Coventry La La La
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King, Westwood and other subjects
In the second part of the interview Coventry City chairman gave to the Coventry Telegraph, Ray Ranson spoke about the signing of Marlon King and the on going contract negotiations with goal keeper Kieren Westwood and Aron Gunnarsson.
C.T: Have you been impressed with what you have seen from Marlon King and are you confident he will be a success at Coventry?
R.R: "He's a Premiership player. He made his debut as a sub against Preston at the Ricoh and I said to Aidy that it looked like he had been on his way up to Wigan to play in a Premiership game and called in for a 20-minute kick about because I thought he was fantastic."
"You can see with his touch and quality that he is a good player. He very rarely gives the ball away, he knows where the goals are and he is only going to get better. It was a huge decision by the board of directors to sign him and huge decision by Aidy but I am here to back the manager as much as I can."
"Those two have got a fairly unique relationship, they trust each other and you have to support your manager and we decided to do that and the decision was made for footballing reasons only."
R.R: The January transfer window is approaching and the manager has said he is happy with what he has got. That must be music to every chairman's ears.
C.T: "I'll believe that when I see it! Without a crystal ball, we have got a decent, well-balanced squad now."
"We have got options at the back where Richard Wood and Martin Cranie have played left-back, in fact Cranie can play anywhere at the back or even holding midfield."
" We have got options up front, options out wide and options in midfield so I don't see where we can improve that much unless we go and spend millions of pounds and shell out £40,000-50,000 on wages every week which is money we haven't got, but I am sure Aidy has got a few ideas in mind and it will depend on injuries and circumstances, but he has certainly not mentioned to me that he would like to strengthen here or there and we have reassured him that no-one will be leaving, but you never know in football."
C.T: If he did come to you and say I would like to bring in so and so for £2 million to sharpen things up front, what would the response be?
R.R: "Well we haven't got £2 million so that would be out, But I think if he came to us and said, 'I can get this player on loan from the Premiership and he will cost us X amount of pounds in wages until the end of the season and I think he can be the difference,' then we would try to find the money, But we certainly haven't got £2 million to spend on footballers in January, that's for certain. And if we had I wouldn't tell people anyway."
"It makes a difference where we are in the league and as I have said, we are here to support the manager and if he thought that's what we needed we would do our best to try to support him and it is in everyone's interest that we do."
C.T: Is there any progress with Aron Gunnarsson's contract situation?
R.R: "We have made an offer to Aron and at the moment he has not told us personally that he doesn't want to sign it but we have obviously read press reports, which is a bit disappointing, But he is a young boy and I like Aron."
I was instrumental in him coming here and nothing would please me more than for him to sign a new contract. This is the best place for him. He has got a top class manager who will improve him as a player."
"We are improving as a team and the football club is moving forward, so why would he want to go anywhere else that he could realistically go to? but he will make his own decision. I think we have made him a very good offer and it is his prerogative what he decides and I am not going to get hung up about it, and it is the same with Keiren Westwood."
"They are young men in control of their own destiny and good luck to them. The difference with Aron is we would get compensation for him because of his age but we would rather he signed a new contract."
C.T: Have you had any interest in Keiren Westwood?
R.R: "No, not one phone call."
C.T: There might have been a time when you would have looked to cash in on a player who is out of contract, as you did with Leon Best last year, but does the club's position in the league change that?
R.R: "It does but the situation was different with Leon Best because A, he wanted to go and B, we got a fantastic offer for him that we couldn't turn down. We thought it was very good business and I think we have been proved right, with all due respect."
"The situation with Keiren is totally different. He is in the team and doing well and playing a valuable part. I think he is playing as well as he has ever played."
"I think he was affected by all the nonsense in pre-season but he has settled down and been playing fantastically well and we would dearly love him to sign a new contract, But I don't want to whinge on about it. He has made his stance and that's it."
"There are no problems and no animosity and that's his decision and good luck to him."
C.T: Do you think his view will change if City get promoted?
R.R: "If we get promotion why would he want to go anywhere else? but that's up to him. I don't want to harp on about Keiren because what's been said has been said and we'll leave it at that.
"He's playing well and in the team and the club are doing well and everyone is happy, so let's leave it there."
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