Coventry City

Sky Blues insist talks continue
Coventry City have denied claims the club face administration because of a breakdown in investment talks. Sky Blues managing director Paul Fletcher insists negotiations with potential investors Manhattan Sport Capital Partners, are still ongoing. "We're won't give a running commentary as to where we are," he said. "We're still heavily involved in discussions with the Manhattan group, and I can't see any situation where we will go into administration."

Mifsud apologises after red card
Coventry striker Michael Misfud has apologised after being sent off just 10 minutes into the 4-0 defeat to West Brom for elbowing Carl Hoefkens. The Maltese forward, 26, said: "I know that I have let myself, my team-mates and the the fans down. "I am guilty of not keeping my eye on the ball when I went up for the challenge but I'd never intentionally try to injure another player. "It had a big impact on the match and I am truly sorry for what happened."

Tabb vows to silence Baggies fans
Coventry City midfielder Jay Tabb has vowed to silence West Brom's fans when they meet again on 4 December. Tabb admits the Albion supporters got to him during Coventry's 4-0 second-half slump on Monday evening. He told the Coventry Telegraph: "Their players did a good job but it is not nice when you hear their fans sing some of the songs they were singing. "It was a bit harsh because we worked hard and at half-time those fans must have thought we were the better side."

Doyle wants Coventry boss to stay
Coventry City captain Michael Doyle has pleaded with Iain Dowie not to quit if the club goes into administration. Sky Blues manager Dowie has conceded his future is in doubt if a proposed takeover does not go through, but Doyle is hopeful he will stay. "Ask any of the players and they are all behind him and want to play for him 100 per cent," the midfielder told the Coventry Telegraph. "We don't want to lose our manager which would be a worst case scenario."

Coventry plan for administration
Coventry City's board has announced its intention to take the cash-strapped club into administration. But the Sky Blues, who have debts of £37m, remain hopeful that a takeover by entrepreneur Ray Ranson and Sisu Capital will be completed before then. "This legal notice gives Coventry a 10-day window to complete the takeover talks," said the board's statement. If the talks fail and Coventry do go into administration, they will be deducted 10 points. But chairman Joe Elliot moved to calm fans' concerns about Monday's annnouncement. "We've done this because the clock has been ticking for a long time," he told SSB. "We're in very serious negotiations with Ray Ranson and Sisu Capital and we're convinced we can bring it together quickly. "There is now a 10-day deadline on it because we've filed notice of intent but that doesn't mean we're in administration, it means if things don't go right, we will be. "We've got to push forward as quickly as possible to get ourselves a deal and take Coventry back into the Premier League." Coventry lie 14th in the Championship and their perilous financial state led to a transfer embargo being imposed. Monday's statement said: "This is merely a legal process protecting the bank and its creditors. "It should speed up the takeover of the club and therefore take Coventry into a solvent financial situation. "Following recent speculation, the club can confirm can that staff and player wages have now been paid and we look forward to a successful conclusion of the takeover in the near future." Manager Iain Dowie has warned that he would consider his position if the club went into administration but he remains positive. "The sword of Damocles has been hanging for a little while now," he told 5 Live. "When I came to the club, I thought it would be a very positive situation where we'd have quite a sizeable amount of money to spend. It hasn't quite turned out like that. "We'd like to be able to take this club forward and we're a little bit frustrated that some of our targets are now playing very well elsewhere. "But we can throw our toys out of the pram or work as hard as we can, and I'll choose the latter." Elliot said Coventry's financial situation was exacerbated by their relegation from the Premier League. "We came down from the Premier League with £60m of debt," he explained. "We reduced it but it's still very difficult to cope when you're running with a debt of £36m or £37m - especially as we don't own the stadium. "But hopefully this is the start of 10 jolly good days. I'm really hopeful - I've just spoken to Ray Ranson and he's very hopeful - we just need to get things moving along. "The stakes are high and we're working as many hours as it takes to get this deal done." Coventry's Ricoh Arena stadium was jointly funded by the council and the Alan Higgs Trust - a charity run by businessman Derek Higgs - and is run by Arena Coventry Limited (ACL). The club have not filled the stadium's capacity of 32,600 since moving there in August 2005. IT company Ricoh earned naming rights to the stadium with a sponsorship deal worth a reported £10m.

Billionaire enters Coventry talks
Greek billionaire businessman Alki David has entered talks to buy cash-strapped Coventry City. David has spoken to City chairman Joe Elliott and revealed that negotiations are at a "very good" stage. He confirmed to SSB that he expects a deal to be done before Thursday's deadline when the club must prove its solvency or enter administration. The Sky Blues say they are still fully committed to a bid from Ray Ranson. Last week the club announced they were looking to go into administration in order to bring to a head the takeover talks with Ranson. But if the club were to do so they would incur a 10-point deduction and drop into the bottom three of the Championship. If David took over he would be responsible for Coventry's £38m debt and would hope to keep manager Iain Dowie at the helm. Former Crystal Palace boss Dowie has claimed that he would review his position at the club if they were to go into administration.

Coventry 'close to' Ranson deal
Coventry City chairman Joe Elliott has told SSB the club is on the brink of sealing a takeover deal with Ray Ranson's Sisu Capital group. "We are very, very close to completing the Sisu deal," he said. Elliot also distanced himself from claims that billionaire Alki David was interested in taking over Coventry. "I had a brief conversation with Mr David explaining what the situation with Sisu was and I haven't heard back from him since." The board announced its intention to take the club into administration on 3 December in the hope it would bring the Sisu deal to completion before then. The club, which has debts in the region of £38m, has been given until Thursday to prove its solvency or enter administration or incur a 10-point deduction. If that were to happen, Coventry would drop into the bottom three of the Championship and possibly lose the services of manager Iain Dowie. Elliot said the board were looking to have the deal done by the end of the week but would not be drawn into what that would mean for the club. "We hope things will have come to a head by Friday. I'm not prepared to go any further than that," he added.

Dowie revels in second Cup upset
Coventry boss Iain Dowie hailed the 4-1 win over Blackburn as even more impressive than their Carling Cup upset against Manchester United. The Sky Blues dumped the Premier League champions out of the Carling Cup in September and sent Rovers crashing in the FA Cup to reach the fourth round. "The FA Cup is the best Cup competition in the world,"said Dowie. "To come to a place like this and play a side like Blackburn is magnificent. I think it's a better result." Dowie added: "They were terrific goals and the third goal from Adebola would grace any game. It was good to see Michael Mifsud in the kind of form that we know he is capable of producing. Striker Mifsud opened the scoring and added a late fourth as the Sky Blues destroyed woeful Rovers. Mifsud also scored twice to give Coventry the 2-0 win at Manchester United in the Carling Cup, and now has 15 goals this season. "Every one of us played with his heart and gave his best to ensure we got the result," said Mifsud. "The goalkeeper was superb, the back four were just amazing, the midfield ran a marathon and us three on top were a threat all the time. "We knew it wasn't going to be easy because Blackburn are a big side. If they did underestimate us then they made a mistake." Boss Mark Hughes, who won the FA Cup four times as a player, was missing Roque Santa Cruz and a number of other players to injury. But Hughes, whose side were booed off at the final whistle, said: "That's no excuse and we had enough on the pitch to make more of a game of it. "Our second-half performance wasn't acceptable. Players didn't tune in to what we were trying to do and in the end it was quite comprehensive."

Sky Blues able to wheel and deal
The Sky Blues were given the go-ahead to enter the transfer market after a Football League embargo was lifted. The sanction was placed on the club in October last year following non-payment of an instalment of Leon Best's transfer fee to Southampton. The lifting of the ban will allow the Coventry City manager Iain Dowie to buy and sell. It's understood a goalkeeper will be a priority with Andy Marshall out for a month with a back injury.

Dowie keen to keep wantaway Best
Coventry boss Ian Dowie insists he hopes to keep Nottingham Forest target Leon Best despite the striker handing in a transfer request. Forest have already had two Best bids rejected and manager Colin Calderwood said on Friday that he would not be rushing ahead with a third offer. Dowie said: "We'll have to wait and see what happens, but I will recommend that the request is rejected." Best, 21, was left out of the Coventry side that played Burnley on Saturday. Dowie added: "I am not going to hang him out to dry but it doesn't help us." Last week Forest offered around £1m for the 21-year-old, whose outstanding transfer fee owed to Southampton has led to Coventry being put under a transfer embargo. Coventry chairman Ray Ranson released a statement in response to the offer, saying: "This offer was immediately rejected out of hand." Calderwood was keen to sign the former Republic of Ireland Under-21 squad member last summer but the player opted to move to the Ricoh Arena. Forest, who have yet to sign anyone in the transfer window, are without Junior Agogo for at least a month as he is at the Africa Cup of Nations with Ghana. "I think there will be activity between now and the end of the transfer window and a certain amount of posturing from clubs," Calderwood added.

Defensive shortage hits Coventry
Coventry City could take on Millwall in Saturday's FA Cup fourth round with just one fit central defender. Arjan de Zeeuw is suspended leaving Elliott Ward as the Sky Blues' only recognised centre-back available for the tie. Robert Page has now left the Ricoh Arena after completing his move to Huddersfield Town. Colin Hawkins and Marcus Hall are recovering from injury and Ben Turner is out with a hamstring problem.

Fox completes move to Coventry
Dan Fox says Iain Dowie's vision for Coventry City was a crucial factor in his decision to leave Walsall. The left-back has finally completed his move across the West Midlands after weeks of speculation over his future. Fox told SSB: "Iain Dowie's managed in the Premier League and the ambitions for the club and what he said was key. "Hopefully I can be start of something big here. I was impressed and it didn't take me long to decide." Fox has been the subject of constant transfer speculation, Walsall's neighbours Wolves and Leeds United having both been reportedly interested in signing him. Colchester had then looked favourites after having a bid accepted by the Saddlers, who allowed them to discuss terms with Fox. But it was then that Coventry stepped in with their offer and, after talking to two former Sky Blues employees, his manager Richard Money and Bescot team-mate Craig Pead, he opted for the Sky Blues. "Richard Money spoke of the club very highly and Craig Pead had nothing but good things to say about them so that persuaded me even before I came to the Ricoh to visit." Fox is set for his Coventry debut in Tuesday night's game at Hull.

Ranson close to complete takeover
Coventry chairman Ray Ranson is urging supporters to transfer their shares to allow the club's proposed takeover to finally be completed. Ranson holds 88% but he still needs another 2% before he can take full control at the Ricoh. "I am confident of getting the 90% within the next couple of weeks," Ranson told the club's website. Sky Blue Sports and Leisure Limited has held a controlling interest in the club since December. Ranson has previously been involved with takeover bids at several clubs, Aston Villa, Southampton, Bournemouth and also his old club Manchester City.

Dowie sacked as Coventry manager
Iain Dowie has been sacked as manager by Championship club Coventry. The Sky Blues are currently hovering four points above the relegation zone and the decision comes on the back of a 1-0 loss to fellow strugglers Preston. Dowie's assistant Tim Flowers and Bob Dowie, who was part of the backroom team, have also left the club. Frankie Bunn and John Harbin have taken charge of the team ahead of the game against Cardiff on Tuesday and the FA Cup tie against West Brom on Saturday. Coventry have lost five of their last six league games and, despite reaching the fifth round of the FA Cup, that has not been enough to save Dowie's job. The club confirmed the news in a brief statement on their website and said they would not be "making any further comment at this time". Dowie, 43, has managed Oldham, Crystal Palace and Charlton before taking over at the Ricoh Arena last February as he succeeded Micky Adams. Coventry ended last season in 17th place and started this season in promising fashion and beat Manchester United 2-0 in the Carling Cup. But their league form dipped and, although they knocked Blackburn out of the FA Cup in January, they continued to struggle in the Championship as the early season hopes evaporated. In 49 games in charge, Dowie won 20, lost 21 and drew eight. Off the field, the club has been embroiled in takeover activity with Ray Ranson in the process of buying the club after they were on the brink of going into administration. Ranson has 88% of shares and needs 90% before he can take full control of the Midlands outfit.

Harbin enjoys stint as caretaker
Coventry caretaker manager John Harbin admits he enjoyed leading the team in Tuesday's goalless draw with Cardiff. "It was exciting," Harbin told SSB after he and Frank Bunn replaced former boss Iain Dowie in the dugout for the first time. "You probably age five years being in the technical area. Using simple maths I'll be dead after six weeks. "(I'm) joint manager until I hear differently and I don't think that's too far away."

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