News Archive

Get in! A first league win at Carrow Road for 20 years, and our good form continues in the league as well as the cup.

With an unbeaten February including wins over the top two, and knocking a Premiership side out of the FA Cup, Chris Coleman has to be a shoe-in for Manager of the Month, and it's a pretty enjoyable time to be a Sky Blues supporter.

Beating Chelsea would be nice, but what we really need now is to keep on winning league games like this one today, because getting into the play-offs this season is vitally important.

Why? Because we're becoming visible. We survived the transfer window, but if we continue to impress but don't win promotion, there will surely be irresistable Summer bids coming in for the likes of Danny Fox and Keiren Westwood, Jordan Henderson will go back to Sunderland, and then we'll be in a far weaker position next season.

So, for the sake of preserving what we've got, we really have to aim high now - a 'season of consolidation' will be meaningless if we lose our brightest talents in the Summer. It's not being talked about much, but it's true.

Sheffield United on Wednesday night will be another strong test and we really need maximum points again.

It's a date with Chelsea!

We needed a second bite at the cherry this time, but we've disposed of Blackburn Rovers in a contest so even it can't really be called a giant-killing. and advance to the biggest FA Cup tie we've played since the 1987 Final!

Last time we reached the Quarter-Finals was in 1998, and on that occasion we were the Premiership side, but were dumped out by lower division opposition Sheffield United on penalties after a replay.

This time we'll be the underdogs, but in the last couple of years we've shown our mettle against higher-league opposition. We've knocked Blackburn out twice, won at Old Trafford in last season's Carling Cup, and did very well against West Ham and Newcastle also.

Chelsea have stuttered in the competition this season, and were held at Stamford Bridge by Southend in the third round. Can we get past them and reach a Wembley semi-final? We can certainly have a bloody good go!

MCKENZIE OUT FOR SEASON

Leon McKenzie may have played his last game for us, as an achilles injury has ruled him out for the remainder of the season, and he is out of contract in the Summer.

McKenzie has struggled with injury since joining us from Norwich, though when he has been fit, he has been a potent weapon, whether deployed upfront or on the left of midfield.

But as one of our higher-earners, he could be earmarked for departure in the close-season, particularly if the next piece of Chris Coleman's jigsaw is to sign a proper out-and-out left-winger, which now seems to be our number one priority.

HENDERSON RIGHT AT HOME

On-loan winger Jordan Henderson looks set to extend his loan spell with us until the end of the season.

The Sunderland wide man has made an eye-catching impact during his month with us, with a string of solid performances, but his initial deal with us expires on Wednesday after the Cup game against Blackburn.

We might not be able to land him permanently, because the 18 year old recently penned a long-term deal with his parent club, although who knows what might happen if they are relegated from the Premiership this season?

Henderson has only made two apperances for Sunderland, and is unlikely to get in their side ahead of Steed Malbranque.

Fucking hell, things are starting to get good now!

We've beaten Wolves, and now done the double over Birmingham, and we've looked like one of the best teams in the division on a few occasions now.

Annoyingly, in such a wide-open division, we could be right up there, had we not dropped silly points against the likes of Doncaster, Watford, Forest, Plymouth and Southampton earlier in the campaign.

It's a little bit dispiriting that after a very solid run, we're still in mid-table but we're closing the gap, and if we do keep this up, we might just make up enough ground by the end of the season to sneak into the top six.

In the immediate term, we have to turn our attention to the FA Cup, and Tuesday's replay against Blackburn. Earlier in the season you wouldn't have fancied us at home, but the way we've played at the Ricoh lately has to give us a chance.

It's a different competition, but the same part of the world, and the same outcome: City denied a win by a last-minute equaliser.

But once again, it's a result we'd have taken prior to kick-off, and Burnley pretty much deserved their share of the spoils tonight.

A point at Burnley is a good result, but it's another point closer to... well, the mid-table finish that has seemed inevitable for a while really.

Birmingham up next on Saturday - another tough game, and another one where a draw would probably be considered a good result.

CHELSEA AWAIT

It's a big if, but if we get past Blackburn in the FA Cup Replay next Tuesday, then the Ricoh Arena will stage an even bigger game, as we have drawn Chelsea at home in the Quarter-Finals.

While we played in the Premiership, our home record against Chelsea was first rate. Following relegation we lost 2-0 at Highfield Road in the League Cup, but prior to that were unbeaten in eight home games against the Blues.

Chelsea almost came unstuck at Watford yesterday, going a goal down in the second half, before a late Anelka hat-trick saw them turn it around.

The replay against Blackburn will still be a tough game, however, and we cannot take it for granted that the game will be as competitive and even as it was yesterday.

Conceding a stoppage-time equaliser is painful, but we can take heart - as it's Valentines - from the fact that we've held a Premiership side at their place, and we're still in the draw for the Quarter-Finals - something we'd definitely have taken prior to kick-off.

The result was't what it was on our last trip to Ewood Park, but this was a much stronger Blackburn side, so everyone can be proud of themselves for securing the result, and financially a replay will do us no harm, especially if it's selected for television.

Fixture congestion is going to be a problem for us between now and the end of the season, with a replay in 10 days time, and midweek league outings coming thick and fast for at least the next month.

Sticking in Lancashire, we play high-flying Burnley away this coming Tuesday night, before entertaining Birmingham next weekend - how much the drama and disappointment today will have knocked us remains to be seen.

DIMI IN CARDIFF SWITCH

Goalkeeper Dimi Konstantopoulos has moved to Cardiff on loan, in a complicated deal, given that he was previously on loan at their local rivals Swansea.

The move happened because Swansea had applied to extend his loan spell until the end of the season after transfer window closed earlier this month, but there had been an issue with the paperwork before the deadline.

But Cardiff have suffered an injury to keeper Peter Enckelmen, and applied to the Football League for special dispensation to sign a replacement, so Dimi has gone to Ninian Park.

After some poor performances, the City were up for the challenge of Championship leaders Wolves and secured a dramatic victory with a last-gasp penalty save.

It sets us up rather nicely for next weekend's FA Cup trip to Blackburn, and maybe, if we're capable of beating sides like these, then perhaps a late push for the play-offs at the end of the season isn't beyond us after all.

Although currently in 14th place, we're ten points behind Sixth-placed Preston, with a game in hand and the game against them coming up. If we win just these two games, we'll be right in the shakeup, everything else being equal.

We do look a stronger side than we did this time last year, despite the loss of both last season's best player and last season's top goalscorer. That's testiment to the players Coleman has brought in.

Realistically, if things peter out this season, we'll probably cash in on the likes of Keiren Westwood and Danny Fox in the Summer, but even if that happens, we'll be richer, and still well placed to achieve something next season.

BACK TO BLACKBURN

The Sky Blues will face a trip to Blackburn in the FA Cup for the second season running, after Rovers won their 4th round replay with Sunderland after extra time.

We famously won last season's 3rd Round clash 4-1, and it would be less of a giant-killing this time around, as we are doing slightly better in the Championship than we were last January, and Blackburn are struggling in the bottom three of the Premiership this season.

Next Saturday's clash could be an exciting cup tie, as we bid to reach the quarter finals of the competition for the first time in over a decade.

TENSE FINALE TO TRANSFER WINDOW

It's Groundhog Day, the country is covered with the worst snow for two decades, and the transfer window closed at 5 PM - though the Weather conditions have meant that the FA granted a further extension to clubs wishing to do business, if they can provide electronic documentation.

All of which means that a tense time for Sky Blues fans is likely to last until tomorrow morning.

Keiren Westwood and Danny Fox - arguably our two best players this season - have both been linked with moves to Newcastle Utd, and while Ray Ranson has said that nobody else will be departing today, it's hard not to be nervous when news reports talk about bad things happening.

Some more routine things did happen before the deadline: James McPake has completed his move from Livingston - agreed in principle several weeks ago, Michael Mifsud has gone to Barnsley, though on loan, while Julian Gray's loan at Fulham has been made permanent for an undisclosed fee.

The situation with Gray has been surprising - he's hardly played for Fulham since joining them on loan in the August transfer window, and we have had a distinct lack of wide players in our midst. But the fans never particularly took to him, he was a high earner, and appears to be one of football's journeymen at best.

Mifsud hasn't wanted to play for us for a long time and has not been in good form - though I wonder if we'll regret not playing him upfront this season, and getting the most out of him. He was our top scorer last season and we've missed his goal contribution since he's been playing as an unsettled winger.

In McPake we've signed a solid central defender who - crucially - can also fill in at right-back.

So, assuming we have actually rejected all the bids for Westwood and Fox, it's not been a bad day's work overall.

DEADLINE DAY APPROACHES

With the transfer window set to close at 5 PM tomorrow, there could still be a whole load of business waiting to be completed.

Michael Mifsud has seen talks with Barnsley fall down due to wage demands - as happened pre-season when he looked set to move to Bristol City, and there are rumours that Newcastle will bid for Keiren Westwood to replace the departing Shay Given.

While there is also a chance we could bring in one or two players, they probably won't make up for any outgoings, so it's in our interest for the window to close quietly and uneventfully so we can all sleep easily, knowing that we've held on to our best players.