[28 FEB 02] THE STUART LINNELL COLUMN

You Have To Be Good To Be Lucky

Hasn’t quite worked out like that, has it? Inconsistency has been the Sky Blues downfall. Yes, of course, there have been injuries and suspensions, but every team has to deal with those.

The Moroccans, Chippo and Safri, were called away on international duty for a prolonged period which certainly did not help, and – prior to that – there is no doubt that the team’s form suffered while Roland Nilsson was sorting out precisely who he wanted to work with on his coaching staff.

The original appointments made by former Chairman Bryan Richardson after he sacked Gordon Strachan, saw Academy Director Richard Money and European scout Ray Clarke called in to support Roland in roles that appeared a little vague, at least from the outside.

In the fullness of time, Money returned to the excellent work he had set in train at the Academy and Ray Clarke has gone back to scouting. Jim Smith has arrived as Roland’s number two and, so far as one can tell, the blend of youthful, inspiring young manager and the wise old head that’s done it before, appears to be very effective.

But all too often of late, just it looked as if Coventry City had settled into a good run of form, a banana skin settles in our path and we slip up in no uncertain manner.

The 1-0 defeat at Portsmouth is one such instance. Lots of reasons, lots of excuses – a questionable surface that required three inspections before the referee decided it was fit to play on, a pre-match argument with the referee which culminated in Coventry bizarrely being forced to wear a Portsmouth change strip and one or two dodgy decisions during the match.

Portsmouth, it seems, had also done their homework well and had worked out a way of reducing the effectiveness of Coventry’s very own 'Billy Whiz' – David Thompson.

But none of that really explains how a side could be so dominant, so good and so entertaining as they were against Barnsley just a few days before and then concede all the points in a poor 1-0 away defeat.

Unlucky on the night? Maybe – but as I heard a former Manchester United manager say on the radio this week, when it was suggested to him that Sir Alex Ferguson had enjoyed a lot of luck at Old Trafford, “you have to be good to be lucky”.

Now, I have stated from the start of the season that the Sky Blues are good enough to go up and I stand by that. I have also commented regularly in this column that we have a very talented crop of young players, some of whom have benefited enormously from the first team opportunities they have been given this season, who will stand us in good stead when we get there.

But if we are going to do it, we need to find that vital missing ingredient – consistency and find it now.

Wolves appear to have latched on to it, and they are well on their way to an automatic promotion place.

Fascinatingly, Kevin Keegan’s Manchester City seem to have lost it in the last few weeks. Another of my early season predictions was that Keegan’s side – like any Keegan side – would be great entertainers, but were just as capable of losing 3-0 as winning 6-0.

Over Christmas, it looked as though they were going to prove me wrong, and they still might, but there has been evidence of late of a wobble at Maine Road, as their honest, passionate manager readily concedes.

And, of course, it is to Maine Road that Roland Nilsson takes his team next for a Sunday showdown that has all the ingredients to make it one of the best matches of the season.

It is a stage and an occasion tailor made for Lee Hughes to return all guns blazing, for a Thommo cracker to set the game on fire, for Chippo to turn on the magic and maybe even for Julian Joachim to at last remind us why we signed him.

A 'big Mo' special, too? Don’t bet against it.

But, you know as well I as I do, on their own ground Manchester City, complete with our old friend Mr Huckerby, are formidable to say the least.

So, we will no doubt need not only consistency, but also a bit of luck – and don’t forget: “you have to be good to be lucky.”

[THE MATCH WAS PLAYED AT FRATTON PARK ON TUESDAY 26 FEBRUARY - COVENTRY LOST 1-0 TO PLYMOUTH]