Sky Blue thinking: Regression in league position fails to spoil magic of the cup for Coventry City

With the evergreen Mark Robins at the helm, who was entering his seventh season at the Coventry Building Society Arena, Coventry’s 2023/24 campaign featured a rollercoaster of emotions for members of the Sky Blue Army.

Before every game, Coventry City fans belt out ‘We’ll Live and Die in These Towns’ by local band The Enemy, an anthem with sobering lyrics which speak of the simultaneous desperation and pride one feels whilst living in a town like Coventry. One such lyric is “It never happens for people like us, you know”, yet during this most riveting of seasons, it almost happened – by which is meant a potential appearance in an FA Cup final. Such a feat had not been achieved by any Championship side since Cardiff City in 2008.

Those decrying the death of the FA Cup would be well-advised to locate the nearest highlights tape of the Sky Blues’ campaign. It began in January with a routine 6-2 home dismantling of Oxford United, before a replay was required to get past Sheffield Wednesday, who were struggling in the Championship relegation zone at the time. The next round provided an enticing home match-up with Maidstone United, who, having beaten higher-level opposition in the shape of Stevenage and Ipswich Town, were on a fairytale journey of their own. Maidstone brought 6,000 fans to a Monday fixture night under the lights, but despite the noise created by the Amber Army, it proved to be a painless victory for Robins’ men as an Ellis Simms first-half hat-trick put musings of another momentous shock to bed.

From here, Coventry arguably eclipsed Maidstone to become the story of the FA Cup campaign. An away trip to Premier League side Wolves looked tough on paper, and so it proved, with two late goals from Rayan Aït-Nouri and Hugo Bueno overturning Ellis Simms’ opener. Wolves had seemingly booked their ticket to Wembley for the semi-finals, but Coventry proved that anything Wolves could do they could do better, as goals in the seventh and tenth minutes of added time sent the away end into pandemonium, and Coventry to Wembley for the second successive season.

In the sort of miraculous way that seems to be unique to live sports, Coventry began a fightback

Many of the players in Coventry City’s squad had been at Wembley the season prior and this experience may have proved valuable, although Fankaty Dabo, who missed the decisive penalty, was now playing for Forest Green Rovers and faced the ignominy of being lambasted on local radio by his manager Troy Deeney. Nevertheless, this was a very different occasion to the game against Luton, given the Sky Blues would certainly be the underdog against whichever of the three top-six teams that had made it to the semi-finals they were to be drawn against. It ended up being an out-of-sorts Manchester United, for whom the FA Cup was the final chance to rescue some glory from a dreary season. With both ends of the national stadium packed to the brim, and much of the footballing world watching, the game kicked off – although not before an intricate tifo had been revealed and Coventry fans had given a spine-tingling rendition of ‘We’ll Live and Die in These Towns’.

Manchester United raced to a 2-0 lead by half-time, with Harry Maguire’s header from a corner in front of the Coventry fans appearing to strike a hammer blow to their winning prospects, by adding to Scott McTominay’s opener from an intelligent cutback. Bruno Fernandes made it three just after half-time, and even the most optimistic fan would have admitted that the game was done and dusted. But somehow, in the sort of miraculous way that seems to be unique to live sports, Coventry began a fightback through Simms’ finish from a cross from youngster Fábio Tavares, for whom a Wembley assist off the bench was one of his first meaningful contributions of the season.

Whether it was Coventry who massively upped their game or Manchester United who demonstrated their soft underbelly is difficult to ascertain, but the comeback only gained ground from here. Callum O’Hare, whose rapid recovery from a brutal injury was one of the storylines of the Sky Blues’ season, benefitted from a huge deflection to his shot to further reduce the arrears. Suddenly, the momentum had wholly shifted towards Coventry, as their fans were showing the kind of belief that can move mountains, whilst their players looked unphased against supposed top-level opposition. Haji Wright, the season’s star signing, was handed the chance – in the form of a penalty – to send the game to an improbable extra time, and he made no mistake from the spot.

Unsurprisingly given the story of the game, but strangely when considering the quality and cost of players, it was Coventry who took the game to the Red Devils in extra time. It appeared Manchester United’s nadir had coincided with Coventry being at their zenith, playing some of the most confident football they had played all year on its biggest occasion.

Their fans experienced the strange feeling of leaving the stadium with a defeat on the scoreboard, but feeling triumphant inside

United’s attempts to salvage respectability from the season were visibly failing, and Erik Ten Hag’s job security – or lack thereof – was the subject of numerous taunts from the Coventry fans. Both teams struck the crossbar, but the Sky Blues went one further as Danish winter signing Victor Torp scored a goal fans thought for all the world had sent them to the final, but which ended up being ruled out after a lengthy VAR check, something that Championship fans are not accustomed to.

United ended up prevailing on penalties, setting up a final against their cross-city rivals, and thus preventing an all-Sky Blue final from taking place. This was despite goalkeeper Brad Collins saving the Red Devils’ first penalty, as O’Hare and midfield metronome Ben Sheaf missed theirs in heartbreaking fashion. Despite the unsatisfactory conclusion, there was still widespread acknowledgement that Coventry City had emerged with a sort of victory. Their fans experienced the strange feeling of leaving the stadium with a defeat on the scoreboard, but feeling triumphant inside, having seen their team go toe-to-toe with one of English football’s true heavyweights.

Having discussed the dizzying heights of the cup campaign, it is also worth considering the league campaign, which began with the sort of hangover one might expect after a play-off final defeat and the departure of several high-profile players. The Sky Blues won just one of their first eight games, putting them far off the pace in a season in which teams such as Leicester, Ipswich, and Leeds were putting up points tallies seldom seem before in the Championship.

Of course, it was always going to be an uphill struggle to replicate the production of the prolific Viktor Gyökeres and Gustavo Hamer. The former, now linked with moves to some of the biggest European clubs following a stellar year with Sporting Lisbon, had netted twenty-one goals and set up another eleven for the Sky Blues the season prior, spearheading the team’s playoff charge. Meanwhile, Gustavo Hamer had been the team’s heartbeat in midfield, providing output in the final third combined with tireless running – his injury during the play-off final had perhaps struck a killer blow to Coventry’s chances. Hamer’s undoubted quality was proven by him standing out in an otherwise mediocre Sheffield United side this season.

The team’s best form of the campaign was seen during the December and January months, during which they lost just once

The dual signings tasked with replacing Gyökeres, namely Haji Wright and Ellis Simms, took their time to show their best form, partially contributing to the sluggish start. American international Wright, who Coventry had broken their transfer record to sign from Turkey, deputised both on the wing and through the middle, and provided strong running with and without the ball, with his dribbling remarkable for someone his height. His goal output became more dependable as the season progressed, as he finished with sixteen league goals. It was Simms, signed from Everton, who faced the most questions from fans, as he struggled in the opening months. He had netted a paltry three league goals by the turn of the year, struggling to displace experienced frontman Matty Godden to earn the starting berth up top. His adaptation to the league was evidenced later on, as around the time of the aforementioned Maidstone game he began to finish more chances, scoring seven league goals after that cup game. Although thirteen goals did not put him amongst the division’s top scorers, his late-season form means fans are hopeful of having two dangerous goalscoring threats going into next season.

The team’s best form of the campaign was seen during the December and January months, during which they lost just once, a defeat to Ipswich in which they conceded one of the goals of the season, as Wes Burns finished off a delightful team move with an outside-of-the-boot finish. It was Japanese signing Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, who joined from Belgium, whose wing play stood out during the period. Tatsu, as he is affectionately known, dazzled by chipping in with six goals and two assists in the eleven December and January games. Unfortunately, an injury in late February ruled him out for the rest of the season.

The highlight of the league campaign was a home victory against eventual champions Leicester City, who are Coventry’s closest rivals. The Sky Blues emerged 3-1 victors in a heated game. With Birmingham City departing the league in the opposite direction, fans may be deprived of short away trips next season.

The positive winter form partially coincided with the move away from the three-man defence with wingbacks which had provided the team so much joy in times gone by. Despite his natural position being as a wingback due to his attacking tendencies, Dutch signing Milan van Ewijk thrived after the change, with his movement and crossing providing attacking support from further deep.

It remains to be seen whether they can build on two positive seasons to make a push for Premier League football, but what is for certain is that they will have the backing of their passionate fanbase throughout

Another factor in the team’s resurgence was the return of Callum O’Hare, who had suffered an ACL injury the previous season. The team had previously struggled in attacking midfield with Yasin Ayari, who was similar to Gyökeres in being a Swede signed from Brighton (albeit on loan), not being able to exert much influence on games. O’Hare on the other hand at times toyed with Championship defences with his close control in tight spaces. The only downside with his blistering return to form is that it coincides with the expiry of his contract, and it seems he will depart the CBS Arena in search of greener pastures.

Coventry City’s form after January can be described as good but not great, meaning it was difficult to sustain a playoff push after they had been hampered by their poor early season results. Although they briefly occupied sixth spot (a place in the playoffs) at the turn of the year, they spent most of the next months within touching distance, but never quite able to put together enough wins to make it their own. They ended the season winless in their last six league games, with the memorable Manchester United game squeezed in between this. This perhaps indicates that the excitement of the cup proved a welcome distraction from the relative mundanity of the league, even if boss Mark Robins would refute such allegations. A curiosity of Coventry City is that Robins’ job seems almost untouchable, given he has masterminded the team’s ascent back up the divisions from the depths of League Two, providing them with memorable days at Wembley on the way, including ones with more positive outcomes than the last two.

Those with a glass-half-empty approach could point to the lacklustre way the season both began and ended, but the overall mood in the fanbase is one of appreciation for the journey they were taken on by the team and optimism for the campaign ahead. Coventry’s creative recruitment has already been set in motion for next season with the signing of Raphael Borges Rodrigues, a 20-year-old signing from Australia. It remains to be seen whether they can build on two positive seasons to make a push for Premier League football, but what is for certain is that they will have the backing of their passionate fanbase throughout.