Defeat To Watford See Even More City Fans Demand New Manager

Last updated : 02 May 2010 By Kev Monks at Ricoh Arena

COVENTRY CITY 0-4 WATFORD FC BY KEV MONKS

Date 02/05/10 At The Rioch Arena Championship

Team
Westwood, Cranie, Wood, Barnett, Wright (Clarke 70), Gunnarsson, Clingan (Baker 46), McIndoe, Bell, Morrison, Eastwood (Jeffers 70). SNU Konstantopolous, Hall, Hussey, Sears.


Watford

Loach, Mariappa, Lansbury, Cowie, , Doyley, Harley, Tyler, Eustace (McGinn 89), Bryan (Sordell 61) Graham (Massey 84), Hodson. SNU Lee, Bennett, Henderson, Oshodi


HT CCFC 0-2 WFC FT CCFC 0-4 WFC
ATT 19,103

Referee M.Halsey

Booked Eastwood
Goals Danny Graham (15 pen & 77), Henri Lansbury (17), Martin Sordell (80)
Man Of The Match Marcus Hall took the votes.
___________________

Sunday May 2nd 2010 will go down in Coventry City's history as the day that many long-suffering City supporters ended their support of manager Chris Coleman as the Sky Blues crashed to a 4-0 home defeat to Watford and finished 19th in a very poor Championship division.


It was a cold day as a good turn out of the Sky Blue Army, again boosted by the school kids, filed into the Ricoh Arena to see if the Sky Blues could end a run of ten games with out a win.


They watched the League winning Coventry Blaze Ice Hockey team introduced to the crowd and the new kits for next season launched before there was good applause for referee Mike Halsey who was back doing his first Championship game after beating cancer.

City, were unchanged for the third game in a row against a Watford side which wore black shirts and red shorts and included former Sky Blue John Eustace in their starting line up.


Playing 3-5-2, a good number of the City players looked like they were going through the motions from the start or they were not motivated enough to take the game to the visitors who had the early pressure.


Aron Gunnarsson had a go with a couple of headers but in the 15th minute, it was the 1,879 visiting fans who were having to plenty of cheer when Leon Barnett failed to do his job properly and clear the ball in the first place and then the defender collided into Danny Graham and Mr Halsey ordered a penalty.


Danny Graham scored quite easily and two minutes after his goal, the forward, who had a good game and even joined in with a bit of good natured banter with some of the City fans in the CT Stand , was jumping on his team-mate Henri Lansbury as the City defence stood and watched the loanee from Arsenal score from the edge of the area.


Some City fans headed for the bars and there were reports from stewards that some had even left the stadium, knowing that another sub-standard

performance from a side lacking any quality was in the making.


Lansbury had a shot saved by Westwood who drew an ironic cheer from the City fans when he had City's first shot on target with a long kick in the 26th minute.


David Bell and Michael McIndoe, today offered nothing with their wing play whilst Stephen Wright's losing of the possession and giving away petty free kicks, like the one in the 39th minute when he shoved his opponent in the back, was riling a good number of fans around me.


Half-time saw Midland Woman Combination Winners Coventry City Ladies and Nuneaton Town's Chairman and manager get the applause of the City fans who then watched Sammy Clingan who had been holding his groin replaced by leading scorer (although none for the Sky Blues) Carl Baker.


We sat waiting for City to get stuck into Watford and try and end the last forty-five minutes of the season with some positive actions. If ever there was a time to try and boost season ticket sales and give the manager some more money to spend on better players, or bringing in a new management team who can get the best out of the players they have available this was it. However, it was all in vain as the Sky Blues were as inept, leaderless and clueless, as they had been in the opening period.


After a Barnett header had been tipped over and then ruled out for offside, Clinton Morrison fired wide before Keiren Westwood pulled off a top notch save going high to deny Cowie and then Morrison, who has also been offered a deal by the current City manager went wide with a header and a shot.


Carl Baker got booed for overshooting a 63rd minute corner as the chants for Marcus Hall to be given his final City appearance grew louder. They were to no avail as in the 70th minute, Coleman made a double change bringing on Shaun Jeffers and Jordan Clarke.


That caused some supporters to leave and there was a big "Marcus Hall" chant followed by chants from both the scoreboard end and CT Stand of "Coleman Out".


The mood was certainly one of frustration and annoyance and when Danny Graham scored his second goal of the match in the 77th minute after poking home a cross from the left, there was a mass exodus of angry supporters whilst City Chairman Ray Ranson was spotted on the phone.


If being 3-0 down to a side that have struggled all season was not bad enough. In the 80th minute, Martin Sordell slotted past Westwood with absolute ease to send the away fans into a frenzy and provoke more calls for the City manager to be replaced.

The biggest applause was reserved for John Eustace who was substituted just before the end and when the final whistle went, most City supporters displayed what they thought of the manager, team and their season which ended in a totally unacceptable 19th position, by walking out. Whether they will be back to support a club trapped in a vicious circle unless more backers are found, after what has been a very forgetable season, is now very unclear.