Having not been in the Championship for many seasons, our knowledge of most the clubs we will face is minimal, therefore we thought we would use our network of Supporters Trust’s and re-introduce our “Opposition Viewpoint” feature, with the series commencing with the views from a Sky Blues Trust board member.
A bit about you:
Name: Roger Ellis
Current home town: Littleborough (in the Pennines, between Manchester and Leeds)
Birthplace: Coventry
How long have you supported your team? 60 years
Overview of your club:
Favourite thing about your home ground: We’ve been at the CBS (formerly Ricoh) Arena since 2005. For many of those years the atmosphere was poor – not because of the stadium but because morale amongst fans was low, with a series of incompetent owners and a managerial revolving door. And of, course exile to Northampton and Birmingham.
That has all changed in the two full seasons since the pandemic as there has been an upsurge in confidence and positivity, inspired by Mark Robins’ success managing the club to a season-on-season rise through the leagues. The atmosphere is now electric and inspiring.
Favourite match played by your team & why: Showing my age – when we beat Wolves 3-1 on our way to winning promotion to the former First Division in 1967. An “official” crowd of over 51,000 at Highfield Road did not include hundreds climbing the floodlight pylons and the roofs of the stands. I arrived at 11:30am and watched the match sitting and then standing on the touchline.
Favourite player of all time who played for your club: From that era – George Curtis, an immense centre-half, captain and leader who later co-managed the team that won the FA Cup in 1987.
About our forthcoming match against you:
Your favourite current player in your squad and why? Gus Hamer – one of our two stars from last season, with Gyökeres having been sold. Hamer has terrific energy, all-round skill as a central midfielder of dynamism and creativity. He is out of contract after this season, and we still don’t know if he will stay or leave in this transfer window.
Player in your squad we should most fear and why? Apart from Hamer, who may or may not be with us, from the players remaining from last year (who are fit) Casey Palmer is a really exciting attacking midfielder. We have also signed a number of quality players. Striker Ellis Simms, from Everton, expected to be our leading scorer and wing-back Milan van Ewijk (“the fastest player in the Netherlands”) from Heerenveen are two to watch.
Player in our squad you most fear and why? I’d mention two – Callum Doyle was superb in defence for us last year and will do very well for you. I wouldn’t say we fear him but do highly respect him. The one who still worries me is Jamie Vardy – of similar age to but much greater pace than our central defender Kyle McFadzean.
Up and coming prospect in your squad? We have a very good academy. Josh Eccles did well last season covering for numerous injuries. One who may break through this season is Justin Obikwu.
Where do you think you’ll finish this season? I expressed pessimism all last season, not daring to believe we would reach the play-offs. That we did so was down to the superb leadership of Mark Robins and his support staff. In the light of that and the impressive number of new signings (most of whom, of course, we haven’t yet seen play in a competitive game) I’ll be disappointed if we do not reach the play-offs again.
How do you think you’ll do against us? It is always difficult to predict the first game of the season, with so many unknowns. Cov fans are tremendously excited about this game and the players will know that. I expect a hard fought 1-1 draw.