It has been a disappointing start to the season for Coventry City in the Championship.
The Sky Blues missed out on the play-offs last season as they finished ninth in the table, but it was still a positive campaign for Mark Robins’ side as they reached the semi-final of the FA Cup, where they were beaten on penalties by Manchester United.
Coventry were widely tipped to be among the promotion contenders in the Championship this season, and those expectations rose further after a strong summer transfer window that saw five new signings arrive at the club, while Luis Binks completed a permanent move from Bologna after his successful loan spell.
However, it has been an inconsistent start to the season for the Sky Blues, and they suffered a 1-0 defeat against Norwich City at the CBS Arena on Saturday, with Borja Sainz’s 49th-minute goal sealing all three points for the Canaries.
Coventry head into the international break sitting 17th in the table after winning one, drawing one and losing two of their first four games, and while they are only three points from the play-offs, it continues the alarming trend of slow starts to the season that has become common in recent years.
Mark Robins will be concerned by latest Coventry City poor start
Mark Robins Coventry City
Coventry’s problem with slow starts began in the 2022-23 season when they failed to win a game until early October, drawing three and losing four of their opening seven games.
There was some mitigation for the Sky Blues’ struggles given that they had their first three home games postponed due to issues with the pitch at the CBS Arena, and once that was resolved, Robins’ men quickly found their form.
An outstanding second half of the season saw Coventry reach the play-off final, where they were beaten on penalties by Luton Town, but while the poor start was not costly on that occasion, the same cannot be said for last season.
After winning just three of their first 16 games last season, the Sky Blues sat as low as 20th in the table in late November, almost four months into the campaign.
Once again, their form picked up dramatically over the course of the season, but they gave themselves too much work to do to close the gap to the play-offs, and they eventually finished ninth, with a run of five defeats in their final six games proving to be damaging.
The departures of key players such as Gustavo Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres could help to explain Coventry’s slow start to last season, but given that they have retained most of their stars this time around, with the exception of Callum O’Hare, Robins can have no such excuses
