Sideways Sammy

The Frank Lampard era at Coventry City begins with a fixture that may decide just how easily the new man will settle into the job. A 21st-placed Cardiff City travel to the CBS Arena, with a win guaranteeing Lampard at least a four-point buffer from the bottom three, while a defeat would see the Sky Blues drop below the Bluebirds and directly into relegation danger.

Cardiff are off the back of a midweek home loss to bottom side Queens Park Rangers and remain without a manager, having dispensed with Erol Bulut at the end of September. While they look somewhat in disarray, they shouldn’t be underestimated, with interim boss, Omer Riza, having made the Bluebirds a more coherent, attack-minded side in the weeks he’s been in charge. With Coventry fans expecting a comfortable home win to kick off Frank Lampard’s tenure, this fixture arrives as a potential banana skin.

Expected Line-Up

For Frank Lampard, the decision is whether to get the team set up immediately in his preferred system or, having only had two training sessions after taking over, avoid making radical changes for this game. Given that the team has switched systems for much of the campaign, Lampard is freer to change things up than he would have been had he been coming into the job a year or two ago, the question is how much he feels he’s got his message across in the short time he’s had with the players.

One of the big early calls that Frank Lampard has to make at Coventry City is who his first-choice goalkeeper is, with all three senior options pretty much all at the same level of being neither bad nor good. Brad Collins may have come in for some criticism from fans for the goals he conceded in midweek – which was incredibly harsh – but he could well have the edge over his competitors currently, purely for being the man in possession of the shirt.

Presuming the team moves to the 4-3-3 system that Frank Lampard has preferred in his managerial career, the centre-back partnership is another huge call to make. Unless there is felt to be still a need to keep Joel Latibeaudiere in the defence as the closest thing the team has to a leader, it is probably a case of picking between Luis Binks and Liam Kitching as Bobby Thomas’ partner. It really is a coin flip between the two, but one where that might be weight more towards Binks due to being the incumbent. Additionally, one of Binks or Kitching could fill in at left-back if there are doubts over Jay Dasilva’s suitability in a back four and Jake Bidwell’s fitness.

In midfield, a combination of Ben Sheaf sitting, with Jack Rudoni and Victor Torp pushing forward seems to be what best fits a 4-3-3 system, however, Josh Eccles may be valued for his energy and presence off-the-ball to keep things tighter at this early stage of the new head coach’s reign. Out wide, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and Ephron Mason-Clark seem nailed on for the wide positions as the two natural wingers in the squad.

That leaves the final call at centre-forward, where Norman Bassette has looked bright but may have ran himself into the ground over the past couple of games. Ellis Simms, as the more recognised senior centre-forward, may well have been preferred anyway, the striker faces an important run under the new boss to rediscover his confidence as a potential leading man at this level of football.

Last Time We Met

Confidence was not an issue for Ellis Simms back in April, as started and finished a move to put a buoyant Coventry City ahead in the 20th minute against a Cardiff City side looking to have little to play for over the remainder of the campaign. However, a bizarre Liam Kitching own goal soon after may well have proved to be the dent to the team’s mojo that snowballed into the poor end of last season, start of this, form that ultimately cost Mark Robins his job.

The Sky Blues struggled to get back on the front foot and create much after that, with Cardiff City looking threatening on the counter. Still, it took what was this time a more unlucky own goal from Kitching to see the three points for Coventry City evaporate into zero. Aside from that FA Cup semi-final comeback against Manchester United, the team never was quite right following that capitulation to the Bluebirds.

The Opposition

The Manager – Omer Riza (Caretaker)

A poor, incoherent start to the season, despite some big-name signings, cost Erol Bulut his job at Cardiff City and the club has yet to settle on his replacement, with no sign of a new appointment any time soon. Omer Riza had initially impressed in his caretaker spell, making himself popular with both fans and players for his attacking style that helped make sense of a squad that seemed to have been assembled in a haphazard manner.

The Cardiff City hierarchy had seemingly been happy to see how long Riza could keep the good mood going, but the Bluebirds are now four games without a win and tumbling towards the relegation zone, which seems to have kick-started t.he search for a new boss. Omer Riza has wanted Cardiff City to be more energetic and front-foot, looking to press opponents, control possession and attack quickly, but that recent run has dented the confidence such a style requires in order to be successful. Cardiff look to be stepping up their search for a new, permanent boss.

Who To Look Out For?

Omer Riza’s early success at Cardiff City had been in entrusting the likes of Callum O’Dowda, Ollie Tanner and, especially, Rubin Colwill, in spite the club investing a lot of wages over the past couple of years in bigger names, such as Aaron Ramsey, Anwar El Ghazi and Chris Willock. Skilful attacking midfielder, Colwill, has finally been allowed to shine as the team’s number ten, having been on the fringes of the first-team for a few years and is constantly trying to make things happen. O’Dowda is a winger/full-back who can stretch the game with his energy on the left side, while Tanner likes to cut inside on the other flank and is making great progress after signing from non-league two-and-a-half years ago.

Another key attacking player for Cardiff City is Callum Robinson up front, who offers both great pace running in behind opponents and the ability to wind up and niggle opponents with his combative style. From the bench, Cardiff can introduce the powerful runner, Yakou Meite, who can be really hard to stop when he gets going, or the intelligent Chris Willock, who can unlock defences with his ability to move into space from either wide or central positions. Additionally, former Aston Villa and Ajax winger, Anwar El Ghazi, is potentially a class above the Championship but has struggled for consistency since joining Cardiff over the summer.

In midfield, the pair of club stalwart, Joe Ralls, and the energetic and enterprising, Alex Robertson, offers Cardiff City a nice balance between grit and skill in the centre of the park. Former Celtic man, David Turnbull, is someone who can threaten with his ability to ghost into the penalty area and score, but is another big name that Cardiff have signed recently that hasn’t really got going.

At the back, Perry Ng and Joel Bagan make for a sturdy full-back pairing, while Dimitrios Goutas is a warrior figure in the heart of the defence, allowing former Arsenal man, Calum Chambers, to offer composure from central defence. In goal, Jak Alnwick has been favoured by Omer Riza for his shot-stopping prowess over Ethan Horvath, who had the best view of Fankaty Dabo’s fateful penalty miss at Wembley while he was on loan at Luton Town.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

Cardiff City are likely to come out and try and attack Coventry City, which could make for an open game that hasn’t been a regular occurrence at the CBS Arena this season with opponents often sitting off the Sky Blues, however, that could well force the defence into the kind of mistakes that they have often been prone to. Just two training sessions doesn’t feel like enough time for Frank Lampard to rectify the team’s biggest issue, which may make this a contest of who can score the most goals.

Just where Coventry City’s are going to come from right now is not quite clear. A potential combination of Milan van Ewijk and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto on the right side feels like a key area that the team should look to lean on right now. With Ellis Simms an aerial presence at the end of that wide play and, hopefully, midfielders making runs into the penalty area, there are players to feed off that combination. However, Cardiff, with two defensive players on their left side in Callum O’Dowda and Joel Bagan, may feel they can shut that down.