 They performed poorly, however, and were dragged into yet another final-day relegation battle, being saved when Manchester City played out a 2–2 draw with Liverpool without attempting to win, under the false belief that this would keep them up.Coventry continued to spend money on players during the summer of 1996, breaking their transfer record again with the purchase of Gary McAllister from Leeds for £3 million.They suffered a poor start to the campaign though, and with Atkinson failing to bring success he was moved to the Director of Football role, handing over to his designated-successor, Strachan.