I think they hit the woodwork three times. BBC website says twice.  Anyway, the first time was a great volley from about 20, 25 yards which clipped the top of the bar as it went over. Westy had it covered all the way. Of course.

It was scrappy in the early stages, and neither side really played that well. We had built up some pressure right from kick off, but after that it sort of faded off, until a fantastic cross from Gunnar was nodded back across goal by Platt, for Sheffers to head the ball into the top corner. They were both very impressive headers.

Against Sheff United, the only side not to have reached double figures in the ‘Goals For’ tally in the Championship, I believe, a 1-0 lead looked good, and we were fairly comfortable for the rest of the first half. That is, apart from one awful defensive header from Richard Wood, who should have let the ball drop and just passed it forward. However, he played in the United striker, who hit the post. Lucky escape.

In the second half, we were probably the better side. Again, it was scrappy, but with the experienced Carsley in there, and Sammy Clingan, who slows the game down, we always had a degree of control. Baker looked dangerous when he came on, Clingan tested Simonson with a free kick, and we played some pretty nice stuff. A late free kick – incidentally, never a free kick, went down so easily it was unreal – hit the woodwork again, and Westy was quick out to make an impressive save at the death, but all in all…probably JUST about deserved.

Ratings
Westy – 8 – brilliant save at the end, and very good handling and control of his area.
Cranie – 6.5 – played fairly well. One key bit of tracking back with his man which potentially saved us. Not really a left back, however.
Turner - 7 – won most of his headers after a rocky start
Wood – 6 – he’s had better games. One bad mistake.
Keogh – 7.5 – one skillful run down the wing. Wish he’d been tighter to his man at times.
Sheffers – 8 – touch of class at times.
Carsley and Clingan – 7 – tidy.
Gunnar – 6.5 – bit quiet
Platt – 8 – a rock. Must be so horrible to play against
Juke Box – 5.5 – tried hard, worked hard, ran all day, but it was just one of those days where the ball wasn’t falling for him.

SUBS
Baker - 7 – looked very dangerous and skillful. Overdoes it though. Once you’ve skilled your man CROSS IT IN.
King – 6 – didn’t have much time
Baker – unrated – not enough time.

Best start for a decade I hear. PUSB!

To be honest, the first goal was a shocker defensively. Westwood kicks it, Platt wins the header, Sheffers finishes it, extremely well. But firstly, as much as my Barnsley supporting friend (see his blog at http://barnsleyblog.com, it’s much better than mine) rants about Trippier, the full-back, for not standing Sheffers up, which he should have done, where were their centre backs? I’m not complaining, but if you’re gonna let Platt have a free header than you deserve what you get.

We should have been out of sight by half time. It wasn’t chance after chance, it’s just that the chances we had were golden. Gunnar went through, and Luke Steele made a decent save one on one, and then was quickly out, forcing Sheffers to lift his effort on to the roof of the net.

The beginning of the second half made me, and the other Coventry fans it seemed, as the atmosphere got edgier, and Barnsley came more into the game. Westy made two saves in the first half, and was called into another one early in the second half, whilst a cross flashed just beyond Butterfield(?), and it seemed like we were going to rue those chances.

But then, the substitutions. Sheffers came off for Clarke. I thought ‘what is he doing!?’, but first Baker did well after a great advantage by the referee to slot it in the bottom corner, and then Clarke hit a good effort from the edge of the area to make the scoreline go from 1-0 in the 85th to 3-0 in the 90th, and giving the scoreline a slightly flattering feel. I believe Coventry deserved to win, but maybe 2 or 3-1 would’ve been fairer.

Ratings;

GK: Westy – 7 – did what he had to do with two decent saves. Excellent kicking.
RB: Keogh – 7 – got forward well. Only has one trick, which may not work well for him in future. However, very positive.
CB: Turner and Wood – both 7 – again, didn’t do anything much wrong, just a comfortable game.
LB: Cranie – 7 – boring ratings these, but the entire defence did their jobs comfortabely, without being outstanding.
RM: Gunnar – 6 – bit quiet really. Throw ins not as potent as we’d like to believe. Perhaps unlucky not to win a penalty.
CM: Carsley – 7 – decent. One awful shot which made me laugh, really.
CM: Clingan – 6 – fairly quiet.
LM: Sheffers – 9 – looked superb. MOTM.
STR: Platt – 8 – just seems like defences can’t handle him really.
Jukebox – 6 – quiet. Lack of confidence?

Sheffield UTD away next…PUSB!

Need more be said?
Shocking end to a, pre last 10 games, good season. Had the City picked up even 3 wins from the last 10 games, it would’ve been a top half finish I believe. But yet again, the players couldn’t care less. Nice one lads. Nice one.

But the match was poor. The first half was ok…the second, especially if you are a Coventry fan, was absolutely atrocious. The movement off the ball didn’t exist. The marking was appalling. I genuinely wish I’d been a Peterborough fan; I would’ve probably got to the point where I’d found it funny after 90 minutes. But when 5 minutes came up, someone behind me summed up the game by saying ‘Damn, I want to go home.’

A few examples of the high quality football on show…:
Cranie refusing to use his left foot to control a ball, as he uses his right foot the ball spins out of play.
Preston’s left back Davidson…heads it right across the face of his own goal to Morrison.
Barnett tries a simple five yard pass to Wood and almost misses the ball.
McIndoe goes to control the ball and it goes under his foot.

Now everybody makes mistakes. But today was riddled with them. I could’ve done better. And that’s not just using the turn of phrase. I could have genuniely done better than them. Moving off the ball isn’t exactly difficult, but today it just didn’t happen.

And then of course the ref. His game was summed up by:
Coventry player is tackled. Ref doesn’t blow up. Coventry fans appeal. Then Coventry players appeal. Ref decides to give a freekick.

Also giving Jeffers a booking for a foul, and then not giving Preston a freekick was interesting.

Eastwood’s goal was excellent, as was his all round game. His touch was superb and he looked the biggest threat, so I would give him Coventry’s man of the match, and Parkin Preston’s man of the match, as he was far too strong all game for City’s defenders.

Ratings

Westwood – 7 – looked safe
Wright – 6 – improved as the match went on. Suspect marking.
Barnett – 4 – useless
Wood – 5 – meh…
Cranie – 6 – did alright. Marking wasn’t great.
Gunnarson – 7 – showed he has ability
Clingan – 5 – awful corners, got a needless booking.
McIndoe – 6 – did ok. Set up the goal. Not sure if he meant to.
Bell  – 4 – rubbish crossing. Looked way off the pace.
Eastwood – 8 – excellent
Morrison - 5- moaned at the ref more times than he touched the ball.
Subs
Baker – 7 – had he started it could’ve been so different. He looked class.
Jeffers – 5 – wasn’t on for long, got a harsh booking.

City are safe though. Get in…

Here are the results from the start of the last three seasons:

2007-08: Beat Barnsley 4-1, Cardiff 1-0 and Preston 2-1 and drew 1-1 with Hull.
2008-09: Beat Norwich 2-0 and Barnsley 2-1.
2009-10: Beat Ipswich 2-1, Barnsley 2-0 and drew 0-0 with Doncaster.

At the end of the 2007-08 season, City won 2 of their last 10 games.
At the end of the 2008-09 season, City won 1 of their last 12 games>
And now it’s a five game winless streak.

WHAT IS GOING ON!?

Maybe a slightly bigger squad is needed. But still…

You look at the table. Coventry 9 points from the play offs in 12th place. It’s a marked improvement. But then you look at the last five results:

Drew 1-1 with Sheff Wed
Lost 1-0 to West Brom
Drew 2-2 with Leicester
Lost 2-1 to Cardiff
Drew 1-1 with Plymouth.

Now of those results, I would’ve expected wins against Sheff Wed and Plymouth and I don’t think anybody would disagree with me in saying that Coventry have a squad comfortabely good enough to win those games. The Cardiff defeat was because of the ref, with the Leicester result being a good one and West Brom…well, I don’t think I was ever too confident about that.

So that’s an extra five points the City should really have, and just be four points from the play offs. What has happened? Why has this gone suddenly from a squad that won 5 games in 6? That was second in the form table? Yeah sure, the fixtures have got a bit tougher…but Sheff Wed and Plymouth should’ve been comfortable.

Looking ahead to next season, I’d say a new right back is needed, or a new left back so Cranie can play right back. Also a 15 goal + striker and a better McIndoe. Keep hold of Westwood and you’ve got a chance of the play offs.

Keep the faith.

It was the first time I’d gone to an away game on the train, and I ended up on the train with several drinking Coventry fans, who kept us all amused with their songs, including a few I hadn’t heard (away games are so good for learning new chants). We arrived in Peterborough and got to the game pretty early, and got into the atmosphere; I was amazed at how loud the City fans were, it was incredible.

The first few minutes though, showed that really, the side is far from a finished article. A lot of fans would surely be delighted for the City to get in the play offs this season, but it would just raise expectations. It’s a good side going forward, no doubt about it, and when all the first choice defenders are fit it’s fairly solid. But the backup defence, if you like, were opened up a few times early on by Peterborough. However, they grew in confidence and by the second half came, they were pretty comfortable. Peterborough played like a side with no fear, which is understandable considering they’re about 3,000 points from safety.

As soon as the Sky Blues got their game going though, I thought it was gonna be three or four nil, the midfield and strikers were just too good for Peterborough’s backline. Stead’s goal was excellent and despite Peterborough hitting the bar via an excellent Sammy Clingan block, Westwood barely had to make a save.

The second half wasn’t brilliant, with McIndoe’s absolutely shocking freekick (hopefully) highlighting how poor the pitch was. But Westwood was never really stretched, and, even though Peterborough did not play like a side who are going down, the Sky Blues played like a side on the up.

Ratings

Westwood – 7 – decent kicking, caught well, didn’t do anything wrong but hardly had anything to do.
Wright – 6.5 – made one mistake I think near the byline, can’t really remember, but I think it might’ve played City into trouble.
McPake – 8 – won headers really well, attacked the ball, looked solid.
Cranie – 7 – did fine.
Hall – 8 – supported McIndoe really well, looked extremely sharp.
McIndoe – 7 – excellent first half, faded in the second.
Gunnarson – 8 – was his pass I believe that set up the goal, played well all game.
Clingan – 7 – one awful tackle but did save a near certain goal.
Baker – 8 – far too skillful for Peterborough’s defence. He now has a song about his ability.
Morrison - 7 – didn’t really see him much, but typical Morrison, worked hard all afternoon, which is just what you want.
Stead – 8 – really excellent.

Deegan (on for Clingan, 45) – 7 –  played pretty well.
Seers (on for Morrison I think, 86 ish) – 6 – hardly had any time, made one run at the defence but stumbled.

Keep the faith.

The performance was decent. We passed well and were positive, even with ten men. The defending was at times poor – the second goal in particular was shocking. But the referee changed the game, just as Aron Gunnarson threatened to to with some of his searching runs. He proved, in my opinion, too good for the Newcastle defence, and it was just a shame he didn’t start.

Ratings:

Westy: 7
Wright: 7
Barnett: 7
Wood: 5
Cranie: 6
McIndoe: 6
Deegan: 7.5
Clingan: 6
Baker: 6
Eastwood: 5
Morrison: 6

Subs:
Sears: 6.5
Stead: 5
Gunnarson: 8

Surely those stats indicate we defended well? Hmm. We were nervous at the back, but we were nervous all over the pitch except for that man again, Keiren Westwood, who pulled off another world class save right at the death to give us victory.

The team line up didn’t fill me with confidence; some of you may have realised I’m not a big fan of Barnett, and his inclusion in the squad did not fill me with joy, especially given McPake’s excellent form; hopefully he’ll have recovered for Newcastle. Deegan in for Gunnarson somewhat surprised me (I didn’t know about Gunnarson’s injury), and Baker getting a starting place delighted me.

The start was nervous, with 3 corners defended in 5 minutes. A lucky Deegan goal really should’ve settled our nerves against a side in awful form, but it didn’t; that was the only chance of note I remember in the whole first half.  However, QPR didn’t really do too much and a pretty dull first half was only really livened up by that Deegan goal and some pretty comedic refereeing.

The second half continued in the same vein. We were poor. QPR were on top. But it’s easy to see why they’re in such bad form – they didn’t get shots away except for from freekicks, and when they actually created any openings they wasted them, although you had to feel a bit sorry when Keiren Westwood, pictured below, pulled off an incredible one handed save with about 5 minutes to go, and a shot-come-cross across the face of goal just about missed. However, Eastwood should’ve sealed it in the last minute when he went one on one, only to hit the side netting with a shot that looked like it had gone in. A draw may have been fairer, but when you’re in good form it seems to go your way.

Keiren Westwood

Ratings:

Westwood: 8
Wright: 6 – did ok..ish
Barnett: 6 – good in the air. Hugely suspect on the ground.
Wood: 6 – mishit a couple of clearences. Did ok.
Cranie: 7 – good game, saved a probable goal at the end.
Baker: 6 – one nice run, couple of misplaced passes. Still looks like a good player.
Clingan: 4 – didn’t turn up.
Deegan: 7 – got the goal. Tackled well. Short passing was poor.
McIndoe: 7 – impressed by him today, worked hard, showed his excellent touch a couple of times. Big improvement.
Morrison: 7 – one really good bit of skill. Worked hard as ever.
Eastwood: 6 – should’ve scored at the end. Apart from that played well.
Sears: 7 – looked decent and quick.

Newcastle away Wednesday! My second ever away game. Apparently the seats are a quarter of a mile from the pitch. Sounds good. But the Sky Blues are up to 10th and things are looking up.

Play up Sky Blues.