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Dismal Coventry Rely On Others To Avoid Drop
By CovSid67 May 5 2008
Kasabian will be crying into their Coco-Pops this morning, as their beloved Leicester City are relegated to the third tier of English football. The Enemy, on the other hand, will be enjoying their Rice Krispies and breathing slightly easier as Coventry City survive .... again. It has been written that this was yet another 'Great Escape', but in my opinion this one has been rather rubbish.

Coventry City did their best to drop to Division Three (Which would have been their lowest position since 1964) with a gutless performance at Charlton, while Leicester did their best to stay up, giving a far better account against a far better side, Stoke City. Our lack of effort didn't end up costing us, while Leicester's all out effort just wasn't good enough. 

Since the arrival of Chris Coleman as manager, Kasper Schmichael in goal, and Fox and Dann in defence, the side has had a far more solid look about it, so what a time to suddenly decide to crumble! Schmichael had probably his worst day in football so far, with howler after howler leading to at least three Charlton goals, though his late, late save against Wolves last weekend turned out to be the difference between Coventry City and Leicester.

It didn't take long for Coventry City to set the nerves jangling, conceding twice in the first 20 minutes. Goal one saw an error from Fox and Dann resulting in Schmichael somehwere around the left-back area, only for Varney to lob the ball over him and into the net, while Gray made it 2-0 after eighteen minutes. Mifsud finally found the net again a minute later, but that was really as good as it got (Leon Best did also score, but saw his effort disallowed).

Elsewhere, Norwich were beating Sheffield Wednesday (Thanks to Darren Huckerby), while Sheffield United were winning away at Southampton, so things still looked OK for Coventry City .... until Norwich gave away a 23rd minute penalty (Scored by Burton), and just before half-time, Southampton equalised through Saganowski. Not so good.

Basey made it 3-1 to Charlton within four minutes of the second half starting at The Valley; ex-Coventry srtiker Stern John made it 2-1 to Southampton at St. Mary's; while Sahar made it 2-1 to Sheffield Wednesday eight minutes into the second half at Hillsboro. It was all down to whether Coventry could show enough spirit to claw their way back and earn at least a draw, or if Leicester could pull of an unlikely win against Stoke.

Veteran Chris Powell was brought on for the final minutes of the Charlton-Coventry fixture, and within one minute had completed the scoring - Coventry's embarrassment was complete. Elsewhere, Sheffield United had equalised against Southampton, but any hopes of a play-off place were ended when Stern John scored again (Before being sent off soon after!), while Sheffield Wednesday finished the season on a high, routing Norwich 4-1 in Dion Dublin's final ever fixture.

The final relegation place was between Coventry and Leicester, and it was Leicester supporters weeping for the cameras! I can't be bothered to look through the record books, but I'm fairly sure not many sides have gone down with a goal difference as low as minus three.

At the final whistle, Chris Coleman sent the players - a few of whom had tried to escape down the tunnel - towards the Coventry City supporters, who greeted them with plenty of jeers. And, while some might not agree with said course of action, such a display was simply unacceptable in such an important game.

Following the end of the game, Ray Ranson was said to have responded to somebody saying: "Never again Ray", by replying: "We will do things my way now - and you're right never again". While we have heard it all before, I feel the the club is now in the hands of a proper chairman, and hopefully better times are ahead, because this season has been simply unacceptable.

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