The new fixture lists for the Football League were released on Monday and there is a somewhat different look to it for Coventry City.
With Coventry now being a part of the third tier of English football there isn’t many fixtures that stand out as ones to look forward too.
Coventry begin their new season with a trip to Somerset where they will meet Yeovil Town for the very first time.
Now as a Coventry fan I never envisaged us having to play Yeovil as a league fixture but the fact we are is both a testament to their recent success and it also highlights the plight of Coventry City Football Club.
Coventry’s second game is at home to Sheffield United who will probably be considered the biggest club in League One. This fixture is more what Coventry fans have become accustomed after spending a number of years in the Championship. The only difference when they meet this time is both these clubs will hopefully have promotion aspirations instead of trying to stave of relegation.
Looking beyond Sheffield United though and it is hard to find another club in league one that could still be considered as a big club. For that reason a bit of a culture shock is on the cards for many Coventry fans as the grounds are going to be smaller and the pitches are going to be in worse conditions.
We will be the big club of the league and teams will undoubtedly up their games against us. Playing at the Ricoh Arena will be the highlight of the season for the majority of the clubs and for that reason alone next season will be a tough season for us.
Another disappointing aspect to life in League One is that there is now no real derby games for us as a club. It has been suggested that the games against Notts County and Walsall will be our derby matches as they are reasonably close geographically.
However for me a local derby is not all about geography is it about the history between the two clubs and the so called bragging rights that come with victory. This relationship does not exist with these clubs in League One which just adds to the dissapointment of being relegated.
With the lack of so called big games and derby matches that we are going to experience in the new season, this campaign could be a slightly uneventful one. The hope has to remain though that we can somehow put a team together that realistically has a chance of gaining promotion or at least challenges for it.
This hope though remains bleak with the behind the scenes problems at the club continuing. More signs of cost cutting over the past week as redundancies were announced by the club. The most high profile individual to go was first team coach and Andy Thorn’s assistant Steve Harrison.
Harrison has been at the club for three years working under three different managers in his time. He was initially brought to the club by Chris Coleman after Steve Kean left as his assistant. He then stayed on as assistant to Aidy Boothroyd and now to Andy Thorn. It is clear that he is liked by all and is widely respected as a good coach but there have been question marks over whether he could have been part of the problem at Coventry.
His time at Coventry has not been a good time for the club having experienced three years of fighting relegation which ultimately ended in failure. He has to be questioned this season more than any other. Clearly Andy Thorn is a manager who is learning his trade but his assistant Harrison has worked under numerous different managers and surely has learnt what the job entails and what works and what doesn’t.
For this reason he must have been helping and advising Thorn on such things as the tactics of the team. Thorn consistently took heavy criticism for his lack of tactical nous and personally I have always found it a little difficult to attribute all the blame to him. I do not doubt Harrison’s ability as a coach as he has had a long and distinguished career in the game but he must have had some part in the decisions that Thorn made yet he has come away from the club with his reputation unscathed.
This change could then turn out to be a positive change for the club even if it has came about for the wrong reasons. A replacement for him will most likely be found from within the club and the only candidate I can think of is ex-Coventry player Lee Carsley who has been a coach at the club over the past year. He is an up and coming young coach with a lot of potential and could offer a new way of thinking which could aid Andy Thorn in the coming season. It is a bit of a risk but a risk that due to the financial restraints on the club will have to be taken.
PUSB!!
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