By CovSid67
February 8 2011

Whatever the outcome, Coventry boss Aidy Boothroyd appears to be able to put a positive spin on almost any result. Below are a collection of quotes since our last Championship win, on December 4th....

v Leeds : Aidy Boothroyd believed there were positives to be taken from the sides 1-0 defeat to Leeds. "We gave them problems .... we come away disappointed but I think encouraged by some of the individial performances" (Sadly, Aidy, football is a team game). Boothroyd also claimed LU were 'lucky', as Coventry City sent out an under-strength side (Despite the fact seven or eight of our best eleven started). 

v Notts Forest : Aidy Boothroyd claimed, after yet another defeat, that the players were trying to hard to turn things round, and that: 'there will come a time where it will all just fall into place' (Any time this season would be nice). "I think we deserved more than we got .... the effort and application of the players in the second half was very, very good .... the second half was encouraging .... deserving and getting are two different things" (Sadly, football is a game of two halves, Aidy). 

v QPR : Aidy Boothroyd was pleased with the quality of performance shown by his players against QPR, and thought the Sky Blues were unfortunate to come away from Loftus Road without at least a point. "I'm a big believer that if you keep going and are persistent then you'll come out on top in the end" (We've persisted since the start of December, Aidy). On the 'Late Kick Off' programme shown a day later, Boothroyd claimed: "I think I have the most potential goalscorers we have had [at Coventry City] for a very long time." 

v Sheffield Utd : "Yes this is a results business, but you also have to look at the long-term and I think we've been making some really good progress .... if we continue to play like that over a season we will win more than we lose". The scores on the Championship doors currently read: won 10, lost 18. 

v Barnsley : "It's how you rally yourself and come through difficult periods like this .... you've got to do it and not talk about doing it, so we have to persevere and get through it". Aidy Boothroyd, talking about it.... 

v Ipswich : Aidy Boothroyd said he was pleased with a point at home to Ipswich, but added he felt his side were 'unfortunate'. "My gut feeling is that this is a positive result for us .... We are in reasonable shape at the turn into the second half of the season, but we are all judged at the end of the season". 

v QPR : "I think the last couple of games have showed us we're not ready for the top two .... The season though is not about winning every game. It's about winning a few, losing less, and making sure you constantly improve. At the start of the season I would've taken seventh so now it's about what we do in the second half of the season .... It's not where you are at the start of the season or even in the middle, it's where you are at the end" - oh dear. 

v Cardiff : "We had a real opportunity to get something from this game but you won't do that if you play as individuals .... But we have to bounce back now. It's a learning curve .... we are okay, but we don't want to be okay. We want to be much better than that .... If anybody thinks we are a team that just stops at Christmas, as perhaps might have happened in the past, that's not going to happen " (Fail!). 

v Norwich : "We don't want to complain about referee's decisions. We want to focus on ourselves and perhaps defend crosses a little bit better because it's something we're normally really good at so I've got no complaints, and we just look forward to the next game." (Bizarrely, Norwich boss Paul Lambert said Gunnarsson's dismissal was harsh, while Boothroyd said the referee's decision was correct!). Before the fixture, AB stated: "We want to get better and we won't do that if we rest on our laurels. I'm not going to get carried away by what is really mediocrity at the moment". 

v Reading : "We had to be strong, we had to be resilient, and, at times we had to rely on some last ditch stuff. But it's another clean sheet and that is a good habit to get into .... We have now got 10 points from the last 12 and I am happy with that" (One clean sheet in nine Championship fixtures since).