Sideways Sammy

Coventry City picked up their second win in a crucial week against playoff rivals with a last-gasp goal to secure all three points at Hillsborough.

The Sky Blues were on the back foot for the majority of the contest but were ahead in the first half when Ellis Simms turned in a Jack Rudoni cross to make it 1-0. It could have been two before the break, with Simms forcing opposing goalkeeper James Beadle into dropping the ball, which he turned into the net, but it was ruled out – more on that later.

Sheffield Wednesday forced Coventry City further and further into their defensive bunker in the second half and eventually leveled at what looked like a crucial time to be able to push for a winner, with Oliver Dovin palming a cross into his own net off Joel Latibeaudiere. While that goal woke the Sky Blues from their slumber, the Owls looked the most likely to win the game.

A hopeful punt forward from Milan van Ewijk late in second-half stoppage time seemed to embody the Sky Blues’ desperation to hold onto the point, only for Ellis Simms to again chase down James Beadle, leading to the goalkeeper fumbling the ball into the striker’s feet to present an open goal to win the game.

Ellis The Menace

This was a timely reminder from Ellis Simms of just what he is capable of when he is at his best. A predator in the box who can also lead the line, Coventry City, quite simply, would not have won this game without him. At a time when the return to fitness of Ephron Mason-Clark and Haji Wright will force Frank Lampard into making some difficult decisions in attack, this was a great moment for Simms to show how he can be this team’s leading man.

The first touch is always the bellwether of what kind of performance to expect from Ellis Simms. Here, it was consistently impeccable. Simms looked switched on throughout the game, under what were difficult circumstances of the team being under almost constant pressure from the opposition. He relished the physical battle with the opposing defenders and was also able to link things up in attack. It wasn’t just the goals here, but Ellis Simms’ all-round play that was so impressive.

It was apparent as the game wore on just how up for the battle Ellis Simms really was. A telling moment was his booking late on for stopping Sheffield Wednesday from taking a throw-in quickly. For someone who can appear almost freakishly calm, it was an incident that belied just how much he cared about the team getting the result. A small, almost forgettable moment, but one that will help Simms endear himself to Coventry City fans.

Of course, scoring goals wins favour much more easily. The first was a case of right place, right time for Ellis Simms to connect with a cross. He is someone who has shown that if he gets service in the penalty area, he will score. The late second – plus the disallowed goal in the first half – further underlined the menace role that Simms relished playing here.

Ellis Simms never gave his opposing centre-backs a moment’s rest, getting close and physical, competing for every ball sent his way. That Simms twice gambled on also getting in James Beadle’s face in the Sheffield Wednesday goal further demonstrated the aggression he played with here. Foul or not, Simms forced the referee twice into making decisions over similar incidents. The more you ask, the more likely you get what you want.

The challenge now for Ellis Simms is to be able to play with this kind of aggression and assertiveness consistently. While he can be left to play a thankless role at times, isolated up front and given little service in the penalty area, if he can show both Frank Lampard and Coventry City fans that he is up for the battle, Simms will earn the buy-in to play himself into form.

As Ellis Simms showed last year, once he is in form, he can be unstoppable.

Conceding Fewer Without Improving Defensively

In allowing Sheffield Wednesday to have 20 shots in this game (plus the own goal they conceded), Coventry City were fortunate not to lose, let alone pick up all three points. For all the praise that the team and Frank Lampard are getting for the apparent improvement at the back, a lot of that seems to have come down to opposing players missing big chances and Oliver Dovin making big saves – as was the case here.

As positive as it is to see a Coventry City goalkeeper finally make saves, it is not something that can be allowed to become a crutch for the team. Give the goalie too much work to do, and goals will eventually go in. Dovin was, yet again, in excellent form here but ended up palming a cross in off Joel Latibeaudiere to hand Sheffield Wednesday what could have been a crucial goal.

Coventry City struggled to find the right balance throughout this game in terms of applying pressure on Sheffield Wednesday. Whether that was down to taking the lead early on or being outfoxed by Barry Bannan’s tendency to drift to the left wing to get into positions to dictate the game, they allowed the Owls way too much time and space in midfield to look to pick holes in the Sky Blues’ backline.

Time and time again, Sheffield Wednesday were able to play passes in behind Coventry City’s defence. Whether that was in springing the rapid Djeidi Gassama in behind Jay Dasilva, or working overloads out on their left to draw Milan van Ewijk and Joel Latibeaudiere out of position, the Sky Blues were repeatedly stretched at the back. Coventry’s only response to that was to drop deeper, which afforded the Owls two key playmakers – Barry Bannan and Shea Charles – even more time and space on the ball.

Sheffield Wednesday’s equalizer didn’t just come from Oliver Dovin losing a touch of concentration during a busy game but because Coventry City simply didn’t have a response to them controlling possession and dominating the battles in wide areas. Frank Lampard looked to deal with that by sacrificing a striker, Brandon Thomas-Asante, for a wide player, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, but it did nothing to prevent Barry Bannan from running the game.

It is apparent that Frank Lampard is still searching for the right balance with this team, whether that’s between defence and attack, what his favoured formation is, or the right midfield to select. It could well be contributing to some of the performances that have been seen recently, where Coventry City have lost the tactical battle, been left on the back foot, and have relied upon Oliver Dovin to make big saves.

It is crucial that the manager doesn’t let results fool him into believing the defence is fixed. Those recent defeats to Leeds United and Ipswich Town have shown what can happen when the goalkeeper doesn’t save everything, and the opposition is able to finish their chances.

When Luck Evens Out

Grabbing a last-minute winner against Sheffield Wednesday felt apposite with regards to the reversal in fortune this Coventry City team is experiencing. Back in October, it was the Owls who were celebrating a late victory at the CBS Arena, against a Sky Blues side that was consistently failing to get the rub of the green.

It’s possible to delve even deeper into that sense of luck falling in Coventry’s favour here, with the team benefiting from the referee making some 50/50 calls their way, having had a goal disallowed in the recent FA Cup tie between these two sides for what was, at best, a soft foul on the opposing goalkeeper. Or even that the referee didn’t give a free kick for the goalkeeper dropping the ball at the feet of Ellis Simms late in second-half stoppage time, having made a similar decision in reverse in the first half – not to mention the couple of penalty decisions that another official might have given to the home side on another day.

Luck is clearly a factor in football. Sometimes your team has it, sometimes it doesn’t. While there are things that have changed under Frank Lampard that have enabled luck to fall in Coventry City’s favour, there remains an underlying sense that what was going against the Sky Blues earlier in the campaign is now going for them. Coventry have taken six points this week in games they would probably have taken one – or fewer – earlier this season.

As much as this team wasn’t as bad as the results over the first half of the campaign suggested, they are probably not quite as good as six wins out of the last seven would suggest. As is often the case, luck is balancing itself out over the course of the campaign. That’s not to dismiss the importance of recent results, but if Frank Lampard has anything about him as a manager, now is the time to target improvement to reduce the role of luck in Coventry City’s ability to keep accumulating points.

With the fixture list notably less congested between now and the next international break, Ephron Mason-Clark and Haji Wright returning to fitness, plus the recent additions of Matt Grimes and Jamie Paterson, this is a great juncture to work on what this team is lacking and to integrate some high-calibre players into the system. The best sides are able to accept the role of luck in picking up results and use that as a springboard toward improvement.