Sky Blues reporter Andy Turner analyzes some of the key talking points from the 2-1 loss at West Bromwich Albion in this Coventry City match analysis from Coventry Live.
Sky Blues reporter Andy Turner analyzes some of the key talking points from the 2-1 loss at West Bromwich Albion in this Coventry City match analysis from Coventry Live.
Coventry City’s chances of making the playoffs were severely damaged as they lost 2-1 to West Bromwich Albion, who tightened their hold on the Championship play-off spots.
In a commanding first half at The Hawthorns, goals from Grady Diangana and Mikey Johnston gave the Baggies a comfortable lead just beyond the half-hour mark. With over 20 minutes remaining, Haji Wright converted the penalty after Kasey Palmer was tripped in the area by Cedric Kipre, giving the Sky Blues and their nearly 2,000 traveling supporters hope. The team then came out swinging after the interval.
However, the guests wasted the opportunities that presented themselves and returned home empty-handed for the second straight Friday. These are a few of the game’s most important talking points.
Create or destroy time
Coventry City have hit a crucial point of their season, with the next few games set to determine whether they have still got enough about them to stay in the play-off race or fall short. Undoubtedly, some fans have already given up on the Sky Blues after consecutive losses to two of their competitors for promotion. After their defeat at West Brom, City is now eight points behind fifth-place Albion, who appear to have the depth to sustain their challenge for a top-six finish, and four points behind sixth-place Hull heading into this Saturday’s games. On the other side, Mark Robins’ team is overworked because of three key players who are injured.
The manager acknowledges that his team is a “match for anyone” in the division with everyone healthy. However, the terrible truth is that time is running out and he doesn’t have that luxury.
Doug’s lesson
Although many, including Robins, will have been upset that the team didn’t bolster itself more during the January transfer window to better withstand the demands of the second half of the season, the scenario is not totally unforeseeable. Since joining the team, Victor Torp has mostly been a huge success, adjusting to the level fast and blending in with the group in an amazing way. Meanwhile, the ‘loan back’ insistence of Peterborough following the purchase of Ephron Mason-Clark was a real disappointment, particularly in light of the loss of Tatsu Sakamoto for the remainder of the season. If you leave yourself short, there’s always the danger that it will come back to bite you on the backside, which is exactly what’s happened. And that has to be a lesson to Doug King for future windows, particularly January, when there’s an opportunity to take stock and add accordingly. It’s never as easy as that, of course, and gone are City’s days of drafting in merely to make up the numbers. Whoever they sign, has to be an improvement in quality and that’s not always easy to come by in the mid-term window.
In the end, City were actually really unlucky not to have got anything from the game, although they probably didn’t deserve to win it. They certainly had enough good chances in both halves to score from open play but it was one of those nights where they failed time and again to hit the target. They created 17 attempts, with just three requiring the goalkeeper’s intervention, while the hosts only had seven attempts, two of which hit the target and back of the net. Kasey Palmer, Josh Eccles and Ellis Simms passed up opportunities in the first 45 minutes, while Torp, Palmer and Simms, again, failed to capitalise from really good shooting positions in the second half.
From zero to hero
Simms will have gone from hero to zero in some fans’ eyes, following up his clinical hat-trick from Monday night with three or four wasted opportunities four days later. The work-rate, effort and determination is certainly there in the lad, but just when we all thought his confidence would be through the roof, his final touch let him down. He again linked up nicely with Palmer who put him through on a couple of occasions, showing that he can make the runs and knows where to move, but just lacks that little bit of finesse and quality, particularly when striking the ball from just in or outside the box.
Coventry City’s chances of making the playoffs were severely damaged as they lost 2-1 to West Bromwich Albion, who tightened their hold on the Championship play-off spots.
In a commanding first half at The Hawthorns, goals from Grady Diangana and Mikey Johnston gave the Baggies a comfortable lead just beyond the half-hour mark. With over 20 minutes remaining, Haji Wright converted the penalty after Kasey Palmer was tripped in the area by Cedric Kipre, giving the Sky Blues and their nearly 2,000 traveling supporters hope. The team then came out swinging after the interval.
However, the guests wasted the opportunities that presented themselves and returned home empty-handed for the second straight Friday. These are a few of the game’s most important talking points.
Create or destroy time
Coventry City have hit a crucial point of their season, with the next few games set to determine whether they have still got enough about them to stay in the play-off race or fall short. Undoubtedly, some fans have already given up on the Sky Blues after consecutive losses to two of their competitors for promotion. After their defeat at West Brom, City is now eight points behind fifth-place Albion, who appear to have the depth to sustain their challenge for a top-six finish, and four points behind sixth-place Hull heading into this Saturday’s games. On the other side, Mark Robins’ team is overworked because of three key players who are injured.
The manager acknowledges that his team is a “match for anyone” in the division with everyone healthy. However, the terrible truth is that time is running out and he doesn’t have that luxury.
Doug’s lesson
Although many, including Robins, will have been upset that the team didn’t bolster itself more during the January transfer window to better withstand the demands of the second half of the season, the scenario is not totally unforeseeable. Since joining the team, Victor Torp has mostly been a huge success, adjusting to the level fast and blending in with the group in an amazing way. Meanwhile, the ‘loan back’ insistence of Peterborough following the purchase of Ephron Mason-Clark was a real disappointment, particularly in light of the loss of Tatsu Sakamoto for the remainder of the season. If you leave yourself short, there’s always the danger that it will come back to bite you on the backside, which is exactly what’s happened. And that has to be a lesson to Doug King for future windows, particularly January, when there’s an opportunity to take stock and add accordingly. It’s never as easy as that, of course, and gone are City’s days of drafting in merely to make up the numbers. Whoever they sign, has to be an improvement in quality and that’s not always easy to come by in the mid-term window.
In the end, City were actually really unlucky not to have got anything from the game, although they probably didn’t deserve to win it. They certainly had enough good chances in both halves to score from open play but it was one of those nights where they failed time and again to hit the target. They created 17 attempts, with just three requiring the goalkeeper’s intervention, while the hosts only had seven attempts, two of which hit the target and back of the net. Kasey Palmer, Josh Eccles and Ellis Simms passed up opportunities in the first 45 minutes, while Torp, Palmer and Simms, again, failed to capitalise from really good shooting positions in the second half.
From zero to hero
Simms will have gone from hero to zero in some fans’ eyes, following up his clinical hat-trick from Monday night with three or four wasted opportunities four days later. The work-rate, effort and determination is certainly there in the lad, but just when we all thought his confidence would be through the roof, his final touch let him down. He again linked up nicely with Palmer who put him through on a couple of occasions, showing that he can make the runs and knows where to move, but just lacks that little bit of finesse and quality, particularly when striking the ball from just in or outside the box.
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