Fair play to Coventry City for their determination in getting back to the big time but Monday should be about Newcastle United securing another win on the road under Matthias Jaissle.
After the interminable agony of the extended international break, NUFC are finally back in action in the dreaded Monday night slot under the lights at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
I think you have to give a bit of credit to Coventry City. It took them 25 agonising years to drag themselves back to the Premier League.
For a long time, the Sky Blues were the absolute poster boys for how not to run a football club, a gamble that started with the sale of their former home at Highfield Road that spectacularly backfired when broadcasting revenues dried up following their relegation to the Championship.
This was because of the collapse of the ITV Digital deal, something that left clubs outside the top flight reeling. For Coventry City, it meant moving into the brand new Ricoh Arena on a highly vulnerable financial footing and the club soon plunged into administration, triggering a rapid freefall to the fourth tier that forced them into temporary groundshares in Northampton and Birmingham.
As fans of Newcastle United, we know exactly what that kind of toxic ownership feels like, having kicked off 15 soul-destroying seasons suffering from Mike Ashley’s penny pinching and severe lack of ambition.
Mike Ashley (via his Frasers Group empire) paid a reported £17m for the CBS Arena (formerly named Ricoh Arena) and other surrounding assets (hotel, casino, land etc) in November 2022. The current Coventry City ownership then later paid what is believed to be up to £40m for the CBS Arena and surrounding assets, though Ashley/Frasers Group did spend money on the stadium in the intervening time. Nonetheless, Mike Ashley banking a considerable profit, even if not anywhere close to how much fortune increased due to his ownership of Newcastle United.
When you look at what Coventry City fans went through in recent decades, you can’t help but feel a degree of sympathy. Frank Lampard has done a great job getting them back to the big time, and whilst they haven’t had the best of starts to this campaign, they’ll be buzzing after finally picking up their first win at the City Ground before the break.
But sympathy doesn’t buy three points in the Premier League. We aren’t travelling down there to admire their comeback story. We’re travelling down there to do a job, to build on that gritty win against Hull, to keep pushing up the table.
The international break has not been all bad and we are getting closer to full strength; Nico Gonzalez, Miley, Osula and Joelinton are all likely to be in the matchday squad, whilst Burn, Dedic and hopefully even Jacob Ramsey all very close.
I think Newcastle United will weather the inevitable early storm and dictate this game to bring all three points back to Tyneside.