Coventry City boss provides transfer update as he looks to get right balance to fill Gus Hamer void
Coventry City transfer news from CoventryLive as Sky Blues boss Mark Robins explains his recruitment strategy for the final week of the summer window
Mark Robins has given a recruitment update as the Coventry City manager looks to complete his summer business ahead of next Friday’s transfer window deadline.
The Sky Blues boss has outlined what he wants and needs to fill the void left by Gustavo Hamer’s departure and explained the balancing act he’s currently trying to get right within his squad.
Asked if he’s hoping to get a few more new signings in soon or whether he expects deals to go down to the deadline day wire, he said: “I honestly don’t know. We’re still trying to do some things and hopefully we can have some more news before the window shuts. We just inch our way along, as you know.
“It’s been a different window for us, but exciting nonetheless. It was slow to start with and we worked all over the summer to get things over the line but it just didn’t pan out that way. And the fact that we have got the players in who we have got, I am delighted with. We just need to add one or two more and once we get Jamie Allen and Callum O’Hare back (from injury), and potentially Fabio Tavares, then the squad will look a lot healthier in number.
“It will look stronger and healthier if we can get the extra bodies in, and the right bodies in and then fine, it will be really exciting.”
He added: “Doug King has been fantastic in the process, really supportive by tirelessly working to push things forward. The demands have gone up on everyone, which is natural, and that filters down to the players and they respond in kind. So it’s a really exciting time, there’s no doubt.”
The City boss had previously said he wanted four more players prior to drafting in attacking midfielder Yasin Ayari on loan from Brighton this week. So is he still looking to get three in before next Friday?
“Look,” he explained, “you have to be careful. It’s about the right players and depending on the players you bring in depends on the number I am going to bring in. It sounds daft but it all has to make sense.
“So if I am looking for a certain position it means I can move one or two bits and pieces around. There are players there who can play in certain positions, that are comfortable in certain positions. If I can add in a different area then it means we don’t need to add as many, potentially, but really I am still looking for numbers but I don’t have to go three, four or five now. We have got some significant numbers there but we just need probably a few, maybe a couple, but let’s see.
“We’ll try to do that and I think that we need to add the quality in the right areas and then the balance of the side should be right. But if you rush at this stage then it can spoil, so that’s also important. If you’re bringing quality in you really can’t have too much of that.”
Asked if he’s looking at more loan signings as well as the permanent market, he revealed: “Not particularly. We’re looking to bring in our own players. We have got two loan players in now and that’s what we spoke about earlier in the window, maybe just having one or two, and we have got quality loans in there, there’s no doubt about that.”
As for his preferred positions, he added: “I am still looking to add defensive options and I’m still looking to add a midfield player – someone who can maybe manage that transition but maybe do a few different roles within that. So that’s something I am looking to do and we’ll see if we can be successful in that aim in the next week or so.”
City have been reported to have had a £2.5m bid rejected for Barnsley centre-back Liam Kitching, while also linked with his Tykes’ team-mate, midfielder Callum Styles, as Robins looks for central options following the sale of Hamer to Sheffield United. That is clearly a difficult task given that the Brazilian was the full midfield package, whereas he might need one, two or even three players who can do all the things he did in one.
“Don’t forget Gus became the full package,” said Robins. “When he first came in he was a little bit erratic, although you could see the quality from day one. He was a little bit hot headed and picked up bookings unnecessarily. All of those things he had to get used to and overcome, and he did that and became a player of high value to the team and the club in the end.
“There were a lot of good things that he did over a period of time and the players we have got in, you are not looking to emulate that. You can’t because he’s unique, but you have to have players who come in and make their own mark in the side. And we have to do it in a different way because you have those different elements.
“Not every player is the same and you look to try to do some things similarly if you can but ultimately you have to try to bring in the players with the attributes you’re looking for.”
