my son and that is how it should be.
Being an old git and somewhat curmudgeon, I guess I have seen quite a lot of comings and goings. From the disruptive innovation of Jimmy Hill, the good cop bad cop of George and John which I believe was mirrored by Mark and Adi. I have suffered the wilderness years and I really do not want them back again.
It is in the human DNA to think yesterday was better and tomorrow is going to be worse. However, I believe we are at a tipping point where the success of the last seven years has ground to a halt and could go either way. It is crucial that we get it right from now onwards or mediocrity and maybe worse beckons.
There always used to be threads “Are we a big club”? Looks like the CBS might be too small if we got promoted. If you think small like SISU (20k capacity), you become small.
The ball sits firmly at the feet of Doug King and he needs to make the right decisions on the football side of the club, as he has with the commercial side.
The Manager/Head Coach is where success springs from. Everything else follows. Liverpool's modern success stems from Shankly with few missteps along the way apart from Evans and Rodgers.
We should be as big or bigger than Brighton or Brentford the model we are trying to emulate. Owning our own ground will always be a drag on our resources, but if we ever reach the Prem we may be able to address this. An Arab prince would help.
This is not a dig at Lamps as he has inherited a very unbalanced squad, with few leaders, that lacks grit and experience. Arne Slot said judge him after 18 games and that is a yardstick for Lamps with the current players and one transfer window.
It is over to King really whether he sells players, invests in the squad or appoints the promised Director of Football. Is he going to turn us around with the right decisions or lead us back to the wilderness years?
Hands up, I am a Cassandra, I always fear the worst, but am rarely proved wrong in the long run.
As background, I come from a family that has supported Coventry (almost but not quite) from the very early days of our inauguration. I was brought up with stories of Clarrie Bourton and how the war ruined (one of our great teams) a chance at the top league. I have watched the City from the age of five (with an orange box), either going to every home match paying in, or as a season ticket holder (only missing one year when Butcher was in charge and when SISU took us out of my town). I was one of the 8k that soldiered on at Highfield Rd. I used to always go away but that has now stopped, as other commitments cut in. We were a family who major events and holidays had to fit around matches. I have passed the disease on to my son and that is how it should be.
Being an old git and somewhat curmudgeon, I guess I have seen quite a lot of comings and goings. From the disruptive innovation of Jimmy Hill, the good cop bad cop of George and John which I believe was mirrored by Mark and Adi. I have suffered the wilderness years and I really do not want them back again.
It is in the human DNA to think yesterday was better and tomorrow is going to be worse. However, I believe we are at a tipping point where the success of the last seven years has ground to a halt and could go either way. It is crucial that we get it right from now onwards or mediocrity and maybe worse beckons.
There always used to be threads “Are we a big club”? Looks like the CBS might be too small if we got promoted. If you think small like SISU (20k capacity), you become small.
The ball sits firmly at the feet of Doug King and he needs to make the right decisions on the football side of the club, as he has with the commercial side.
The Manager/Head Coach is where success springs from. Everything else follows. Liverpool's modern success stems from Shankly with few missteps along the way apart from Evans and Rodgers.
We should be as big or bigger than Brighton or Brentford the model we are trying to emulate. Owning our own ground will always be a drag on our resources, but if we ever reach the Prem we may be able to address this. An Arab prince would help.
This is not a dig at Lamps as he has inherited a very unbalanced squad, with few leaders, that lacks grit and experience. Arne Slot said judge him after 18 games and that is a yardstick for Lamps with the current players and one transfer window.
It is over to King really whether he sells players, invests in the squad or appoints the promised Director of Football. Is he going to turn us around with the right decisions or lead us back to the wilderness years?
. I'm guessing that at least one of those didn't back Mark. I've no doubt Dean Austin has some great patter Mark Robins and Doug are no fools. And it may not be entirely down to the list of scouted players. But to me the mix of experience to potentially has been wrong for a while now.
