By AD
February 7 2009

A few days ago this was going to be one of the shortest pieces ever written, because absolutely nothing had happened. Like last year though Coventry City left it late to make changes to their squad, but have they fared as well as twelve months ago when the club secured the services of Danny Fox and Scott Dann with hours to spare?

Let’s have a look at where we needed strengthening first. The most obvious deficiency in our squad was width – the only recognised winger in the squad at Christmas was Julian Gray, and he was on loan at Fulham! So to see Coleman attempt to bring in four wingers and succeed in securing two is encouraging.

David Bell finally joined after a six month chase for a fee of anything between £150-750k. Norwich fans say he can play on either flank; he’s not that quick but is an excellent crosser, which is one thing we’ve desperately needed to try and stop the Ricoh becoming a striker’s graveyard.

Sunderland rookie right-winger Jordan Henderson joins for a month initially with the possibility of an extension, and although he’s a bit of an unknown quantity at least the manager is trying to put round pegs in round holes. An encouraging debut in a poor team performance at Derby bodes well.

A prolonged chase for young Icelandic left winger Johann Gudmundsson ended with the player going to AZ Alkmaar in Holland and a late bid for Hearts wideman Andrew Driver failed, but given the Bell and Eastwood sagas don’t expect Ranson and Coleman to end their chase there. Kris Commons also became a Coventry City player according to SkySports website, but it seems they either made a mistake or the lad had the most shocking Coventry debut ever in the match against Derby!

The team has suffered from the lack of an attacking presence in the centre as well as out wide, with a huge gap between the midfield and the strikers. Kevin Thornton hasn’t shown he truly wants to be in the team and with Harrow Borough’s Robin Shroot choosing Birmingham instead of Coventry, young Chelsea prodigy Lee Sawyer joined on loan for a month. Well thought of by Southend fans (where he’s been on loan for three months) he didn’t have the greatest of debuts against Cardiff City, but his reaction in the press to his performance suggests he expects a lot more of himself.

With Stephen Wright suffering early season injuries and then needing to fill in in the centre, a number of people expected a right back to come in, but they didn’t.  Dutchman Quido Lanzaat had a trial and impressed Coleman, with the transfer going as far as gaining international clearance before Coleman pulled the plug when he secured the services of Livingston captain James McPake instead. Signed for a fee believed to be in the region of £50k, McPake is a central defender who sounds like a leader and a threat from set-pieces according to Livingston fans. With Ward looking a bit error-prone since his return, paying for the remaining six months of his contract could be good business and allow Turner more time to develop.

Coleman also set tongues waging with the revelation that City were in negotiations to bring a young striker in on loan from the lower leagues with a view to a permanent transfer, but that has failed to materialise as yet. Indian striker Sunil Chhetri came over for a well-publicised two-week trial, but left after just a couple of days as Coleman didn’t think he was what we were looking for.

Just as important as seeing who was coming in was seeing who would leave the Ricoh for pastures new. The squad was littered with deadwood signed by previous managers and a number of players needed to move on.

Top of that list was undoubtedly Kevin Kyle, who had his contract paid up before joining Kilmarnock shortly after. Claims by some supporters that Kyle didn’t put in any effort were a bit harsh in my opinion, but what isn’t beyond doubt is that the Scottish carthorse just wasn’t good enough and there was little love lost between him and a majority of the fans, so it was best for everyone that he left.

A fair few others considered surplus to requirements by Coleman also headed out of the exit door. Chris Birchall had his contract paid up in order to join ex-City boss Micky Adams at Brighton and despite neither having played a great deal of football (if any) while on loan, Ranson managed to convince QPR and Fulham to sign Gary Borrowdale and Julian Gray respectively, with fees involved! Bizarre, but good news seeing as Coleman had no intention of playing either of them, although it arguably leaves us a bit short on the left hand side. Dimi and Donovan Simmonds, who have both been out on loan, failed to get their deals made permanent, although it’s likely Swansea will resurrect a deal for Dimi in the summer after some impressive performances.

The thing most fans feared though was losing one of the clubs rising young stars - Westwood, Fox, Dann or Gunnarsson. Despite supposed late interest from Newcastle in Westwood and Fox no moves materialised (to a collective sigh), although the club did lose the services of two established first-teamers in Jay Tabb and Michael Mifsud.

The two star performers of the previous season, losing these two at this time last year would have been unthinkable, but neither has managed to recreate anything like that form again. Both were coming to the end of their contracts and weren’t going to re-sign so moving them on in order to build a team for next season is sensible long-term planning.

Tabb had reputedly been homesick after his brother (who was living with him) went to university and his performances have suffered. Rather than see the likeable Londoner unhappy he was allowed to go to Reading for a fee rumoured to be around £500k. The diminutive Ireland U21 international will be missed but not as much as he should be.

Mifsud on the other hand seems to believe that the adulation he receives in his Maltese homeland extends globally and that he’s outgrown the Sky Blues. The ‘Mosquito’ turned down three offers as they didn’t meet his (alleged) ridiculously high expectations. With manager Coleman fearing he was becoming a negative influence on the team the tiny striker went on loan to Barnsley until the summer in order to prevent himself from being ostracised for the remainder of his contract. After 17 quick-fire goals at the beginning of last season the hitman has managed just four since and despite his exhilarating runs he’s unlikely to be missed by too many people.

So, four players playing in positions which needed strengthening brought in, six players unlikely to play much of a part in the future of the Sky Blues shipped out, and a profit of up to £1m to spend on further squad building in the summer. We seem to be better at windows than Everest, and I bet you weren’t expecting me to say that today, were you?