Coventry City new boy Kevin Kilbane has given his reasons for joining the club and one of the reasons given was the size and stature of the club.
The 35 year old Irish international defender with 110 caps to his name has played in League One before and with considerable success, so he know what is required to be contenders for promotion.
He played in the Huddersfield side that got to the 2011 play off finals and in every game he played, he was never on the losing side until the final losing 3-0 to Peterborough. It is his intention to help achieve something similar during his time at Coventry City.
Kilbane revealed he had options open to him but opted to join Coventry. He had been negotiating with Championship side Barnsley about taking up a player/coach role. He took his UEFA coaching badges last year while he was at Hull City. He also has a degree in Professional Sports Writing and Broadcasting.
When Kilbane was asked why he chose Coventry over his other options he said to the CT's Andy Turner, "It’s definitely the size and stature of the club. You can’t overlook that. It has been a wonderful club over the years and I am delighted to be here.
“The other thing that appeals to me is that there will be some people in some quarters who see a club in League One that is struggling right now, but it certainly doesn’t seem that way to me.
“I have come into a club where there are a lot of potentially really good players within the younger group and there is still some quality that has played at a higher level as well. There have been one or two signings and there is real quality there so, potentially, everything is going in the right direction and I want to be part of a successful team this year.
“Without a doubt everything is geared for promotion this season with the players who have been brought in and the players left from last season. I have been very, very impressed. I saw Coventry play a few times last season and watched the youth team a couple of times as well when I have been down to see Lee Carsley and there is a good mix and the makings of a promotion chasing side this year.”
Kilbane contacts with Coventry City also helped persuade him to sign. He was a team mate and close friend of Lee Carsley, now a Sky Blues coach, when the pair played at Everton. He also knows Andy Thorn from his playing days.
Kilbane said: “I spoke to Lee a few weeks ago and without a doubt he has been a big factor. We have spoken on the phone regularly for a number of years now and I have known Andy Thorn for a few years as well from his time at Everton in the scouting set-up.
“Richard Shaw is another player who I have played against and an excellent centre-half so between the three of them I think they have got a lot of positions covered and the mentoring within the group is very good as well. And that is something that appealed top me, working with those three.
“I’m sure one of the reasons I have been brought in is to help nurture the potential of the younger players because there are going to be times when you have bad days and get beat.
"That’s just part of football and some players can handle that in a negative way. It’s about how you get over it and how you become a better player, and hopefully I can help them deal with the stress that you sometimes get in football.”
At 35 years old, Kilbane knows his playing days are drawing to an end and with an eye to the future he has started to take his coaching badges with the aim of moving into a coaching role when he does finally hang up his boots.
He revealed he has already spoken to the club about coaching, admitting: “It has been discussed already. I have got my coaching badges in place and I was coaching at Hull last year, taking the reserves from last January to the end of the season, so it is something that appeals to me, but I have got to focus on being a player right now. That is where I have got to get my thoughts out onto the pitch within the group, so that’s at the forefront of my mind now.”
More on this: http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/coventry-city-fc/coventry-city-fc-news/2012/07/10/92746-31361763/