Aldershot 1-3 Boreham Wood
Eastleigh 1-1 Barnet
Solihull Moors 1-2 Notts County
Woking 2-1 Torquay
Yeovil 3-2 Wealdstone


League Table After Matchday 36
Devon - 715
St Charles Owl - 607
Lord Snoots - 596
SaltergateBorn - 580
Spireitematt - 578
Amelia - 571
Dancing - 531

Jimmy Dean has taken over as Scunthorpe United manager after leaving National League North club Peterborough Sports, who won four promotions under him.

He will be assisted by former QPR defender Chris Plummer - who also worked with him at Peterborough Sports, where Dean became boss in 2015.

Former Hartlepool defender Michael Nelson will stay at Glanford Park and has been given the title of head coach.

Nelson had been in interim charge since Tony Daws' departure in November.

Dean inherits a side second bottom of the National League table, having won just five of their 29 league games this season.

Scunthorpe, who were in the Championship as recently as 2011, were relegated to the fifth tier last season after 72 years in the Football League.

The club were served with a winding up petition by HM Revenue and Customs earlier this month, and put under a transfer embargo.

However, a recent takeover of the Iron by David Hilton has raised hopes of a recovery.

So it is fair unanimous that we are wanting Buzz to go off into infinity and possibly beyond. I will point out here and now, I have nothing against him as a person, I can't say I have taken to him at all, I just don't think he is suited to this job and believes his own hype way too much. He may go on to have a perfectly good coaching or managing career elsewhere, if so fair play to him. He's had a very poor hand dealt to begin with and struggled like anyone would, but as it's been getting better with regards to players coming back, the performances on the pitch haven't, his ramblings make it appear we have been close, but most the time, if we had been a horse, we'd have pulled up long ago, we're coming third in a two horse race half the time.

So where would we look? or more accurately what options are there. In my mind anyways, you can have your say. We may not look at any of the names that gets mentioned but its part of the fun I guess.

So we were rumoured to be interested in Carrick but Mr Bromby felt that Fotheringham was the better (cheaper) option, would I be against going for an coach who has never been the main man before? no, provided that their coaching history has more meat to the bones. Fotheringham had a six month spell at Hertha and then a couple of spells in the second and third division as an assistant, it wasn't really extensive, so how he padded it out on a CV to entice Bromby I don't know.

Lets look at the more inexperienced candidates that I personally would be willing to look towards.


Eric Ramsay- Man United. Younger than a fair few members of our squad, of yesterdays line up, I make Lowton, Lees, Hogg and Rhodes all older than him, but he does have decent pedigree behind him. Having started at Swansea as the U18s manager he also had a spell at Shrewsbury as assistant manager before moving to Chelsea as an under 23s coach for a couple of seasons where he would have coached players like Hudson-Odoi, Tino Anjorin, Jon Russell and Loftus-Cheek to name a few, with Lampard and Tuchel as manager whilst he was there. He left and moved on to Manchester United where he has been a first team coach under Ten Hag, Ole and Rangnick. He's been credited as being good with coaching set pieces and developing players. He was one of the names linked initially with the Blackpool job. Some more about him can be found here https://www.coachesvoice.com/cv/eric-ram...d-chelsea/

Anthony Barry- Chelsea/ Belgium. Another with links to Chelsea, Barry's playing career saw him bounce around the lower leagues before retiring and becoming Paul Cooks assistant manager at Wigan for 3 years. He left to join Chelsea as a first team assistant manager, working under Tuchel, Lampard and now Potter as well as having a spell as Republic of Ireland assistant manager and Belgium's assistant manager under Roberto Martinez. He was one of the names linked when Schofield left but it was reported that he would be unavailable to take over until after the world cup. It has not been said whether he is following Martinez to Portugal, but it would seem that making his first steps into first team management is soon to be on the cards. He is credited as being the brains behind Chelsea's champions league victory. The Daily Mail reported that he turned us down in favour of Belgium and that we were going to appoint Wagner...They was wrong...but Barry would be an interesting option now

Liam Manning- Former MK Dons manager, he had them playing nice football and on the periphery of getting back into the Championship but fell at the play off hurdle. His side was built around good loanees and good up coming players, but they moved on during the summer and were not replaced. Manning failed to replicate the form of the season before and was sacked with the side in a relegation battle. Sounds familiar doesn't it? He won 41 of his 83 games in charge of MK Dons so he shouldn't be tarred by this one bad season, before Milton Keynes he had a decent spell in charge of Lommel in Belgium as well as being academy manager at New York City and West Ham prior to that. Still young, he could quite possibly build something if given the chance to develop our good young players like Diarra.



Moving on to the more experienced candidates at this level

Dean Smith- Was getting called dino Dean by some Norwich fans, but with where we are, a bit of prehistoric bite might not go amiss. Began managing at Walsall where his sides played decent football but was maybe hampered by the size of the club compared to others around it. He moved on to Brentford where, again, his sides played decent football and were starting to make play off noises in the Championship before moving onto Aston Villa where he managed to get them promoted to the Premier League via the play offs and keep them there, but the owners went down a different road after an indifferent start to last season and he was replaced by Gerrard. SMith would move to Norwich where he failed to keep them in the league and instead would try and build a side to bounce back. They started the season well but drifted off and he was ultimately hounded out by the fans not long after christmas and replaced by mr Wagner.

Chris Wilder- worked wonders with Sheffield United getting them promoted from league one up to the premier League via the championship. Keeping United in the prem was an achievement equally as impressive as Wagner keeping us up there. Before United he managed Northampton to promotion from league two despite financial issues and before then he brought Oxford back into the football league. His time at Middlesbrough didn't yield the results he'd have wanted and he was replaced by carrick. He still managed a 40% win ratio, it was more a results to money spent problem that cost him his job this season.

Mark Warburton- currently a first team coach at West ham, but I'd imagine he'd have some sort of break clause to allow him to become the main man again. His managerial career to me says always the bridesmaid rather than the bride as he flirts with the play offs but never quite makes it. His time at QPR saw them being a steady away outfit but the fans began to want more. Before that at forest he fell foul of an owner who chopped and changed more than a catwalk model does outfits. Again they were more midtable but the fawaz al-hasawi had dreams of premier league and Europe. Before forest he had done a decent job at rangers, winning the league and cup, and left unceremoniously, he also got Brentford promoted to the championship and essentially started the ball rolling there.

Valarien Ishmael- we saw what he did with Barnsley and it's the sort of thing that would have to happen here if we can't afford much to spend. His time at West brom showed his style doesn't always translate, his most recent job was at besiktas and whilst he's been sacked, it would be unfair to label him a poor manager, his record there wasn't bad, there's just a lot of chopping and changing in Turkish football.

Neil Warnock- is he an option?



As for lower league options

Paul Cook- began with a short spell at Southport before moving on to have a five year stay at Sligo. He guided Sligo to European football on a couple of occasions before moving to Accrington Stanley for a short stint. He'd move on quickly to chesterfield and eventually would guide them to the league two title, the next season he'd just miss out on back to back promotions. Town fans would recognize him more from his time at Wigan where he'd get them promoted to the championship, he left when they went into admin. He's currently at chesterfield again after a failed spell at Ipswich.

Karl Robinson- once a highly rated coach when at mk Dons, known for playing good possession football, his side would lose to us in the playoffs but eventually they would get promoted to the championship. He's lost his way a little at Charlton and now Oxford where they sit midtable in league one but could still be an option

Gareth Ainsworth- leather jacket and long hair, what's not to like? Did well with Wycombe in the championship and could have stayed up had the fa punished derby correctly. Seems to play effective football, would it work here and more importantly would he leave Wycombe?

Leam Richardson- got wigan promoted to the championship last season but struggled this season and was replaced by kolo toure who has already been replaced. I can't say much about him other than he knows how to get out of league one


As for some left field options, not as far left as Fotheringham mind

Stuart Pearce- I don't think he's a bad coach, he was most recently at West ham. He was doing well at forest before injuries struck their squad and they tailed off. Probably not a long term option, but a known leader during his playing days with previous of coaching England's under 21s there probably a lot worse out there. He could probably make the left back spot his too.

Nigel Clough- very left field for me, but has always done well with little money or quality at his disposal. Upset the odds to get Burton to the championship and beat us at the John Smith's. He shouldn't even be a candidate, but after what's gone on this season he's definitely no worse.

Alan Pardew- 7 year contracts are few and far between and the Alan pardew that got that deal is long gone, but once upon a time he was a good manager that got things out of players and was able to find good players in places that wasn't always scouted. Has disappeared onto the continent of late, but a short term save us deal would probably suit both parties.

John Herdman- who? An English manager what guided Canada to the world cup, both men and women's sides. Obviously a vastly unknown quantity at club level much like fotheringham was, but world cup and international experience shouldn't count for nothing. Could also appeal to any prospective North American buyers who may have more of an idea on what he has done.

Foreign options, well I do like the idea, but at the moment I don't really see us being viable to a foreign manager and vice versa. Unless they have managed over here before and are looking at getting back into the English Leagues like Lamouchi has done at Cardiff. If that is the case then the names would be the likes of Oscar Garcia and Javi Gracia for examples but I'm not sure they would be options.

Hibs boosted by a massive confidence building 6-0 win v a poor Dons' team while the Staggies have just won 3-0 v Killie in a bottom league clash that forced Killie to the bottom of the Scot Prem. This match is intriguing in the fact that Hibs have a revised defence that looks a tad better than the one that had Porto and Rocky in situ. We'll see what Hibs team shows up in this game. Has Lee Johnson come across a formation that makes the team look far more durable in defence and more positive up front? My biggest concern relates to Johnson's tactical ineptness when it comes to changing things when a game becomes difficult. There must be a chance of some injured players returning (plus new players in before the transfer window closes) although it has been refreshing to see some of our vg youth players finally being given an opportunity to impress. Aiden McGeady, Youan, Josh Campbell, Joe Newell and Kevin Nisbet really look like a core of players who are "up for the challenge" - enjoying their fitba with positive and hi-press stuff! Fish and Jeggo look like they've added some defensive security with their battling qualities. Early days to judge though! IMO it looks like another pivotal moment where Hibs have a chance to register an element of consistency by winning another match. C'mon Hibs! Lets pick up this positive momentum and keep going!

GGTTH

Cardiff City have appointed former Nottingham Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi as their third manager of the season.

Lamouchi, 51, will be joined by ex-Bluebirds defender Sol Bamba, who will assist his former Ivory Coast national team manager.

Lamouchi's contract at the Cardiff City Stadium is understood to run until the end of the season.

Cardiff sacked Steve Morison in September while his successor Mark Hudson lasted just 118 days.

Dean Whitehead, who has been caretaker manager, will remain at the club as part of Lamouchi's backroom staff.

Lamouchi's remit will be to keep Cardiff in the Championship, with the Welsh club hovering just one place above the relegation zone in 21st position and without a win in 11 games in all competitions.

"His appointment has come about following a period of serious consideration and reflection as to what is the best for our club," Cardiff owner Vincent Tan told the club's website.

"I'm confident Sabri will be able to deliver what we know this squad is capable of achieving and I look forward to the games that we have ahead of us.

"I'd also like to welcome back Sol, a sentiment I know that [fans] will share."

It is understood the Cardiff board felt experience of managing in the Championship was essential as they sought Hudson's replacement.

Lamouchi was in charge of Forest when they were pipped to the play-offs by Cardiff and Swansea City on goal difference on the final day of the 2019-20 season, his first campaign at the helm.

What to expect ahead of transfer deadline for Swansea, Cardiff, Newport and Wrexham
Cardiff City fans protest against club owner Vincent Tan before Millwall game
He was replaced by Chris Hughton in October 2020 following a poor start to the following season.

Since then the Frenchman has managed Qatari side Al-Duhail, having previously worked in Ligue 1 as manager of Rennes, steering them to fifth before taking the role at the City Ground.

The former midfielder had a distinguished playing career during which he won silverware with Auxerre, Monaco, Parma, Marseille and El Jaish in Qatar.

Bamba returns
Sol Bamba
Sol Bamba scored 10 goals in 118 appearances for Cardiff
Bamba's return will be popular with fans, as he was a key player during his five years with the club.

The former defender made 118 appearances for the Bluebirds between 2016 and 2021, scoring the winner on his debut against Bristol City in what was also Neil Warnock's first game in charge.

The Ivory Coast international's immediate impact - and rapport with Warnock - helped move the club from relegation worries to a mid-table finish, before promotion to the Premier League in 2018.

Bamba played in every game of that successful promotion campaign and was named in the Championship team of the season.

Writing on social media about his return to Cardiff, Bamba said: "Back in the Blue Nest. Delighted to be back in a club that means so much to me. [It is a] difficult situation but all together we will turn this round."

During his time as a Cardiff player, Bamba was also diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but announced he was cancer free four months later after undergoing chemotherapy.

Bamba, who played for Middlesbrough last season, will be joined in Cardiff's backroom team by Whitehead, first-team coach Tom Ramasut and Graham Stack, who remain at the club.

"I want to thank Dean, Tom and Graham for their commitment and diligence during the interim period and am pleased that they will be part of our plans going forward," Tan added.

Cardiff will look to bolster their squad before the transfer window closes, but are only able to sign loan players and free transfers following the lifting of their transfer embargo.

The lifting of the embargo follows Cardiff paying the first instalment of the £15m transfer fee for striker Emiliano Sala, who died in a plane crash en route to joining the club in January 2019.

Fifa imposed a transfer embargo for three transfer windows following Cardiff's refusal to pay the first instalment of the fee they had agreed for Argentine striker Sala.

Cardiff had insisted Sala was not officially registered as their player.

They lost their appeal against that ruling by Fifa at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne in 2022, though the dispute continues.

Aldershot 0-1 Oldham
Altrincham 1-0 Boreham Wood
Barnet 2-3 Chesterfield
Dag & Red 2-1 Yeovil
Dorking 1-0 Solihull Moors
Notts County 2-1 Halifax
Scunthorpe 1-3 Bromley
Southend 0-2 Eastleigh
Torquay 2-1 Maidstone United
Wealdstone 1-0 Gateshead
York 0-2 Maidenhead United



League Table After Matchday 35
Devon - 696
Lord Snoots - 592
St Charles Owl - 576
SaltergateBorn - 570
Spireitematt - 570
Amelia - 563
Dancing - 504

in the House of Lords?

Mr Robins, I've been expecting you.



Mark meets Mark this weekend in a fixture that has been arranged, cancelled, rearranged and re-rearranged. In all fairness it isn't really down to Town as such, maybe a touch in that they agreed to the rearrangements but really its all on Coventry and the powers that be that control the ground, or used to. The original fixture was planned for early in the season but was postponed due to the state of the pitch at the Coventry Building Society Arena. The ground had played host to the Rugby 7's fixtures during the Commonwealth games and had become irreparably damaged. The Sky Blues had already postponed home games against Wigan Athletic and Rotherham United, and the Carabao Cup first-round tie with Bristol City - which was switched at short notice to Burton Albion's Pirelli Stadium before we were supposed to travel there. Now this caused disruption for a lot of Town fans who had booked travel and maybe accommodation for the fixture with some feeling that they should have been forced to concede the fixtures, but as we know from our experiences with the EFL on situations regarding not being able to play a game, it was never going to be the case (see Blackpool pitch invasion) instead they have been given a suspended points deduction after three Championship games had to be postponed because of the state of their pitch. Should it occur again either this season or next, they will face a 5 point deduction, I'd have said 9 points with it being three games that they had cancelled in the first place but hey ho. The second rearranged fixture was due to take place on the Tuesday night, but with both teams out of the FA Cup, it was moved to the Saturday, personally I can understand it from both clubs perspectives, both were expecting to be playing the weekend before and it would just give that extra bit of time between games, obviously our game got cancelled so we have had a relatively long period between the Hull game and this one.

Coventry have had their own issues off field, something I really hope we can avoid going into ourselves, although at times it seems like that could be a pipe dream. Coventry were owned By SISU, a group that caused a lot of protests from Coventry fans, due to numerous things, lack of investment, a complete balls up of the stadium (we'll touch on that a bit more later) and an inability to pay what was needed, when it was needed. Sky Blues fans have wanted SISU out of the club for a long while and they got their wish this season, although it was slightly more muddier than originally thought. Originally John McEvoy, an American billionaire was looking at buying both the club and the ground. He is the founder of a San Diego-based mobile device distribution company, already holds ownership stakes in US National Hockey League team Nashville Predators and Major League Baseball outfit Colorado Rockies and would have been working with a Sky Blues fan in John Dawkins. The administrators for the stadium reportedly never responded to the bid from Dawkins despite it being back by a consortium containing the American billionaire (rumours are that there is a consortium of Americans interested in Town, we'll see if McEvoy's name appears there) instead the issue rolled on longer.

Loughborough businessman Doug King and the founder of an energy drink William Storey became the next two names to be linked with buying the club. Storey believed he had exclusivity over the takeover. The deal was supported by Origin Sports Group - with BTC Racing owner Steve Dudman providing financial backing. Storey said his board would have included former England striker Mark Hateley, who began his career with the Sky Blues in the 1970s, and ex-Coventry Building Society chair Gary Hoffman. Storey claimed to have brought together £9m worth of annual sponsorship contracts, with five major corporations and had secured arrangements for tens of millions of pounds worth of players to come in in January. Doug King meanwhile made his money trading grains and also co-founded an investment firm worth over 300 million. He was named the preferred bidder and later acquired 85% of Coventry City and the deal cleared all the debt that the club owed. The ground meanwhile went into administration and despite a late bit from Coventry City and King, the stadium was sold to preferred bidder Mike Ashley and the Fraser group. Since then the club has received an eviction notice and has since renegotiated the terms of their stay at the ground.

Told you it was messy, and lets be fair, ours ain't exactly clean either, at the moment we are struggling to determine who actually owns the club and thats before we get into ground ownership, that itself could go into a separate set of hands if it goes into administration before we get our house in order. Hopefully the future takeover deal is a lot more straightforward than any of this other stuff!



Coventry as a place finds itself as a bit of a joke in some regards, with the phrase being sent to Coventry not being the most favourable To send someone to Coventry is an idiom meaning to ostracise someone, or act as if they are not present. The origins of the phrase are not known though it is likely its roots are in some historical event involving Coventry. The main idea is that if you are sent to Coventry you will be ignored and forgotten that you even existed, although with some of the levelling up funds it would seem as if you are anywhere North you will be treat as if you don't exist, unless you plan on building a large greenhouse in Morecambe, because what the cold North needs is Alan Titchmarsh's wet dream and not a modernisation of its railways, help with the NHS or even a bog standard roads upgrade. It was on the news that if the North of England was a country of its own, it would be pretty much bottom in regards to spend on improvements for its own people, but we would be near the top in the Olympics but even those sports hubs get shut or run down now. What ever happened to the sports venue Rotherham used to call home?



It is a common belief that the phrase refers to a particular situation that arose during World War II. British intelligence had deciphered encrypted German communications indicating that a devastating air raid on Coventry was being planned. But the government were reluctant to inform the general public in Coventry about the planned attack in case the Germans discovered their cover had been blown and developed a more sophisticated form of encryption. Hence the people of Coventry were kept in the dark. However, people who were alive before the war will attest that the phrase was in usage before. The origin of the phrase may be in the 17th century, arising from incidents in the Civil War in the 1640s. Royalist troops were captured in Birmingham and taken to Coventry, where they were ostracised by the Parliamentarian-leaning Coventry population.

Largely rebuilt after the 1940 wartime bombing of the Coventry Blitz, Coventry was the birthplace of the British motor industry and is also known for the legend of Lady Godiva and Peeping Tom. The short of that story goes like Today, she is mainly remembered for a legend dating back to at least the 13th century, in which she rode naked – covered only in her long hair – through the streets of Coventry to in a plea to her husband, Leofric, to stop enforcing such high taxes on the citizens. This apparently came after Leofric told her she would have to do so before he changed his mind, obviously believing that she wouldn't dare do such a thing. Before beginning this quest to help Coventry, Godiva told everyone to stay in their homes to preserve her modesty. She then rode through the streets, her long hair draped so that it covered almost her whole body, allowing only her legs and eyes to remain visible. However, one man, now known as Peeping Tom, disobeyed her instructions and couldn’t help looking out at Godiva riding through Coventry on the horse. Upon doing so, the legend goes, he was instantly blinded.

Lady Godiva is a legitimate historical figure, born in 990 A.D. It is unknown when she died, although it was assumed to be between 1066 and 1086, in the time of the Norman conquest and King William I's reign. The real Godiva was known for being generous to the church. However, despite this historical legitimacy in regards to the existence of the town and Godiva herself, there is doubt on her ride through Coventry due to a lack of records about it. The story only first appeared approximately one hundred years after her death, and the monk, Roger of Wendover, who recorded it was known for stretching the truth in his writings, much like Oliver Stone and numerous other film directors. The Peeping Tom character was added to the story in the sixteenth century and later became a common term for a voyeur, leading the tale to become a fable much like Humpty Dumpty and ring a ring of roses.



Now to the football...

Coventry began the season with a trip to the North East to face newly promoted Sunderland, Jack Clarke opened the scoring for the hosts but a late Gyokeres goal levelled things up and gave Coventry a deserved point. August was a poor month for Coventry, they failed to win a game all month and coupled with the games postponed due to the ground issues, they found themselves bottom of the league come the end of it. The month began with a league cup tie against Bristol City played at Burton Albions Pirelli Stadium, Coventry found themselves on the receiving end of a 4-1 thrashing with Kal Naismith and a Tommy Conway brace seeing Bristol 3-0 up at half time, Jamie Allen pulled one back at his old stomping ground before Andi Wiemann made it 4-1 in injury time. The Sky Blues then made the journey to The Den to face Millwall and raced into a 2 goal lead thanks to efforts from Kyle McFadzean and Matt Godden. The Lions hit back with goals from Jake Cooper and George Honeyman before Hamer received a two yellow cards. George Saville scored 5 minutes from time to complete the turnaround. It was another 5 goal thriller as Coventry left the Lions Den only to be thrown to the Tigers of Hull. Oscar Estupinan scored a hat-trick for Hull and whilst Godden scored a brace for Coventry, they were unable to rescue a point. A positive for Coventry was they were able to face Preston back at the CBS Arena, the negatives, they lost, thanks to a second half Emil Riis goal. It would be nice to say September picked up for Coventry, but it began with a trip to Norwich and they left with 0 points and a 3-0 defeat, goals from Teemu Pukki Pie, Josh Sargent and Kieron Dowell sealed a comprehensive victory for the Canaries. Still winless, Coventry travelled to Luton and quickly fell behind thanks to a Carlton Morris goal. Gyokeres equalised not long later, but parity wouldn't last long as Morris doubled his tally minutes later. Hamer would score midway through the second half to give Coventry a valuable point. The Sky Blues rounded the month off with a trip to the Blues of Birmingham and played out a goalless stalemate, with the only notable incident being a late red card for Hamer.



October began with Coventry finally getting their first win of the season thanks to a solitary Gyokeres goal against fellow then strugglers Middlesbrough. They followed that up with a goalless draw away at Bristol City before being edged out by Burnley 1-0 at the CBS Arena thanks to a Nathan Tella goal. The next three games of October saw Coventry pick up 9 points as they moved away from the drop zone. The first three points came thanks to a 1-0 win away at Cardiff, Gyokeres being the obvious scorer, next was a 1-0 win at home to Sheffield United with Waghorn scoring a late penalty and finally a 2-0 win away at Stoke thanks to goals from Allen and Hamer. The final two games of the month saw them draw 2-2 at home to Rotherham, Cohen Bramall and Conor Washington scored either side of a Hamer goal before Gyokeres levelled late on from the penalty spot, they finished with a 2-1 defeat at home to the hands of Blackpool. Kasey Palmer opened the scoring for Coventry but goals from Gary Madine and Jerry Yates saw the Tangerines leave with 3 points. November saw Coventry win each game as they continued to rise up the league. It began with a 1-0 win at home to 10 man Blackburn, Jamie Allen scoring the only goal of the game, before another 1-0 win this time away at Watford, the trusty Gyokeres scoring the goal there. Next a 2-0 win at home to struggling Wigan, with Hamer scoring late and Gyokeres scoring even later. Gyokeres was back at it again as he scored a brace in a 2-0 win at home over QPR. The World Cup came at the wrong time for Coventry as they begun the restart with a 1-0 defeat away at Reading with Amadou Mbengue scoring his first senior goal. They thought they were back to winning ways when they went into a 3 goal lead at home to Swansea, goals from Panzo, Allen and Gyokeres making the three points seem inevitable, however, Swansea mounted a comeback when Joel Piroe, Jay Fulton and Liam Cullen all scored late on to grab a share of the spoils. Carlos Corberan was next up for Coventry and a 93rd minute penalty from Gyokeres saw Coventry win all three points. Boxing day saw an eventful game occur at Bramall Lane, James McAtee would open the scoring for the Blades, before Gyokeres missed from the spot, Ciaran Clark would double the lead for United before Tommy Doyle made it 3-0. Gyokeres would grab a goal back for City before Sheffield were reduced to 10 men with John Egan receiving his marching orders for a second yellow but Coventry were unable to mount a comeback. They finished December off with a boring 0-0 at home to Cardiff. January has so far been a bit of a poor month for the Sky Blues as they begun with a 1-1 draw at home to Bristol City, Jake Bidwell scoring for Coventry and Antoine Semenyo scoring for the Robins, next was the FA Cup as they welcomed the attention of Hollywood as Ryan Reynold rolled into town with Wrexham. Early goals from Sam Dalby and Elliot Lee got Wrexham off to a dream start before Ben Sheaf halved the deficit. Thomas O'Connor got a third for the non league side, before Panzo received a straight red card ahead of a 4 goal coming from former Town academy player Paul Mullin. Wrexham must have felt they had the tie sealed but goals from Gyokeres and Palmer made for a nervy finish, but in the end Coventry were dumped out of the cup. Any attempt to bounce back was ended as Jordan Beyer's late header saw below-par Burnley edge out Coventry before Coventry welcomed David Wagner's Norwich to the CBS Arena. They rolled out the welcome mat as Norwich raced into a 3 goal lead thanks to an own goal from Michael Rose and strikes from Onell Hernandez and Josh Sargent. Coventry fought back moments later through goals from Allen and Palmer to make it 3-2 but Kieran Dowell scored a 4th for Norwich to make January winless so far for the Sky Blues.




In terms of head to heads, Town have won 9 with Coventry winning 5 and there being 5 draws. Last season saw Town draw at home 1-1, it was a lunchtime kick off where we took the lead and then tried to defend and hold on for the rest of the game. Danny Ward opened the scoring for Town after 18 minutes but we were well and truly battered by Mark Robins' side with Lee Nicholls being the only thing stopping them making the dominance count. The away side had 65% possession and registered 22 shots 12 on target, Town could only muster 2 shots on target out of the 10 they had. It looked like the smash and grab would work but in the 93rd minute Matt Godden scored a much deserved equaliser. The return fixture saw goals from Harry Toffolo and Tino Anjorin lead Town to a 2-1 win with Viktor Gyokeres scoring late for the Sky Blues.

In terms of incomings this season, Coventry were more active in Summer than they have been so far in January. Summer saw them bring in former Terrier Kasey Palmer from Bristol City on a free transfer, former Monaco defender Jonathan Panzo on loan from Nottingham Forest, fellow defender Callum Doyle joined on loan from Manchester City. January saw left back Josh Wilson-Esbrand join on loan also from Manchester City, whilst on the right Brooke Norton-Cuffy joined on loan from Arsenal having spent the first half of the season on loan at Rotherham. Luke McInally also joined the Sky Blues from fellow Championship side Burnley on loan, whilst Sean Maguire is rumoured to be joining from Preston, they have also been linked with a move for former Town loanees Jamie Paterson and Danel Sinani.

As for out goings Jordan Shipley and Julien Da Costa both joined Shrewsbury, Da Costa being on loan, centre half Josh Pask joined TNS on a free transfer and Jodi Jones left for Oxford United after his contract expired and he has since joined Notts County. Dominic Hyam made the move to Blackburn for 1.75 million in the main deal of the Summer. As for Winter, Todd Kane joined Charlton on loan, whilst Martyn Waghorn was a surprise arrival at Town, with not many expecting that to happen, it still appears to be somewhat of a weird transfer but we shall give him a touch of time, although does it look like Bromby has found the transfer wishlist from the summer we got promoted? most the signings seem like they would have been top players at around that time but have since gotten old or dropped off.



In terms of team news, Town could welcome back Ollie Turton after he has spent time on the training pitches with the first team, Matty Pearson after featuring against Hull could play possibly play the full 90 this weekend. Anjorin remains a long term injury, whilst Pat Jones is nearing a comeback but will still be a few weeks away. Danny Ward remains out with a muscle injury and with Martyn Waghorn unable to feature against his parent side, Jordan Rhodes is likely to be leading the line alone, with the likes of Tyreece Simpson, Kian Harratt and B team beanpole poacher Kyle Hudlin all candidates to sit on the bench. Sorba Thomas has left the club strangely on loan to Blackburn meaning his spot in the squad could be taken by new signing Josh Hungbo, Anthony Knockaert had yet to train before the Hull game so it remains to be seen whether he will be fit enough to feature at all. Keeper Lee Nicholls will be out after shoulder surgery, so at the moment it appears that young Nicholas Bilokapic will be donning the gloves this weekend.

I'd do a predicted line up but my idea would be different from what the next Alex Ferguson would pick. Hey ho- My line up would be: Bilokapic; Lees, Helik, Pearson; Lowton, Hogg, Kasumu, Jackson; Rudoni, Rhodes, Holmes in a 3-4-3 formation. My sneaking suspicion is that Ruffles will definitely feature, along with Scott High, with Kasumu and Turton both being on the bench along with Hungbo and Boyle. Diarra is also likely to get a spot on the bench and after a few goals in the B team, it wouldn't surprise me if Koroma gets a spot too.


As for Coventry, Callum O'Hare is out for the rest of the season after picking up an ACL injury against Sheffield United on boxing day, he is expected to miss 9 months, fellow midfielder and key player Gustavo Hamer limped off at the weekend but Mark Robins is hopeful that he will be fit for Saturdays game (maybe another reason they got the game moved????) The Coventry Telegraph predicts the Sky Blues will line up: Ben Wilson; Luke McNally, Michael Rose, Jonathan Panzo; Fankaty Dabo, Gustavo Hamer, Ben Sheaf, Josh Wilson-Esbrand; Kasey Palmer, Jamie Allen; Viktor Gyokeres in a 3-4-2-1 formation.

Ones to watch

Kasey Palmer- We know what the guy can do on his day. He was a different level when he was here on loan in the Championship, especially the first half of the season, struggled a little after he picked up an injury against Leeds and never really got going again. Struggled even more when we got to the Prem and ended up having his loan here cut short to go back to the Championship. Since then he's been a bit nomadic with numerous loans to the likes of Swansea, Blackburn and Derby. Left Chelsea  to join Bristol City following a loan there but never really got going scored as many goals here as he did there in less than half the games. Joined Coventry in the Summer and at 26 will be looking to finally settle down.

Viktor Gyokeres- Swedish international who joined the Sky Blues from Brighton, although he never actually played a league game from Brighton's first team. He also had loans out and about at the likes of German club St Pauli, Welsh club Swansea as well as Coventry. Goals seemed hard to come by as he could only muster 7 in Germany and none at all in Wales in the league anyway. In his initial loan at Coventry he could only manage 3 goals in 19 games, but Robins had obviously seen enough to take a punt and was rewarded last season with 17 goals in 45 appearances, this season he has 12 so far in 27 and it will be a surprise if he doesn't get one this weekend and also if he is still a Coventry player come next season, there will be a fair few Premier League clubs that will be taking an active interest now.

Gustavo Hamer- The diminutive Dutchman was born originally in Brazil. One of the main creators for Coventry, he joined back in 2020 from PEC Zwolle in Holland having originally beginning his career at Feyenoord. He played two games for the Dutch giants and had a loan out at Dordrecht. He has played over 100 games for Coventry and has scored 12 goals. He is also known for being a flair player as well as being a fairly fiery customer.



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Forest Green Rovers have appointed former Everton assistant manager Duncan Ferguson as their new head coach.

The 51-year-old is taking on his first full-time managerial role and replaces Ian Burchnall who left on Wednesday with the club bottom of League One.

Former striker Ferguson made 273 appearances for the Toffees and also had two spells as their caretaker manager in 2019 and 2022.

"I plan to be here for a while," Ferguson told the club website.

"We have a bit of a fight on our hands to stay up in League One and I am ready for the challenge."

Former Everton team-mate Tony Grant will work alongside Ferguson as assistant head coach.

Forest Green are four points from safety and have won just five of their 28 matches this season, having played more games than their relegation rivals.

They are without a victory in their past eight matches with their last win coming on 10 December.

As a player, Ferguson scored 73 goals for Everton in two spells from 1994 to 2006. He began his career at Dundee United and also played for Rangers and Newcastle United. He was also capped seven times by Scotland.

He joined Everton's coaching staff in 2014 and left last summer to pursue his first managerial position.

"We're all excited to welcome Duncan, he is someone I have admired from a far for a while," Forest Green chairman Dale Vince said.

"It's just fantastic to have the opportunity to work with him in this next phase of our journey toward the Championship."

Prior to the announcement of Ferguson's appointment, Vince said the club was looking to appoint someone with "experience" as swiftly as possible with the hope of bringing in "a couple more" players during this January transfer window.