COVENTRY CITY 0-2 BURNLEY BY KEV MONKS
If the current Coventry City players want the Sky Blues to start life in the Stade De Foleshill as a Championship side they have a funny way of showing it as more calamitous defending saw City beaten 2-0 at home by Burnley.
Micky Adams made three changes from the side that had lost at Preston seven days ago with Steve Staunton replacing Richard Shaw in defence, Graham Barrett in for Claus Jorgensen and Christian Negouai who need treatment in Manchester to get him fit to replace former Burnley loanee Richard Duffy who was injured in Wales U21 4-0 defeat versus Germany.
On the bench,were five outfield players as Scott Shearer had picked up a pre-game and Jonny Tuffey was involved in City U18's home 0-0 draw with Watford.
On the bench,were five outfield players as Scott Shearer had picked up a pre-game and Jonny Tuffey was involved in City U18's home 0-0 draw with Watford.
On a day of strong winds and some rain, Burnley who have one of the smallest squads in the Division if not the entire Football League started the game winning two early corners and then a free kick after Steve Staunton clumsily brought down John Oster on the edge of the penalty area.
Playing a 4-4-2 formation, Dele Adebola did well in the sixth minute to take the ball away from Clarets keeper Brian Jensen and square via Gary McSheffrey for Negouai to fire wide.
Gary McSheffrey who had again been the target for a bid from Luton Town looked up for the game and in the 16th minute,he picked up a ball on the left,beat two defenders before hitting a shot which was blocked by a defender but fell for McSheffrey to just miss from the rebound.
Another run by McSheffrey three minutes later after a long pass from Staunton saw him have a shot which Jensen saved with his legs. Christian Negouai got to the ball first and passed back to McSheffrey who fired over.
In the 22nd minute, McSheffrey was involved again when he volleyed over from a quickly taken throw-in.
Sides in situations such as the predicament the Sky Blues find themselves in, need players will to get stuck in and battle but the only ones showing any fight were the visitors who had Micah Hyde cautioned for poleaxing Graham Barrett.
Only McSheffrey was giving his all for the cause and in the 33rd minute, a terrific thirty yarder was pushed over by Jensen for a corner.
Burnley who could have had one mind on their FA Cup clash against local rivals Blackburn next Sunday, started to get back in the game winning a succession of corners.
Stephen Hughes had taken a bang in the head just before the interval and was replaced at the break by Neil Wood. Christian Negouai was another suffering and he was also replaced at the interval by Stern John.
The former Birmingham striker whose country were beaten 2-1 by the USA in a midweek World Cup Qualifier won a free kick inside the arc of the penalty area,three minutes after the restart, when he went down as John McGreal came into challenge.
Michael Doyle took the kick but could only hit a poor effort into the ball and it bounced up for Jensen to make an easy catch.
City's other substitute Neil Wood started the best move from City in the whole of the second half in the 53rd minute when he send Barrett down the right, the Irishman crossed and Wood raced in to get a header which Jensen caught.
The visitors cleared the danger and raced upfield. Luke Steele saved Moore's initial shot with Micah Hyde ballooning the ball high into the East Stand.
In the 63rd minute and with Steve Staunton clearly struggling (even more than usual), Stuart Giddings was being warmed up ready to be used. Adams thought about making the change but told the fourth official no. As he was saying this, Burnley broke down the left, the ball over,completely bypassed the stranded Staunton and the impressive John Oster was on hand at the far post to slot the ball home.
Heads dropped and the mood deepened, not just from the Coventry support,some of whom had journeyed from Ireland, Newcastle, Brighton and South Wales but the players as well.
Steve Staunton was immediately replaced by Giddings but in the 69th minute, Burnley wrapped up the match with a goal that will probably make it onto a footballing howlers dvd.
Luke Steele came out for a ball on the edge of his six yard box,dropped it as he fell and it went to Tony Grant who pushed it back to the better placed Ian Moore.
With Giddings,Leacock and Adie Williams all behind the ball whilst Steele was still making his way back to goal, one would have thought that City had enough players available to clear any shot.
But no, this is Coventry City we are on about and even though, Ian Moore's six yard shot was slightly more harder than a trickle, it still found a way into the net.
That was it for many supporters in a crowd of 13,326 and the ground started to empty at an alarming rate despite there still being twenty minutes left to play.
John McGreal and Michael Duff were cautioned for two fouls when with ten minutes left, Gary McSheffrey did well to hold his man and rifle a twelve yard left footed effort which Jensen dived to his right to concede the first of two corners.
Normally when City are losing, they at least give it a good go in the last ten minutes, however lacking leadership and purpose, all they could manage was McSheffrey winning a corner.
Three minutes from the end of normal time, a good number of West Enders turned on Stern John who was cautioned for taking down Gary Cahill with chants of "Off,Off,Off" and "Send Him Off" being directed at the £250,000 signing from Birmingham City.
Feelings at watching a side with the worst defensive record in the division and now only two points away from a place in the relegation zone after Gillingham's 0-0 draw with Millwall, were being clearly and very audibly being directed at the City players and Board.
Chants of "You're Not Fit To Wear The Shirts", "We're Sh*t And We're Sick Of It" and "Sack The Board" followed as City racked up their fifth successive defeat.
The damage caused by Peter Reid to club has been a contributory factor in the club's lowly position and in Strikers Bar after the game, the appearance of the former City manager on BBC TV's Final Score angered a good number of the disgruntled supporters.
Micky Adams, who was spot on in his post match conference, saying that the team is not good enough and also this week claimed he is not a magician.
However, if he is unsuccessful in persuading the players he wants to join us in the next week or so, he may have to do an act of worthy of a second coming if City are to avoid the drop.
However, if he is unsuccessful in persuading the players he wants to join us in the next week or so, he may have to do an act of worthy of a second coming if City are to avoid the drop.
HT CCFC 0-0 BFC FT CCFC 0-2 BFC
ATT 13,326
GOALS John Oster (64)Ian Moore (69)
Booked Micah Hyde, John McGreal,Michael Duff,Stern John
Man Of The Match - Gary McSheffrey
TEAM
Steele, Whing, Staunton (Giddings 65),Williams, Leacock, Negouai (John 46), Hughes (Wood 46),Doyle,Barrett,Adebola, McSheffrey. SNU Jorgensen,Shaw