Coventry City gives Steven Pressley the boot

Coventry City has sacked manager Steven Pressley after almost two years in charge of the Sky Blues.
Pressley’s assistant Neil MacFarlane and professional development coach Dave Hockaday, who arrived only three weeks ago, have been put in temporary charge.
Coventry has slipped into the League One relegation zone, having failed to win any of their last seven matches.
“It was very difficult from a personal and professional point of view,” said chief executive Steve Waggott.
“But results over recent weeks and months, and our precarious position in the league table, means that a change of direction at first team level is needed.”
Coventry City won 32, drew 30 and lost 38 of Steven Pressley’s 100 games in charge of the Sky Blues. He previously spent a season as a player at Highfield Road in 1994-95, having been signed for £630,000 by Phil Neal in 1994, scoring one goal in his 19 appearances – against Manchester United.
He began his playing career with Rangers, moved back north of the border to Dundee United in 1995, then in 1998 to Hearts, where he also had a short spell as caretaker manager. Joined Celtic in 2006 then had a spell in Denmark before ending his playing days at Falkirk, where he was assistant manager to Eddie May before being appointed boss in February 2010.
The final game of 41-year-old Pressley’s 100 in charge came at Bramall Lane on Saturday when, despite playing against 10 men for most of the game, City allowed Sheffield United to score twice in the final 11 minutes to earn a 2-2 draw.
The former Rangers, Dundee United, Hearts, Celtic and Scotland centre-half left Falkirk to take over at City in March 2013 following the resignation of Sky Blues predecessor Mark Robins to join Huddersfield.
Pressley was contractually tied to the Sky Blues until 2018, having signed an initial three-and-a-half-year deal before having that extended to a new four-year agreement in September 2014.
The new contract was signed in a mood of euphoria that followed City’s return to the Ricoh Arena, but that mood has changed in recent months – and home gates have fallen to below 7,000.
For the majority of his time in charge, Pressley was generally viewed by fans as a popular, engagingly frank character, who motivated his team well in adversity, but had to contend with the distracting backdrop of the club’s off-field woes.

-BBC

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