By CovSid67
November 19 2007

To quote Frank Spencer: 'I've been having a bit of trouble' - hence the lack of articles, match reports, and the updating of certain sections. In short, my drop-down facility has disappeared (Insert own gag here). Normal service will hopefully be resumes soon!

So attempting to play catch-up (Again), here's some of the stuff you've missed, and been pining for, though the above problems still haven't been sorted....

An early pint in the HLSC before the Colchester game was most notable for the sight of Joe Elliott wandering around the room shaking hands with anybody and everybody, except for four members of the Sky Blue Untrust! A decent(ish) turn-out for the match versus Colchester, thanks in part to a reduced ticket price of £10 for adults and £5 for children, and a fair few giveaways too. Those extra supporters were treated to a frustrating Coventry display, where the home side huffed and puffed, but couldn't find a way through the away sides blanket defence. Thankfully, the record of Coventry City winning when I sit in the 'posh seats' continued though, as a late Michael Mifsud goal ended a run of three straight defeats (No goals scored!). OAP Teddy Sheringham earned himself a pointless, and very late red card, after catching Doyle with his elbow, while Mickey Adams spent the majority of the match hidden in the opposition dug-out.

TEAM: Marshall, McNamee, Hall, De Zeeuw, Turner, Osbourne, Doyle, Gray (Tabb 92), Best (Simpson 66), Kyle (Adebola 59), Mifsud. SNU: Konstantopoulos, Cairo.

Gutted! A superb Coventry City display, where they more than matched the side from the Premiership, ended in an agonising, very late defeat in front of the Sky TV cameras. Chances were created and wasted, and it was this profligacy in front of goal that cost the home side the chance of further success in the cup. That and the failure of the match officials to give Coventry City a free kick late on, with WHU scoring seconds later. A lenient referee could have sent McCartney off for WHU (With Hammer through-and-through Tony Cottee admitting he was very lucky to stay on the pitch), while Turner was also slightly fortunate to stay on after a spot of wrestling with Boa Morte. A Mifsud goal was harshly cancelled out by the referee early in the second half, before the mini-men of Coventry City, Mifsud and Tabb, were queueing up at the back post to open the scoring for the home side (Tabb beating his team-mate to the ball). Minutes later a poor Boa Morte effort defelected off Hall, and left Marshall stranded, for an undeserved equaliser. Coventry looked the most likely winners, but, with the game heading for extra time, the Hammers scored the winning goal their efforts didn't deserve.

TEAM: Marshall, McNamee, Hall, De Zeeuw, Turner, Tabb, Doyle, Osbourne, Gray (Simpson 46), Mifsud, Best (Kyle 70). SNU: Ward, Thornton, Cairo.

A cracking victory over a decent enough Stoke side, with two more goals for the Mighty Mifsud! The home side had two decent chances inside the first 10 minutes, while Coventry lost Robbie Simpson through injury just after the half-hour mark (A ruptured hamstring, expected to keep him out of action until the New Year). Coventry took the lead 12 minutes into the second half (Through Mifsud), and five minutes later an Adebola header made it 2-0 (Yes, you did read that correctly - an Adebola header!). Turner was unlucky to concede a penalty, which Lawrence put away to make the score 2-1, though just as some might have worried we were about to throw away a two-goal lead, the Mighty Mifsud put the result beyond doubt with a quality strike. Soon after Mifsud was unlucky not to score his hat-trick goal as another effort hit the post.

TEAM: Konstantoplous, McNamee, Hall, De Zeeuw, Turner, Simpson (off 33,Adebola 37), Osbourne, Doyle, Tabb, Best (Kyle 80). SNU: Ward, Hughes, Cairo.

A staggering amount of lates goals flew in in The Championship on the Tuesday of the QPR game, and I have to confess, with 89 minutes on the clock at Loftus Road, I would have taken 1-1! A team that were unbeaten in five, with a new manager, and a new off-field team too, playing a side in danger of losing their manager, without a pot to p*ss in? New signing Busacky opened the scoring for the home side (50 minutes), before Mifsud (Who else?) equalised for Coventry City. A point a piece looked like being the outcome, before, hot on the heels of Adebola actually scoring with his head, Kevin Kyle managed to find the target too! Six quality points taken in two very tricky looking away fixtures!

TEAM:  (To follow!).

The watching Ray Ranson won't have been impressed with his potential new side! Whether or not Coventry City would have beaten WBA with a full XI on the pitch, we will never know, but an early bath for our best player certainly didn't help! Mifsud's elbow caught Hoefkins, and, after a fairly long delay, the Maltese international was off (Match officials later denied the decision was made by the fourth official), and whatever the original game-plan was went out of the window (Despite his heroics throughout this season so far, Michael Mifsud came in for quite a panning over his sending off versus WBA from supporters - though they should be pleased he's taken himself out of the shop window before January!). That said, Coventry held out well for the final 35 minutes of the first half, but for some reason, despite WBA not troubling the home side at all, manager Iain Dowie decided to change his tactics, replacing the injured Leon Best with Kevin Kyle (Rather than a more like-for-like substitution). Cue a collapse. Doyle missed a decent effort shortly before the defence went AWOL, and the chance to join WBA in joint third place was lost. Club-saving attendance: 18,566.

TEAM: Konstantopoulos, Osbourne, Hall, De Zeeuw, Turner, Hughes, Doyle, Tabb, Mifsud (SO 10), Adebola (McKenzie 80), Best (Kyle, 46). SNU: Marshall, Ward, Cairo.