Doug King may have to make emotional Coventry City decision ASAP: View
- Coventry City owner King faces a tough decision if results don’t improve due to a poor start in the Championship.
- Legendary manager Robins’ job is at risk because of underwhelming performances despite previous success.
- King’s ambitious project at Coventry is being hindered by a disappointing start, but potential changes loom.
Coventry City owner Doug King could be forced into making a big decision if results don’t improve after the international break. The Sky Blues currently sit 20th in the Championship, which is far from where they’d hope to be.
Since their return to the second tier in 2020, Coventry have slowly built up a squad capable of challenging for promotion back to the Premier League. Thanks to the guidance from legendary manager Mark Robins, the Sky Blues almost achieved this in 2023, but were beaten on penalties by Luton Town in the play-off final.
Having missed out on the play-offs last season, the Midlands club now sit near the bottom of the Championship after a tough start to the season. With poor performances yielding bad results, the once untouchable job of Robins could now be on the line if things don’t pick up soon.
Coventry’s summer window was steady
With a tight-knit squad that came so close to reaching the FA Cup final last season, the former Premier League side opted to go for quality over quantity in the summer. They complimented the excellent players that they already had with some extremely smart signings.
Jack Rudoni from relegated Huddersfield Town was a standout. The highly-rated English midfielder reportedly cost King’s club a hefty £5 million, as he looks likely to have a bright future ahead of him. Other proven Championship players, such as Brandon Thomas-Asante and former loanee Luis Binks came to the Coventry Building Society Arena. Hammarby goalkeeper Oliver Dovin was brought in to replace the ageing Ben Wilson, who had been a fantastic servant for the club. All in all, it was a solid window for Robins.
The notable departure of Callum O’Hare was, of course, a big blow for the Sky Blues, especially losing him for free. However, the signing of Rudoni almost seemed to be a like-for-like replacement for the Sheffield-bound midfielder.
They managed to retain pretty much all of their key players apart from O’Hare though. Haji Wright, Ellis Simms, Ben Sheaf, and Milan Van Ewijk all remained for the 2024/25 campaign, despite obvious interest in some of those from elsewhere. This makes the start of the season that Coventry has had even more shocking, as it can’t be excused as losing their key players.
Poor start hindering King’s ambitious project
Since taking over, King has been vocal about these next few years being a new era in the history of Coventry City. For that reason, he will be tearing his hair out to see the position his club finds itself in, nearly a quarter of the way through the season.
Having made the play-off final two seasons ago, and making the FA Cup semi-final last season, results on the pitch have been a massive step backwards this time around. Whilst there is time to turn things around between now and May, King will be glossing over all potential actions he could take to get the Sky Blues firing once again.
