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Coleman confident of leading Coventry into the Premier League

Chris Coleman has been recently appointed as the new manager of Coventry City and although the club is struggling to avoid relegation into League One, the former Fulham manager is upbeat that in the long run, he will be able to guide them into the English Premier League.

The Welshman says:

It’s my first training session tomorrow, I’ll be looking at everyone to see where we need to strengthen. I can’t do that until the summer but then we’ll put together a team who can compete at the other end of this league and try and get us into the next league.

It’s not going to be easy, but the chairman is very realistic about the time in which he wants to do it and the way he wants to do it in terms of the style of play.

I’m very impressed with what I’ve seen, it’s a fantastic stadium, it really is a Premier League ground and hopefully we can get a team together to copy that.

First things first, we’ve got to make sure we get out of trouble, we need to get some points and make sure we climb the table. It’s a big opportunity, it’s a big challenge, it’s not going to be easy but it’s a challenge I’m looking forward to.

Tall talk really. First he should concentrate on securing Championship survival for Coventry and then chalk out the long term prospects of the club. He did something similar at Real Sociedad whe he was appointed as la Real’s coach last summer but last month he departed from the San Sebastian club after a presidential change.

Mr. Coleman, first guarantee Coventry Championship football for next season and only after that think about the long term prospects.

Football tv on Sportingo.com, provider of updated Sports scores.

Wednesday’s Transfer Rumours

Wednesday’s piping hot transfer rumours…

Manchester United are ready to bag Sporting Lisbon’s defender Miguel Veloso for £15m. (Daily Mirror)

Portsmouth gaffer ‘Arry Redknapp is after Crystal Palace left-back Lee Hills. (Daily Mirror)
…But Lee Hills himself reckons that he isn’t leaving Selhurst Park anytime soon. (Daily Star)

Sunderland are ready to swoop for Southampton’s 21-year-old midfielder Andrew Surman in the summer transfer window. (The Daily Mail)

Chelsea are sniffing around FC Brno’s Czech midfielder Luboš Kalouda, but will have to beat off interest from CSKA Moscow to sign the 20-year-old. (The Independent)

Coventry’s new boss Chris Coleman is to make his first move in the transfer market by bringing Fulham defender Ian Pearce in on loan. (The Times)

Supreme Goodison baldie, Lee Carsley will be gifted a new contract because of his barnstorming form. (The Sun)

Spurs boss Juande Ramos will recall England’s number 1 (in terms of gaffes) Paul Robinson, for Uefa Cup tie with Slavia Prague. (Daily Mail)

Saturday’s Transfer Rumour Frenzy!

Some more transfer heresy and hearsay….

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is after Congolese defensive “wonderkid” Paul Jose Mpoklu but will have to beat off interest from Tottenham in the 15-year-old. (Daily Mirror)

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has promised that he’ll be staying at Arsenal for twenty more years. (Daily Star)
…Russsian fat cat billionaire Alisher Usmanov has moved one step closer to gobbling up the Gunners after he increased his holding in the club. (Daily Express)

Chelsea’s 18-year-old Israeli striker Ben Sahar will be shipped off to Championship side Sheffield Wednesday on-loan. (Daily Mirror)

Newcastle gaffer Kevin Keegan has drawn up a wish-list of players that he wants to bring to St James’ park. Included in this list is Man United defender Wes Brown, Chelsea left-back Wayne Bridge and West Ham’s striker Dean Ashton. Whether he can actually bag any of these players remains an open question, but KK has decided to put this on the back-burner until safety is secured. (The Sun)

Ex-Fulham boss Chris Coleman could return to English football by taking the Coventry City hot seat. (Daily Express)

Reading manager Steve Coppell is after the jewel in the MLS crown, 18-year-old US international striker Jozy Altidore. However, poaching the youngster from New York Red Bulls will be tough for Reading, as Real Madrid are also after the youngster. (Daily Mirror)

Preston manager Alan Irvine wants striker David Nugent to leave his belly flop of a career move at Portsmouth and return to Deepdale. (Daily Star)

West Ham United have sent left back Joe Widdowson to Rotherham for a month. He has already been on loan at Carlisle earlier in the season and has been sent to Rotherham for more first team experience. (Various)

AC Milan’s legendary goal-bagging striker Ronaldo is facing more problems connected to his injured left knee. “The Phenomenon” is worried that the fact that his knees are completely buggered may have an adverse effect on getting a top up on his current Milan contract which runs out in the summer. (The Independent)

Wigan turn down Coventry offer

Sky Sports reports that Premiership strugglers Wigan Athletic have turned down Championship strugglers Coventry City’s offer to sign their assistant manager Eric Black. Coventry are threatened with relegation from the Championship this season and sacked Iain Dowe earlier this week and approached Wigan for Black as a possible replacement for the former Charlton Athletic manager in a managerial role.

Black says:

I was aware of Coventry’s interest but I’m more than happy with the job I’m doing with Steve (Bruce). One day I might want to return to management - I don’t know if that will happen - but there’s a big challenge here first.

So where does the Coventry board go now in search of a new manager?

Coventry sack Iain Dowie, where does he go now?

Coventry City have finally gifted the sack to their beleaguered manager Iain Dowie. Coventry are struggling in 19th place and are just 4 points above the drop zone and the Sky Blues board has decided that Dowie can no longer save the sinking ship.

A statement on the club’s website reads as:

Iain Dowie, Tim Flowers(assistant manager) and Bob Dowie have been relieved of their duties with immediate effect.

Dowie has been in charge of Coventry since February last week. Before that, he was at Charlton Athletic. Where does he go now?

Transfer Rumours!

Tottenham boss Juande Ramos is trying to slide under the closing transfer window with Sevilla winger Diego Capel. (Mirror)

Arsenal striker Theo Walcott doesn’t want to be fobbed off with a loan deal and is going to stay and fight like a man for his place in the team. (Mirror)

Portsmouth gaffer Harry Redknapp is so desperate to get his hands on Real Mallorca winger Jonas Gutierrez that he is set to offer £5m and Lauren in order to bag his man. (Various)
…And if Benjani does a runner to Man City then Harry Redknapp will try and lure Jermain Defoe to Pompey. (Times)

Middlesbrough, frankly desperate for someone who can stick the ball in the back of the net, are trying to bag Inter Milan forward Goran Slavkovski on loan. (Times)

Aston Villa are interested in taking Spurs midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng to Villa Park to rescue the German from his tepid Spurs career. (Times)

Both Norwich and Coventry are scrambling to secure the signature of Birmingham defender Martin Taylor. (Times)

Newcastle gaffer Kevin Keegan’s move for Levante’s Brazilian defender Alvaro has run aground. (Times)

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson reckons that if he ignores the fact that FIFA have blocked his deal for Rangers striker Daniel Cousin, he’ll be able to sign him anyway. (Mirror)

Charlton will only cough up Andy Reid if Sunderland give them Greg Halford and are ready to test Sunderland’s resolve by asking for cash plus Greg Halford in exchange for Andy Reid. (Star)

What was the biggest FA Cup shock of the day?

Upsets left right and centre in today’s FA Cup action. But what was the biggest shock?Coventry somehow managed to obliterate Blackburn 4-1, whilst League One Huddersfield beat Birmingham 2-1. Special mention should also go to Sheffield United who booted out Bolton with a 1-0 win lowly and injury ravaged Oldham, who beat Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park.

So what was your upset of the day?

Here are today’s 3rd round results in full:

Barnsley 2-1 Blackpool
Blackburn 1-4 Coventry
Bolton 0-1 Sheff Utd
Brighton 1-2 Mansfield
Bristol City 1-2 Middlesbrough
Charlton 1-1 West Brom
Chasetown 1-3 Cardiff
Chelsea 1-0 QPR
Colchester 1-3 Peterborough
Everton 0-1 Oldham
Huddersfield 2-1 Birmingham
Ipswich 0-1 Portsmouth
Norwich 1-1 Bury
Plymouth 3-2 Hull
Preston 1-0 Scunthorpe
Southampton 2-0 Leicester
Southend 5-2 Dag & Red
Sunderland 0-3 Wigan
Swansea 1-1 Havant and W
Swindon 1-1 Barnet
Tottenham 2-2 Reading
Tranmere 2-2 Hereford
Walsall 0-0 Millwall
Watford 2-0 Crystal Palace
West Ham 0-0 Man City
Wolverhampton 2-1 Cambridge Utd
Manchester United LATE KICK OFF Aston Villa

Watch Blackburn live online

Watch Aston Villa live online

Blackburn 1 - 4 Coventry, three things you learned from this match?

The ever-popular Three Things series has expanded to include matchday action, and this weekend we’ll be dealing with the glorious FA Cup. Some people saw this match in all its live glory, others on the telly, and some not at all. Either way everyone probably saw it differently and here’s your chance to tell each other what you learned.
So forget the numpteys at Sky Sports or the nerds at the BBC, here’s your chance to tell everyone the three things you learned from this match and see what others thought as well.
Blackburn suffered a rancid loss at home, to Championship Coventry, give us your thoughts on this surprise hammering!
Here are some poorly formatted match stats:

Blackburn Coventry
Shots (on Goal) 18(6) 9(5)
Fouls 10 15
Corner Kicks 9 5
Offsides 2 4
Time of Possession 57% 43%
Yellow Cards 1 1
Red Cards 0 0
Saves 1 4

Watch Blackburn live online

From Barnsley to West Brom, via Hull City: BBC to broacast Football League matches

It’s not been a great year for Auntie, what with losing a load of funding, being found out to be dirty rotten cheats ripping of quiz contestants and Gary Lineker still smirking at the camera. So it with a smile on our face that we bring you better news from White City, the Beeb will be broadcasting Football League matches from 2009. Well, it worked for ITV Digital.

So, what are the details?

The BBC will show Football League and Carling Cup matches from the 2009 to 2012 seasons after winning the contract in a joint bid with Sky.

Oh yeah, the Carling Cup too, we forgot that.

It means Championship matches will be screened live on the BBC for the first time, with 10 first-choice games per season exclusively live on the BBC.

And what’s more…

The Carling Cup final will be simulcast live with Sky, and two semi-final legs shown exclusively live on the BBC.

No, we don’t know what that means either. So, is this a step forward for the Championship or just another sign that BBC sport ain’t what it used to be?

Who is the best player outside the Premiership?

For a while it was Kevin Phillips, for ages it was Jason Koumas, there was even some rubbish talked about Robert Earnshaw at some point. But who is currently the best player outside the Premiership? Well, here are some options, but feel free to pick your own?

Kevin Phillips (West Brom) - Is he past it? Probably, but a bit of expeience never hurt anyone.

Darius Henderson (Watford) - Scores a shed load of goal, but is he just a flash in the pan?

Zolton Gera (West Brom) - Top class midfielder, who really should be playing in Premiership soon.

Robbie Fowler (Cardiff) - Stop laughing at the back, he used to be the next Jimmy Greaves, that’s got to be worth something.

Jimbo Beattie (Sheff United) - The only good thing about Bryan Robson’s reign?

Peter Halmosi (Plymouth) - An outsider for the title, this Hungarian winger is leading Ollie’s Argyle revolution.

Any better suggestions?

Three Things You Learned From Midweek Championship Action? Charlton, West Brom, Queens Park Rangers, Crystal Palace and more

While many people may have been distracted by Arsenal and their showing off at the Emirates, the Championship continued to show itself to be as unpredictable as Rafa Benitez’s substitution policy last night (Zing! An oldie, but a goodie). Charlton were leapfrogged by Plymouth, who beat them 2-1 at The Valley. Sheffield United won for the first time in 184 games against Leicester, while their former manager lost his first home game in charge of Crystal Palace against the ugly-but-effective Stoke.

So just like those bastards following the Premier League we ask you to tell everyone the three things you learned from the midweek results, it’s a chance to share your thoughts and see what others felt as well. Here are the results as a refresher:

Burnley 2-1 Norwich

Charlton 1-2 Plymouth

Coventry 0-3 Watford

Palace 1-3 Stoke

Ipswich 3-1 Colchester

Leicester 0-1 Sheff Utd

Preston 0-0 QPR

Sheff Wed 1-2 Scunthorpe

West Brom 2-1 Blackpool

Three Things You Learned From The Weekend’s Championship Matches?

It was back to the rat-race for Championship players at the weekend and they looked more than happy about it; turning in some great performances.

Sheffield Wednesday continued to get their season back on track with a impressive win at Stoke while Watford continued to steamroll their way to the Premiership as Marlon King grabbed another goal against Hull. Meanwhile, Neil Warnock almost got off to a winning start before Palace returned to their usual form and Man Utd’s Lee Martin proved to be a wise loan signing for Plymouth with a man of the match performance.

But here’s your chance to tell everyone what you learned from the weekend’s Championship results, and to see what others thought as well. Sort of a lower-league love-in, only not quit as disgusting.

Barnsley 1-1 Burnley

Blackpool 1-1 Palace

Colchester 3-2 West Brom

Norwich 1-3 Bristol City

Plymouth 1-0 Coventry

Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Ipswich

Scunthorpe 0-0 Leicester

Sheffield United 1-1 Preston North End

Stoke 2-4 Sheffield Wednesday

Watford 1-0 Hull

Wolves 2-0 Charlton

Championship Prediction Mania

Like the first day back at school after half-term, domestic football returns tomorrow and it doesn’t look too appealing. But wait, don’t run off to MFI to buy that decking for garden just yet, their are some appealing fixtures in the Championship. How about Neil warnock’s first game in charge of Crystal Palace? Then, of course, there is the battle of the B-ley teams at Oakwell (ok, we’re stretching it here). What will happen is anyone’s guess, but why not show your guess is better than ours by challenging our predictions, below:

Cut and paste into the comments with your own predictions, or just put down a few thoughts:

Barnsley v Burnley - away win

Blackpool v Crystal Palace - draw

Colchester v West Brom - home win

Norwich v Bristol City - home win

Plymouth v Coventry - draw

QPR v Ipswich - home win

Scunthorpe v Leicester - away win

Sheff Utd v Preston - draw

Stoke v Sheff Wed - home win

Watford v Hull - home win

Wolves v Charlton - draw

Southampton v Cardiff - away win

Investors withdraw interest in Coventry as the club lurches further into the financial mire

According to our friends at the Beeb, the American consortium Manhattan Sports Capital Partners Limited (boy, that’s a lot of unrelated nouns) have pulled their interest in one time Division One institution Coventry City. The club’s Managing Director didn’t take this too well and quit on Friday, saying:

“because of the apparent withdrawal of all five potential buyers”

The gutted Sky Blues have, however, said that other offers are on the table. This is probably a relief as Coventry are (supposedly) £28m in debt and only renting their flat-pack modern ground the Ricoh Arena. As we all know it is difficult enough to get on the property ladder when you’ve got a good wage, let alone when you are millions in the red.

The Sky Blues weren’t half bad when they had Steve Ogrizovitch and Micky Quinn, where did it all go wrong?

Midweek Championship Predictions: Charlton, Southampton, Hull, Cardiff Cit and more

With a full programme of Championship games this week, it is time for punters to show that they know their stuff outside the Premiership by beating Caughtoffside at our predictions game. Simply go for a home win, away win or draw.

Here are the fixtures, check out our picks and cut and paste into the comments to show your own:

Barnsley v Bristol City - draw

Burnley v Ipswich - home win

Coventry v Blackpool - home win

Hull v Charlton - draw

Leicester v Wolves - away win

Norwich v Scunthorpe - home win

Plymouth v Crystal Palace - draw

Preston v Southampton - away win

Sheff Utd v Cardiff - draw

Watford v Sheff Wed - home win

The winner will get a pat on the back and a firm handshake. And maybe some crisps… but probably not.

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