[10 SEP 01]

Gordon Strachan has left Coventry City.

At around 10.15 this morning, the club announced that they had parted company with Strachan “by mutual consent”.

His departure follows the Sky Blues relegation from the Premiership last season after 34 years in the top flight of English football, but the last straw came on Saturday, when Strachan’s team was beaten 1-0 by Grimsby Town at Highfield Road.

The defeat prompted a mass protest of angry supporters outside the main gates to the club, preventing the Grimsby team coach and various VIP’s from leaving for more than two hours after the game ended.

Fans had already mounted a protest during the game by holding up cards calling for Strachan and the club’s chairman Bryan Richardson to quit. Director and Coventry MP Geoffrey Robinson was also a target for the protestors, some of whom held up cards bearing the slogan “R-R Out”, referring to Richardson and Robinson.

Speculation has already started about who the club will now turn to as its new manager, with George Graham, Joe Royle and Harry Redknapp being mentioned.

Gordon Strachan took over as manager from Ron Atkinson in November 1996 and has consistently struggled to maintain any form, while the club bought and sold several key players.

The departure of Robbie Keane and Gary McAllister at the start of what turned out to be their relegation season always left them short of quality and the arrival of Welsh international John Hartson came too late to keep them up.

Following their relegation, Hartson, Moustapha Hadji and Craig Bellamy were all sold, but the patience of the long-suffering City fans finally ran out when England Under-21 goalkeeper Chris Kirkland was transferred to Liverpool last week.

The club now appears to be facing one of the most difficult periods of its history, with huge financial debts and a major loss of form and confidence on the pitch.

The choice of a new manager could not be more crucial.