Chris Coleman became the 37th manager in Coventry City's proud history when he succeeded Iain Dowie in the Sky Blues' hot-seat in February 2008.

The 37-year-old Welshman arrives at the Ricoh Arena with an impressive CV having managed Fulham in the Premier League and more recently Spanish giants Real Sociedad.  

Born in Swansea on June 10, 1970, Coleman began a successful playing career as a trainee at Manchester City.

A central defender by trade, he joined hometown club Swansea in 1987, where he made his professional debut aged 17 and went on to make nearly 200 appearances.

A £275,000 move to Crystal Palace followed in 1991 and he immediately settled into life at Selhurst Park - and in the newly formed Premier League.

Nicknamed 'Cookie', he clocked up 143 appearances for the Eagles, scoring an impressive 16 goals and also making his international debut for Wales.

He joined then Premier League champions Blackburn in the summer of 1995 for £2.8 million.

Despite making a promising start to his career at Ewood Park, a troublesome Achilles injury continued to restrict his progress and after two years at the club, Coleman dropped down two divisions to link up with ambitious Fulham, backed by Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed, for £2 million.

He was immediately installed as club captain and led the Cottagers to promotion under Kevin Keegan in 1998/98 and he continued in the role under former French international Jean Tigana.

However, his professional career was brought to an abrupt end in January 2001, where he was involved in car crash which left him with a broken leg.

And despite making an unsuccessful comeback, he officially hung-up his boots in October 2002, aged just 32, having made 32 caps for Wales.

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Coleman the Manager

Upon his retirement, Coleman joined Fulham's coaching staff under Tigana and would later succeed the Frenchman, initial as caretaker manager in April 2003.

He successfully steered the Londoners out of trouble and as a result was assigned the role on a permanent basis a month later, becoming the youngest manager in Premier League history in the process.

After initially being tipped to struggle in his new role, he proved his doubters wrong in his first full season in charge by guiding Fulham to an impressive ninth place finish.

They finished in a respectable 13th in 2004/05 and then 12th in 2005/06, but the sale of several high profile players meant a struggle in 2006/07 was ominous.

Nevertheless, the Cottagers were still clear of the drop zone when Coleman was surprisingly sacked in April 2007 following a run of seven games without a win.

He surprisingly took over at newly relegated Spanish Second Division side Real Sociedad the following summer after being recommended to the Basque outfit by their former manager and fellow Welshman John Toshack.

But despite starting life in his new role well, a behind-the-scenes Presidential election continued to overshadow events on the field of play.

His future was immediately put in doubt when President Maria De la Pena resigned in November.

De la Pena played an influential role in bringing Coleman to San Sebastian after the club lost their first division status for the first time in 40 years.

After originally deciding to continue in his role under newly elected President Inaki Badiola, he resigned from his post on January 16, leaving Sociedad a respectable fifth in the second division, just two places outside the promotion places.

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