One of Coventry City's former players and bad boy, Noel Whelan has backed Marlon King to be a success at Coventry and believes the big striker will be a key player in a successful season for the Sky Blues.
Whelan thinks the acquisition of King will give Coventry the edge and make them competitive enough to have a successful season. He dismissed King's nefarious past and concentrated on the footballer.
Noel Whelan has has his own, well documented, troubled past and had a spell in the Tony Adams Sporting Chance Clinic after leaving Coventry, said, "I got into a routine of going down the pub after the games and when I was bored. I needed to step back a bit and learn to sit at home and enjoy my own company. I needed a check on my life."
Looking back on his own troubled time, he paid tribute to the then Coventry City manager Gordon Strachan, who acted as a father figure and helped him through his problems and he believes that Aidy Boothroyd will do a similar job with Marlon King.
Whelan explained, "I sold my house in Warwickshire as it was in too quiet an area, and moved in with Gordon. I ended up staying with him for two or three months. I had to tell him where I was going all the time and had to be in at a certain time."
Whelan nearly had his career ended during an alcohol filled night, when he kicked in a plate glass window and severed some ankle ligaments.