The last few weeks have been a bit hit and miss for Coventry as they struggle to keep their scintillating early season form going.
Two losses and a narrow win in the league followed by a defeat on penalties in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy have been far from the free scoring matches from the early part of the season.
Coventry were never going to be able to maintain their goal scoring record of the early season as teams have begun to know what to expect. Teams now are setting up to stifle our style of play and that is why Pressley continues to reiterate the importance of the teams pressing game.
There has been at times a lapse in this pressing game were players have taken their foot off the gas slightly. Pressley put it down to complacency creeping in to the side and I tend to agree with him.
We were on a great run with six games unbeaten before the defeat to port vale but a defeat was always going to come with the side continuing to concede goals. The Brentford loss was a loss where a team came to us and got their tactics exactly right, they did a job on us and we were unable to do anything about it. These were two disappointing games in terms of the result and elements of the play left a lot to be desired but there was still that promise going forward.
Pressley and the players seemed determined to put them defeats behind them when travelling to Stevenage and city delivered a very mature performance for such a young side. A 1-0 win showed that the team when required could find a way to control a game in a manner that allowed them to see a slender advantage out till the end and keep a rare clean sheet in the process.
Players were regimented in their personal and team jobs and it paid dividends as it saw City climb to 18th in the league one table. With 10 games gone city find themselves in 18th place in league one and to be in that position after starting the season on minus 10 points is a real achievement.
This squad has done the club proud so far in a time when the club has been dragged through the dirt. It is now clearer than it has ever been that Sisu are not going to let this club go and are intent on getting a return on their investment whether the is at the expense of the fans or not.
Sisu and the fans have one common ground in that we both want to see the club back in the top flight of English football however there are massive differences in terms of how we both see the club getting there.
This obviously all goes back to the row over the Ricoh arena. It has been extreme action taken by Sisu to move the club out of the city and there now looks very little possibility of any negotiations taking place over a return to the Ricoh.
Sisu have made their position very clear that unless a deal which involves ownership is on the table then they are not interested in returning. This does in some ways make sense especially in a business sense. We all know the club has to at some point own its own ground which has been made even more important with the introduction of the financial fair play rules.
I do understand the other side though in that the council re reluctant to sell such an asset which they continue to insist makes them money despite figures suggesting otherwise. As much as I despise what Sisu have done to our club I question whether it is now time to not back Sisu but accept them.
In that sense I am looking at ACL and the Council. They have damaged the club along with Sisu and have not helped the situation in the slightest. Is it now time to put things to bed and move on for the sake of the club, the fans and the Coventry community.
In the short term a sale of the Ricoh to Sisu would at least bring the club back to Coventry and allow us fans to return to watching the team we all love. Yes this will give Sisu what they have always wanted but just maybe this is actually the best thing possible for a club that has been in turmoil for too long.
Sisu are not going to give the club up and it appears that Sisu are going to be able to fund the club for the foreseeable future whether or not it has us fans or not. They have invested substantial money and no one likes to lose their investment. In that sense a sale of the club is just not possible because the club is almost worthless so the only way forward for Sisu is to keep investing and continue to the ultimate aim of the premier league where the club will make its money back and become a much more sell-able asset.
It pains me no end to have reached the point where selling the Ricoh to Sisu seems like the only way forward for this club but where else do we go. Spend another few years in Northampton and allow the vast majority of our fan base to lose interest in the club. Can we as fans really be without a club for the next three or four years, it just seems unthinkable.
These 10 weeks of this first season away from Coventry have been the hardest thing to take since I have been a supporter of the club, even harder than the relegation’s to the Championship and then to league one.
If there is an alternative which can bring the club back to Coventry then I am all for it but personally I see one way that this is going to happen anytime soon and that is if the Ricoh is sold to Sisu. I think I will always despise Sisu but I am now missing my club too much and am more willing to accept Sisu and the Ricoh becoming one if it means I can once again go and watch the club I love.
PUSB!!
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