Fans Forum Report

Last updated : 17 September 2004 By Nigel Eccles

This season’s first fan’s forum kicked off as planned at 8pm at the Coventry City Supporters Club in Freehold Street on Thursday night. Out of all of the Forums I’ve been to this was probably the most sparsely attended, quickest & least pressing of them all.

Due to the short notice proffered to arrange & publicise the event, there were no problems getting in, a small queue formed well before the club’s opening time, as your correspondent found a ring side seat next to the ‘press & VIP tables’.

Club officials & press aside there were fewer than 100 people who bothered to turn up, but refreshingly this did include a fair smattering of JSB’s, including two of my own children, who got to ask 28 questions, (although it must be said a large number of these were asked by compare Stuart Linnell, who I’m sure either did this for free or will bill his fee to the Club).

The press table included Geoff Foster, Mark Avery & some bloke called Andy Turner!

Club officials who attended included Directors Joe Elliot, Alan Stephenson & also Raj Atwall & Joe Lea, apologises if I missed anyone, particularly the chap who donated his raffle tickets to my kids for a signed ball, a framed Highfield Road picture & some ‘Coke Balls’, no not that kind, which were sold before proceedings began in earnest.

Peter Reid was the cheerful dapper chap we’ve come to know down the years, haranguing Hughes for ‘making the effort’ in the dress side of things as he happily posed for photos & autographs.

At bang on 8pm John Haddon, CCSC secretary, kicked of the proceeding welcoming attendees to the club - which has recently paid off it’s large mortgage after being kicked out of it’s premises by Jimmy Hill over 25 years ago - & handed over to the aforementioned Linnell who introduced panel Mike McGinnity (MM), Peter Reid (PR), Richard Shaw & Stephen Hughes for ‘The first Fans Forum of the End of an Era Season’ & opened the floor for ‘Footballing questions about Coventry City’.

At this point at taste of what was to come was revealed, as there was little fervour to be the first one up.

Why do people bother to go to these events without even one thing on their minds to ask? Additionally why is it that those who chose the web media to lambaste or criticise not have the balls to come & take the opportunity to put those points face to face to their nemesis, (out of towners or country apart)?

As it happened Natalie Coulson took the opportunity, after a worrying silence & an offer from Stuart Linnell to ask, not the first of, his questions, to ask about whether the potential closing of the Browns Lane Jaguar plant as covered by the CET, in Thursday’s addition, would have any effect on the Stadium sponsorship deal. Mike McGinnity replied that he sincerely hoped that the ‘closure’ would not actually come about for the negative impact it would have on workers, families & the City in general. He failed to see how Jaguar could back out of the deal as it had been signed & hoped both that they didn’t make a decision to close the plant or scupper the deal.

Peter Reid was asked, by Stuart Linnell, if he had ‘calmed down’ after Wednesday night’s game against Gillingham. He replied that he was going to have to apologise to the team for ‘losing it’ as after watching the game video on reflection we had performed well apart from two lapses of concentration he would be looking for us to perform as well against Rotherham, but obviously without the lapses. A supporter then gave a fine synopsis of this & recent games, which Reid indicated that Adrian Heath better watch out if he wanted to keep his job! Peter Reid acknowledged that all the players were disappointed with the Gillingham & Millwall results that we need to get the ball down, play some good passing football with discipline & professionalism & acknowledge that in Wednesday nite’s game we didn’t read it as good as we could of.

PR was asked whether he acknowledged the lack of consistency at the club. PR either ignored or missed the irony of the question but answered that the aim was to return to the Premiership, He was proud to be the manager of a club that had been in the top flight for 34 years & asked fans to be patient & bear with the ups & downs. He was actively searching for a couple of defenders & if we play to our strengths & capabilities we will be close or there abouts come the end of the season. MM interjected that it takes a big man to apologise but don’t do it again until next May! Tick tick tick……

PR was asked, by SL, whether he thought we were short of numbers. He replied we were ‘short on the ground’ in defence. (No kidding).

MM was asked where we were in the Dhinsa deal, by SL. He replied with his stock quotes about the meeting he had, JJ’s propensity for publicity in CET, Daily Mail, BBC, Sky Sports etc, & that his ‘confidential meeting’ at the Hilton was even known to the Hotel manager before arrival. How JJ told MM how he lived in a £4m house & how he had 19 cars & other family issues, which apparently were less than true. He said that ‘JJ has as much chance of taking over this club as I have of winning the Lottery – & I don’t even buy a ticket’, comments about the ‘biggest fool in the City’ & ‘Russians & Money laundering’ followed which, for the sake of accuracy & deformation, I’m not prepared to repeat.

MM & PR were asked about WBA’s Darren Moore. MM replied that he had spoken to Mr Pearce at WBA who indicated he would consult the manager. With them not coming back to him MM felt that this was an indication that Pearce & Megson were not talking!

MM was asked about the Davenport departure & the non-insertion of loan clauses in the deal. MM replied Southampton, Tottenham, Blackburn & Newcastle were all interested & MM felt Newcastle were the best option for Calum. MM had spoken to Freddie Sheppard & negotiated a possible deal that included the type of loan back option we preferred. Agents became involved Tottenham came in & refused that option. PR said he had spoken to Calum at the U-21’s training camp at Ashby De la Zouch & Davenport had denied any of the Rumours that WH were involved, (despite Kev Monks knowing about it straight after the W Ham game!), PR felt Davenport was a make weight in the Carrick deal, that TH & WH had acted very poorly.

Richard Shaw was asked, by SL, how he rated Leacock as a new partner. RS replied it was early days; he was very good in training a big lad with promise. SL asked about the 2nd goal on Wednesday. RS said Steele had been unlucky but he was happy with the way that Steele had handled crosses.

Yours truly then asked MM to expand on the Travel policy for the new ground. Apparently MM had been given a hard time on local radio in the morning. He went onto praise the Trust for what it had contributed & that he had an excellent working relationship with them. He indicated that the Travel policy was being formulated with the Arena Company & John McGuigan. Lionel Bird from the Trust then gave some outline details of the coaches’ scheme & that there was a lot more work to be done & information would be released when it had been agreed, structured & implemented.

Steven Hughes was asked, by SL, if the Stadium had been a factor in influencing his move. He replied that a variety of factors had influenced him not least PR, our ambition & the desire to play first team football.

Jazz asked Richard Shaw to describe his goal! On last season’s goal experience at Gillingham, RS answered with pride & humour. RS said once the ball fell to him in a good position he closed his eyes, smacked it & it went in.

SH was asked why he had only signed a year’s contact. SH replied that with his injury record he had a lot to prove, PR indicated that we still haven’t seen the best from him & as he got fitter & lost a few pounds he will get even better.

PR was asked what tempted him to come, PR replied he had been in football since he was 15, TV work was ok but he preferred to be involved. He intimated that players from the last club he managed had acted like arseholes; they didn’t want to run or train hard. The opposite was true here, it was a hard but not impossible job. He had been pursued after the last manager had left he felt he was a custodian of the club, The Chairman had ambition & had worked really hard for it, he can’t promise that we’ll do it but he’s sure we’ll give it our best go.

MM was asked to quantify the outstanding debt. The figure was put by MM at ‘about £23-£25m, I would think’.

SL asked MM to quantify the situation as it stood when he became chairman. MM replied bets were £59.9 m, wages were £17m & our income was £12m.

PR was asked, by a very young supporter, why Gary McSheffrey was at the bottom of the pile & will he get a chance to play? PR indicated he picks players on form & apart from the First game of the season he hadn’t seen it form Sheffers. The young fan interrupted & said he should be given a run & was scoring in the reserves. PR acknowledged that a local player would always attract loyalty but if you play well you’ll get picked. He indicated that he might let him go out on loan to regain confidence.

The 3 players on the panel were asked who the best players they’d played against. RS was non committal but respected Mark Hughes & Ian Wright, SH talked about Arsenal team mates from 98, PR said ‘Maradona’ was something special’, MM looked miffed he wasn’t considered ‘a player’.

SH was asked for his opinion of Tim Sherwood. SH replied he was well respected.

PR was asked what players we were short of. PR replied a Centre Half & an Utility Player.

PR was asked about a ‘big target man’. PR replied about summer targets Dublin, Sherringham, that we were unfortunate not to get them & there wasn’t much quality about. He was sure Stern john could do the job. .

PR was again pressed on GMcS. PR agreed that he ‘wasn’t talking out of school’ the Sheffers had been disappointed not to get a full 90 mins but the ‘kid just aint doing it’. He would never drop a player who plays well, & mentioned the loan option again.

MM was asked whether the wages policy at the club was restricting our ability to sign premiership players could we pay more. MM replied No. He was asked how would we get those players when other teams could. MM expanded on parachute payments & affordability. It was down to the manager to attract the best he could within what we have to work in we would not pay a single players wages of over £1m per year. PR went on to say the inability to capture a number of players over the summer was more about the demands for ‘appearance money’ than fees or wages.

MM went on to say our current T/O is £7m. There is a £30m bonus to get back into the Pemiership, good support is the best way for us to achieve that & help us move forward. There is a 49% historical increase in attendances moving to new grounds. This will help us a great deal more next season & he would prefer that to be in the Premiership.

At this point there was an alarming lapse in security as I was able to cross the floor unchallenged & deposit a pint of Guinness on PR’s table, if I was a terrorist I could have taken out the lynchpins of the clubs stability, as it was I just amused my kids.

RS was asked to expand on his ‘duel role’, he indicated it was difficult to do both jobs, Oggy was doing well in the Reserves & he had decided to concentrate on his playing duties after having a good preseason & that the coaching side of his career will come.

MM was asked about schemes to increase the crowd. MM said we had 7,800 Season ticket holders & we were the cheapest child entrance fee club in the division. Alan Stephenson explained we have promotions aimed at increasing attendances in the pipeline – particularly for the new ground & announcements would be made soon.

SL asked PR who he would like to sign given the chance. PR chuckled & said Henry & Ronaldo ‘you’d just have to bang it up there & they would do the rest’.

MM was asked if he would give RS a testimonial to which MM replied, ‘well he’s only been here 9 years!’ but if we could guarantee +12,500 crowd, possibly.

And that was it at 8.50pm SL called time & it was all over. Hopefully next time more people will attend & the club should hold the meeting at a central location, Cox Street Club, announce it with plenty of time to prepare & advertise & make it a ticket event. I believe that would swell the attendance & make for a better evening.