Sideways Sammy

Coventry City roared back from a two-goal half-time deficit to claim a vital win that looks a crucial step towards turning their season around.

The dominant team for the opening 45 minutes, the Sky Blues were a goal down when Luton Town’s first shot on goal was a brainless penalty conceded by Tatsuhiro Sakamoto in a tangle with Tahith Chong. Coventry had chances to draw level soon after as they continued to be the better side, only for that deficit to be doubled when Elijah Adebayo was sent clean through on goal to finish past Oliver Dovin.

It looked too high of a mountain to climb, with Coventry City continuing to plug away in the second-half against a Luton Town side almost only interested in running the clock down. Crucially, Ellis Simms headed in a corner-kick to reduce the deficit at around the hour mark and then Oliver Dovin produced a huge save soon after to give the home side something to work with.

Victor Torp curled in a beautiful effort to draw the scores level, but the Sky Blues were clearly not done yet. Luton Town’s persistent fouling saw Tom Holmes sent off for them on the 90th minute and that helped the pressure build towards Haji Wright turning in a late winner not long afterwards. It was a deserved lead, a reward for diligent effort and a refusal to late a tough situation get away from the team. If Coventry City can sustain this over future matches, they will fly up the division.

Simms & Wright Lead The Charge

For all of the tactical and personnel changes that Mark Robins has been playing around with in recent weeks, the key reason why Coventry City were more threatening in this game than they have been in a long while is because Ellis Simms and Haji Wright were in top form. The duo were simply unplayable for large spells of this game, first to every ball played into the channel for them, winning physical battles and not scared to get shots off on goal. That it’s been nine games since they’ve started together looks all the more remarkable.

Both are at their best when the service into them is quick, allowing them to isolate opposing defenders in battles of pace and strength. The plan in this game from Coventry City was to play balls into the channels for the duo to chase and get the team up the pitch. It stretched Luton Town’s back three and drew them into battles they could only stop through fouling and was a key reason why the Sky Blues were not only dangerous throughout the 90 minutes but why Luton ended the game with ten men.

For Ellis Simms, this performance was a huge step up on what’s been seen from him for much of the season. While his first touch was still loose, that didn’t matter too much as he played with an intensity to chase everything down that came his way. Buoyed by winning some early 50/50s that an another day, he’d either lose or give away free-kicks for, Simms dominated his physical battles and made some great runs with the ball looking to threaten goal.

In Haji Wright’s case, this was more of the same that Coventry City fans have been accustomed to from him, only aided by better service and supporting runs around him. Playing in a strike pairing allowed him to float into wide positions when he wanted to get into the game, while also benefiting from a more central staring position in order to be closer to goal. Wright always tends to make things happen with his ball-carrying ability and physicality, being able to get on the ball more often and with runners around him to draw defenders away meant that he got more opportunities to threaten than normally.

At 2-0 down at half-time, the worry was that might tempt Mark Robins into breaking a strike pairing up that was working in just about every instance apart from scoring goals, resisting that urge allowed Haji Wright and Ellis Simms to keep plugging away at the opposing defence and their efforts were eventually rewarded. It highlights why focusing on the scoreline is rarely the best way to assess a football match. Wright and Simms were clearly having stormers and if Coventry City were going to get back into the game it was going to be through them.

The question now is just how to replicate that level of performance from the duo more consistently. They are clearly two of the best strikers in the division and if Coventry City are going to get away from danger and closer to their end of season goals, it will be down to getting the best out of Haji Wright and Ellis Simms. While it might be as simple as continuing to play them in a strike pairing and getting the ball to them early, the level of intensity from the duo was much higher than has been seen for much of this season.

Wright & Simms played with fires in their bellies here. Keeping that alight has to be the key task for Mark Robins in the games going forward.

Driving Runs From Deep

The plan in this game had been to match Luton Town’s physicality and then to get the ball into the strikers early. At 2-0 down, that approach alone wasn’t going to work and would, in fact, provide opportunities for Luton to run down the clock if those balls into the channels weren’t perfect. Coventry City needed variation to their gameplan and that came via getting runners from deep to unsettle the opposing backline and then spells of possession into danger.

The introduction in the second-half of Jack Rudoni to play left wing-back, in place of Liam Kitching, was key to adding another string to Coventry City’s attacking bow. Kitching had looked awkward in the position in an attacking sense, often stopping to pass inside and killing moves down his side of the pitch. Rudoni was much more forward thinking, looking to beat opposing defenders and move the ball quickly, which began to stretch Luton Town’s defence.

Rudoni was aided in his efforts by Luis Binks taking the responsibility from left-sided centre-back to carry the ball up the pitch when he spotted opportunities to do so. Luton Town rarely looked to close Binks down, which provided ample space for the centre-back to run into and help break the opposing team’s lines out of possession. It helped create overloads on the left side between Binks, Rudoni, Haji Wright and occasionally with Ben Sheaf and Victor Torp getting involved which made long spells of home possession threatening.

On the other side, it was notable just how much more comfortable Milan van Ewijk looked at right wing-back in this game versus his last two outings. Initially helped by Tatsuhiro Sakamoto floating to his side in the first-half, Van Ewijk was supported later on by Josh Eccles looking to move wide to create overloads for the defender to make use of. If Joel Latibeaudiere could have been more enterprising in carrying the ball out of defence, maybe Van Ewijk could have been a bigger threat, recreating that hub Coventry City had built on the left on the other flank.

If the plan is for Coventry City to become a more dangerous team with extended spells of possession, making that work will come down to players being more enterprising in making driving runs from deep. Teams are likely to react to Haji Wright and Ellis Simms’ performances here by dropping deeper to deny them space, that could become a trap if players like Jack Rudoni and Luis Binks can step forward to create overloads on one flank to stretch opponents and give the Sky Blues purpose on the ball.

The Tinkering Must End

Amid poor form and some congested runs of fixtures, it is perhaps understandable why Mark Robins has chopped and changed the starting line-ups and formations so often recently, if Coventry City are to build on this win, then keeping things more settled feels a crucial step to take.

From seeing Ellis Simms and Haji Wright look so purposeful in attack, the midfielders look more settled on the ball, the defence staring to relish battles and Oliver Dovin make a crucial second-half save in goal, this performance surely must be the template for what this Coventry City side look like going forward. While the shape and configuration of this team aren’t necessarily what was imagined heading into the campaign, the search for the perfect shouldn’t distract from what has just been shown to have worked.

Playing Liam Kitching at left wing-back and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto in a central position where experiments that didn’t quite work here but highlight just how many options are available to tempt Mark Robins away from what could be a winning formula. Brandon Thomas-Asante, Norman Bassette and Ephron Mason-Clark were left as unused substitutes despite being players that the manager would surely like to eventually find roles for.

While what worked in this game may not always be the best option, keeping things settled for the time being seems the best course of action. There were signs of players starting to figure out how best to link up with one another and develop some threatening combinations. Furthermore, the two goals conceded came from confusion with a new system, first with Tatsuhiro Sakamoto finding himself in an uncomfortable position in the penalty area and manhandling an opponent and then with the midfield completely absent for a through ball into Elijah Adebayo for the second.

Those goals conceded are hopefully details that can be ironed out with further time with this new system. If the manager makes further changes over the next few games, there will be no opportunities to learn from what didn’t work here and Coventry City will remain stuck at square one trying to figure out how to get the best of a squad that has plenty of individuals capable of making an impact but few set combinations. That disconnect between individuals and the collective has been a key reason behind this slow start that can hopefully be ironed out with a settled system and starting line-up in the games ahead.