"Oh Marlon, he said yes," only to change his mind not so long after. "staggered," "dismayed," "betrayed." Just some of the words used by Coventry manager Andy Thorn to explain the whole sorry situation. "money grabbing [insert word of choice here]," "lying [insert word of choice here]," "greedy [insert word of choice here]." Just some of the phrases used by the fans of the club. For those that don't know, let's just take a look at everything from the start:
Thursday 29 July 2010
After serving an 18 month jail sentence for sexual assault, Marlon King is released from prison. His agent, Tony Finnagan, charged with the task of finding his client a new club. It would be difficult to find the disgraced striker a club willing to take him on, so the first port of call was to contact King's old mentor at Watford Aidy Boothroyd who, incidentally, had just been appointed manager of Coventry City. Sure enough, Boothroyd took the Jamaican international on trial, and then set about persuading the clubs board to thrash out a permanent deal for a player who was once worth £5m.
A brave decision by Boothroyd, particularly as he had only been in the hotseat for five minutes, and with a number of fans already sceptical regarding his managerial appointment, this decision pushed them over the edge. Many fans of the club - and plenty of non Coventry fans - questioned whether he should get a second chance at the game, after all sexual assault is a serious charge and why should he walk back in to the sport, earning nearly £10,000 a week in the process. Some even went as far as not renewing/not buying a season ticket, refusing to help pay the wages of a sex attacker.
Monday 20 September 2010
There was never any doubts as to how much Boothroyd wanted King in his side leading the front line, all he had to do was persuade the board to get a contract drawn up. This was the man he wanted, a 20 goal a season striker that Coventry desperately needed if they were to make a promotion challenge. Leaving it late, Tony Finnagan issued an ultimatum, "sign my client or we are off elsewhere." On the Monday it was announced that King was now a Coventry player, signing a one year £9,500 per week deal, making him the clubs highest earner.
It wasn't the greatest of starts for the "20 goal a season striker," with his first strike not coming until early December when he scored from the penalty spot in a 1-0 win against Middlesbrough. Ironically, after that game the club went on a poor run of just two league wins in 20 games, taking the side from the top 6 to the bottom half of the table and culminated in the sacking of manager Aidy Boothroyd In mid March. The poor form of the team didn't stop King however, as he found his scoring boots in the new year, netting 5 goals in 7 games making him Coventry's main hitman. This was followed by a further 6 inside the space of two weeks and 4 games in April, firmly establishing himself as the clubs number one striker and goalscorer of the season.
Thursday 28 April 2011
Shortly after King's rich vein of goalscoring form - coupled with some impressive performances and results on the pitch - caretaker manager Andy Thorn was appointed as the new permanent manager of the club. His first action, to offer the three [soon to be] out of contract stars new deals. With it, he also set a deadline for their answer.
Friday 3 June 2011
After weeks of speculation, Marlon King rings Andy Thorn and tells him that he will be signing a new deal with the club, as soon as he gets back off holiday. The club then announced the news to the tune of many happy fans, glad to see a natural goalscorer in a sky blue shirt for the following season. Not long after the announcement, Mr Finnagan issued a statement, denying that his client has made such a promise.
Saturday 4 June 2011
The Coventry board, along with Thorn, sought clarification, and supposedly got it. It was announced that King had been contacted and had given the club the assurance that he would be signing the new deal.
Friday 10 June 2011
Marlon King signs a three year deal with Birmingham City.
It has come out since, that Andy Thorn heard King was talking to Birmingham City just 24 hours after making the original promise that he would be staying at Coventry. Marlon King’s side says that Coventry’s offer was never put in writing, that he verbally agreed the deal but asked for the club to send it through to Finnagan so that he could get it signed. Allegedly the contract never turned up, so with just the one official deal (Birmingham’s offer) on the table, he made the decision to sign it while he could, and not wait around for the Coventry offer to materialise. He says that he wish it could have been Coventry’s offer that he signed, but as it wasn’t actually there, he signed the one from their close rivals. Poor show if you ask me.
I think if you asked the majority of Coventry fans at the end of the season, they would have said that they expected King to be off once his contract was up, I really don’t think many expected him to stay. But when it came out that he said he was staying, it was a relief, and it raised hopes for the new season. That is why it was such a blow and so upsetting when he eventually joined the blues from up the road. If it was never announced that he was sticking around in the first place, then I don’t think many would have been massively bothered about the move, and I expect he would still have got a good reception from the fans upon returning. Now however, I don’t think the fans will be so accepting of him back at the Ricoh.
Am I upset that he left? A little.
Do I blame him for leaving? No, at the end of the day he took the opportunity of joining a club with better prospects than Coventry, and he will be earning more money in the process.
Am I upset the way that he left? Most definitely. A poor showing from the player going back on his word.
Will I boo him when he returns? No, I see no point.
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