Coventry City’s inconsistent season continued at the weekend with a hugely disappointing performance and result against bogey side Swansea City.
The Sky Blues were punished for a dreadful first half display at the CBS Arena as the South Wales side got at Mark Robins’ men from the first whistle, raced into a deserved two goal lead and saw out the win in a disjointed second half interrupted by a torrential rain storm with lightning, forcing the referee to pause play for the players’ safety.
The defeat – City’s second home loss in the Championship so far this term – leaves the club in 19th place in the division. Next up is a difficult trip to Elland Road to face a Leeds United side who are currently in sixth place, after collecting 11 points from their opening six matches. Here is a round-up of all things Sky Blues in Andy Turner’s weekly notebook.
Fighting talk from Josh
Josh Eccles has visibly risen in stature on the pitch, playing with impressive maturity since being handed the skipper’s armband in the absence of Ben Sheaf and ‘go-to’ understudy Joel Latibeaudiere. And the Cov kid midfielder spoke extremely well, and just like a captain when speaking to the media after Saturday’s disappointing result against Swansea.
Pulling no punches, the 24-year-old said: “We’ve got to look in the mirror and think ‘what are we going to do with ourselves this season’. Are we going to fight or not, and I’m hoping that the boys are going to think ‘we’re going to fight.”
Addressing the fact that City have just five points from their first six league games, he added: “I think we were expecting a lot better from the team we’ve got and the way we played in pre-season. We’ve had a few decent performances but we’ve still got loads and loads more levels to go and hoping they’re coming off sooner or later.”
As for the responsibility of the armband, he said: “For sure, being the captain against Spurs, a big game, a Premier League team, I was honoured, and then to carry that into this game is massive for me. I’m very proud of it, I’ve had to work hard for it and it’s just a nice feeling but I just want three points at the end of the day. Three points is more important at the moment.”
As for whether he make his voice heard in the dressing room after the weekend’s loss, Eccles said: “You just let the staff take over. You can do it on the pitch. I wore the armband but at the end of the day, there are 11 players on the pitch and everyone has got something to say, 11 captains.”
Looking ahead to Saturday’s trip to Leeds, he concluded: “We need to put it right. Last season we got a point at their place and three points here, so let’s get a good performance out there and three points.”
It’s another sell-out
Tickets for Coventry City’s away game against Leeds United have now sold-out. The Sky Blues travel to Elland Road for the Championship fixture on Saturday, (September 28) with a 3pm kick-off for the match.
City had a full allocation of 2,916 tickets for the fixture, the final ones of which were snapped up on Monday morning. No further tickets will be available and there will be no tickets available on the day.
Williams makes admission
Swansea boss Luke Williams admitted it was a classic game of two halves at the CBS Arena on Saturday where his team grabbed a two goal lead inside 32 minutes before the Sky Blues pulled one back and launched a second half fight-back, albeit failing to break down the visitors from South Wales.
“I think we did deserve the win, although the second half was far different,” he said, speaking at the 2-1 victory by the Swans. “But in the first half we were well value for the two goals we scored.”
Asked if he was surprised by Coventry’s first half showing, given how at it they’d been in their previous two games against Watford and Tottenham, he said: “I think that might be a bit harsh on the Swansea players because, potentially, the lads made it appear in that way. But on the pitch it can be confusing when the players move position slightly, at the right moment, and then play the correct pass at the right time and it can give the appearance that the opposition aren’t getting to grips with the game. Maybe they weren’t getting to grips with the game but that can give a perception that ‘are they not really at it today, Coventry?’
“I think potentially it was us, potentially was Coventry’s level a bit low? I don’t know either way. But we played Norwich and they’d had an incredible performance before us, and from what I can gather, another incredible performance today, but potentially they turned up at our place in a bad way after an international break. Or, potentially we were good.
“I think in a few more games we will start to understand whether we are good or if we are somewhat fortunate when we have hit opposition sides in a bad moment. So I don’t know yet, I am waiting to see my group to show me over ten or twelve games now to show what I am going to get.”
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