Gone Aidy, gone

It was a big shock, when i logged on to the BBC website this morning and upped popped a yellow flash bar informing me that Coventry City had relieve Aidy Boothroyd of his managerial duties with immediate effect.

After the initial shock i began feeling disappointed. This is after all the man who led us to our best ever star since being in this division, the man who said all the right things, and at the right time. He instilled a bit of a presence for the club, and on December 4th. we beat Middlesbrough 1-0 and were 5th in the league. Everything was going well.  Since then it has been a complete disaster.

When Boothroyd was appointed, I was initially disappointed, his long-ball reputation exceeded him, and his Colchester side had just suffered an alarming slump, not winning in their final 10 games of the previous season, going from automatic promotion contenders, to missing out on the play-offs.

His early signings did little to inspire,

Mcsheffrey, despite being a fans favourite had struggled to get into the Leeds team whilst on loan in League 1 last year.

Roy O'Donovan was released by the club a few years ago being deemed not good enough.

Richard Keogh, despite getting Carlisle's player of the season, was making a big step up.

Stephen O'Halloran joined despite not having played competitive football for 2 years

After signing these Boothroyd claimed he had been looking at them whilst at Colchester, immediately this disappointed me as Colchester were obiviously a league lower than the city.

Also coming in were highly rated Everton youngster Lukas Jutkiewicz, who excited everyone after they saw THAT goal for Motherwell last year, and Lee Carsley - who split fans down the middle, one camp saying he was too old, the other saying he was exactly what was needed, ironically Carsleys performance when fit still split the fans into those camps, the record without him in the team speaks volumes.
 
On the eve of the new season, AB brought in Clive Platt. Most fans were horrified with this signing and saw it as confirmation that Hoofroyd would be living upto the dubious moniker. 


Aidy's final signing permanent signing was the one that caused the most controversy, Marlon King. whilst there is no doubting King's quality, he hasn't exactly helped our form when in the team.

This isnt to say it's the signings fault. Mcsheffrey, Carsley, Keogh, Jutkiewicz and Platt all played their part in the early season success, whilst King has been the only highlight in the side recenty (red cards aside)

Despite the initial disappointment of Aidy being appointed, he soon won me over, speaking well, and talking a lot of sense, and showing genuine excitement to be here and passion for the job in hand.

The early season form also provided encouragement, breaking hoodoos such as Bristol City (well until last week anyway) and Ipswich, and whilst there was the tendency to go long, there was also some decent football being played too, despite what the nay-sayers are saying, and i genuinely thought we were finally making progress.

Boothroyd seemed to have eliminated the soft underbelly which he first spoke of when joining, teams were complaning about playing us, and our physicality. We seemed to be getting a bit of a "no-one likes us, we don't care mentality" and I for one was enjoying the ride, and because of this, i was initially disappointed by this mornings news.

Once the shock and worn off and my head cleared about the decision I cant say the disappointment remained as much.

One win in 16 games is enough for any manager to lose their job. Yes, I know their were restraints on the squad, and we couldn't improve in January, but if finances were that tight, then why were players such as O'Donovan signed, and if he was good enough to be signed and worth the wages, why wasnt he given a chance at any point, especially on Saturday, when Eastwood was strolling round looking ridiculoudly unbothered bb anything going on on the pitch. Who knows, maybe he'd have stuck his toe out and connected with the one Freddie watched go wide and we'd have rescued a point, as well as Aidy's job?

Okay so we'd have had to finish the game with 10 after Crainie's injury, and Clarke wouldn't have been there to clear Fryatts effort off the line, but surely he was worth a go? If not why sign him? I know he wont be on the biggest of wages, but it would've provided some slight relief on the budget.

There was also the strange decision to recall Mcindoe from his loan spell at MK Dons. He was in the shop window there, playing games, and MK would've no doubt been paying some contribution to his wages, aidy said we recalled him in order to sell him, why not make MK Dons pay his wages until a deal was sorted and then recall him? I realise there is a risk of him getting injured whilst playing, but surely there's a risk of him getting injured whilst training back with us too?

Then there is the performances, this season i have left before the end of games more times than ever before. Against Forest, I left for the casino after 60 mins after having enough, against Bristol City I lasted 35 min before going to get a beer, as i walked up to a TV after getting served, the were sticking the penalty away, I drank my beer and went to the Casino at half time.

On Saturday I was tempted to do the same, but not once did I think sacking Boothroyd was the answer, but now he's gone then maybe it was?


The next appointment will be vital. The crowds are drifting away and becoming more and more disillusioned with the clubs owners.

We need a manaager who can come in and win the fans back quickly, yet out of the list of potential candidates, I just don't see anyone who is a realistic target and could perform such a miracle.