Why have Coventry City lost so many games this season?
It is thought that the Sky Blues have failed to recover from last season’s defeat at Wembley – Image via @Coventry_City.
Coventry City have become the most recent example of a Championship team that went so near to securing that all-important promotion to the Premier League, yet fell at the last hurdle, and are now so far away from the promise land.
The Sky Blues scraped a goalless 0-0 draw on Saturday against Stoke at the Coventry Building Society (CBS) Arena, which left them without a win from their last six matches.
Speaking in his post-match press conference at the weekend, manager Mark Robins remained optimistic about the situation, saying: “I’m sure we’re going to beat somebody really heavily soon.“
The ‘Sky Blue Army’ lifted the roof off Wembley during last season’s Play-Off Semi-Final First-Leg vs Middlesborough - Video via Noah McIlroy (@NsmUnited).
“We create enough, we’re working hard enough, we’re showing enough in terms of our creativity, but we’re just not managing to take those chances,” Robins added.
Despite Robins’ positive mindset, his side sit 20th in the league table, 10 points away from the play-off places, and only five points clear of Rotherham United in the relegation zone.
What’s made it worse for many Sky Blues fans though, is that the club reached the Play-Off Final last season, and despite losing in brutal fashion on penalties versus Luton Town at Wembley, there was hope after strong investment in the summer that they could bounce back and go again.
A graphic illustrating the number of signings Coventry City made during the 2023 summer transfer window, as well as the individual and total transfer fees spent (in Euros) – Via Football Transfers.
In particular, they attempted to replace Viktor Gyökeres with two strikers - Ellis Simms and Haji Wright.
Simms was deemed by many as the most promising of the two, given his superb form for Sunderland in the Championship last season, therefore being ‘Championship-proven’.
Simms scored seven goals in seventeen appearances during his loan from Everton, which was the reason why the Toffees ended up recalling him in January.
For Coventry though, the 22-year-old has only managed to score two goals in the same amount of appearances he made at Sunderland, both of which came in one game.
Ellis Simms (left) and Haji Wright (right) have both been criticised for their lack of goals so far this season – Image edit via Noah McIlroy (@NsmUnited).
Haji Wright hasn’t managed to live up to the hype either, which was certainly there after scoring 16 goals for Turkish side Antalyaspor last season and one goal in the World Cup for USA.
The American has managed five goal contributions in sixteen appearances thus far, with many more chances that he should be converting squandered.
What hasn’t helped proceedings either is that Gyökeres, who was sold for £20.5 million to Sporting Lisbon in the summer, has been playing incredible – scoring 12 goals and assisting another four in sixteen matches across all competitions, averaging a goal contribution every 96 minutes for the Portuguese giants.
Gyökeres will likely go down as one of Coventry City’s best ever centre-forwards – Image via Noah McIlroy (@NsmUnited – Twitter/X).
Not to mention that the 25-year-old scored 21 goals in 46 Championship games for the Sky Blues last year, whilst also managing to get 10 assists, serving as a painful reminder of what they used to have up front every week.
Another star that Coventry failed to replace is Gustavo Hamer, who was sold in the transfer window to Premier League side Sheffield United for £15 million.
Footage of Gustavo Hamer leaving the CBS Arena after watching Coventry City 0-0 Sunderland (26/08/23) – Video via Noah McIlroy (@NsmUnited).
The Brazil-born Dutchman had an equally remarkable season as Gyökeres, netting 11 times and creating another 10 in 45 appearances, scoring the only goals in both the Play-Off Semi-Final and Final against Middlesborough and Luton.
Hamer was the literal definition of a ‘big-game player’ for the Sky Blues last season – Image via Noah McIlroy (@NsmUnited – Twitter/X).
Yasin Ayari was seen as the most likely replacement for Hamer when he was signed on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion, but the 20-year-old is a much more attacking midfielder – unlike Hamer, who as a box-to-box could pass, dribble, tackle and shoot at a very high level.
These issues, which have culminated in Coventry’s lacklustre opening to this season, has led to some sections of the ‘Sky Blue Army’ suggesting a change of manager is needed for the tide to turn in the right direction.
However, Daniel Davis is a lifelong Sky Blues supporter, and said: “People who are calling for Robins to be sacked are not real supporters!“
Robins’ influence on the Sky Blues rivals that of the great Jimmy Hill – Image via Noah McIlroy (@NsmUnited – Twitter/X).
“Regardless of what’s happened this season, I fully believe he will be able to turn it around, and he deserves time after everything he’s done for us in the past,“ Daniel added.
It’s safe to say that the majority would agree with Daniel too, as the sentiment at the CBS Arena has not changed, with Coventry steadily improving for the majority of Robins' time in charge.
The 52-year-old has taken the Sky Blues to Wembley Stadium twice during his time as head coach, the first being an EFL/Checkatrade Trophy Final victory in April 2017 against Oxford United, and the second a thrilling 3-1 triumph against Exeter City one year later, which secured the club’s first promotion in 51 years.
Almost 50,000 Coventry supporters were in attendance for the 2018 League Two Play-Off Final – Image via Noah McIlroy (@NsmUnited).
Coventry City were confirmed League One Champions in 2020 under Robins as well, after the season was concluded on a 'points per game' basis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
All of this was achieved whilst managing off-field problems under the previous owners as well, such as the club having to play many of their home games at Birmingham City’s stadium, St. Andrews, under a groundshare.
Many believe that Robins at least deserves the opportunity to try and resolve his side’s current run of form.
After all, it’s thanks to his inspirational management that pride and passion was brought back to a famous old club that beforehand was heading nowhere – certainly not to Wembley Stadium three times!
A sea of sky blue was present at last year’s Play-Off Final – as always – Image via Noah McIlroy (@NsmUnited).