Sideways Sammy

Arriving at Coventry City with more Premier League starts than the rest of the team combined, Ethan Pinnock addresses the glaring need in the Sky Blues squad for know-how of this division. In football, there can be a fine line between being experienced and over-the-hill, at 33 years old and having played just four league games last year, that worry with Pinnock has to be considered a material one. Just how wide the gap is between being not good enough to get into the Brentford team but still capable of helping a team stay up in the Premier League is what will define Ethan Pinnock’s time at Coventry City. On a minimum of a three-year contract, it feels an almighty gamble that the defender is of sufficient quality for the club’s needs over that time period.

A tall, left-footed centre-back who can dominate in the air, Ethan Pinnock adds to Coventry City’s summer drive to add physicality to the team. An ever-present for Brentford in their first years in the Premier League, Pinnock was part of a side that were tough to break down and excellent from set-pieces, which feels a template Coventry will hope to repeat. The value he adds to the team will be his combination of physicality and experience, it’s just whether he might have lost a touch of pace which could be exposed if the Sky Blues continue to play a high line.

On the face of it, Ethan Pinnock seems a sensible signing for Coventry City, addressing the need for experience in defence. However, the length of his contract and recent appearance record make this more of a head-scratcher. It’s less about whether Pinnock will be good this season and more as to whether he will continue to be over the course of a minimum of three years that is the doubt against his addition. Pinnock feels like the kind of signing who could make or break Coventry’s season, either being the necessary experienced head in defence or incapable of exerting his experience due to the physical limitations of age.