View from The Sky Blues

[Roygbiv]

"Better team won"

"Looking forward to next years relegation battle"

"Got to say it I'm a skyblue fan through and through but after being at Sheffield today I've seen how low this club has fallen from grace teams like Sheffield United can beat us is a reality check Coventry is the the 10th biggest city in England for god sake"

"Bit of a let down that we couldn't beat the Blades but they've always been a bit of a bogey team. "

"At least the weather was good and it was nice of the stadium announcer to say that he hoped we'd be in a stadium that we deserved next season - at least, I think he was being nice..."

"Not to get a point from that was disappointing. "

"Sheff Utd away quality crack again showed how loyal are support is "

"Great to see the skyblues fans shun the brainless shitwipe scum supporting the EDL in Sheffield today. Absolute Wankers."

"Unlucky today great game great atmosphere"

"Cov definitely deserved a point today"

"Great day to end the season on. Shame about the result but an excellent performance and nice ground and atmosphere"

"Bad result today but nothing to play for. But it was a buzzing brammal lane. Over 20,000 there."

"Good day,good atmosphere shit result"

"Coventys worst finish for 55 fucking years. What a ground Bramall Lane is though"

"Nice Ground Bramall Lane, disappointed with the result"

"1-0 and we fucked it up"

"Nice touch from Sheff announcer at end. 'Thanks to Cov fans, you're a credit to the club and I hope you get to the stadium you deserve. ' "

"Today's attendance at Bramall Lane: 20,723 with 1,769 Sky Blues. Two clubs with a great set of fans"

 

[shorehamview]

Coventry should be beating us because they're the 10th biggest city in the country?

According to this http://www.ukcities.co.uk/populations/ they're 13th and we are 5th. And why do they think that is relevant anyway?

 

[covblade]

I live in Coventry and They like our Sheffield Neighbours are Deluded. COYRWW

 

[WorkingtonBlade]

Coventry should be beating us because they're the 10th biggest city in the country?

According to this http://www.ukcities.co.uk/populations/ they're 13th and we are 5th. And why do they think that is relevant anyway?

Not a very useful list of city populations, as it doesn't compare like with like. Greater London's population is given as the population of London, which is like counting everyone in South Yorkshire as living in Sheffield. Manchester, on the other hand, is just the population of the city centre, which makes it look tiny. Manchester is much bigger than Sheffield.

I must admit though, I do struggle to understand the point the Coventry fan is making!

 

[dingledog]

When Gary Sinclare wished them luck there was a sizeable round of applause from the Blades fans for the Coventry Fans. They have been dumped on from a great height. There but the for the grace of God.. I wish them all the best in their search for a home and in reclaiming their club.

 

[Bladepicker]

I hope like Gary Sinclair they get a home they deserve.

Just not the frigging Ricoh, probably the worst away day going. Gotta feel for their fans though, been dumped on from a graet height and had to go to the half empty soulless bowl in the middle of nowhere evry other week for a few years, I'd rather go to a hill in Northampton.

 

[mattbianco1]

I hate Gary Sinclair

 

[Kenilworth]

I think they have the ground they deserve already.
Used to enjoy going to Highfield Road. Proper stadium in the city centre that was the right size for them. They got greedy and thought it was way too small but even at the Ricoh they only filled it once in The FA Cup when Chelski came to town.

They got a 30k stadium built for them at £1.2 million rent a year. Over 20 years that's £24 mill. You couldn't build it for that. They spunked the money from the sale of Highfield Rd and the savings from not financing the purchase of their own stadium on pretty useless players. They will be down there for a long, long time to come.

Plenty of the Cov fans I know either don't go - they didn't before the stadium move - or "support" one of the 'glory' Prem teams. One I've known for over 20 years was always very smug in victory and completely invisible whenever we beat them. The next time we would meet the previous game was only mentioned if they had won.

Having been a top flight team for many, many years - although it seemed like a perennial relegation struggle that they escaped from by the skin of their teeth on plenty of occasions - they still see themselves as a big club and think others do too - well they were FA Cup winners in '87 :/

Can't see them getting anywhere for a long time to come. I don't see there current investor delivering enough money for a new stadium and the cash they will need to invest in the playing staff. In fact they will have to sell more players to survive but there will come a point where there is nobody with any saleable value.

I think the poster who suggested they will be in a relegation battle next year was spot on.

 

[SwissBlade]

I said it before when the Coventry fan came on here begging for support on their position. Just because they are football fans doesn't mean that we have to support them. Unfortunately, Coventry have been mismanaged for years, not the fans fault as i'm sure it wasn't the fans spending the money and making the decisions, but the fans could've perhaps complained much earlier. Might not have prevented things happening, but might've highlighted it sooner.

Personally I have no feelings either way for Coventry, there are plenty of other teams that are run in a better way and their fans are having to sit back and wait their turn because teams like Coventry are popping in and out of administration or playing with balance sheets and investors just to maintain their football league status.

 

[Mack]

"Got to say it I'm a skyblue fan through and through but after being at Sheffield today I've seen how low this club has fallen from grace teams like Sheffield United can beat us is a reality check Coventry is the the 10th biggest city in England for god sake"

I saw this comment on one of their forums and think it may have been taken a little out of context here; after saying this he then went on to say:-

"I look at teams like Bournemouth (where I lived for 2 years)who I admire as an example of a small town showing the so called bigger city clubs how an underdog can overcome. For next season hope Coventry city can take a leaf out of Bournemouths book and play and sustain a football club with its roots and community spirit and Coventry city play with in its city walls pusb til next season ctid"

I think he's trying to imply that he thinks Coventry should be successful underdogs (like Bournemouth) and be able to take it to the bigger city clubs (i.e. us).

I don't really understand the point though as Coventry is a big city and unlike Bournemouth they're a club that's spent the majority of their existence in the upper divisions. If anything he should want them to be a 'bigger city' club as opposed to underdogs? I don't know.


Oh and cheers for all the posts you've done over the season Roy, really enjoyed reading them both on here and on BM.

 

[Pinchy]

No, he's actually suggesting that Cov are a "bigger club" than SUFC. That suggestion is risible. It never has been so and never will be. They are very small beer compared to us.

 

[JohnDenver]

Pretty fair comments from the Cov boards. They might have got a point but didn't deserve any more.

No idea what the EDL comment is about. Were they back in town yesterday?

 

[Esablade]

When I used to buy Panini stickers I always liked their badge/kit..elephant etc...that's about it really..

Cheers Roy.

 

[stannyblade]

Are they under the same rule as Rovrum were when at the DVS? If they weren't back in their hometown by a certain time they were going to be relegated.

 

[Kenilworth]

Bournemouth have not done it on the back of community spirit, they have the backing of very wealthy owners.

Cov have no chance unless they get major investment and that seems as remote as Kepler 22B.

They will be very lucky if they can even find the Wilderness - never mind finding a way out.

 

[Deadbat]

Cheers Roy; always look out for your viewfrom posts. They have become an essential part of the various message boards.

 

[Roygbiv]

No, he's actually suggesting that Cov are a "bigger club" than SUFC. That suggestion is risible. It never has been so and never will be. They are very small beer compared to us.

There's a couple of Cov fans on League One forums who think they are bigger than us too. They got shot down by fans from other clubs but they were adamant. I think we are all biased when it comes to the size of our clubs to be honest

 

[Bergen Blade]

I know a few Coventry fans and they are very nice people who just want to see their club do well.

I have a lot of sympathy to what's happened to them. We have also been guilty of being impatient, over-ambitious and spending more than we should have a couple of times. It's the main reason for us having to spend a fourth season in the third tier. We've been lucky that a few things have happened over this season that makes it likely that we are now ready to move forward again. Hopefully Coventry will also sort out their mess as soon as possible.

 

[JohnDenver]

There's a couple of Cov fans on League One forums who think they are bigger than us too. They got shot down by fans from other clubs but they were adamant. I think we are all biased when it comes to the size of our clubs to be honest

They spent 34 years in the top flight until they finally fell out, and won an FA Cup along the way. Their crowds weren't ever huge but that's some history to have.

I have a lot of sympathy to what's happened to them. We have also been guilty of being impatient, over-ambitious and spending more than we should have a couple of times. It's the main reason for us having to spend a fourth season in the third tier. We've been lucky that a few things have happened over this season that makes it likely that we are now ready to move forward again. Hopefully Coventry will also sort out their mess as soon as possible.

Agree with this although I think their current plight is as much about shady ownership than their over-reaching after relegation. That said, they did pay £5m for Lee Hughes. Yikes indeed….

 

[bornablade]

Last week I was critical of the marketing department at the Lane. One constant that comes through on the View From... post is how opposing fans enjoy BDTBL. Proper ground, great atmosphere etc etc.

In recent years the club has promoted the 'Oldest Professional Stadium in the World' to us, its own supporters. I'm not sure how keen the club are in encouraging further away support. If they are keen then REAL football supporters of other clubs should be encouraged to visit as a pilgrimage to the REAL home of football. This is where it all started. Wembley gets talked about in the unknowledgable media as the home of football. Well we know it isn't.

These fans visting BDTBL will be disappointed with the result but they won't be disappointed with their day out!

Fill the Lane end and the atmosphere from the Blades goes up another couple of notches.

'There's just something about Bramall Lane....'

We all know that and it's something we should be proud of and telling a lot more people about the fact.

Finally. Thanks Roy for all your efforts.

 

[Zinedine]

Not a very useful list of city populations, as it doesn't compare like with like. Greater London's population is given as the population of London, which is like counting everyone in South Yorkshire as living in Sheffield. Manchester, on the other hand, is just the population of the city centre, which makes it look tiny. Manchester is much bigger than Sheffield.

I must admit though, I do struggle to understand the point the Coventry fan is making!

Manchester as a city has a population smaller than Sheffield by about 40,000 bud: http://www.manchester.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/21397/a01_manchester_factsheet_january_2014, greater Manchester is bloomin huge by comparison though, like West Yorkshire is. We have Sheffield and that's about it in South Yorkshire whereas other places are built up or have more than one large city (Leeds, Bratford)

 

[oldblade]

They spent 34 years in the top flight until they finally fell out, and won an FA Cup along the way. Their crowds weren't ever huge but that's some history to have.

That is an understatement.

Coventry is a sizeable city and has only one football club. As you say they spent over 30 consecutive years in the top flight and won the FA Cup. Taking all that into consideration I would say their attendances have often been quite poor. On 10 occasions they were averaging below 15000, and for 15 consecutive seasons between 1980-1 season and 1995-6 season, they failed to get an average above 17509.

We often got more than them whilst playing in a lower division. And in our 1981-2 fourth division season we still averaged nearly 1800 more than them.

 

[Darren]

No, he's actually suggesting that Cov are a "bigger club" than SUFC. That suggestion is risible. It never has been so and never will be. They are very small beer compared to us.

All it depends what you mean by "bigger" of course, but in my lifetime, Coventry have had 34 top division seasons to United's 12.

 

[sitwell]

Get your money on China or India to win the world cup

 

[Small Mendonca]

I never saw Coventry as a bigger club to be honest, probably similar to us and clubs like Leicester, Ipswich, Derby, Bolton etc.

 

[Longtime Blade]

All it depends what you mean by "bigger" of course, but in my lifetime, Coventry have had 34 top division seasons to United's 12.

It's no surprise that most Coventry fans see themselves as superior to United; for all their lives United have normally been in a lower

division than their team and never higher. However, I remember the fifties when Coventry City seemed eternally fixed in the middle of

Division 2 - the highest they had ever been. They eventually moved up in the sixties but after winning tho Cup in 1987 were on the

slide and right through the nineties they were one of two teams that always appeared to be favourites for relegation. (The other team

was Southampton.) I've never forgotten the prediction by one of their deluded fans after we were drawn against them in the FA Cup in

the late nineties that, with Darren Huckerby in their side , they would be five goals up by half-time.

 

[Darren]

I never saw Coventry as a bigger club to be honest, probably similar to us and clubs like Leicester, Ipswich, Derby, Bolton etc.

The difference being that those clubs have all won something since Hitler topped himself.

Leicester: League Cup 1963, 1997 and 2000 plus 4 time FA cup runners up and twice League Cup runners up
Ipswich League 1962, FA Cup 1978 and UEFA Cup 1981 plus twice League runners up
Derby: FA Cup 1946, League 1972, 1975
Bolton: FA Cup 1958 plus League Cup runners up 2004
Coventry: FA Cup 1987
SUFC: zilch

 

[SwissBlade]

Portsmouth also won the FA club, not exactly massive are they

 

[Small Mendonca]

The difference being that those clubs have all won something since Hitler topped himself.

Leicester: League Cup 1963, 1997 and 2000 plus 4 time FA cup runners up and twice League Cup runners up
Ipswich League 1962, FA Cup 1978 and UEFA Cup 1981 plus twice League runners up
Derby: FA Cup 1946, League 1972, 1975
Bolton: FA Cup 1958 plus League Cup runners up 2004
Coventry: FA Cup 1987
SUFC: zilch

I suppose trophies don't always mean success though, Arsenal have consistently finished towards the top of the premier league but haven't won a trophy in 9 years. Although your post does highlight the depressing point that we haven't won a trophy in an embarrassingly long time.

 

[tyneblade]

No, he's actually suggesting that Cov are a "bigger club" than SUFC. That suggestion is risible. It never has been so and never will be. They are very small beer compared to us.

I think we are missing the attempt at irony in his statement, he will have endured 22 games where posts like that were factually correct but entirely unjustified. He was just waiting for a club big enough to make the joke work. He might even have said it if the massive have been the 23rd game of the season.