Coventry City match analysis from CoventryLive as Sky Blues reporter Andy Turner looks at some of the big talking points from Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat by Sheffield Wednesday
Coventry City gifted Sheffield Wednesday a 93rd-minute winner to leave the Sky Blues with just one win in seven Championship matches.
Jack Rudoni gave Mark Robins’ men the lead in the first half, and they created enough to back up the midweek win over Blackburn with another three points.
But Djeidi Gassama levelled on the stroke of half-time and Shea Charles slotted home in stoppage time to secure a second win in three games for the Owls who climbed to 15th in the early-season table, while Coventry head into the international break a point above the drop zone.
Worst still, Tuesday night’s relief following the 3-0 win over Blackburn Rovers has quickly evaporated with a clear return of anxiety and uncertainty among fans with a penchant for pressing the panic button.
Not good enough
‘Not good enough,’ was the honest post-match assessment from Mark Robins about his players’ performance against Sheffield Wednesday.
Struggling for consistency, blowing hot one week and freezing cold the next, it was a case of two good, two bad when they more than deserved a point at Watford and almost caused Spurs an upset in the cup before falling flat against Swansea and dropping off a cliff at Leeds.
Back on it against Blackburn Rovers – who pitched up at the CBS in third place and unbeaten in the league – the Sky Blues took control with what should have been, and everyone thought, would be a big turning point with a comfortable 3-0 win. It was so important to back that up against the Owls in another game on home soil but a lack of intent at the sharp end, and basic individual errors at the other, conspired to deny them what looked to be heading for a point.
This sort of fluctuating form is reminiscent of the bad old days, the wilderness years when City slipped out of the Premier League and struggled to keep afloat in the Championship, ending up on a downward spiral. Back then it felt like almost a standing joke that the Sky Blues would win a game they weren’t necessarily expected to do well in and then fail miserably against one of the poorer teams in the division.
What on earth happened to going into games (Preston away, aside) full of optimism and being rewarded with a guaranteed performance at the very least?
Home discomfort
City’s home form is particularly worrying. Looking at the last eight Championship matches at the CBS Arena, including the last three from last season, the Sky Blues have managed to lose six of them. Now that is not good enough, especially in front of the biggest attendance of the season so far, with 28,671 (including almost 3,000 away) full of hope and expectation.
One of the most alarming and damning comments from Mark Robins’ post-match assessment of the performance was his suggestion of a lack of desire from his players.
“There has got to be a desire and an understanding of how to manage a game and we don’t seem to have it,” he said, clearly frustrated that he has a talented group that just aren’t functioning properly at the minute.
“We were just playing at our own pace, there was not enough tempo, not enough zip in the pass, really disappointing, all the emotions you can think of. There has to be a desire to do things, a desire to do things properly… This matters, we are just throwing away points and performances and it’s just not good enough.”
Star men need to step up
For some strange reason City’s star players are just not cutting it at the minute. The likes of Haji Wright and Ellis Simms scored 19 goals apiece last season, earning rave reviews from many an opposition manager who looked on with envy at the club’s fire power. Both, to be fair, had slow starts with Simms bagging just once in his first 24 Championship games, while Wright fared slightly better with six from the same period. With just seven between them at the halfway stage of the campaign, few would have foreseen the 38-goal partnership that followed. The obvious conclusion to that is that there’s no need to panic. Wright has three so far and Simms one (two if you include the cup). However, the one difference appears to be that neither look like they have the bit between the teeth right now. They cost a lot of money and with those price tags comes a heavy responsibility, but they showed last season that they were up to the task and it’s time that they came to the fore once more.
Struggling to acclimatise
One player who looks to have lost his way a little bit is exciting summer signing Ephron Mason-Clark. Whether that’s down to a lack of confidence or not is hard to tell, but going on Saturday’s display he looked like he is struggling with the level. He’s making a big step up, of course, and we should therefore cut the lad some slack. He was, to be fair, played on the right rather than his usual left-hand berth against the Owls, albeit he should be able to play on both flanks, as he did at his previous club when required.
It’s unfortunate that Tatsuhiro Sakamoto is injured at the minute, not least because the team are missing his attacking threat, but also because it would allow Mason-Clark to operate more as an impact player while he continues to acclimatise from stepping up from League One to the Championship.
Looking for a positive
Consistency is a clear issue at the minute but if there is one positive to take from the weekend’s disappointment, it is that Bobby Thomas looks back to near his best, having been one of the most ever present and impressive defenders from last season. And now he needs a settled partner alongside him. Liam Kitching’s form is fluctuating and needs to settle, the centre-half providing an impressive assist for Jack Rudoni’s goal and then 20 minutes later inexplicably heading sideways to Jamal Lowe to counter attack, resulting in the equaliser just before the break.
But he’s not the only one, and there are too many individual mistakes in the players right now. Ben Wilson should have got his position better for that goal, allowing himself to be beaten at his near post, while Milan van Ewijk played Ben Sheaf into trouble, who promptly lost possession to enable them to break for the winner which, to be fair, looked off-side. That’s probably the worst aspect of the defeat, the fact that City gifted Wednesday both of their goals.