So just what is so different? (1 Viewer)

Don't forget the Sillett/Curtis era. They had no management experience either and that did not go too badly!

wingy said:

good pooint about the success Tony and obviously a factor in the crowd aspect,but i have a feeling JS had a little experience with Hereford.

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Did not JS join Hereford after us?

What is so different? Money, that's what. The constant pressure of success at all costs.

This is the sticking point with me too, regarding the idea of boycotting games. Surely damaging a direct line of revenue and the atmosphere at home games in no way helps our situation. Isn't it cutting off our nose to spite our face.

the difference Hill and Sillett / Curtis could bring in players that they wanted, within reason, unlike our current manager

I think that you will find Sillett/Curtis did not have a lo of funds either but managed to forge the players which they did have into a very good team. Will some internet savy person please produce the facts to support this.

Whoa! Nelly. We are talking about a completely different era. 1987 was over two decades ago. No skybluestalk.co.uk then. I think so much has changed in football its hard to make a sensible comparison to football today.

But wasn't 1987 great !!!

If we ignore success for a minute, one thing Hill did (or so I understand, being way too young to actually have been there) was embed the club in the community and make matches an event.

I don't mean one or two crap players turn up and give a half arsed training session to bored kids in Man Utd tops, but actually aim to put the club at the center of Coventry life. I read in the program a story about him going into a chip shop after a game and asking the kid behind the counter if he'd been to a game, after the kid asked "what game" he cam back next week with a ticket.

It's that expectation that everyone will be there and trying his hardest to make it a fun and social event for everyone involved. The Sky Blue Train, pop and crisps, etc. etc.

The halftime entertainment is crap, the build up is crap, the visibility of the club is crap. No, I don't have great answers, because I'm not a visionary, but we need someone who is.

Some suggestions:

- Transport to games: make it fun, join up with the guy who runs the barge, sort out busses from Kenilworth, Leamington, etc and paint them sky blue, have face painting inside and maybe a different ex player on the bus. Make it one big party each week going through the county to the Ricoh. Make kids BEG to be taken again next week, not for the football but the experience.

- At games: do something to get people there early. co-ordinate with the transport so the party continues from 2 till kick off.

- For the adults - co-ordinate with local pubs and the casino. Make a pub "the official Sky Blue Inn" and again put support in from ex players, drunken penalty shootout games, etc. Get people going well before they hit the Ricoh. After matches get people into the casino for analysis and drowing of sorrows/celebrations. Maybe even get Thorn to do a post-match fan conference, radical yes, but so was Hill.

- Bring back the Sky Blue Train (or an equivalent coach) for away days.

- Have people in the town center on the morning of home games actively trying to sell tickets.

- Promote the game at the rugby and the ice hockey, maybe joint tickets with discounts, and do the reverse for them. Let's support Coventry as a whole.

You shouldn't be able to go a week in this city without seeing sky blue and the club's name. Yes the miserable gits will go "oh that's so lame" because they think it's not cool to actually have fun, but the majority will have a blast and with that will bring people along for reasons other than the football.

Like I said, I'm not a professional, just a City fan with some ideas, maybe there are other, better ones out there, but the concept is sound and has been used to great effect in this city before.

I totally agree the whole match day experience has become shit as a whole.

wingy said:

Awesome SHHMEEEE,i was thinking i might get a few responses on socio /economic factors but i think you've exposed a serious failing within the set up,think you should join CHRis Cattlins war council mentioned yesterday,

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Problem at the moment is a significant amount of fans see supporting the club as supporting SISU. What's this war council thing?

Wingy,

Jimmy Hill joined CCFC in November 1961.

His first full season was 1962/1963 - therefore:

62/63 - P46-W18-D17-L11 finished 4th out of 24 (39% Wins)
63/64 - P46-W22-D16-L8 finished 1st out of 24 (48% Wins)
64/65 - P42-W17-D9-L16 finished 10th out of 22 (40% Wins)
65/66 - P42-W20-D13-L9 finished 3rd out of 22 (48% Wins)
66/67 - P42-W23-D13-L6 finished 1st out of 22 (55% Wins)

As you can see JH's record is awesome with two promotions in just 5 seasons leading to the promised land of the currently named Premier League.

No one has touched him since those days - don't forgot he had absolutely no management experience what so ever - he came, he saw he conquered - fully deserved of the JH statue.

PUSB

Like I said, I'm not a professional, just a City fan with some ideas, maybe there are other, better ones out there, but the concept is sound and has been used to great effect in this city before.[/QUOTE]

A great post. Inspiring and yet heart-breaking. I am not going to criticise, this has been written sincerely by a good soul, and it may be a model for how new owners may one day start to build from the wreckage that will remain from the circumstances we find ourselves in. While we Hope together, we will never lose.

TheOldFive said:

Like I said, I'm not a professional, just a City fan with some ideas, maybe there are other, better ones out there, but the concept is sound and has been used to great effect in this city before.

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A great post. Inspiring and yet heart-breaking. I am not going to criticise, this has been written sincerely by a good soul, and it may be a model for how new owners may one day start to build from the wreckage that will remain from the circumstances we find ourselves in. While we Hope together, we will never lose.[/QUOTE]

To be honest it's not a realistic expectation of what SISU will do or should do in our current position. Other circumstances mean it may well be a non starter with the current owners. However I do believe most fans go for the experience first and the football second. Hill understood this, subsequent boards do not.

torchomatic said:

What is so different? Money, that's what. The constant pressure of success at all costs.

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I am too young to remember Hill but he was a one-off.

However I think John Sillett was very underestimated as a manager. Actually when he took over he had no money from what I remember. The situation was similar to now. He replaced Don Mackay when the club looked doomed but kept them up.
The following season he did sign a few lower league players but essentially the squad was the same.
I think Houchen and Pickering were the only players he signed in the cup winning team. Players such as Regis, Kilkline, Gynn were totally different players under him.
Ex-players have said he was far more of a shrewd tactician than people gave him credit for. His jovial image was a public persona but he was a lot better than that. He was treated poorly in the end - sacked after 1 poorish season and things have never really been the same since.

success is a huge part of it. all you can do besides that is remove the excuses for people not to go, things like how easy it is to get tickets, get to and from the ground etc.

look at saints, been there a few times when it's been half empty but now its packed and they're had 6K follow them to the Ricoh, that's purely and simply because they're winning and have a buzz around the town.