Source: FOOTYMAD
Sky Blues captain aims for consistency
Carsley determined to avoid mid season dip in form. Coventry City's captain Lee Carsley has spoken of his determination to avoid the now traditional mid season dip in form and to maintain their form throughout the season, which hopefully will leave them in a comfortable position when the season draws to its conclusion. “I think we have been OK. I wouldn’t say we have set the division alight but we are still finding our feet as a team," said Carsley. “We have had a lot of new players come in and the gaffer has given us a lot of information to take on board which we are working on at the training ground, and hopefully the next ten games will be better than the last ten. “We are in a good position at the minute. We are not looking over our shoulder and worried about getting points to keep away from the bottom of the league, we are very much looking forward." “It is important we keep in touch with the top six. In the back of our minds, we know that, over the last few years, the next ten games have been poor. It is something I have been thinking about and certainly something that will be mentioned.” Carsley explained, “It is all about consistency. I said before a ball was kicked at the start of the season that the best team won’t win the league, it will be the most consistent team that wins and the most consistent teams that finish in the top six." “You will find the teams who have started like a house on fire usually fade away come Christmas and we have got to make sure we keep going.Then you have got teams like Preston, who have had a poor start and are suddenly picking up." “That’s what this league is like. You can be mid table one week and then win three games and you are right up there.” When Carsley rejoined Coventry City during the summer, he claimed he had unfinished business at the club. He was in the squad that was relegated from The Premier League in 2001. He was also part of the Birmingham team that won promotion from the Championship into the Premiership in 2009 and he want to be part of another successful team again. Carsley, who still lives in Birmingham and when he joined Coventry, he decided it was not worth moving house, said, “I am enjoying it so far. Obviously everyone wants to be in the Premier League and I am at a club that is trying to get there, but we have got to make sure we do enough to get there.” Carsley is the oldest player in the team and is one of just two players who has played in every league game so far this season, the other being Richard Keogh. He doesn't think he need to prove his quality or fitness to the younger players, but he has earned their respect for his leadership both on and off the field. “I’m enjoying the captaincy, which is something I have done throughout my career. I have been at clubs in the past where older players have come with big reputations and not done anything, so it is a case of if you talk a good game you have to still be able to do it and I think in the first ten games I have shown the lads I can still play at this level, and that’s important to me." “We break the season up into six game blocks here but I think you tend to have an idea of how the season is going to go after the first ten games and it is just a case of making sure we keep in touch.”
