Middle row (l-r); Bert Edwards (Youth Recruitment Manager), Brian Eastick (Youth Team Coach), Errington Kelly, John Matthews, Stuart Pearce, Tim Dalton, Raddy Avramovic, Perry Suckling, Nicky Platnauer, Derek Hall, Dave Bennett, John Sillett (Coach), George Dalton (Physiotherapist)
Front row (l-r); Martin Singleton, Micky Adams, Terry Gibson, Brian Roberts, Bobby Gould (Manager), John Hendrie, Michael Gynn, Steve Hunt, Lloyd McGrath
By Jim Brown
Bobby Gould arrived from Bristol Rovers as City’s new manager and had no illusions about the task that faced him. It wasn’t just a question of who would be in the team but whether there would be a team at all. The club was in a sorry state, and disaffected fans needed winning round and quickly. In Gould’s own words: ‘I have been thrown into the lion’s den. At the moment this club is taking one hell of a battering and I’ve got one of the toughest battles of my life on my hands.’
Gould had two things going for him – an encyclopaedic knowlÂedge of the lower divisions and a passionate commitment to CovenÂtry City, his home town club. Whilst dealing with the problem of the club’s disaffected out-of-contract players, he was also busy planning his side for the new season. In all he spent about £750,000 during the summer, buying players either with top division experiÂence or who had impressed him in the lower leagues. In the former category were Ashley Grimes (£200,000 from Manchester United), Dave Bennett (£125,000 from Cardiff) and Terry Gibson (£100,000 from Tottenham). Amongst the latter were Trevor Peake (£100,000 from Lincoln), Michael Gynn (£60,000 from Peterborough), Dave Bamber (£50,000 from Blackpool) and Mickey Adams (£85,000 from Gillingham). Others who came on board included Sam Allardyce, Raddy Avramovic, Nicky Platnauer and Graham Withey. The final purchase, Stuart Pearce, didn’t arrive until November, but would turn out, pound for pound, to be the best of them all. He cost just £25,000 from non-league Wealdstone. With this band of footballing gypsies Gould faced up to the seemingly impossible task of keeping City in Division One. Predictably, bookies and the pundits made them favourites for the drop.
Financially, the club took another kick in the teeth on the eve of the season, when Talbot abruptly terminated their sponsorship. That meant another £100,000 annual income went by the wayside.
Gould’s first game was at Watford, runners-up the previous season. He fielded just five of his summer purchases, preferring to give a few long-servers a chance to stake their claim. Any fears were quickly dispelled as City waltzed to victory. The first weeks of the season flew by in a blur as supporters got used to the new faces. Gould’s influence ensured that any shortage of skill was made up for by an abundance of heart and guts. By December, City were fourth, following a nine-game unbeaten run highlighted by the 4-0 drubbing of champions Liverpool, their biggest defeat for a decade. Despite an unlucky Milk Cup exit at Everton, City’s away form was exemplary, earning wins at Highbury, St Andrews, Luton and Stoke. By now, the likes of Gibson, Pearce, Bamber and Platnauer were genuine Sky Blue heroes.
Few could have predicted that City’s win at home to Sunderland on 2 January would usher in a catastrophic run of results that was halted only after the previous season’s sequence of thirteen winless games had been equalled. City dropped down the league like a stone. From gazing up at the ceiling they were left staring down at the floor. Confidence drained away, especially at home, where six out of seven games were lost and all the doomsday chickens seemed to be coming home to roost.
In an effort to pull the rip-cord Gould tried everything he could. He swapped the players around, played different tactics, fiddled with formations, all to no effect. On transfer deadline day the club had to cash in on its assets. The unsettled Steve Hunt went for a song to West Brom, skipper ‘Harry’ Roberts moved to Birmingham, and Bamber, who had faded badly after a bright start, signed for Walsall.
December’s confident team that had trounced Liverpool had collapsed to such an extent that relegation became possible, then probable. Gould made an inspirational loan signing, Mick Ferguson, for whom it was a sentimental return after four years away. His club, fellow strugglers Birmingham, incredibly saw no reason not to lend him back.
Ferguson scored in his first two games, helping defeat Wolves and Forest. But the upturn proved to be brief and illusory. There followed four games from which only one point was gained and nineteen goals conceded, eight of them during a nightmarish ninety minutes at the Dell.
The upshot was that Coventry had to win their final game to stay up. Mid-table Norwich were the visitors to Highfield Road and scored first, but the Sky Blues equalised a minute later and, with twenty minutes remaining, Bennett put them ahead, direct from a corner. In the dying minutes, Norwich striker Robert Rosario was presented with the easiest of chances. A deathly hush gripped the stadium as his header rebounded off the inside of a post into the arms of the petrified Perry Suckling in goal.
Twenty miles away at St Andrews, Birmingham were being denied victory over Southampton by the width of the post. Little more than a coat of paint caused them to be relegated. To add to the irony, Coventry’s first goal against Norwich was scored by – guess who – Birmingham reject Mick Ferguson.
Gould had achieved his target. It was both modest and monuÂmental – to keep City in Division One.
