Coventry City news from CoventryLive as Championship pundits make prediction about summer signing Ellis Simms
Radio Five Live pundits Sam Parkin and Michael Appleton have backed new Coventry City striker Ellis Simms to make a major impact in the Championship this season.
Simms was snapped up from Everton as the Sky Blues reinvested a chunk of the £20million fee they received for Viktor Gyokeres in the summer and Parkin – a regular scorer during his 15-year EFL career – hailed his arrival as “a brilliant pick-up.”
Speaking on BBC Sports Report, he said: “Having lost Gyokeres, who was arguably one of the best players in the division, they’ve really shown their intent with the signing of Ellis Simms – big money for him – and they’ve signed American international Haji Wright so they’ve got three brilliant options with Matty Godden still at the club as well.
“So I’d be encouraged for them to go well again because they’ve maintained that firepower – if you’ve got good options in attack you’ve got a hell of a chance of being successful.”
Appleton, whose brief spell as Blackpool boss last season included a 2-1 win at the CBS Arena, admitted he was surprised that Sean Dyche agreed to sell Simms rather than use him as a bargaining chip to land Gyokeres before the Swedish ace switched to Sporting Lisbon.
“I agree with Sam on the signing of Simms,” he said; “he’s one hell of a handful – a proper, proper handful in the Championship.
“I don’t know how much Sean and the people at Everton have seen him when he’s been out on loan. He had a fantastic spell at Blackpool and went up to Hearts and did ever so well. From what I’ve seen of him live and over a TV screen he just impresses me every time I see him.”
Parkin added: “Simms being able to leave Everton is a surprise to me, too. I saw him a lot in the PL2 for Everton – he was a stand-out then and he’s only got stronger and better as he’s started to play league football.
“I thought he was a revelation at times in the absence of Ross Stewart at Sunderland – he really carried the goalscoring burden for them – so I think that’s a brilliant pick-up for Coventry, I really do. I’m surprised they were able to get him.
“I think Gyokeres would have walked into most teams in the bottom half of the Premier League straight away – he was that good at the back end of last season. He’s got all the attributes to play in a one which is so important now, to have that mobility down the side – yes to bring people into play but that was what made him different, the power running in behind, and of course the finishing.
“I’m surprised that somebody in the Premier League didn’t try to take him, probably in the middle of last season but definitely this summer.”
The Five Live pair were also united in their praise of City’s managerial team.
“I’ve got utmost respect for Mark Robins and Adi Viveash,” said Parkin. “I played with Adi and I think they work really well as a partnership. Mark has dealt brilliantly with everything that’s gone on off the pitch and they’ve created a brilliant style of play.”
Former Oxford United manager Appleton agreed: “I can’t speak highly enough of Mark. I’ve said last year that if they did get promoted to the Premier League it would have been difficult to look at anyone else as manager of the year.
“Not only that, you’ve got to look back four or five years to the job that he’s done. I think it was either his second or third game in charge they beat us at Wembley in the League Trophy final. They actually got relegated that season but then obviously bounced back into League One straight away and they’ve just gone on an incredible run ever since.”
