Coventry City star edging closer to exit as Elvis sorry for supporters

Elvis on groundshare and suffering supporters

Steven Pressley has spoken of his sadness at hearing of Coventry City’s move away from the Ricoh Arena for a second time in the space of six years.

The former Sky Blues boss was in charge of the team when the club took the decision to move to Northampton Town’s Sixfields Stadium for the 2013/14 campaign – a period he says was one of the most testing in his managerial career.

Pressley , who is still held in high regard by many fans for the way he faced the adversity of a groundshare, feels for the fans who, he says, are the ones that will again suffer after the club last week decided to move 22 miles from the Ricoh to Birmingham City’s St Andrew’s Stadium.

And the 45-year-old, who is currently manager at League Two Carlisle United, believes City risk losing fans, who opt to stay away from Birmingham, on a long-term basis.

“Of course it’s far from ideal but the big question is, will there be the same resistance from supporters to go to Birmingham as there was to go to Northampton?” he said.

“Because there was obviously real resistance and I suppose when you’re playing in a stadium of the size of St Andrew’s and you don’t get terrific support then you can’t create the same intensity to the game.”

Just 1,697 fans turned up to Sixfields to watch the win over Stevenage in March 2014, and the ten lowest home league attendances ever in the history of the club all came in 2013/14 as supporters boycotted the hugely unpopular move.

He added: “It’s not so much Mark (Robins) and the players who suffer. Of course it’s not ideal that you’re not playing on your home pitch but the people who suffer the most are the supporters.

“That’s the bottom line.

“They’re whole Saturday afternoon is affected in a different manner; how they travel to the games, not going to their local pub before they go to the games – all of those things they do in their own community before they go to the game changes.

“And that’s the biggest impact, in my opinion, not so much the game preparation and all of those football aspects because Mark will keep those as normal as possible.

“The ones who are suffering are the supporters. That’s the reality of the situation.”

Read the full interview with Pressley here:

Boddy on Bayliss interest

Coventry City Academy graduate Tom Bayliss has been linked with interest from higher placed clubs ever since Derby County made two failed bids for the player in January 2018.

The 20-year-old has been watched regularly by scouts from Premier League and Championship clubs who have attended the Ricoh Arena to check him out.

Newly promoted Aston Villa are the latest club claimed to be eyeing the midfielder, reported to be battling West Ham to sign the Sky Blues star.

The Sun on Sunday claimed at the weekend that the Premier League rivals will go head to head for the highly-rated player who has an impressive 73 first team appearances for Mark Robins's side since breaking through about 18 months ago.

The same newspaper has also linked the midfielder with Merseyside giants Liverpool and Everton in recent weeks.

And Bayliss has already been linked with interest from Premier League Newcastle United and Championship clubs, Middlesbrough and Leeds United.

A fee of £3million has been touted for the England U19 international who is contracted at the club until 2022.

But asked if the club have been approached, chief executive Dave Boddy revealed: "We haven't had any inquiries or bids as yet but there’s been lots of speculation."

City clearly wouldn't be surprised if they did receive bids and it remains to be seen if they would be tempted to cash in if the money was right.

Bayliss burst onto the Sky Blues scene in December 2017 when he scored within the opening two minutes of his league debut for the club, going on to be virtually ever present for the remainder of the successful League Two promotion campaign.

He was the subject of two rejected bids from Championship Derby County just a month later and has been continually monitored by a host of higher placed clubs.

The midfielder, however, has had a bit of a plateau season after City stepped up to League One before his campaign was cut slightly short when he fell awkwardly against Bristol Rovers in April and broke his wrist.

He has made 73 appearances for Coventry and scored nine goals.

Season ticket uptake so far

Coventry City have revealed an early rush for season tickets to watch the club play at St Andrew's next season.

Many fans have said they will not go to Sky Blues 'home' games after the club announced last week that they are to groundshare at Birmingham City after failing to agree terms with Wasps to stay at the Ricoh Arena.

Supporters are divided in their feelings on the subject.

Some are torn, while others - many of whom have been rallied by manager Mark Robins 's impassioned plea in the media to back him and the players next season - have wasted no time in renewing their tickets.

So far more than 500 have committed themselves to making the 44-mile round trip (Ricoh Arena to St Andrew's, according to The AA), by buying tickets in the first 24 hours of being made available to fans.

The club say it took seven days to reach just 118 when season tickets went on sale last season, the figures eventually rising to 6,850 by September.

Following last week’s announcement of groundshare at St Andrew’s Trillion Trophy stadium, Season Tickets for home matches went on sale at 4pm on Monday afternoon.

Dave Boddy, Coventry City's chief executive, said: “This is not the situation anyone wants to be in, but we are pleased with the uptake of season tickets so far, and thank everyone who has purchased already.

“Last year, it took us a week to reach even 118 Season Tickets sold, so the support is very humbling. While we would not expect us to reach the numbers we did last year, it would be great to see as many fans as possible there.

“As we said, we fully understand and respect the difficult choice our fans face, and we know that those who may choose not to attend, do so with a heavy heart but still in full support of their team."

Willis edging closer

Coventry City defender Jordan Willis is believed to be close to leaving the club after receiving renewed attention from the Championship.

Bristol City are understood to be stepping up their interest in the 24-year-old who has long been a target for newly promoted Luton Town.

Sky Blues boss Mark Robins is still waiting for an answer from the centre-half as to whether he wants to stay at his home town club.

City offered the former skipper a new deal last month, hoping the Academy graduate would extend his stay and help his boyhood club push for promotion back to the second tier.

And although the defender – widely regarded to be among the best in League One – is yet to confirm where his future lies, the contract offer from City is still stands if he does decide to stay.

Willis is not short of options and has been strongly linked for several months with a move to Kenilworth Road.

But the Hatters appear to have hot competition from Bristol City, whose manager Lee Johnson is believed to be an admirer of the player.

And a move to Ashton Gate might well appeal more to Willis after the Robins finished eighth in the Championship last season.

City appeared resigned to losing their star defender as clubs queue up to take him on a free transfer.

But asked for an update on the player’s situation, chief executive Dave Boddy wouldn't rule out the possibility of Willis staying.

“We haven’t had an answer," he said, speaking just over a week ago.

“The offer is still on the table but obviously as we sign players then the option probably disappears.

“We can’t wait for him so if we sign further players then the option might go away.

“I wouldn’t rule it out either way but the longer it goes on the less chance there is of it happening.”

He added: “Interestingly, he hasn’t signed for anyone else yet.

“We were led to believe that he had an offer somewhere else.”

City have already signed Kyle McFadzean from Burton Albion and head of recruitment Chris Badlan has said the club are not actively looking to recruit any more new centre-halves, happy to go with three senior centre-backs next season with player of the season Dom Hyam and new recruit Michael Rose also competing for the two available spots.

But it seems City have not closed the door on Willis with the club having set aside funds in the budget for a new contract, although that cash could be used to strengthen elsewhere.

Willis has been offered a tempting deal to stay at Coventry, for whom he has played over 200 games, but the player has long held ambitions to test himself in the Championship.

The player has plenty of options to consider with Sheffield Wednesday, Hull City and Derby County also understood to have been monitoring the defender.

       

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