Coventry City comment from CoventryLive as Sky Blues reporter Andy Turner takes a look at Mark Robins’ transfer strategy this summer
Coventry City’s summer recruitment drive has been painfully slow at times, and certainly the subject of some frustration for manager Mark Robins.
But the big positive about the five new signings so far (soon to be six when Burnley’s Bobby Thomas is officially announced) is that they all appear to be smart moves for players who perfectly fit the Sky Blues’ development model.
So far they have all been a good age – in their early to mid 20s – many with a good pedigree in terms of their upbringing at Premier League clubs, and all having the potential to grow under the expert coaching on offer at Ryton.
City have a proven track record in developing players – some tossed aside like Callum O’Hare when he left Aston Villa and now a significant asset, others like Gus Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres costing a million here or there and now either worth or have brought in huge sums.
They are part of a long line of players who have improved under the considered eye of Robins’ coaching guru Adi Viveash and Dennis Lawrence – the likes of Ben Sheaf and a host of loan players who have come and gone but, crucially, left far better than when they arrived.
City have provided a brilliant stepping stone for players like Ian Maatsen and Callum Doyle, to name just two, who flourished during their time at the club. Others, like Luke McNally and Brooke Norton-Cuffy, we hope will return to continue their journey.
Robins is trying to move away from too many loan signings to ensure that Coventry get more of their own players whom they can improve, knowing full well that they have the potential to be saleable assets in the future. In an ideal world, of course, they’d grow with the club, help it get promoted and stay the distance rather than be cashed in on. But, as we have already seen with Gyokeres this summer, we don’t live in a perfect world and club’s like Coventry will always be vulnerable to the advances of higher placed outfits.
In the meantime, it’s now the turn of Ellis Simms, Joel Latibeaudiere, Jay Dasilva, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, Brad Collins and, soon to be added to the in-coming list, Thomas.
The fact that City are investing in many of the above players by paying decent fees shows real intent, with Robins clearly excited about a bright future for them and the team.
A manager that prides himself and his coaches on developing and improving players, he said: “We have had lots and lots of players who have come through and always improved. The work that they get is phenomenal and long may that continue. We may take a couple of loans this time but we’re trying to bring our own players in and the supporters should look forward to it because it really is exciting.”
