Six points clear at the top of the Championship as we swing into January was more than any Coventry City fan would have expected when the seaason started back in August.
But observers of Frank Lampard’s side have gone from discussing what records they could break, to whether or not they should be looking over their shoulders.
Just two wins in their last eight games, a squad big on talent but short of depth has suffered through the intensity of December and early January.
Ipswich Town were 15 points behind Coventry in early December, that gap could close to just five if they win their game in hand.
Should Coventry be worried?
“This is a moment for Coventry to take stock and look at the overall picture,” Jobi McAnuff told the Sky Sports Essential EFL podcast. “Everyone at the football club would have taken this position at the turn of the year. Now it becomes about what they need to do to finish the job.
“Reinforcements in key areas could give the club a real boost and a sense of freshness at this stage of the season. They have to be smart and make sure anyone coming in genuinely enhances the group. I fully expect them to shake off this period and kick on in the second half of the season.”
There is little surprise that Ipswich – possessing undoubtedly the strongest squad in the league – have closed the gap during such an intense phase.
“Coventry had a regular, consistent starting eleven for a long stretch,” McAnuff added. “They then picked up a few injuries and had to navigate that, particularly in the forward areas. Haji Wright was missing and Brandon Thomas-Asante was missing.
“When you start playing this many games in quick succession, that squad depth gets tested. You look at the recent run of games and it has been tough, coming up against strong teams who were in good form themselves.”
‘It is about how you handle the blip’
Highlights of the Sky Bet Championship match between Birmingham and Coventry.
It is rare at any time not to see a team chasing promotion suffer a dip. Leeds blinked a couple of times last season, while Leicester did the campaign before. Both went on to win the title.
The Championship season is a marathon, not a sprint. And perhaps Coventry’s only crime is setting their level of expectation too high at the start.
“In situations like this, narrative matters,” Tommy Smith told the Sky Sports Essential EFL podcast. “It is easy to look at a short run of results and assume something is wrong.
“When you look at the bigger picture and where Coventry sit in the league, if that position had been offered to them at the start of the season after 26 games, everyone connected to the club would have accepted it immediately.
“Context is essential. They are going through a short dip in form, but maintaining the level they showed at the start of the season for the entire campaign was never realistic. They were sweeping teams aside and that pace was always going to slow.
“A dip was inevitable. What really counts now is how they respond to it.”
Saturday 17th January 12:00pm
Kick off 12:30pm
A breather and a chance to bounce back
The winter programme in the Championship is not for the weak. Coventry played 11 games between November 22 and January 4, one just under every four days.
Lampard’s squad was stretched to the limit, but now they have a fortnight between league games, with changes expected to be rung for their FA Cup trip to Stoke.
Additions have already arrived. Yang Min-hyeok, who spent the first half of the season on loan at Portsmouth from Tottenham, has been brought in. The 19-year-old winger has already been capped by South Korea and has attracted rumoured interest from Real Madrid.
Romain Esse could join on loan from Crystal Palace, while work is also being done to add depth elsewhere.
“Anyone who has been around promotion campaigns knows there is usually a blip at some stage of the season,” McAnuff added. “For some teams it comes earlier, for others later. What matters is how those moments are handled.
“What is important now is getting out of this run as quickly as possible. If they can do that within the next game or two, regain that positive feeling, and return to league action with momentum, we will start seeing the Coventry side we saw earlier in the season.”
Lampard has the experience and knowhow to ensure the blip doesn’t turn into something more.
Coventry still strong favourites for promotion
According to Opta, Coventry are still overwhelming favourites for promotion.
They should be second, however, according to the Expected Goals table…
