‘Optimism Ahead Of The Opener’ – The Word On Coventry City
- Leicester City welcome Coventry City to King Power Stadium on Sunday afternoon
- The 2023/24 Championship fixture has a 12pm BST kick-off
- Andy Turner from Coventry Live previewed the match
- The journalist stated there is optimism within the Sky Blues’ fanbase
The new Championship season dawns for the Foxes this weekend, who face local rivals Coventry at King Power Stadium, and reporter Turner has given an insight into the mood of the Sky Blues, stating that there is belief, following play-off heartbreak at Wembley last season.
“Coventry fans are, rightfully, excited about the upcoming season,” the journalist opened with. “There’s been a summer re-build with quite a few changes, and they’ve lost a lot of players. Twelve have left and nine have come in.
“There’s still some work to do in terms of recruitment, and it’s been happening quite late in the summer – probably later than the manager would’ve hoped.
“We only had two new players involved in our pre-season tour; a time that the manager wants to get to know his new players, and even heading into this weekend, there’s a few who have only played around 35 minutes, and a couple who haven’t featured at all.”
Probably the most high-profile piece of transfer business from Sunday’s opponents has been the departure of Swedish striker Viktor Gyökeres, who netted 21 times during last year’s campaign.
But despite losing their star man up front, the Coventry Live reporter claims there is belief in the team, who are funded by an owner keen to repeat last season’s accomplishments with a happier outcome.
Turner added: “It is going to be a work in progress, but there is genuine excitement, because even though they’ve lost Gyökeres, who’s gone to Sporting Lisbon, we have still spent money, and a significant amount of money, for the first time in many years.
“The new owner is investing in the squad, and there is a belief that the club are trying to progress and become a side that can push for play-offs, and even hopefully promotion.
“Coventry are usually slow burners anyway, and they started last season very slowly, and were bottom of the league come mid-October, and we still finished at Wembley, so the team showed that they can recover.
“The fans are optimistic that they can have a good season and potentially push for the play-offs, whether the momentum is there or not, I’m not sure, as there could be seven, eight or even nine new players come Sunday.
“Any sort of momentum from the players that got them there last season could’ve dissipated I would’ve thought, but there’s certainly a feel good factor, and the new players will be aware of that, and will be hoping to drive the club forwards.”
Amid their outgoings, the Sky Blues have reinforced their ranks by bringing in an abundance of players, including American striker Haji Wright from Antalyaspor, who joins a new strike force with ex-Everton forward Ellis Simms, who signed for the Midlands club on a permanent deal this summer.
But Turner believes the biggest news so far is the fact that midfielder Gustavo Hamer is still wearing a Coventry shirt, sharing his admiration for the player, who is currently attracting interest from numerous clubs including Leeds United.
He continued: “They’ve just signed USA international, Wright, who is such an exciting player and he’s come over from Turkey – they paid a lot of money for him, over £7M, so there’s promise there. As well as Simms, who joined from Everton.
“If Hamer is still at the club, he’ll start and be the dangerman for sure. He is a cut-above in this division. He was labelled as one of the best midfielders in the Championship last season, and I have to agree.
“I haven’t seen a Coventry player in a long time who is as dynamic as he is. He can play every role in midfield and in any given game, he fulfils his role and operates all over the pitch.
“He can defend, he can pass, he can create goals and score goals. He’s a real talismanic figure and a joy to watch. He’s very influential for us so he’ll be the main man to watch.”
Sunday’s match will be the first M69 derby to take place in over a decade, and even though Coventry fans will head into the game as the underdog, Turner claims that there is no one else that they’d rather face in the opener.
“Being a local rival, it’ll add spice to the game for sure,” the reporter continued. “Coventry have lacked a real rivalry for quite some time, I don’t think they’ve played at Leicester for 11 years. They don’t have a good record at Leicester, but it’s one that the fans were hoping for.
“It’s a dream fixture to start with for the Sky Blues, and they’ve sold out their allocation so the fans will be in fine voice, but it will be a tough game, and we know that.”