Match Preview – Brighton v Coventry City

Coventry City – the team
To say Coventry City have had a pretty rubbish time of it over the course of the 21st century would be somewhat of an understatement. They were relegated from the Premier League in 2001, moved from Highfield Road to the Ricoh Arena in 2005, were 20 minutes away from administration in 2007 when their current hated owners SISU bought the club, relegated to League One in 2012, went into administration in 2013, spent the 2013-14 season groundsharing with Northampton Town after a dispute over the rent at the Ricoh, moved back to the Ricoh in 2014 and were relegated to League Two at the end of last season when they also lifted the Paint Pot or whatever it is called these days by beating Oxford United at Wembley. Oh, and they may yet find themselves homeless again come the end of the campaign as no new tenancy agreement is in place with the Ricoh’s new owners, Wasps.

Coventry – the place
Coventry was a major centre for the British car trade in the 20th century with both Rover and Jaguar making the city their home. It suffered extensive bomb damage at the hands of the Luftwaffe during World War II with fire bombing during the Coventry Blitz resulting in the destruction of three quarters of the cities industrial plants and its medieval cathedral. While German cities that were similarly destroyed by the RAF such as Hamburg and Dresden were rebuilt to their original style and plan, Coventry was turned into a concrete jungle with all the charm of Katie Hopkins.

Coventry – the people
Coventry’s most famous daughter was Lady Godiva who decided a good way to protest about the rate of tax was by getting naked and riding a horse through the city. The people of Coventry were ordered not to look but one cheeky beggar did and he went blind as a result, becoming known as Peeping Tom in the process. Unfortunately, topless woman riding horses though the streets appears to have died off as a form of protest in the 1200’s.

A good WeAreBrighton.com memory of Coventry at home
The Sky Blues last visited the Amex in 2011 which resulted in a rare Brighton win. An own goal and a neat finish gave the Albion a 2-1 victory. Future Albion loanee Gary “I don’t know what a forward pass is” Gardner scored Coventry’s goal that day but far more memorable than the football was the fact we met 90s football legend Steve Orgrizovic afterwards. This offered confirmation that his nose is bigger than Rohan Ince’s python.

A bad WeAreBrighton.com memory of Coventry at home
Our last FA Cup meeting came in the third round in 2006 at Withdean when Coventry triumphed 1-0. It must have been dull as I have absolutely no recollection of it at all. Hopefully this time around will be more memorable.

Played for both
The Micky Adams Rule which stipulates that the two-time Brighton manager can only sign players he has worked with before means there are a shed load of players who have played for both clubs. In no particular order, we have Andrew Whing, Colin Hawkins, Chris Birchall, Adam Virgo and Kevin Thornton who all played for Adams during his spell at the Ricoh and were then signed for his Withdean Reign of Terror in 2008.

Dangermen
Marc McNulty has 16 goals in 34 appearances so far this season and has attracted the interests of higher division clubs while Michael Doyle is the Sky Blues stand out midfielder.

Betting
The Albion’s struggles against teams from a lower division over the last 25 years are pretty well documented, but the one thing that does tend to guarantee is goals. Both teams to score is available at 39/29 and looks a solid bet.

Prediction
Chris Hughton may send out a reserve side, but our current second string squad would have been considered one of the best first choice teams in Albion history even as recently as five years ago. There’ll be £20m worth of strikers up front in Jurgen Locadia and Leonardo Ulloa, a fully fledged Dutch International in goal in Tim Krul and a backline that would be one of the best in the Championship. All that means we should be winning this game so we’re plumping for a 2-1 Albion win in a place in the quarter finals for the first time since 1986.