What the Coventry City manager was curious about regarding David Wagner’s…

Coventry City match analysis from CoventryLive as Andy Turner looks at the big talking points from 2-1 defeat at Carrow Road

With a 10-man loss against Norwich City, Coventry City ended their remarkable 12-game unbeaten streak and dropped to seventh position, outside of the play-off spots.

In the first half, the Sky Blues rode their luck against some fierce Norwich pressure, but in the second half, they showed real intent as Callum O’Hare beat two defenders in the box and finished with precision to put the visitors ahead at Carrow Road and extend his goal tally for the year to seven.

Then, with two excellent opportunities from Haji Wright and Kasey Palmer, Mark Robins’ team was guilty of not being clinical enough. In the 71st minute, a man was sent off, making their task much more difficult against a slick attacking Canaries team.

Here are a few key discussion points and insights from the Norfolk 2-1 loss…

Costly Kitch

Now that he’s been sent out at Carrow Road, Liam Kitching will face a two-match ban. Luis Binks will have a great chance to make his mark on the club and put the Sky Blues to the test during a busy schedule of games that City can ill afford to lose such a vital defender. Having watched Josh Sargent get past him and then come in to stop him with a risky last-man challenge, Kitching knew as soon as he stood up that the referee was going to show him the red card. The center half receives an additional game ban after receiving a straight red card already this season.

Fine margins

Haji Wright was twice denied by decent saves from Angus Gunn, the second of which would have given City a 2-1 lead after the break had the home keeper not stuck out his boot to get a block in. The striker beat two players with his pace and strength for the second opportunity but just lacked the presence of mind to put it beyond the keeper’s reach. City then had another chance to put themselves ahead when they were down to 10 men and Kasey Palmer worked his magic, playing a one/two/three with Callum O’Hare and Jamie Allen to be presented with the ball in front of goal. But, again, the shot was too close to Gunn, enabling the keeper to make a comfortable save. So, as disappointing as it was to lose, the Sky Blues only had themselves to blame for being so wasteful in front of goal.

Vic steps up

The news that Ben Sheaf is out for between six to eight weeks is a real blow at such a crucial period of the season. However, Victor Torp again looked the part on what was his first Championship start for the Sky Blues. The Dane was neat and tidy on the ball, tackled well and will only get better and better with more games. It appears that Robins favours him alongside either Jamie Allen or Josh Eccles from the start, and it’s not as though the manager doesn’t have options with Joel Latibeaudiere and Liam Kelly ready to step in if and when required. But whoever plays and whatever combination is used, there’s no getting away from the fact that the team will miss Sheaf’s quality at a vital time of the season. But the fact that Torp has hit the ground running is a real bonus at such a testing time.

Tats targeted

Tatsuhiro Sakamoto was blatantly targeted by Norwich enforcers Marcelino Nunez and Kenny McLean, who were both cautioned for nasty tackles on the Japanese winger within the first 45 minutes, and Mark Robins was angered at the lack of protection Sakamoto received. In his post-match press conference, the City manager said that Sakamoto was sporting bruises as a result of his players’ treatment and expressed interest in finding out what his counterpart thought.

“It seems like a tactic to remove him from the game, so you’ll have to ask him (David Wagner) about it,” Robins remarked. “The referee provides him with minimal protection, and he ultimately comes off hurt, most likely with bruises and other injuries that last for a few days. I guess it’s football then.

In response to a question from CoventryLive about whether Wagner intended to specifically target Sakamoto, he said, “Yes, obviously Sakamoto and O’Hare are two of the standout players in the Championship and good players for Coventry, and if you want to be successful you have to try to get them calm.” Wagner did not apologize. It took a team effort to keep them calm, so I can only give my players the highest praise. We witnessed what O’Hare might do if you don’t turn on, so it took a true team effort to keep their best people composed.

Ellis Simms continued to frustrate with what can only be described as fairly anonymous spells in the game. To be fair to the bustling centre-forward, he worked hard and got into good positions in the box but just lacked any real quality service in what can look like a quite isolated role up front on his own. Interestingly, Matty Godden has suffered a similar problem when he’s led the line in the current 4-2-3-1 formation. There is, perhaps, an argument for Simms to be deployed in a wider position to take the pressure off him a bit and see if he can use his obvious strength and power to cut into the box from the flanks. Certainly, something needs to change for the former Everton prospect who must be feeling the weight of expectation growing on his young shoulders.