We shall have to lift our performance on and off the field

We shall have to lift our performance on and off the field.”I have spoken to the managers in the playing and business area and they have assured me of their support, as have my fellow directors. There are big improvements to be made and I am sure that with all of us working together we can achieve them.”After spending 34 years in the top flight, Coventry have struggled to adjust to life in the First Division and have failed to mount a sustained challenge for promotion. Gordon Strachan was sacked in September after five years in charge and replaced by the former Swedish international Roland Nilsson, with Jim Smith named as his assistant earlier this month.One of the club’s former players Keith Houchen, who is still revered by City fans for his diving header in the 1987 FA Cup final victory against Tottenham, went back to Highfield Road for the third-round tie against the same opponents two weeks ago and was shocked at the degree of hostility displayed by the crowd towards the Coventry chairman.”The fans were wanting his resignation,” Houchen said. “But the problems at the club seemed to go much deeper than that. The team itself lacked passion and that seems to run throughout the club.

It’s as if the team, the fans and the board are all resigned to it all.”Houchen also said Richardson was reluctant to give any credit to the 1987 team “He never made any effort to come and see us at all. And that was a strange way to treat the side that won the cup. I don’t know if he resents our success but I know every single picture of the cup-winning side has been removed from the stadium – it was the first thing I noticed.”. The Brentford chairman, Ron Noades, has offered to buy Loftus Road and move the Bees in to ground-share with their Second Division rivals Queens Park Rangers. “If the administrators accepted our offer of £10m, QPR would be our tenant,” Noades said. “And if they accepted the 50-50 offer we would joint-own Loftus Road and share the cost of the stadium.”Nottingham Forest have rejected approaches from Leicester City and Crystal Palace to take the striker Stern John on loan.The Trinidad and Tobago international is Forest’s leading scorer with 14 goals but will not be offered a new contract when his current deal expires at the end of the season.

Forest want to try to cash in on John now but are reluctant to let the 25-year-old leave on a loan deal.Bjorn Helge Riise, the younger brother of Liverpool’s John Arne, is set to have trials with Manchester City next week.The 18-year-old midfielder, currently playing for the Norwegian First Division side Aalesund, wants to leave when his contract runs out in November. His agent and mother, Berit Riise, said: “I’ve heard a lot of positive things about their manager, Kevin Keegan.”We don’t want to speculate on whether Bjorn Helge has the possibility of getting a contract from City after his trial His time with the club is likely to open up several doors. There have been a lot of clubs in England who have asked about him.”The Chesterfield Football Supporters Society are hoping that off-the-field issues can finally be put to one side. The club came out of administration earlier this week with the CFSS assuming control of the troubled Second Division outfit.”If we’re able to stay in the Second Division after all that’s happened it would be a magnificent achievement,” said the CFSS spokesman, Geoff Mitchell. “I don’t think everything has affected things too much but it will be nice to be able to fully concentrate on the football for a change.”Neil Roberts could be on his way out of Wigan after the Latics manager, Paul Jewell, admitted he would not stand in the way of the young striker.The Welshman joined Hull on a month’s loan and Jewell said: “Neil needs to play first-team football but he’s down the pecking order here. Hull are interested in him, and a permanent deal could be done.”The Kidderminister defender Parfait Medou-Otye, has been forced to retire on medical grounds.

The 25-year-old Medou-Otye has been diagnosed as suffering from a Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy – a rare heart condition.Torquay are in talks with on-loan Reuben Hazell of Tranmere over a permanent deal.The Leyton Orient manager, Paul Brush, has agreed to extend the winger Neil Gough’s loan spell at Chelmsford City for a second month.. Dave Jones admitted that Barnsley deserved their 1-0 victory over his Wolverhampton Wanderers side at Oakwell on Tuesday night. It wasn’t our day and the ball didn’t roll for us.”West Bromwich Albion were the main beneficiaries as they moved up to third place with a 1-0 victory over Birmingham City at The Hawthorns. Their striker Jason Roberts scored the all-important goal in the 43rd minute as the Baggies celebrated Gary Megson’s 100th game in charge with a deserved victory.Megson felt his side should have won more convincingly and said: “Jason Roberts had four one-on-one situations with the Birmingham keeper and he only managed to get one goal. On a luckier day we would certainly have found the net more often than we did.”Their fellow promotion challengers Crystal Palace suffered a 3-1 defeat at home to Coventry City.