Coventry City must hold out until April
SHOULD Coventry City perform the gargantuan task of maintaining their Championship status this season, there is no doubt that it will represent one of the flukiest survival battles ever witnessed.
That will be of little bother to any Sky Blue fans of course. We are Coventry City. Staying up is what we do. The way in which we go about achieving this is of little importance, all that matters is the end result.
The news that Portsmouth may lack the financial capabilities to continue functioning until the end of the season was met with mixed emotions.
In fact, no, that is a lie. Obviously it is sad to see the potential demise of a well-respected football club, however all that concerns me at present is the potential ramifications for the Sky Blues.
Should Pompey fold, the most likely course of action would be to strip all clubs of any points gained at the expense of Portsmouth this season. This can only be good news for City given that we have nothing to show for our trip to Fratton Park back in early December.
The situation for Coventry City would certainly be a whole lot bleaker had Portsmouth not had ten points snatched away from them, and ultimately I suppose it's rather sad that any chance of survival relies so heavily on the misfortune of another club.
Having said that, the ball is still well and truly in our court. Perusing the fixture list earlier led me to draw one very bold conclusion; April will make or break our season, provided we're still in the race for survival when that month comes around.
The end of April sees back to back home games against fellow strugglers Milwall and Doncaster, the potential importance of which could be all but negated should the Sky Blues fail to keep up with the rest of the pack in the coming weeks.
If you thought the Forest game was a big deal, you ain't seen nothing yet.
So it's far from over for Coventry City; there still remains the chance to play ourselves out of the relegation zone. Still to come in March are games against Portsmouth and Bristol City, wins against whom would be a huge boost given that they're also languishing in the lower depths of the table.
The Sky Blues' last game of the season, a trip to high-flying Southampton, falls on the 28th of April, which happens to be my birthday. In an ideal world, this fixture would be a trivial affair, with City already having secured their place in next season's Championship.
This will probably not be the case, as I imagine what promises to be a grandstand finish to the season will either see the Sky Blues condemned to League One long before we travel to St. Mary's, or see our survival hopes hinging on our ability to pick up points on the last day of the campaign.
No amount of birthday cake will be able to comfort me should City go down, so let's just hope I'll be remembering the 28th of April 2012 for all the right reasons.
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