Sideways Sammy

It’s been over a decade since Coventry City have had a goalkeeper who can be considered an unqualified success. Carl Rushworth arrived in the summer to plug the gap caused by a serious injury to Oliver Dovin and, after a rocky start, has proved to be one of the best in his position in the division and a key reason why the team remains top of the Championship. Able to pull off the regular heroics that only the very best goalkeepers are capable of, knowing that there is such a significant safety blanket to fall back on if mistakes are made has been a crucial part of Coventry’s success this season.

Carl Rushworth is almost something of a throw-back in being a goalkeeper who is, first and foremost, someone who excels in making excellent saves. The difference between a good goalkeeper and a great goalkeeper is in being able to reliably pull off the kind of saves that win points and there have been a number of occasions already this season where Rushworth’s brilliance has prevented certain goals at key points in matches. Rushworth’s distribution can be hit and miss (and probably more towards the miss side), which is the product of him constantly looking to try and start attacks but can see him smack the ball way too hard and either out of play or beyond his team-mates. However, being able to produce those big saves goes far beyond making up for any other shortcoming in his game.

Whereas it had looked ridiculous to be trying to sign Carl Rushworth on a permanent deal when Coventry City already had a pretty good goalkeeper on the books, in Oliver Dovin, only getting him on a loan deal could well become a bigger regret. The only chance Coventry have of keeping Rushworth beyond this season will be via achieving promotion. Thus far, Rushworth’s heroics have gone a long way towards securing that requirement to keep him at the club longer than this campaign.