FORMER Sky Blues defender Cyrus Christie believes Tony Mowbray is the right manager to get the best out of the current crop of players and is hopeful his former club will return to the Championship this season.
The Sky Blues begin their League One campaign with a trip to Swindon Town this Saturday and Mowbray’s young side will be hoping for a repeat of last season’s positive start which saw them pick up ten points from their opening four matches.
There has been growing concerns with fans over a lack of incoming transfers in the build up to the new League One campaign.
But Christie has complete faith in the current boss to bring in the right calibre of players who can help the Sky Blues go one better than last season and cement themselves as a promotion-winning side.
“He’s got the pedigree,” Christie told the Observer. “He’s been a fantastic manager over the years and he really got the boys playing last year.
“I saw some of the results and I spoke to a few of the boys. They were saying that they were really buzzing off him, they liked his style of play and they have improved under him.
“Obviously they did go through a sticky patch last season and they didn’t quite make it into the play-offs in the end, but he has set the foundations there and he has improved the club over the previous seasons.
“He’s got the club to their highest finish in a number of years so now he’ll want to take them up the next step.
“There’s not too many players there now but I’m sure a manager like him will attract people to the club and hopefully they can mount a promotion push this season.”
There has been a lot of well-documented off-field problems at the Sky Blues since Christie left for Championship side Derby County after making 117 first team appearances for this home-town club.
On the eve of the new season, the future of the Academy remains in doubt with different sections of the City support pointing the finger of blame towards different people.
Christie understands their concerns but feels when it comes to Saturday afternoon, the fans must put their off-field views and differences to one side and back Mowbray and his team no matter what.
He added: “The fans have to all stick together and back the young lads and the boys that are there.
“I think sometimes they’ve got to keep their differences to one side with the hierarchy and keep pushing the boys on.
“Hopefully things will get better down there. With the young boys that they’ve got and the players coming through there are reasons to be excited and hopefully this year they can mount a promotion push.
“There is a great fan base there and it would mean a lot to the boys if they continue to back them to the hill and back.
“Hopefully the can keep pushing them and keep the negatives to one side – that will help them a lot.
“Everyone just needs to be patient now and keep backing the boys.
