BBC Sportfootball

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Related BBC sites

Page last updated at 16:12 GMT, Thursday, 11 March 2010

Ask Steve Claridge

Steve Claridge
Claridge is a pundit for The Football League Show and Football Focus

Coventry City are making a late charge for the Championship play-offs after winning five of their last six matches.

This week I consider why things are coming together now for the Sky Blues after a difficult couple of years for the club.

I also take a look at the prospects of four young players in the Football League; Watford's on-loan midfielder Tom Cleverley, Blackpool midfielder Charlie Adam, Gillingham defender Josh Gowling and Rotherham striker Adam Le Fondre, as well as giving my views on the job John Still has done as manager of Dagenham & Redbridge.

If you have a question for me, you can submit it through Twitter at http://twitter.com/AskClaridge or use the form on the top right of the page.


My team, Coventry City, have gone under the radar recently but are now on the edge of the Championship play-off places and, after a few good results, I think it's only fair our manager Chris Coleman gets some credit, along with the chairman Ray Ranson. How do you rate them and what are your thoughts on the future of the club?
Chris Boote, England

I think people are starting to take notice of Coventry now. They are in the promotion frame and we have certainly been flagging them up a bit on the Football League Show in recent weeks.

Peterborough 0-1 Coventry

Peterborough 0-1 Coventry

It has taken Coleman and Ranson a while to get things right on the pitch but you can put their progress down to everyone at the club being patient when the manager took over at the start of 2008, when there were more important things to sort out than winning games of football; like sorting out a £40m debt for a start.

Everyone from the chairman to the fans deserves a pat on the back because they haven't been calling for Coleman's head and there has not been any panic in the boardroom. It just goes to show the value of having someone there who has been in football before - like Ranson, who has played the game.

Even when Coventry were struggling a bit over the past couple of years Ranson accepted it might take a while to turn things round on it. Those realistic expectations have allowed Coleman to steady the ship and take them where they are now - challenging for promotion.

I'm sure Coleman has been frustrated by the club's finances on a couple of occasions - he didn't get Sam Vokes when he wanted him on loan and Leon Best's move to Newcastle did not come at the best time from Coventry's point of view either.

But that's another reason why Coleman deserves credit for doing what he's done. After leaving Fulham, he didn't have much joy in Spain with Real Sociedad but he is doing very well at the Ricoh Arena and, even if they miss out on the play-offs this season, they are definitely heading in the right direction.

As a Manchester United fan, I'm interesting in what you make of Tom Cleverley, who we have loaned out to Watford. From what I've seen, he looks to be shaping up a great young player, but do you believe he will make it in the Premier League with United or be another of those players who never meets their potential?
David Ortiz, England

Watford midfielder Tom Cleverley
Cleverley has been in impressive form for Watford this season

Well, just because you don't make it at Manchester United doesn't mean to say you are not living up to your potential.

Cleverley might be one of those players that needs to go down to come back up but he certainly has got a real chance of making it at the top level. He helped Leicester get out of League One last season; I liked the look of him then and I still like the look of him now.

The problem with trying to come through the ranks at United is that they are million miles away from most other sides, so I think it's unfair to judge him as a player on the basis of whether he makes it there or not.

It is obviously going to be difficult for him to establish himself at United, because it would be for any young player, but he has done the right thing by going out on loan and he is getting some great experience.

In terms of whether he's a player who is going to make a decent career for himself then I'd say yes and, if you asked me whether he could go on and play in the Premier League, then I'd say yes to that too.

He's already laid the foundations for doing that because, by the age of 20, he has shown he can play at League One level and now in the Championship. He's got talent, no doubt about it. I like the way he applies himself and how he puts himself about in midfield, and he can play a bit too.

Blackpool's Charlie Adam must be one of the best players in the Championship. Although only a midfielder he is one of the division's top scorers and he has probably made just as many goal assists. Have you seen him play? Do you think there is much room for improvement? He was a Glasgow Rangers player before he moved to Bloomfield Road so he is used to the big time - do you think he is that he could eventually end up with a top Premier League side like Liverpool or Manchester United?
John, England

Blackpool midfielder Charlie Adam
Adam joined Blackpool permanently from Rangers for �500,000 last summer

Mentioning those two clubs might be stretching it a bit but Adam has certainly done well since moving to England, initially on loan, at the start of 2009, and yes he has scored 13 goals already this season.

I was surprised when he joined Blackpool because going there from Rangers is a significant drop in terms of the size of those two clubs, but it definitely showed he wants to play football which is a great trait to have.

And, overall, the Championship is a higher standard than the Scottish Premier League too. Outside of Rangers and Celtic, most of the other SPL sides would only be fair-to-middling in that division, no more than that.

Moving from Scotland to England can be quite a big change of scene and he has applied himself really well. I don't think playing in the top flight would be beyond him, and it might even happen with Blackpool.

I've only watched Charlie briefly this season but when I have caught glimpses of him he has looked very, very good. That whole Blackpool team have been like a breath of fresh air - statistically they are the most entertaining side in that division in terms of goals scored and conceded - and he has played a big part in the positive side of that.

What are your views on Josh Gowling, who is now at Gillingham. You wrote about him few years ago, but have your views changed now - and do you think Gills boss Mark Stimson is right to have benched him and some other key players over the last few games?
Zion, England

I remember writing my scouting report about Josh in 2007.

But I haven't seen him play for a while and I don't know whether the fact Gillingham's results have improved a bit since he was dropped at the start at February is a coincidence.

Gillingham defender Josh Gowling
Claridge played with Gowling when they were both at Bournemouth

As I said a couple of years ago, Josh has all the physical attributes needed to play at a higher level but it has not happened for him. Why is that? Well, from the time I spent playing with him, the only thing I would worry about is his attitude, and I say that not because it is particularly bad but because the game doesn't come particularly hard to him.

He's not one of those centre-halves that has to work at his game, which is why I made the comparison with Rio Ferdinand in my original piece. Josh has got good pace and he can jump, plus he's lean and he's quick.

But sometimes he might think the game is a little bit easier than it is and when you do that you get caught out. That is something he has got to address. If he does, he could get his career back on track.

Hi Steve, Do you think Rotherham's Adam Le Fondre is good enough for the Championship, or even the Premier League.
Ryan Evans, Rotherham

Let's be honest, Adam has done very very well to have scored 25 goals this season. Rotherham's Don Valley Stadium has got a bog of a pitch and is a horrible ground to play in, with big wide open spaces - like a wind tunnel.

Rotherham striker Adam Le Fondre
Le Fondre has passed the 20-goal mark in League Two for two seasons running

And I've liked what I've seen the couple of times I've seen him play, mainly because he is such a hard working player.

He scored a lot of goals last year for Rochdale too, but he is 23 now, and he needs to start making that step up. If Rotherham don't get promoted this year, he probably needs to find another way of playing in League One.

The Championship is a massive jump from where Adam is at the moment but if he keeps scoring goals then he will get his chance.

I think that John Still should get an achievement award for his work at Dagenham & Redbridge. Why aren't teams like the Daggers, who have the smallest budget in the Football League, given more credit?
Nick Murphy, England

I agree 100% with what Nick is saying, so he's preaching to the converted here. Some small clubs like Dagenham & Redbridge have to operate within tiny budgets and you have to understand that when you judge different managers.

Dagenham & Redbridge boss John Still
Still has to work with a tiny budget at League Two side Dagenham & Redbridge

I'm aware that, every year, John has to find four or five players from non-league football and it's a minor miracle that Dagenham are actually where they are in League Two.

He's worked under extremely difficult circumstances and the budget he has got is right at the bottom of the scale. He has to cover a lot of miles to find players in non-league and bring them in within that shoestring budget.

John did his time in non-league and he deserves the decent reputation he has in the lower divisions of the Football League. There is no real reason why people like him shouldn't get a chance to prove themselves higher up but they are seen as lower-league managers, which is crazy when you look at the merry-go-round at some of the bigger clubs where some people can have an absolute nightmare but someone else still employs them again a couple of months later.

Dagenham are in 10th place and still in with a shout of reaching the League Two play-offs this season but, even if they finish where they are now, then it has still been a wonderful season for them.


Steve Claridge is a BBC Football League pundit who played more than 800 matches for 15 clubs over the course of a 24-year playing career. He was talking to Chris Bevan.



Print Sponsor

Name
Your E-mail address
Country
Comments

The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide.



see also
Ask Steve Claridge
24 Feb 10 |  Football
Ask Steve Claridge
17 Feb 10 |  Football
Ask Steve Claridge
09 Feb 10 |  Football
Your chance to quiz Claridge
10 Aug 09 |  Football
Football league on the BBC
02 Aug 10 |  Football
BBC announces live football dates
01 Jul 09 |  Championship
BBC wins Football League contract
06 Nov 07 |  Football


related internet links:
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites