The Lower League Week – Michael Knighton’s awful poetry

Coventry’s Serious Successes

Coventry fans have a message for the rest

While things have been poor off the pitch, on the pitch it’s been an excellent week for Coventry.

Though it’s not quite as shocking as the 5-4 victory over Bristol City last week, Coventry went 3-0 up by half time for the second time in seven days. The uncontested nature of the first half continued after the break, when Kevin Feely stumbled over the ball, which moved about half a foot away from his feet, allowing Leon Clarke to race through and complete the scoring.

While it’s an impressive week for Coventry, Carlisle’s league start has been unbelievably poor, as clearly audible booing when the second goal went in makes clear. In their three games, they’ve lost by four goals to Leyton Orient, Bradford and Coventry… even though they have knocked Blackburn out of the League Cup.

In Lee Miller, Carlisle have an outstanding centre forward, and a few more talented players, Liam Noble and Matty Robson amongst them. They’re not as inept as their results suggest.

Carlisle had to make cuts during the summer, reducing the budget from £4m to £3.5m. Abbott’s understanding of finances may be what’s keeping him in the job. Managing Director John Nixon had previously said that Abbott “has a greater understanding of the money side of football, and the budgeting side, than any of the previous managers I’ve worked with at this club since 2006.”

He’ll need to start turning results around soon, regardless of how well he balances the accounts.

It Could Be Worse…

Although Carlisle fans aren’t the happiest at the moment, things could be much worse. A bit of media spotlight was focused this week on their former chairman Michael Knighton, the egomaniacal and financially incompetent boogeyman that just about every Football League team seems to have an equivalent of in their semi-recent past.

For those who aren’t aware, in 1997-98 Knighton sacked promotion winning manager Mervyn Day six games into the season and appointed himself as manager. The side were relegated, sold several key players for knock-down fees, and were fourth from bottom of the Football League in December of the following year when Knighton stepped aside as manager - this was the year Carlisle needed Jimmy Glass to keep them up.

Around this time, he tried to avoid paying money his companies owed in taxes, probably ran the club while being disqualified from acting as a director, and almost sold the club to a barman in an Indian restaurant, who at the time was living in an old folks home.

Anyway, this…character is now publishing a book of his own poetry, including the following:

“Did you know that man came from a serpent’s tooth?

“Don’t look aghast I swear it’s the real gospel truth.

“I heard it first from Jacob’s Mother – the biblical Ruth.”

That’s from Selected Poems Volume I – Volume II is due out in May. You can also buy a book of his selected artworks in January if you’re highly committed to the concept of irony, or visit his blog,where recent topics have included ‘China Will Win the World Cup’ and ‘Take me to a Haven – So Long as it’s a Tax Haven!’

Sadly, I’m not making any of this up.

Shrewsbury v Swindon Town

At the weekend Shrewsbury players robbed Swindon defenders on three separate occasions on their way to a 2-0 victory, suggesting that Swindon’s fire sales have led to some sloppy attitudes among the playing squad.

It was caretaker manager Mark Cooper’s third league game in charge, winning one of the three – there seems to be a sense of anti-climax rather than enthusiasm or anger when he was appointed as permanent boss during the week.

Cooper’s record is strangely mixed. At Darlington, for example, the side that he led to FA Trophy success but lingered in the bottom half of the Conference until a late run of form, were reported to be one of the more expensive sides in the division. The bad form resumed at the beginning of next season, resulting in his sacking, the chairman withdrawing his backing and the death of that incarnation of Darlington.

His first job at Tamworth was similarly cup-focused, reaching the 3^rd round of the FA Cup in successive seasons with the Conference side, but only survived relegation because of Canvey Island’s resignation from the league. His record at Peterborough was plain bad, winning one from 13 in the Championship before being sacked.

However, he won the Conference North in his first season with Kettering Town, and had them challenging for promotion again in his third season, when he walked out for Peterborough. There does seem to be something to Cooper as a manager, but there may be a flaw in his management methods, which has generally prevented him from achieving the kind of consistency in the league which Swindon will need more than anything else.