Recently by Andy Turner

CHRIS BIRCHALL will not play for Coventry City again, Chris Coleman has confirmed.

The Trinidad & Tobago midfielder, who used to play for Port Vale, has signed a season-long loan deal with League One Carlisle United.

The switch has seen Birchall make one substitute appearance so far, although Carlisle have already agreed to take him for the rest of the season, effectively ending his disappointing career at the Ricoh Arena.

"Birchy is not coming back to us," said Coleman.

"He has gone to Carlisle until the end of the season and it is up to them whether they do anything.

"He has got to play so many games for them before a contract kicks in for him there, but he is done and dusted with Coventry."

COVENTRY CITY'S abysmal home form has been the elephant in the Sky Blues dressing room this week.

Manager Chris Coleman admits he must break through the psychological block that has seen his side collect just three points from the last 18 on offer at the Ricoh Arena.

But as he prepared for tomorrow's showdown with Ipswich Town he revealed: "I haven't mentioned it to the lads once this week.

"There's no point in me saying 'go out and enjoy yourself' because you know that's just not realistic

"They are desperate to do well at the Ricoh but my biggest criticism of them at the moment is that they get too anxious at home.

"They're too tense - they can't produce the flowing football that they can in away matches.

"At home they feel we have to excite, to be creative and attack. They want the three points so much that there's always the danger of losing their shape.

"If the opposition string four or five passes together we sometimes panic and start rushing around because we want to get the ball back.

COVENTRY CITY defender Marcus Hall hates playing at right-back.

Fast becoming the Sky Blues' utility man, the veteran left-back expressed his relief that the club had finally got two fit and able defenders to fill the berth that has been an on-going problem at the club for the last three seasons.

But with summer signing Stephen Wright back from a three-month lay off with an Achilles problem, and understudy Isaac Osbourne on the bench, Hall felt safe that he wouldn't be called upon as emergency cover any more.

And with first choice left-back Danny Fox a yellow card away from suspension, he had been biding his time to get his chance in his preferred position.

That was on Monday when the player was looking ahead to City's match against Swansea at the Ricoh Arena.

But little more than 24 hours later and the 32-year-old got the call from the bench after Wright limped off with a knee injury and then his replacement, Osbourne, hobbled off with an ankle injury in the space of the first 10 minutes against the Swans.

"I can't believe it to be honest," said Hall, who is in his testimonial season with the Sky Blues.

"I was only saying the day before that we have got two players who can play at right-back now and I was pretty relieved about it.

"Then they both go and get injured in the same game.

"It is obviously bad luck for them, but I just can't believe it.

POISED to dip into the loan and transfer market, Coventry City are a million miles away from this time last year when the club were subject to a transfer embargo and staring administration in the face.

Twelve months on and the club is in seemingly good health in terms of the finances, with ambitious new owners and an impressive young manager in charge of the team, complete with a clear plan in place to take the club forward.

But when one looks at the form book, results and Championship table, there is a distinct feeling of deja vu about the Sky Blues that defies all logic.

After all, who'd have thought that the so-called dream team of Clinton Morrison and Freddy Eastwood would struggle to get going, and that despite big changes in personnel the team's infuriating inconsistency would continue?

One measly win in the last seven games doesn't make for good reading and, looking at the fixture list, it could well get worse before it gets better.

First up is Sheffield Wednesday, a club not dissimilar to City in many ways, but recent history tells us that the Sky Blues will get nothing from Hillsborough given their woeful record of having failed to win in all five visits in this division.

THE RECENT dip in results, and more worryingly, performances, have once again shown that the Sky Blues are nowhere near where they want to be in terms of mounting a challenge in the Championship.

The rebuilding has started to take shape with some excellent new players in key positions, but all the ingredients for a consistent side are far from in place.

The January transfer window will hopefully see manager Chris Coleman take the next step by drafting in two or three new faces who will improve his current work in progress.

The priority has to be a decent winger - someone to feed Clinton Morrison who is currently being starved of any decent service into the box where he does what he does best.

The striker has been working tirelessly off the ball to get into positions but like most forwards in this division, they often need more than one chance to score, and all too often he is only getting one chance in games which is clearly not enough.

Coleman's chief scout Andy Thorn is scouring the UK and Europe for players and hopefully it won't be long before the club get a decent wide man to provide a steady supply of crosses, whether that be Gary McSheffrey when he is fit or whoever.

The injury to Leon McKenzie has probably had the biggest impact on the side this season, and we can only look forward to his return in a week or two.

It may take him a couple of games to get back in his stride, but if the Duke can get back to the impressive form he displayed prior to tearing his left thigh muscle, there should be an immediate improvement in results.

McKenzie was clearly enjoying his football and relished taking on his full-back and, more often than not, beating him in every game, so a fit McKenzie should be a real asset.

THE TROUBLE with young sides is that they often lack leadership and the sort of experienced heads to pull players around them up by their boot laces.

Apart from Clinton Morrison, who does lead from the front, Coventry City do lack an experienced figure, particularly in the heart of the midfield who can assert himself on a game and lift those around him on a consistent basis.

Aron Gunnarsson has led by example on the odd occasion - his performance at Sheffield United being a prime example - but, understandably, at just 19 he has not done it week in, week out.

Southampton have shown with their current enforced youth policy that nice passing football and athleticism is not enough to get you through in the Championship, and they continue to struggle, their latest defeat coming at home to Bristol City on Saturday.

Birmingham, on the other hand, have got 34-year-old Lee Carsley driving his team-mates on from the middle of the park.

Although Blues are having a bit of a wobble, they remain second top and the former Everton and Sky Blues player has been a revelation at St Andrews since joining the club in the summer.

While not suggesting City go down the route of bringing in old heads in the last throes of their careers, they could perhaps benefit from a bit more experience.

And by that I mean players in their late 20s or very early 30s rather than the 37-year-old Arjan de Zeeuws who turned out to be a huge disappointment.

THERE'S no getting away from it, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake was off-side when he scored the winner for Wolves on Saturday.

Referee Steve Bennett's explanation that the striker's momentum had taken him off the pitch and therefore he didn't have to ask permission to go back on doesn't address the salient question, which was whether he was then off-side or not.

The fact is that when he re-entered the field of play, or sneaked back on to be more accurate, he was off-side, no question, and Mr Bennett and his assistant Ian Gosling, who failed to flag for the offence, got it wrong.

Even the expression on the player's face as he looked, expecting it to be ruled out, spoke volumes.

ELLIOTT WARD says Coventry City fans will never see a repeat of his penalty howler against Southampton.

The highly-regarded centre-back chipped the ball straight at Saints' goalkeeper Kelvin Davis, who promptly caught the ball.

It was the second time in three attempts that Ward has missed - but he insists he wants to remain as the Sky Blues' penalty taker.

He said: "I didn't pick a great time to make a mess of a penalty - live on Sky on Saturday night - but I think that I'm big enough to take it on the chin.

"I had made up my mind the night before that the next time I got the chance I would chip it down the middle - but, trust me, I won't be trying that again!

Unfortunately the goalie didn't dive early but stood up for that long he was able to make an asy save.

"I think the other lads - who knew nothing about what I was going to do - were shocked more than anything.

"I took a chance - it was one of those occasions where if it goes in you look great but if it doesn't you end up looking a bit of a plonker.

"If you don't try things in life then you will never know whether it will come off or not, but, in hindsight, it wasn't the right time at 1-0 up.

"If we had been 4-0 ahead and the game was over, then fine.

I heard after the game that Kelvin Davis had been given the wrong information and had been told that I put them down the middle, which I don't usually, so he stood up.

THE SENSE of injustice still lingers following what was one of the most bizarre refereeing decisions the Sky Blues have had the misfortune to be on the wrong end of for some considerable time.

Some you win and some you lose, and that is just something we have to accept in football which is open to occasional poor judgment and human error.

The problem with Tuesday night's farcical events that led to Freddy Eastwood having a perfectly good goal disallowed at Ninian Park is that, firstly, the linesman's decision to flag for hand ball against Scott Dann was extremely harsh given that the replay showed there was no ball to hand.

The Coventry captain, who is as honest as the day is long, explained: "The ball came up off my foot and hit my chest and rolled up me and the replay backs that up."

COVENTRY CITY boss Chris Coleman was forced to wear the wrong trousers as he prepared his Sky Blues players for their trip to Blackpool.

His trusty side-kick Steve Kean had put on Coleman's club issue tracksuit bottoms by mistake after training and shot off, leaving the manager with no choice but to wear his assistant's.

And given the height and waist differential between to two, Coleman was left walking round with slightly short baggy trousers while Kean's would have fitted a bit tighter and been considerably longer in the leg.