The Coventry City season preview 2023/24 is difficult to call - the team has progressed in each of Mark Robins' seasons during his second spell in charge, but bettering a play-off final will be difficult.
Indeed, Coventry City saw multiple key departures this summer, most notably Viktor Gyokeres up front. Replacing his 21 Championship goals is a tough task for anyone, regardless of the fee acquired for his sale.
Taking one step backward to take two forwards in the coming seasons in the Championship could be the thinking in the east Midlands, though the fact their contract to stay at the Coventry Building Society Arena expires at the end of the campaign won't offer a welcome distraction off the pitch.
Coventry City season preview 2023/24, the fan's view: Laurence Kilpatrick (@Thelonelyseason)
Last season was the worst of times and then, unfathomably, the best of times. A pitch mangled to unusability by the Commonwealth Games, our star defender – Dominic Hyam – bartered for electricity coupons, the season beginning with us at the bottom of the league and with fewer points than a football... then Hyde turned back into Jekyll and we catapulted ourselves up the league like Lady Godiva on an electric scooter.
The big talking point is how we come close to recreating a logic-defying season when we’re likely to sell our two best players, Gustavo Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres. Mark Robins has to recreate a squad without some pretty important furniture.
I won’t be happy unless we avoid the tragic second-season narrative (yeah, I’m looking at you, Huddersfield) where the previous campaign’s losing play-off finalist crashes and burns like a divorcee in a tailspin.
Our key player will be Ben Sheaf. The former Arsenal midfielder took a while to win everyone over but he’s got the dreadful ‘Rolls-Royce’ moniker, which means he’s half-decent at passing.
Fans think our owner is either walking on water or turning it into wine. Taking over mid-season from the widely reviled SISU, Doug King chaperoned us up the league and to Wembley.
The pantomime villain will be Mike Ashley, who bought our stadium. Whether it’s a zero-hours contract or a no-fault eviction, the puppeteer of malevolence isn’t here to make friends but to wreak some kind of hell on us undeserving supporters.
The thing my club really gets right is supporter engagement. The family zone before games, the matchday socials and bonhomie between fans and club continue to warm cockles.
The fans’ opinion of the gaffer is that if we owned our stadium, there would be a stand named after him. What Sir Mark Robins has achieved is amazing. While Nathan Jones is the hottest guy at the disco, Robins attracts zero amorous glances – that suits us fine.
We’ll finish a ship-shape 11th, reverting to type after being top – or bottom – two months into the season.
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