Chris Coleman

19th February 2008 – 4th May 2010

by Rob Mason

When Chris Coleman was awarded the O.B.E. in the 2017 New Year’s Honours list for services to football it is safe to assume that this was not solely in tribute to his time at Coventry City.
Coleman was the first managerial appointment of the SISU era and he was Ray Ranson’s choice from a tasty field. Four days after being appointed in February 2008 ‘Cookie’s’ first match was arguably his most important. A 2-0 home win over Leicester City would be crucial in the final analysis. City were 19th in the table when Coleman replaced the axed Iain Dowie but the Sky Blues finished in 21st position, a point and a place above Leicester who went down from the Championship.

City had reached the fifth round of the FA Cup, a 0-5 home hammering by a ruthless West Brom in the interim period between Dowie and Coleman. Having responded with a new manager bounce with victory over the Foxes Coleman’s team struggled. Under a point a game was gleaned from the next 11 fixtures before a trip to bottom of the table whipping boys Colchester provided a second half display that transformed a half time deficit into an invaluable 5-1 win, with Michael Doyle on the score-sheet in what was the penultimate league fixture staged at Layer Road.

The one remaining game at the aged ground was against Stoke and it was promotion bound Stoke that Coventry had to thank for keeping them up. On the last day of the season Tony Pulis’ Potters knew that a point would guarantee them automatic promotion as they entertained Leicester. Ever the pragmatist Pulis produced a goalless draw, thereby relegating Leicester, managed by Ian Holloway – the Godfather of Pulis’ son. Had Leicester won the Sky Blues would have gone down and only the width of the Stoke crossbar denied Gareth McAuley from condemning Coventry, who saw similarly threatened Southampton save themselves by beating Sheffield United.

On the same afternoon with future Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, on loan from Manchester City, having far from the best game of his career, Coleman’s men succumbed 4-1 at Alan Pardew’s mid-table Charlton, but survive they did at a time of changing ownership off the pitch.
The summer saw investment with half a dozen new faces, chief amongst them Freddy Eastwood who cost a reported £1.2m from Wolves, while goalkeeper Keiren Westwood arrived from Carlisle for three quarters of a million. The most productive deal brought in Aron Gunnarsson from AZ in Holland for £250,000, a bargain for a man who would be Player of the Year.
The season started well with back to back wins and Eastwood quickly off the mark as City actually topped the embryonic table. The bright start was merely a flash in the pan as no goals were scored in the next three league games. By Boxing Day the club were looking over their shoulders in 16th place.

An annual debate somewhere or other is whether cup games help or hinder league form, but back in 2009 FA Cup involvement certainly rubbed off in league improvement. January joy came in the elimination of two non-league sides, Kidderminster Harriers and Torquay, followed by a replay win over Premiership Blackburn. Hand in hand with the cup run February brought 10 points out of 12, a combination that led to Coleman being named Manager of the Month. Typically, the award’s well known curse struck, four defeats in a row including cup defeat at home to Chelsea in front of a record Ricoh attendance of over 31,407.
A narrow home win over Doncaster proved to be the only victory from the last 12 league games as the season rumbled to a close, with City one point but four places better off than the year before.

There was a touch of déjà vu as six points out of six saw City top the table early on only to fall away. Although Clinton Morrison, Leon Best and Freddy Eastwood scored 28 goals between them, and there were two runs of three wins in a row, the team finished two places lower than the previous year.
Astonishingly this was after eyeing the Play-offs in March when the side were eighth. Failing to win any of the last 11 games, the dismal end to the season was highlighted by a 0-4 final day home defeat by a Watford side who had started the month in danger of the drop.

Having seen goalkeeper Keiren Westwood receive the Player of the Year award Coleman didn’t get the chance to look ahead to the following campaign as he was relieved of his duties the following day. Having lost 46 of his 117 games in charge of the Sky Blues and won just 34 Coleman’s win percentage of 29.1% at City was substantially lower than anywhere else he has managed.
Having managed in Spain with Real Sociedad before coming to Coventry, Coleman’s next move was abroad again. Out of management for a year after his chastening experience with City, he re-surfaced in Greece with Athlitiki Enosi Larissa. Financial difficulties at AEL led to Cookie leaving the Greek outfit, but a week later he was back in employment.
Capped 32 times by Wales, Swansea born Coleman became manager of his country, succeeding the much missed and admired Gary Speed. International football propelled Coleman into the managerial stratosphere. In contrast to his recent club jobs, Chris had a shocking start, losing his first six games including Wales’ heaviest defeat in 18 years, a 6-1 thumping at the hands of a Serbia side who had scored just three goals in their previous nine matches.

Benefiting from having a world class superstar in Gareth Bale, Coleman stuck at it and guided Wales to eighth in the FIFA rankings. It was the highest they had ever been but there was better to come. Having qualified for their first major tournament since 1958 Wales were the surprise packet of Euro 2016.
After winning their group, Coleman’s men beat Northern Ireland courtesy of an own goal from Gareth McAuley, whose header against the bar at Stoke eight years earlier had helped Cookie conjure Coventry’s survival.
The quarter-finals provided Coleman and Wales’ finest moment. A superstar-studded Belgium team were many people’s fancy for the tournament but in beating them 3-1 Wales didn’t rely on smash and grab, they had more attempts and more efforts on target than the Belgians before Cristiano Ronaldo proved the difference as Wales lost to Portugal.
Having achieved so much with Wales it came as a surprise when they failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The son of a Dubliner, Coleman lost a Play-off to the Republic of Ireland in October 2017, with the manager deciding to call it a day the following month.

Two days after clearing his desk Coleman returned to English club management for the first time since leaving Coventry, taking over at Sunderland who having been relegated from the Premiership six months earlier were struggling at the bottom of the Championship. He failed to stop the club being relegated in successive seasons and was sacked at the end of the season.

After Sunderland he did not manage in the UK again but had short spells in China, Greece, Cyprus and Belgium. Coleman had become the youngest manager in the Premier League when he started out with Fulham in 2003, where he had ended his playing days before moving onto the coaching staff. Leading the Cottagers to ninth place in the top flight in his first full season he was eventually dismissed in April 2007 with Fulham in 15th place after just one win in 15.
There followed a first venture overseas with Real Sociedad, like AEL who he would later manage in Greece, a side who had just been relegated. Assisted by (one time Blackburn manager) Steve Kean who also coached for him at Coventry and Fulham, Sociedad did well under Coleman. Whereas usually a manager departs following a losing run, Sociedad had lost just one in 11 and were fifth in the league when Coleman resigned amid the pressures of a change of President, thereby signalling over a year out of management before coming to Coventry.
After failing to make an appearance as a youngster with Manchester City he topped 150 appearances for each of Swansea, Palace and Fulham plus 30 for Blackburn who he joined when they were Premier League champions.

Championship Manager of the Month February 2009

Joined: 19th February 2008
First game: 23rd February 2008 v Leicester City, home, Championship, won 2-0

Left: 4th May 2010
Last game: 2nd May 2010 v Watford, home, Championship, lost 0-4

117 games as manager

	Lge	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Win %	Pos
2007-08	Champ	15	4	5	6	18	18	17	26.6	21st
2008-09	Champ	46	13	15	18	47	58	54	28.2	17th
2009-10	Champ	46	13	15	18	47	64	54	28.2	19th
Totals		107	30	35	42	112	140	125	28.0

League Cup: 3 games (1 win, 2 losses)

FA Cup: 7 games (3 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses)