Middle row (l-r); Tony Strudwick (Sports Scientist), Jim Blyth (Goalkeeping Coach), Marc Edworthy, Steve Froggatt, Marcus Hall, Barry Quinn, Cedric Roussel, Colin Hendry, Carlton Palmer, Richard Shaw, Darren Grewcock (Fitness Coach), Garry Pendrey (First Team Coach), Trevor Peake (Reserve Team Manager)
Front row (l-r); John Eustace, Youssef Chippo, David Thompson, Runar Normann, Gavin Strachan, Paul Williams, Gordon Strachan (Manager), Moustapha Hadji, Ysrael Zuniga, Laurent Delorge, Paul Telfer, Stephen McPhee
Lowest points:
34 points was the lowest club total since three points for a win was introduced in 1982. If translated into 2 points for a win the points total of 26 is the worst in the club’s league history.
Lowest goals:
The goals total of 36 was the third lowest in the club’s history (only 1991-92 and 1919-20 were worse) but the home goal total of 14 was the worst in the club’s history and the worst since the Premiership started in 1992.
Goals conceded:
The goals conceded total of 63 was the worst since 1985-86 (71 conceded).
Home wins:
The four home wins equalled the worst ever, set in 1996-97.
Relegation:
Relegation was suffered for the first time since 1951-52 when the club fell from Division 2 to Division 3 South.
Biggest win:
4-1 home to Preston (Worthington Cup)
Biggest league win:
3-1 away to Leicester.
Biggest league defeat:
1-6 away to Chelsea.
Leading scorers:
The club’s leading league scorers were Craig Bellamy, John Hartson and Moustapha Hadji with six goals. This was the lowest number of goals by a top scorer since 1920-21 when “Mollie” Morgan hit seven. The last time three players shared the top spot was 1967-68 when Ronnie Rees, Bobby Gould and Neil Martin each scored eight.
Clean sheets:
The team kept only six clean sheets, the lowest since 1971-72 when Noel Cantwell’s team kept only five. The team failed to score on 13 occasions, one of the better records of the last few years.
Appearances:
No Coventry player was an ever present, Craig Bellamy made the most league appearances with 34.
Average attendance:
Home 20,535 (1999-2000 20,785). Away 33,463 (1999-2000 30,752). The home average fell by 1.2%- the first drop since 1993-94.
Highest home attendance:
23,063 v Liverpool, April 28.
Lowest home attendance:
17,275 v Leicester, December 10
Highest away attendance:
67,637 v Manchester U, April 14 (the largest Premiership attendance of all time and the largest ever crowd to watch a Coventry City league game)
Lowest away attendance:
14,801 v Southampton, August 23
Double wins:
(1) Leicester
Double losses:
(5) Newcastle, Arsenal, Man United, Liverpool, Ipswich
Won from behind:
(0) City have not won from behind since March 1999.
Lost from in front:
(3) Bradford C (a), Man United (a), Aston Villa (a).
Player of the year:
Gary Breen
Hat-tricks:
(1) John Aloisi v Preston (h) Worthington Cup, September 27.
Opposing hat-tricks:
(1) Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink 4 Chelsea (a) October 21
Own goals: For City:
(3) Richard Edghill (Man City a), Noel Whelan (Middlesbrough a), Christian Dailly (West Ham a).
Own goals: By City:
(0)
Penalties: For City:
(6) Craig Bellamy 3 (Southampton a, Charlton a, Ipswich a Worthington Cup), John Aloisi 1 (Preston h WC), Gavin Strachan 1 (Preston a WC), Lee Carsley 1 (Everton h). No missed penalties.
Penalties: Against City:
(3) Alan Shearer (Newcastle h), Graham Alexander (Preston a), Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Chelsea a). No missed penalties.
Fastest Goal: By City:
Bellamy 49 seconds v Leicester (a)
Fastest Goal: Against City:
Gary Speed 4 minutes v Newcastle (a)
Television:
City appeared on Sky TV on four occasions- Ipswich (h), Leicester (h), West Ham (a), Man United (a).
Internationals:
Eleven Coventry players won full caps for their country during the season, a new record. They were :- Hedman (Sweden) 8, Breen (Ireland) 7, Chippo & Hadji (Morocco) 6, Aloisi (Australia) 5, Zuniga (Peru) 4, Hendry (Scotland) 3, Bellamy (Wales) 3, Martinez (Honduras) 3, Hartson (Wales) 2, Guerrero (Honduras) 1. Hedman & Breen are now City’s most capped internationals of all time with 29 caps each. In the Leicester home game a new club record was set when nine internationals started the match and a 10th came on a substitute with nine completing the match. The following week at Derby they again started with nine internationals and finished with ten.
Players used: 28
Man of the match awards:
Gary Breen 6, John Eustace 4, Chris Kirkland 4, Ysrael Zuniga 3, John Hartson 3, David Thompson 3, Carlton Palmer 2, Marc Edworthy 2, Paul Williams 2, Youssef Chippo 2, John Aloisi 2, Craig Bellamy 2, Moustapha Hadji 2, Mo Konjic 2, Barry Quinn2, Alan Miller 1, Lee Carsley 1, Marcus Hall 1.
Red cards: Coventry:
(5) David Thompson (Middlesbrough h), Paul Williams (Preston a), Carlton Palmer (Tottenham h), Chris Kirkland (Chelsea a), Moustapha Hadji (Derby h).
Red cards: Opponents:
(1) Stanislav Varga (Sunderland h)
Yellow cards:
(85) Eustace 11, Breen 10, Williams 9, Thompson 8, Carsley 7, Chippo 7, Bellamy 7, Quinn 5, Palmer 4, Hartson 4, Hall 4, Shaw 2, Zuniga 2, Kirkland 1, Telfer 1, Hadji 1.
High Spots:
Breaking the away hoodoo with two away wins in August.
The form of youngsters Kirkland, Eustace and Quinn.
The double over local rivals Leicester.
The Hartson goals that gave City a glimmer of hope.
Low spots:
The shocking home formThe Chelsea debacle.
The ten game run without a win from Christmas to March.
The Everton home defeat.
The poor form of so many players.
Reserves:
The reserve team used 51 players in 24 games and finished 2nd in the Premiership Reserve League South. Their record was Played 24, won 13, drawn 3, lost 8, goals for 45, goals against 31. Fifty one different players were used. The appearances and goalscorers were as follows (see attached file).
By Jim Brown
By any criteria Coventry City in 2000-01 were one of the three worst sides in the Premiership: an avalanche of goals against, all too few scored. Result: an appalling goal-difference, only eight wins all season and relegation thoroughly deserved.
The major factor in sliding from the Entertainers to relegation fodder was the inability to replace the two stars. Gary McAllister and Robbie Keane. McAllister had an excellent final season at Highfield Road, but it is easy to forget some of his lacklustre performances prior to that. In the club’s defence McAllister, who was entitled to a free transfer, was virtually impossible to replace. David Thompson was signed from Liverpool for £3 million but he was a wide player as opposed to the playmaker that Gary had been. Keane and his agent’s ambitions were obviously whetted after his superb first season in the Premiership. City made a sound decision to sell Keane to Internazionale for a mouth-watering £13 million. Robbie’s replacement was Craig Bellamy who cost £6 million from Norwich. His effort and endeavour was never in question but his goals were sparse. Add to this the poor form of Roussel, Chippo and Hadji, such hits the previous term, and you had the recipe for a nightmare. Hadji was an enigma. Handed the captaincy he showed only glimpses of his past form and rarely looked capable of lifting spirits when things went awry on the pitch.
David Burrows and Ian Brightwell had also left in the summer, on free transfers, and Noel Whelan who refused a new contract was sold to Middlesbrough for £2 million. He was back at Highfield Road on the opening day as Boro ran City, and particularly Colin Hendry, ragged. The Scottish captain was booed off, dropped by Strachan and soon offloaded to Bolton.
The defeat was forgotten as the away hoodoo ended with back-to-back wins at Southampton and Manchester City, but it was a false dawn. No goals and only one point from the next three home games, culminating in a 3-0 stroll for West Ham, confirmed that it was going to be a tough season. Many fans called for Strachan’s head after the game and rumours surfaced that he had offered to resign.
Injuries to Hedman and Roussel provided opportunities to goalkeeper Chris Kirkland and John Aloisi, whose five goals in three games raised spirits. The first home win came against Tottenham on the young keeper’s debut, albeit at the cost of a red card to Carlton Palmer. A week later at Stamford Bridge Kirkland was sent off for appearing to topple Hasselbaink, a decision later overturned by the referee. Chelsea hit six, all of them past on-loan substitute keeper Alan Miller, who actually did quite well.
Palmer’s relationship with Strachan was strained and following another collapse at Anfield the big man was dropped. Before long he was transfer listed and loaned out to Watford. His replacement as midfield enforcer was Blackburn’s Lee Carsley, signed for £2.5 million in December. Carsley could not match Carlton’s form of the previous season, and many felt that Palmer’s experience was wasted.
Only one further game was won before Christmas, at home to Leicester, but defeats at home to Ipswich and at Bradford City had the fans seething. Too many late goals were being conceded. In total eighteen goals were conceded in the last quarter of an hour – these would prove crucial in the final reckoning and posed questions about the team’s fitness.
Christmas was vital, but City missed the chance of putting space between themselves and their fellow strugglers by failing to beat Southampton and Manchester City at home. Crying out for a proven goalscorer, the club tried to sign Wimbledon’s John Hartson, but the deal snagged. First Roussel, who had to move the other way to make the deal viable, refused to join the Dons. Then Hartson’s unconvincing medical meant the player was uninsurable.
The season’s watershed came at home to lowly Everton, who were stricken with injuries and suspensions. City were 0-3 down after 31 minutes and by the end the ground was half empty, with those remaining booing players and management off the pitch.
The Hartson deal was resurrected, Roussel moved to Wolves for £1.5 million, and the Dons accepted a pay-per-play deal that gave them £15,000 for every match Hartson played, up to a maximum of £5 million. The big Welshman had an immediate impact, helping to win a point at West Ham, and scoring on his home debut in a 2-2 draw with Charlton. It was, however, too little too late.
Only two of Hartson’s first eight games were lost. He netted six goals, but home draws with Charlton and Chelsea were not enough; wins were needed. Successive victories over Derby and Leicester gave hope, but defeats at Manchester United, Ipswich and Liverpool opened the trap-door wide. The team travelled to Villa Park on 5 May needing not only a win to avoid the drop but others to lose.
In a display which encapsulated the whole sad season, the Sky Blues, who led 2-0 at the break thanks to Hadji’s goals were beaten by two goals in the dying minutes. The defending was amateurish and the capitulation was embarrassing. Ironically, results elsewhere meant the result was immaterial: if City had won they would have still been relegated. There would be no opportunity to add to their ten last-day escapes. After 34 years in the top flight they were sent down at the one ground the fans would have chosen to avoid.
The pressure for the removal of Gordon Strachan and chairman Bryan Richardson reached a crescendo in the following weeks, but the chairman stayed loyal to his manager.
