FORMER Coventry City player and manager Gary McAllister would love to see the Sky Blues back in the Premier League.
McAllister scored 26 goals in 140 appearances during his first spell with the club from 1996 to 2000.
He later returned to the Sky Blues as player-manager in April 2002, making a further 60 appearances, scoring 12 goals, before resigning as boss in January 2004.
And the former Scotland international expressed his delight at the club’s revival in recent seasons and would love to see the Sky Blues back in England’s top flight.
Speaking to OLBG, McAllister said: “I’ve got fond memories of four seasons at Coventry City with Gordon [Strachan], initially signing for Ron Atkinson.
“It’s a great club. Great support. Really local support. After all the troubles, the ground sharing and moving away and then getting back to the present day ground and new people involved looking after the finances, it’s just great to see that they’ve built on that.
“It’d be brilliant to see them back in the Premier League. They have such a rich history of beating all the odds and staying in that league for so long. It’d just be great to see them back.
“I was player-manager for a short period and it was very close not only to administration, it was very close to liquidation.
“I knew how far it had fallen. It’s just great to see them back up. It’s a one club city and it’s a very proud club.”
McAllister also reflected on current Coventry owner Doug King’s decision to replace former boss Mark Robins with Frank Lampard.
And McAllister hopes Lampard can take Coventry back to the Premier League as champions this season.
McAllister added: “I thought it was a big, strong move from the chairman, Mr King.
“Mark Robins was doing really, really well and keeping them very competitive.
“But Doug King just thought, well, he couldn’t quite get us out of this division. It looks as if Frank’s come in and it looks a good fit.
“Frank looks extremely happy. Whenever you see them popping up on the TV, he has a good rapport with the fans, the fans are loving what they’re seeing on the pitch, and with their style of play it’d be great to see them getting back up, and not going back up via play-offs.
“Just going back up as champions. It would be great for the club because they’ve been through a really, really tough time.”
