Marked for Mark Smith
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Feb 2032
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market16 Feb 2032
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Coventry City people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout16 Feb 2032
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad16 Feb 2032
Víctor Muñoz was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market16 Feb 2032
Rio Mundle has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Coventry City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom16 Feb 2032
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Rio Mundle has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad16 Feb 2032
Pablo Felipe is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.33 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad16 Feb 2032
Words at Coventry City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Gomes is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match14 Feb 2032
It finished 1‑0, and it was Pablo Felipe’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Coventry City.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Jan 2032
No end in sight to Leeds United's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leeds United has to find a result from somewhere.
Market12 Jan 2032
The offer from Grimsby Town for Sean Longstaff was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Transfer targets12 Jan 2032
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Crystal Palace have kept their man, and Leeds United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market12 Jan 2032
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad12 Jan 2032
Noah Okafor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout12 Jan 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Transfer targets12 Jan 2032
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Chelsea is saying, and nobody at Leeds United is enjoying the guessing.
Market12 Jan 2032
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leeds United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Jan 2032
Jaka Bijol falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market5 Jan 2032
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Player ratings5 Jan 2032
Frank Onyeka, 34, rolls back the years — 8.21
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.21 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market5 Jan 2032
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Coventry City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Jan 2032
Víctor Muñoz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market5 Jan 2032
Steven Ellis has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Coventry City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market5 Jan 2032
Add another name to the list: Tottenham have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mark Smith. The answer from Coventry City has not changed — yet.
Squad5 Jan 2032
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and João Gomes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings5 Jan 2032
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets5 Jan 2032
Coventry City asked and Sunderland said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market29 Dec 2031
Only the photograph left for Víctor Muñoz
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Víctor Muñoz will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Coventry City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market29 Dec 2031
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Coventry City heard it as anything else.
Market29 Dec 2031
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings29 Dec 2031
Nobody could get near Mark Smith
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad29 Dec 2031
Frank Onyeka in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Coventry City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Dec 2031
Defences have started doubling up on Pablo Felipe
13 goals and a season average of 7.30 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad29 Dec 2031
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Mathias Silseth Mork has just signed for Coventry City, and for once the answer mattered.
Match27 Dec 2031
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout29 Dec 2031
The manager makes an example of Toby Steward
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Dec 2031
A 1‑1 win over Wolverhampton, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Squad15 Dec 2031
A fracture rules Rhys Browne out for 141 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Coventry City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings15 Dec 2031
Mark Smith runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad15 Dec 2031
Toby Steward is the hero from the spot
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Toby Steward: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Market15 Dec 2031
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Coventry City, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout15 Dec 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Coventry City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market15 Dec 2031
Only the photograph left for Tomás Rayer
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tomás Rayer will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Coventry City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 Dec 2031
Víctor Muñoz in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Coventry City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Dec 2031
Words at Coventry City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Gomes is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Dec 2031
Rhys Browne breaks a bone — 150 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 150 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings8 Dec 2031
No sign of nerves from Mark Smith at 21 — 8.41
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mark Smith did not need any: 8.41, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market8 Dec 2031
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad8 Dec 2031
Víctor Muñoz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market8 Dec 2031
Steven Ellis has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Coventry City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The terraces8 Dec 2031
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad8 Dec 2031
10 goals and a season average of 7.23. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings8 Dec 2031
Ninety minutes of Pablo Felipe at his very best
Marked 8.19. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Coventry City.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 Dec 2031
Only the photograph left for Víctor Muñoz
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Víctor Muñoz will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Coventry City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market1 Dec 2031
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Coventry City heard it as anything else.
Market1 Dec 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Coventry City can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Dec 2031
Víctor Muñoz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad1 Dec 2031
Words at Coventry City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Gomes is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match29 Nov 2031
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout1 Dec 2031
Toby Steward gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market1 Dec 2031
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Player ratings1 Dec 2031
Nobody could get near Mark Smith
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings24 Nov 2031
Successful dribbles: 27. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Market24 Nov 2031
Enoch Mawassa hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Coventry City can pretend not to have heard.
Market24 Nov 2031
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Antonio Satriano will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Coventry City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad24 Nov 2031
Víctor Muñoz was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad24 Nov 2031
João Gomes falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad24 Nov 2031
Sam Sherring gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Sam Sherring has just signed for Coventry City, and for once the answer mattered.
Boardroom24 Nov 2031
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Match22 Nov 2031
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout24 Nov 2031
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings10 Nov 2031
Two goals and a mark of 9.04 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market10 Nov 2031
Only the photograph left for Afonso Silva
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Afonso Silva will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Coventry City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market10 Nov 2031
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Coventry City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Nov 2031
Tatsuhiro Sakamoto was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 Nov 2031
João Gomes falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match8 Nov 2031
A 2‑0 win over Stoke City, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings10 Nov 2031
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom10 Nov 2031
Wages swallow 100% of the Coventry City income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Market10 Nov 2031
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Oct 2031
Víctor Muñoz has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Coventry City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings6 Oct 2031
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.89, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings6 Oct 2031
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market6 Oct 2031
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Coventry City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad6 Oct 2031
Víctor Muñoz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match4 Oct 2031
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Squad6 Oct 2031
João Gomes falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match4 Oct 2031
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Match4 Oct 2031
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Pablo Felipe had Coventry City level again within 3 minutes, and Cardiff City never got to play with a lead at all.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Jul 2031
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Coventry City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad7 Jul 2031
The knee: Kareem Ahmed out for 48 days
48 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Coventry City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market7 Jul 2031
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market7 Jul 2031
Jack Marriott hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Coventry City can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout7 Jul 2031
Jack Marriott: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Coventry City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets7 Jul 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Portsmouth have kept their man, and Coventry City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Jul 2031
Víctor Muñoz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Market7 Jul 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Coventry City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad7 Jul 2031
Steven Ellis is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Jun 2031
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Coventry City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad30 Jun 2031
The knee: Kareem Ahmed out for 55 days
55 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Coventry City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Transfer targets30 Jun 2031
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market30 Jun 2031
Basil Tuma hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Coventry City can pretend not to have heard.
Market30 Jun 2031
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Coventry City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets30 Jun 2031
Everything agreed with Portsmouth, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The dugout30 Jun 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Coventry City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Mark Smith is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Boardroom30 Jun 2031
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Rhys Browne has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Jun 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Thomas Morris
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Coventry City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market9 Jun 2031
Watford come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Coventry City did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market9 Jun 2031
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets9 Jun 2031
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Coventry City have done the hard part with Fulham, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets9 Jun 2031
Coventry City asked and Luton Town said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad9 Jun 2031
Víctor Muñoz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad9 Jun 2031
14 goals and a season average of 7.38. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad9 Jun 2031
Frank Onyeka falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout9 Jun 2031
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Mar 2031
43 days out for Afonso Silva after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Coventry City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings31 Mar 2031
Successful dribbles: 31. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Market31 Mar 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Coventry City can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Mar 2031
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Coventry City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad31 Mar 2031
Víctor Muñoz in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Coventry City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Mar 2031
Words at Coventry City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arthur Zagré is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match29 Mar 2031
Late, late show earns Coventry City a point
Minute 87, against Wolverhampton, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
The dugout31 Mar 2031
The manager makes an example of Tyreeq Bakinson
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match29 Mar 2031
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match16 Nov 2030
Rotherham United will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Coventry City were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market18 Nov 2030
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Coventry City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market18 Nov 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Coventry City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market18 Nov 2030
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Coventry City heard it as anything else.
Squad18 Nov 2030
Víctor Muñoz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Nov 2030
João Gomes falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings18 Nov 2030
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Player ratings18 Nov 2030
A performance of 8.23 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings18 Nov 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.21, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match30 Oct 2030
A 1‑0 win over Huddersfield Town, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings4 Nov 2030
Anton Palmer beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 34. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match30 Oct 2030
Ryan Hardie wins it after the whistle should have gone
121 minutes played. Ryan Hardie found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Huddersfield Town went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
The dugout4 Nov 2030
Mark Smith: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Coventry City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market4 Nov 2030
Only the photograph left for Ayman Benarous
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ayman Benarous will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Coventry City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings4 Nov 2030
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.98, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market4 Nov 2030
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad4 Nov 2030
Víctor Muñoz was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad4 Nov 2030
Words at Coventry City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Gomes is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Oct 2030
Only the photograph left for Víctor Muñoz
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Víctor Muñoz will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Coventry City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market14 Oct 2030
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Coventry City, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout14 Oct 2030
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad14 Oct 2030
Víctor Muñoz was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad14 Oct 2030
João Gomes falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match12 Oct 2030
3 matches without a goal for Coventry City
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Player ratings14 Oct 2030
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match12 Oct 2030
0‑1 to Brentford, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout14 Oct 2030
The manager makes an example of Mark Smith
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market8 Jul 2030
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Coventry City people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market8 Jul 2030
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets8 Jul 2030
Fee done, terms next for Alex Borto
Coventry City and Bournemouth have settled on $2.6M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market8 Jul 2030
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad8 Jul 2030
Mark Smith gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Mark Smith has just signed for Coventry City, and for once the answer mattered.
Market8 Jul 2030
Only the photograph left for Zak Jules
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Zak Jules will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Coventry City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout8 Jul 2030
Elliott Hewitt: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Coventry City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad8 Jul 2030
Víctor Muñoz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.