Times Article (1 Viewer)

Weinventedwingbacks · Nov 19, 2013

Has anyone seen today's article? Apparently it's quite I good one. Can someone post any bullet points on this thread? Thx

RPHunt · Nov 19, 2013

Here you go, enjoy.

Matt Dickinson Chief Sports Correspondent
Last updated at 12:01AM, November 19 2013

One of the great absurdities of English football is being played out in Coventry, so it will be all the more remarkable if Steven Pressley has found method amid the madness.

It would be one of the most eye-catching stories of the season if, after more than a decade of sorry decline, Pressley gave Coventry a team it can be proud of just when the club are lodging in Northampton, 34 miles away.

It lies beyond his powers to take Coventry back to the city where they were formed in 1883 by a local cycle manufacturer, but at a club with no home, a following that has diminished to a devoted core, a points deduction and a transfer embargo, a Scotsman who could pass for a lower-league Jürgen Klopp in hair, stubble and perhaps intensity has at least given an old institution a glimmer of hope.

For the first time in a very long while, Coventry City may be upwardly mobile; unbeaten in seven games, only five points off the Sky Bet League One play-off places even after starting the campaign on minus ten points.

“If you look at our situation, how we are playing, people say if we were in the Ricoh Arena we would be attracting 15,000 every game,” Pressley says.

Except at the Ricoh Arena, the grass grows long, the seats lie empty and, this week, it will not host a reviving football club but the National Painting and Decorating Show. Coventry’s green shoots are taking root at Sixfields, rented from Northampton Town, in front of barely 2,000 loyalists.

Pressley, 40, comes off the phone after a call from Phil Parkinson, the Bradford City manager, who has rung to apologise for his part in their bust-up after Sunday’s 3-3 draw. In return, Pressley has said sorry for dismissing Bradford’s “dark age” football. “Sometimes you get caught up in the emotion,” he says. “I’m extremely respectful of anyone in this difficult job. I’m very big on respect. Ask my players.”

He knows that he can be fiercely demanding, but the forcefulness is probably necessary as the inexperienced manager of a club where the first priority was to release 19 players during a traumatic summer of liquidation, sanctions from the Football League and exile.

“In the last 15 years, it’s been a club in decline,” he says. “There have been only three finishes in the top 12 in those years, so something had to change.”

A natural leader, Pressley always had an eye on management. He took his Uefa B coaching licence at 19, his A licence at 30. He was already thinking about the broader game and, as the captain of Heart of Midlothian who publicly stood up to Vladimir Romanov’s destructive eccentricities, he has never shied away when something needs to be said.

Interviewed by Coventry in March, he asked many of the questions, eager to know how the owners could see a future for such an ailing business and what they regarded as the club’s DNA.

The blunt answer was that they would expect him to work on a shoestring budget and develop his own players, but they would continue to invest in the academy. On Sunday, he finished with five players who were home-grown. “Sometimes it’s easier to shape young players, to give them the mentality you need,” he says.

He wants his team to reflect his own drive, advocating a pressing game and incessant movement off the ball. He says proudly that Coventry’s goals from open play have been scored on average after 3½ passes.

“That tells me that what we work on, quick counters, very fast transitions, is succeeding,” he says. “We are a side who can press and attack. What we need now is when we get ahead in games, we need to adapt into longer possessions. We have to find that balance to really progress.”

If they can continue this promising run, he is hopeful that the owner will provide funds in January for new signings. There will be restrictions on how much they can spend under the embargo, but there is room for a few recruits given how many have left.

There is also a hope that upward momentum will somehow help to change the dynamic in the bitter stand-off between the owner and the city council, which owns the freehold of the Ricoh Arena.

Joy Seppala, who runs the Otium Entertainment Group, which controls the club, refuses to negotiate with the council unless it is willing to sell the ground, insisting that a rental agreement is no longer viable. She is seeking to recover some of the £60 million she claims has been invested since City were bought by the hedge fund (under the name Sisu) in 2007. Council leaders say that there will be no cheap deal and that the site, which also has a casino, hotel and conference centre, can be viable even without a football club. It has reached such an impasse that Otium has been inspecting plots for a new stadium, though only outside city jurisdiction. It remains to be seen if this is an elaborate bluff that forces the council to sell.

For those fans hoping for a saviour, Coventry will not be bought by anyone as long as they have no ground, providing fresh proof of what can go wrong any time a club lose control of their own stadium.

Pressley is caught between all the parties. He has only praise for Seppala — “she is hugely passionate about the club” — while also understanding why the fans have been driven either to protests or apathy. “Given what’s happened to their club, if they want to take action or vent their frustrations, you have to understand why,” he says. He just wants to manage a successful football team and, having played for the club briefly during their years in the Premier League, scoring against Manchester United, he knows that Coventry can thrive in the top flight, roared on by 25,000 fans.

“I want to go on a journey with Coventry,” he says. “Everyone can see the potential, even if it’s going to be a long, hard job. We spoke about the DNA and it is a simple one, to rebuild the club with home-grown players who are passionate about pulling on the shirt and with clever recruitment. If we do that, we can get everyone united again.”

It is a long way back for a homeless club and their alienated supporters, but there is at least hope where there was none a few months ago. “With apologies to Steven Pressley and his squad, this will most definitely not be their year,” Oliver Kay wrote in these pages in August, and with good reason as the campaign began to such a troubled backdrop. There might, just might, be cause for an unexpected rethink.i

SkyBlueSid · Nov 19, 2013

Pressley is saying he wants to go on a journey with Coventry City.

The only journey that interests me is the one back to the Ricoh. Until that happens, it will not be possible to unite the club as he wants to do.

thaiskyblue · Nov 19, 2013

Seppela "hugely passionate about the club ", pull the other one, that apart nice to the club getting attention of the good kind.

Weinventedwingbacks · Nov 19, 2013

Many thanks.
Good publicity in a National paper. Great to progressing again, as it's been too long a decline. Let's get out of this painful League this season.

ollyservetta · Nov 19, 2013

good read,getting some long awaited publicity in a national ,and the playing staff do deserve the respect and credit

covcity4life · Nov 19, 2013

i love our manager.

Ashdown1 · Nov 19, 2013

His post match interview on Sunday and his comments in this article show a lot of class. I hope he can stick with it and see out his ambitions. In the meantime lets hope 'Passionate Joy' and the jolly boys on the council can come to some sort of sensible agreement that benefits both the club and the City of Coventry.

bringbackrattles · Nov 19, 2013

Coventry City in the Times bloody hell ! at the start of this season we'd be lucky to get featured in the Daily Sport !
Shows once again what a job Pressley is doing. Makes you proud to be a City fan.

shmmeee · Nov 19, 2013

covcity4life said:
i love our manager.

I'm in a serious bromance. I'm a little worried.

wingy · Nov 19, 2013

bringbackrattles said:
Coventry City in the Times bloody hell ! at the start of this season we'd be lucky to get featured in the Daily Sport !
Shows once again what a job Pressley is doing. Makes you proud to be a City fan.

Thank god for International weekends.That they deign to publish and Broadcast us at such times is indeed down to the current efforts of Pressley and co.

bringbackrattles · Nov 19, 2013

We keep hearing and reading that English football needs to improve and move forward,well we have a manager who is refreshing and likes to play a fast attacking way of football.He has a positive mindset and he will manage at a high level if he continues to impress as he is doing this season.

Macca · Nov 19, 2013

I ll cheerfully put a bullet between the eyes of the next person to use the term bromance

Spionkop · Nov 19, 2013

Trouble is'Rattles' he may very well be managing at a high level elsewhere if this Northampton farce isn't sorted.

bringbackrattles · Nov 19, 2013

I agree Spionkop I fear he may get his head turned in the near future if we don't get sorted.
I want him to manage us in a higher division not any other club.

ohitsaidwalker king power · Nov 19, 2013

I can't help but wonder (read hope) if Mr Pressleys strength of character might influence(read expedite) a return of the football club to the Sky Blue city with the owners.
He has immense presence and with every passing word he grows in that stature in my opinion.
Take the weekends events with Mr Parkinson.. fantastic reaction, passionate and yet distinguished, both during and after the excitement of the event.
I hope his stature transcends into the decison makers above him to come to the sensible decision we all seek.

ajsccfc · Nov 19, 2013

Wow, I didn't know about Pressley taking his coaching badges that young. Kudos to him.

Jack Griffin · Nov 19, 2013

Some good points in that article, but the author is not correct in saying...

Except at the Ricoh Arena, the grass grows long,

FRY-CCFC · Nov 19, 2013

After the cardigan at the crawley game it was love at first sight

SkyBlueScottie · Nov 19, 2013

Jack Griffin said:
Some good points in that article, but the author is not correct in saying...

Why did you even feel the need to post that?

The Gentleman · Nov 19, 2013

bringbackrattles said:
I agree Spionkop I fear he may get his head turned in the near future if we don't get sorted.
I want him to manage us in a higher division not any other club.

As daft as it sounds. my worry is Villa might come knocking soon. Lambert not doing well, Pressley living in the midlands, Villa's youth set up is the best in the Midlands and with Pressley's ethos would be a good fit. I know people will say too soon but with the merry go round in the higher divisions about to kick in I do think owners/chairmen will be looking. The first thing they will like is how he brings youth through and not looking too much into the transfer market, a tight arsed owners dream I would imagine.I hope its a blond moment on my part but..........

ajsccfc · Nov 20, 2013

SkyBlueScottie said:
Why did you even feel the need to post that?

I'll go out on a limb and guess that it wasn't meant as serious journalistic criticism.

Hobo · Nov 20, 2013

Probably the best article I've seen on our current plight, without getting bogged down in all the politics.

Pressley is passionate about football and wants success. He can articulate that passion and drive and seems to have the ability to shape and develop young players.

Success on the pitch is a much needed distraction to the comedy of errors off it. Let's hope Pressley taking the club forward will encourage and help facilitate a deal to be done to get us back to Coventry.

Let's hope it is the start of a long and successful journey....that is something we all need.

Moff · Nov 20, 2013

Macca said:
I ll cheerfully put a bullet between the eyes of the next person to use the term bromance

Now Macca, as I have quoted you saying it, does that mean you have to shoot yourself......

shmmeee · Nov 20, 2013

Macca said:
I ll cheerfully put a bullet between the eyes of the next person to use the term bromance

Man crush?

Sky Blues · Nov 20, 2013

Moff said:
Now Macca, as I have quoted you saying it, does that mean you have to shoot yourself......

I'm warning you. If you say 'Bromance' once more...

...Right. Who threw that?

Sky Blues · Nov 20, 2013

And on topic... Good article and the more I see, hear or read, the more I like the gaffer.

wingy · Nov 20, 2013

The Gentleman said:
As daft as it sounds. my worry is Villa might come knocking soon. Lambert not doing well, Pressley living in the midlands, Villa's youth set up is the best in the Midlands and with Pressley's ethos would be a good fit. I know people will say too soon but with the merry go round in the higher divisions about to kick in I do think owners/chairmen will be looking. The first thing they will like is how he brings youth through and not looking too much into the transfer market, a tight arsed owners dream I would imagine.I hope its a blond moment on my part but..........

Think you've been to close to the Peroxide!!

King of the Lesbians · Nov 20, 2013

Good piece that. Although this bit annoys me "Coventry’s green shoots are taking root at Sixfields, rented from Northampton Town, in front of barely 2,000 loyalists." as it seems to imply that people who are unable to travel to Northampton are no longer loyal to the club.

torchomatic · Nov 20, 2013

It could have been worse. He could have copied and pasted an Anne Lucas statement.

SkyBlueScottie said:
Why did you even feel the need to post that?

mark82 · Nov 20, 2013

thaiskyblue said:
Seppela "hugely passionate about the club ", pull the other one, that apart nice to the club getting attention of the good kind.

What do you expect him to say?

torchomatic · Nov 20, 2013

I'd imagine that SP has spoken to her more than you have?

thaiskyblue said:
Seppela "hugely passionate about the club ", pull the other one, that apart nice to the club getting attention of the good kind.

thaiskyblue · Nov 20, 2013

torchomatic said:
I'd imagine that SP has spoken to her more than you have?

Any more things that want to have a go at me for , while were here ?

thaiskyblue · Nov 20, 2013

torchomatic said:
I'd imagine that SP has spoken to her more than you have?

i would say your correct on that one.

thaiskyblue · Nov 20, 2013

mark82 said:
What do you expect him to say?

if in doubt say nowt.

Times Article (1 Viewer)

New Member

New Member

Well-Known Member

New Member

New Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

New Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

New Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Jack Griffin

Guest

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Super Moderator

Well-Known Member

New Member

New Member

New Member

Users who are viewing this thread

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency