The Sky Blue decade: 2001

Year In Brief: 2001 began with City in a relegation battle. Nothing unusual about that but after years of playing Russian Roulette, this time there was no escape and the year ended with the Sky Blues in the Championship, deep in debt and under new management.

High Point: In a year of few positive highlights, a 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday in October took City (briefly) to the top of the table.

Low Point: Relegation at Villa Park obviously but most fans had feared the worse after an abject 3-1 home defeat by Everton in January which saw Gordon Strachan run the gauntlet of an angry crowd as he walked down the tunnel.

Brief Encounter: The only flicker of hope was provided by John Hartson, whose 12 Sky Blues appearances yielded 6 goals and brief hopes of avoiding the drop.

Quote Unquote: ‘For two years as a player he almost single handedly kept Coventry in the Premiership.

‘As a manager he gave 100% effort every day for this Club,’ was Bryan Richardson’s tribute after parting company with Gordon Strachan.