Coventry City Championship Odds: Will Sky Blues crack promotion?

Coventry City suffered heartbreak in the play-offs again last season as Dan Ballard rose high from a corner to score a last-gasp winner for Sunderland in extra time. Having risen from 17th to fifth under Frank Lampard, the Sky Blues are gearing up for their first full campaign under the former Chelsea boss, and expectations are high that they could challenge once more. 

Disclaimer - this season preview, where you can find the latest Coventry City Championship Odds, is written by a Coventry fan. But I’m a fairly-balanced realist, so let’s get stuck into it. 

It’s been a summer to take stock for the Sky Blues. After the emotional turbulence of last season, when legendary manager Mark Robins was sacked by Doug King in November, Lampard deserves huge credit for leading Cov back up to the table and into the top six. 

Although critics will point out he had a strong squad at his disposal, those same critics would have jumped on his back if Coventry had missed out on the play-offs, and he seems to be a great motivator for these players. Having led both Derby County and Coventry to the top six in his two seasons as a Championship manager, now the question is whether he can break that glass ceiling - and secure his first promotion. 

The feeling has been that Cov are the ‘best of the rest’ for the past few seasons - as in, they are the team that could challenge below the parachute payment clubs - but the gap is so large that they are likely going to have to win the play-offs sooner rather than later. 

Championship Odds

Transfer business

In: Kaine Kesler-Hayden (£3.5m), Miguel Angel Brau (free), Carl Rushworth (loan).

Out: Luis Binks (£2.5m), Jamie Paterson, Jack Burroughs, Fabio Tavares, Ryan Howley (all free).

It’s been quiet on the arrivals front for Coventry so far, but you have to feel that their main work is yet to be done. They’ve bagged around £3.5m thanks to Viktor Gyokeres’ big-money move to Arsenal, while Luis Binks has also generated a bit of income and room to manouvere in terms of the wage bill. 

Added to that, right-back Milan van Ewijk continues to be linked with a move to Europe after two years at the club and would fetch a sizable fee towards the £10m mark. If he goes, expect some big signings to come in, although his replacement has already been signed, with Kaine Kesler-Hayden coming in on a permanent deal from Aston Villa having won Preston’s Player of the Season award on loan last term. 

Miguel Angel Brau joins on a free as a left-back option while Carl Rushworth was a permanent transfer target, but arrives on a loan deal to compete with Oliver Dovin when he returns from his ACL injury. 

A bid has been rejected by Hull City for 21-year-old centre-back Charlie Hughes in the region of £7m, so there is some money to be spent and defensive cover is also needed. Norman Bassette could head out on loan while neither Ellis Simms or Brandon Thomas-Asante have looked convincing at the CBS Arena - so some outgoings in that area could give Lampard a chance to pull in his own strikers. 

Quiet so far, but with three weeks to go we can expect some more movement before the window closes. 

Key Player: Jack Rudoni

An easy one. Jack Rudoni was utterly superb last season for the Sky Blues and given he is only one year into a four-year contract, we can expect him to stay at the club. He got 10 goals and 12 assists in 45 appearances last season and came on massively under Lampard. 

Chelsea’s record goalscorer has an eye for a midfielder, and the runs Rudoni made into the box last season were Lampard-esque. Although, and I’m not for a minute saying he’s better than Frank was, Rudoni used his height to score plenty of headers last season - in fact, cross-loving Coventry scored more headed goals than any other team in Europe. 

He should kick on again in the number 10 role he has made his own, and if he can exceed those 22 goal contributions he got last term, Coventry will be flying. 

Prediction: 5th

Feels like a sensible pick to back Coventry to get in the play-offs again, right? Their last three Championship finishes read fifth, ninth, fifth - and with the club now on a more stable footing that at the start of this run, they should be able to compete again. 

Lampard led them to nine wins out of 10 at one point last season and although that won’t be repeated, perhaps they can avoid the miserable starts that have hampered their progress in each of the last three campaigns. The drop to ninth can be explained by their run to the FA Cup semi-final where all their energy was sapped by that penalty-shootout loss to Manchester United. 

Football Odds

Without that cup run, they could have made the play-offs again, but ultimately they should be knocking on the door. With a front three of Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, Haji Wright and Ephron Mason-Clark, supported by Rudoni, they should score enough goals - they just need to tighten up at the back to improve on last season’s tally of 69 points. 

I feel as though 75 points will be needed to make the top six this time around due to the strength of the division, but with Rushworth, KKH and potentially another big centre-back signing coming through the door, I think they can hit that tally. I’ll back another fifth-placed finish in the Championship, but the thought of another play-off campaign already makes me feel sick. 

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