With Coventry City having been on an international break it has given us time to reflect on the summer transfer window, not to mention look at some of the issues both on and off the pitch.
We conducted a big survey in which we asked fans for their views on a variety of topics ranging from their thoughts on the business the club did this summer to who has been the standout signing. The absence of a new cental midfielder was a source of disappointment that appears to have taken the shine off the overall recruitment that the Sky Blues did across the course of the summer.
In all, Mark Robins added seven new faces to his squad which was heavily weighted at the top end of the pitch with two wingers in Ephron Mason-Clark and Raphael, two strikers in Brandon Thomas-Asante and Norman Bassette, and attacking midfielder Jack Rudoni. The other two recruits saw centre-back Luis Binks rejoin the club along with goalkeeper Oliver Dovin.
But when asked if the Sky Blues have a better squad thanks to their summer transfer decisions, there was a near equal split of 37 percent of the vote saying ‘yes’ and 37 percent saying ‘no,’ while just over 25 percent said they would have to wait and see until further into the season.
As for which summer signing will prove to be the best for City, Jack Rudoni came out on top with almost 25 percent of the vote, followed by teenage goal scorer Norman Bassette (22 percent) in second place and Luis Binks in third (19 percent). Raphael finished bottom with 0.6 percent, not surprising given that the Australian wide player has been out injured since early in the pre-season and yet to feature.
Asked in which position are City most vulnerable, a whopping 73 percent pointed to midfield, while the defence, where the side are arguably short of experience at centre-half and lacking cover and competition for Milan van Ewijk at right-back, saw 24 percent of the votes. Unsurprisingly, very few were concerned about the wings or up front.
Moving on to the summer departures, we asked supporters whether they thought it was the right decision to sanction a deadline day exit for Kasey Palmer. Again, the fans seem split on that one, with almost 50 percent saying they thought it was and 39 percent saying no. Just 11 percent said they’d have to wait and see.
As for whether City will live to regret not signing a new right-back, 49 percent said ‘yes,’ almost 18 percent said ‘no’ and nearly 33 percent said they would reserve judgement until later in the campaign.
The feeling on whether the club will regret not signing a dynamic central midfielder, however, was near unanimous with 87 percent of voters believing that to be the case, while almost four percent disagreed and nine percent said they’d have to see how things pan out.
On to this season’s expectations, which went through the roof before a ball was even kicked – such was the feel-good factor following pre-season – but has been largely recalibrated after one win, one draw and two defeats in the opening four league games, only 22 percent of those who voted believe City will make the play-offs, while 28 percent think they’ll just miss out and 42 percent believe their side are destined for a mid-table finish. At either end of the spectrum, just 2 percent think they can make automatic promotion and four percent reckon the team will finish in the bottom half
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