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In their title winning campaign of 2020/21, Coventry City took great pride in their defensive record being one of the key reasons for their success. With Marko Marosi in goal, the Sky Blues lined up with an established back five with wing backs on either side of the three central defenders. Alongside Dominic Hyam and Kyle McFadzean, Michael Rose was a mainstay in the side that got Coventry back to the Championship for the first time in 8 years.

Joining from Ayr United on free in the summer of 2019, Rose went on to make 31 league appearances in the season which was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, scoring on two occasions. His performances, which helped earn promotion, earned him a new contract until the summer of 2023. Unfortunately due to injury Rose has only played on 12 occasions in the league this season.

Now having returning to fitness, he’ll be looking to do what he can to ensure Coventry avoid relegation this season. At the time of writing, Coventry sit in 20th place, 6 points clear of relegation, albeit Rotherham United who sit in 22nd do have three games in hand on the Sky Blues who will be hoping other teams do them a favour. I was able to have a chat with Michael over Zoom and I’d like to thank him for answering the questions.

How has your overall experience been since joining Coventry?

MR: “Yeah it’s been really good. Obviously the first season was successful. I came down just wanting to get into the team and be a first team regular, then we ended up going on to win the league so it’s been really good so far.“

Was it tough switching from Scottish football to English football?

MR: “At the start yeah, because of the level I was playing at in Scotland was lower it was just getting up to speed but what helped me was when I was younger I was at Aberdeen where I was always in and around big players so it kind of took me back to when I was playing there so it wasn’t anything I wasn’t used to. Once I got the first couple of weeks out of the way I felt pretty comfortable and I was quite confident in making the step up, it was pretty straightforward.”

How much of a step up is the Championship compared to League One last season?

MR: “It is a step up, the quality is higher, you probably get more time on the ball as the games aren’t as frantic but if you make a mistake you get punished pretty much every time but that’s other teams as well. Everyone can beat everyone in the league, if you’re not on your game then you’re probably going to get beat. In League One, and it even happened to us a couple of times, you can turn up not really at your best and still get a result but you can’t do that in the Championship.”

What’s your favourite career moment? Whether it be with Coventry or with someone else.

MR: “Probably winning the league here and going up to the Championship. I’ve had a few. I made my debut at Aberdeen which was big for me because I’m from Aberdeen and I’m an Aberdeen fan. It didn’t really go the way I wanted it to so it’s obviously mixed feelings but I’m still proud to have done that. I won a league with Ayr as well which was more important if anything as it took us from part time level back up to full time level so if I hadn’t won that league I don’t know what I’d have been doing.”

Does it change anything playing in Birmingham rather than Coventry? Obviously you weren’t here whilst we were at the Ricoh Arena but does it change anything not having the home support we potentially would have done?

MR: “It probably will have done for other players but to be honest it hasn’t really made a difference because I’ve not played at the Ricoh, I’ve been though to watch a game before I signed. It is obviously different and it is a bit weird [St Andrews] but you get used to it. We still managed to get 7 or 8 thousand every week anyway so it kind of felt like home as much as it could and we’ve been really strong at Birmingham. I think everyone wants to be back at the Ricoh no question but it’s nothing really to do with us. The fans don’t want to be watching their team play out of the city it’s not right. I’ve seen a few things going round in the last few days about a return, obviously I don’t know if it’s true or not because I’ve been hearing it every day since I’ve moved down and nothing’s happened but that would be good if it was true. Hopefully we can stay up and get everyone back in the stadium because that would really be something to look forward to.”

How does day to day life within football change with all the COVID regulations?

MR: “We’ve all had to split up into different groups and come in at different times, then get a test and go back to sit in your car for 10 minutes whilst you wait for the results. It used to be the first team and the u23s at the Lodge but I think the gaffer has moved the 23s to the Higgs to give us more room. It’s just little things like when you have your lunch you’ve got to take it away rather than sit with everyone. You adapt to it very quickly and you get used to it and I think the club has been very good about it. You get tested 3 times a week and you know everyone’s negative so everyone is quite relaxed about it. The EFL say you need to test twice a week but the club has always paid for it to make sure and we’ve only had a couple of cases so we’ve been quite lucky because it can have a big impact on your season.“

Who’s the best character in the dressing room?

MR: “Probably Fadz by a mile, he’s crazy, a good guy and a proper leader, he’s always making sure everyone’s alright and making sure everyone’s doing the right things. He’s got that Yorkshire accent which everyone finds hilarious, even when he’s saying something serious you just laugh at him.

Who’s the best player you’ve either played with or against? Either with Coventry or in your career as a whole.

MR: “Best player I’ve played against is probably John McGinn, I played against him when he was at Hibs, I was playing centre mid that day and it was a long day, trying to chase him he’s very powerful. He’s doing really well at Villa now which is no surprise because he was always very good. Best player I’ve played with, I’m not really sure as there’s been a lot of good players, when I was Aberdeen Kenny McLean was really good, he’s at Norwich now. Ryan Jack was also a really good player. Even in the team last season Liam Walsh was really good. I’ll say Kenny McLean because he’s in and out of the Premier League with Norwich. Top player.”

What’s your favourite specific match you’ve ever played in?

MR: “The last game before COVID at Ipswich, the feel before the game you could tell that everyone was proper up for it. Even with the fans as well everyone knew it was such an important game. The changing room after the game as well, everyone was up and about and singing [Sweet Caroline]”

“The funny thing is that was the dressing room after every win, I remember my first game at home to Southend, we won 1-0 and the changing room was like that after the game and I was surprised because it was the first game of the season. I was different I was thinking we’ve still got a long way to go and let’s not get complacent but it worked in a different way because it gets everyone up together. We still do it now, we did it the other day against Derby. When you win, Sweet Caroline straight on and everyone is up. Obviously it’s a bit harder in this league because you only sing it once every couple of weeks but it’s something we’ve done since I’ve been here, I don’t know if they did it before me but it’s really good as a new player because it puts you in a winning mentality.”

It’s been a baptism of fire for Coventry City since returning to the Championship following an 8 year absence as they find themselves in a relegation battle going into the business end of the season. With just eleven games remaining, they are just above the bottom three, and the purpose of this article is to look at the side and try to establish what the Sky Blues need to do to survive.

1. Play the football that won them promotion

Coventry won promotion from League One as title winners last season when the season was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic. Despite being pronounced champions on a PPG style system, the Sky Blues played some thoroughly exciting football to guide them to the title. It was a heavily pass based system that incorporated wing backs, two sitting midfielders and two attacking midfielders behind a striker, and they certainly reaped the rewards, losing just 3 games all season. This campaign however, the possession based pressing football has been less prominent.

There are a few largely understandable reasons for this though, the first, and most obvious, is the step up from League One to the Championship is massive. The Sky Blues have one of the smallest budgets in the division and quite simply, towards the top of the table the quality in the teams is much better. However we have seen glimpses of this quality carrying through when it comes to playing against the high flyers in the division, such as with the 2-0 dispatching of Brentford last month.

Another reason why it’s difficult for the Sky Blues to play the football they might want to is the loss of Liam Walsh who took home player of the season in the title winning side but upon the expiry of his loan returned to Bristol City. Coventry replaced him exceptionally with Gustavo Hamer arriving from PEC Zwolle in the summer who certainly has the ability to spread long passes and get the ball moving, and has arguably been City’s best player this time around.

2. Don’t let Gustavo Hamer and Callum O’Hare burn out

As already slightly touched upon, Gustavo Hamer has been a revelation since his summer arrival, a deal which was Coventry’s first signing above £1 million since Freddy Eastwood joined the club in 2008. Fans knew all about what Callum O’Hare could do following his loan spell last season and were delighted when they made it permanent, signing the attacking midfielder on a free from boyhood club Aston Villa last summer.

O’Hare picked up in the Championship where he left off in League One and has picked up plaudits away from the club as well as within, being involved in the most defensive duels in the league and according to WhoScored, is the third most fouled player in the division. At times Coventry have arguably been very reliant on this pairing to make things happen for the team, and going into the most important part of the season, it is crucial that neither pick up any injuries due to being overworked.

Mark Robins is undoubtedly aware of this though and needs to balance wanting to play his best players versus what is in their best interests. We saw both rested for the fixture at Ewood Park last month, in which the spoils were shared with the match finishing 1-1, albeit both did make cameo appearances from the bench. Whether or not either will be given a game off before the end of the season remains to be seen but it is definitely something that needs to be kept an eye on.

3. Don’t rush Matty Godden back from injury

Unquestionably one of the biggest losses this season has been the ongoing injury issues with striker Matty Godden. The forward joined the Sky Blues from Peterborough United in the summer of 2019 for a fee somewhere in the region of £750,000 and was the marquee signing of that season for the club. He managed 14 goals for the club last season and looked on to reach 20 had the season not been cut short.

In the Championship he continued the good from he had prior to the pandemic bagging in his first two games in the division. He has been limited to 4 overall however due to his season being plagued by a recurring plantar fascia foot injury which he first suffered away at Nottingham Forest in November. Godden recovered within 6 weeks however had to leave the field at the turn of the year when the same injury happened again when playing against Millwall.

Whether this recurrence of the injury was due to rushing the fan favourite back or just poor luck on his behalf, it’s extremely important that Mark Robins and co don’t let this happen once more going into the final 10 games as his appearances and potential goals could be crucial. He was an unused substitute in the side that defeated Derby County at the weekend in the first glimpse of the player for 2 months, however he will undoubtedly be given minutes in the coming games.

4. Use the Ricoh rumours as motivation

Whilst Coventry’s rise over the past couple of seasons have been remarkable, one grey cloud over the progression has been that the club have been forced to play home games at St Andrews, the home of Birmingham City. This hasn’t affected the squad too much though, as they lost just one game at their makeshift home on their route to the title last season, with home form this time around still being very impressive.

The good form however hasn’t changed the club and its fans shared opinion that it must be the highest priority to return to the city, whether that be at the Ricoh Arena or a new stadium. Owners SISU have always made it the clubs desire to build a new stadium where they can maximise revenue rather than sharing incomings with whoever their landlords may be, and in July last year announced a partnership with the University of Warwick in terms of a site for the stadium.

However they have always remained in talks with Wasps over a return to the Ricoh and according to reports in recent days, a potential 10 year deal is due to be imminently announced. If this were to be true, the announcement of a return to Coventry ready for the beginning of next season might be the perfect motivational boost to ensure they survive this season, as when fans do return to stadiums, everyone involved with the club would love for it to be at the Ricoh Arena.