Sideways Sammy

In just over 10 games for Coventry City, Joel Latibeaudiere has played at left centre-back, right centre-back, right wing-back and central midfield, doing a decent job in each role. That ability to fill in various positions has been mightily handy for a Sky Blues side in the middle of a rebuild and also had to contend with a series of injury issues. Latibeaudiere has brought energy, mobility and desire everywhere he has played, which is sure to have earned him favour with Mark Robins, but the challenge over the remainder of the campaign for the player will be in carving out a regular role in the starting XI.

If Joel Latibeaudiere is to nail down a place in the team, that will probably be at right-sided centre-back. Latibeaudiere’s pace and ability to carry the ball out of defence would make him suited to the role in the system that Coventry City are looking to play this season, the problem is that Bobby Thomas offers similar qualities plus an element of physicality. Latibeaudiere’s biggest weaknesses as a footballer are his positional awareness and decision-making, which probably stem having rarely had a run as first-choice in any position at his previous club, Swansea City. The issue that he again faces at Coventry City is that he is yet to prove he has qualities that other more specialised and experienced players can bring.

From Mark Robins’ perspective, Joel Latibeaudiere will continue to be a handy player to have around the squad as someone who can slot in and plug gaps that will crop up over the course of the campaign. From Joel Latibeaudiere’s perspective, it must be frustrating to have arrived at a new club and have had players recruited to be ahead of him in the pecking order. If he wants to change that, Latibeaudiere will have to produce stand-out performances when called upon, the difficulty is doing so without the ability to build confidence and consistency from a run of starts.