Sorrowful: The Conventry City head coach has confirmed the death of his all-time favorite player
Even with star players Viktor Gyokeres and Gus Hamer leaving in the summer, the Championship play-off finalists from the previous season started the 2023–24 season with optimism.
However, in 14 league games, Mark Robins’ team has only won three times.
McFadzean told BBC CWR, “We just need to stick together and get through this.”
It’s the small things that require improvement. We’re playing much better, in my opinion, and getting lots of opportunities. We ought to be disappointed as a result.
“But as a team, we also need to play better defense. Win more games if you maintain more spotless sheets.”
Sky Blues 2023–2024 league objectives
Number five: Matt Godden3: Personal Objectives
2: Ellis Simms and Haji Wright1: Josh Eccles, Yasin Ayari, Joel Latibeaudiere, Milan van Ewijk, and Kyle McFadzean
The larger issue is goals, as the Sky Blues have allowed just two goals in their last five games and none at all in their previous three, all of which they have lost—against Bristol City, Rotherham United, and West Bromwich Albion on Monday.
Moreover, three of their 17 goals have come from own goals, making them City’s second-highest scorer behind Matt Godden, who has five goals.
“Rotherham was not up to par,” McFadzean said. “In the second half, we were awful.
“But really we just need to take our chances when we’re on top and we’ve just given too many sloppy goals away.”
Gyokeres, how much are they missing?
There have been comparisons to the previous year, when Gyokeres’ goals and Hamer’s remarkable late-season form helped Coventry rise from the bottom of the division to the Championship play-off final.
However, when the ideal return to the top flight did not materialize, both players moved on for large sums of money: Gyokeres to Sporting Lisbon and Hamer to Sheffield United following the start of the new season.
With 10 goals in 14 games this season for both club and country, Gyokeres has continued to show off his excellent scoring ability.
Given that Coventry owner Doug King stated last week’s BBC CWR Fans Forum that the Swedish striker has a sell-on clause, that could be good news for the Sky Blues in the long run.
The Sky Blues were only now starting to get back on track after a delayed start due to issues with the CBS Arena field at this time last season. Moreover, Gyokeres had only scored six of the 24 goals he had scored this campaign.
Saturday sees City travel to Deepdale, Preston’s notorious ground. Despite finishing 20th in the standings, City is just eight points out of a play-off spot in the Championship, which is always very competitive.
Early in October, Haji Wright celebrates scoring a goal for Coventry City against Blackburn Rovers.
Haji Wright has scored two goals for Coventry City, both of which have led to wins.
After agreeing to a new contract, Godden, who missed three months of the previous season when he scored eight goals, has six this time around across all competitions; however, only one of those goals was with a winning squad.
Furthermore, despite the fact that Ellis Simms, a former player for Everton and Sunderland, and Haji Wright, a club record £7.7 million signing, City’s two seven-figure replacements for Gyokeres, have each only scored twice, all four goals came in winning causes.
Just when Coventry’s season appeared to be turning around, the team defeated Blackburn 1-0 at home in early October, and then defeated Middlesbrough 3-0 in August. Simms scored twice in the team’s 3-1 victory at QPR, and Wright scored in both of Coventry’s other two victories this season.
Wright did miss two opportunities on Monday, the most important one coming with just the goalkeeper to beat and the team only down 1-0. However, the fans cheered his name right away, demonstrating their unwavering support for the USA international. According to McFadzean, all he needs to do is gain some confidence.
“Haji would score that all day long in training,” he stated. “He just needs faith in himself. He’ll take off once his confidence soars.
All we need to do is improve a little bit. We also intend to. We’ll overcome this.”
