Paul Clouting was wise to leave Coventry City

In his brief time at the Ricoh attendances fell, and I think he'll be most remembered for his squirm-inducing, politician-speak performance at a Fans' Forum in August.

He must have known at the time that he was going to face barrage of questions about Sisu's intentions, and, more specifically, whether they were planning to spend any sort of money on the club any time soon.

Most questions he avoided answering entirely, those he did answer were met with the full face of the 'FIFA Financial Fair Play Rules' bat. Listening at home, I got more incensed with every non-answer, but thinking about it now, it wasn't Clouting's fault.

In fact, he should be admired for merely putting himself up for that Forum. I can imagine Onye Igwe standing in the wings with a Colt '45 pointed at Clouting's sweating bonce, finger caressing the trigger, waiting for a tongue slip.

But Clouting has run businesses for Sisu before, so he should know the way they work. Frugally. Brutally. Without compassion or sentiment. All suits, spreadsheets and Six-Sigma statistics.

His main brief was to get the club to a point where it could live within its means, while at the same time, shine it up real nice for potential investors to pour their riches into with confidence that doing so would eventually pay dividends.

His resignation so early into his tenure would suggest that he achieved neither of these things. This saddens me really. He seems like a good bloke. He walked up a mountain for charity last year.

I hope Clouting's time at City has been without detriment to his health, and that he might find solace in the arms of loved ones, or maybe another football club. Or even another mountain.

He leaves behind a club in apparent disarray. If it wasn't for Andy Thorn's cheerful resilience and his bunch of plucky young hopefuls battling for every point, we fans would probably all resign too.