With the transfer window now officially open and after witnessing the drivel being spewed from the mouth's of many an irate City fan as to why messieurs Mowbray and Venus have yet to make a signing, I've decided to unveil my 'sky-blueprints' for the season ahead. Mowbray has dispensed with the deadwood from last season, some of whom may have flourished had they not spent the majority of their time here under Steven Pressley's watch - but that is a debate for another day.
Adam Barton, Simeon Jackson, Frank Nouble, Shaun Miller, Blair Turgott, Danny Pugh, Andrew Webster and Al Bangura have all departed the club this summer, leaving the squad with a fair few spaces to fill. Undoubtedly we possess the basis of a competitive team, but admittedly we do need to strengthen. Rather than identify candidates for the vacant roles, I'll address the areas that need to be bolstered.
Specific parallels can be drawn between the form of current first choice keeper Lee Burge and the results of the club last season, namely the inconsistent nature of both. Inconsistency is a formality for keeper's during the infancy of their careers and with this in mind, I'm not that worried about Burge's place in the squad. However both Burge and Reice Charles-Cook - a talented player by all accounts - would benefit from an experienced professional between the sticks, as would the club.
There are a multitude of reasons why we underperformed last season - which I am sure the Coventry Telegraph have had an online poll on, so I won't go into them. However one of the main reasons was frustratingly down to individual defensive errors, despite this there are two individuals that should be permanent fixtures in the first team going into next season.
Aaron Phillips endeared himself to the Sky Blues faithful after lashing in the equaliser against Wolves at Molineux back in 2013 and has since gone on to make a number of impressive appearances at right back. Whilst 'Haynes Mania' was slowly but surely unravelling, young Aaron was unassumingly going about his business.
He was replaced towards the end of the season by the more defensively minded Jordan Willis, but Phillips is definitely the way forward. He confidently overcomes his lack of aerial presence through his tenacity, and his level of technical ability allows him to maintain composure when in possession unlike Willis - who in all fairness is more suited to centre half.
At the age of 27 Reda Johnson is one of three players the team should be built around. There are issues surrounding both his fitness and disciplinary record, but pound for pound he was one of our most impressive performers last year and as he enters what should be the peak years of his career, we need to make the most of his influence. Johnson exudes leadership and confidence, characteristics needed when a high percentage of your squad is young. He is currently out of contract, hopefully this won't be the case for much longer.
What he requires is a defensive partner that can match his ability and physicality. In terms of effort, the performances of Aaron Martin cannot be faulted, however he was responsible on more than one occasion for the individual defensive errors that caused us such distress. His resilient performance against Crawley in the final game of the season, highlights the 'on his day' manner of the former Southampton man's game, deeming him sufficient enough for a place on the bench. The same indictment can be levelled at Jordan Willis, with his technical ability leaving a lot to be desired.
Cast your mind back to the glorious night of the 'Ricoh Return', when 27,306 people collectively gasped in amazement at wonder-boy Ryan Haynes running down the wing and floating a ball into the box. For whatever reason, be it loss of confidence, failing to adapt to the physical requirements of first team football or just simply being another overrated academy graduate, Haynes lost his way over the season.
That's not to say his Coventry City career has completely flatlined, but yesterday's signing of Chris Stokes means that Haynes should be on the periphery of the squad this season. I'm not overly enamoured by the Bolton youth academy graduate and ideally another left back should be signed, but realistically this won't happen. That being said a full professional pre-season will only help Stokes, who performed commendably during last season.
Traditionally Tony Mowbray has been a 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3 or a flexible 4-4-2 man with the basic principle of playing effective passing football. Since his arrival we haven't seen much evidence of this, with a fixed 4-4-2 system being deployed. I would be very surprised if Mowbray had abandoned his footballing principles in favour of the out-of-date, rigid 4-4-2, moreover it seems that rather than overcomplicate things for the squad he inherited, he saw 4-4-2 as a temporary solution for staving off relegation.
Basing the midfield selection on the 4-2-3-1 system it is clear that some work needs to be done. The second of the three players the team should be built around is John Fleck, with 139 appearances to his name - the highest of the current squad - he continues to get criticised for his lack of goals, when frankly, goalscoring isn't his game.
Fleck is comfortable in possession, he has an astute eye for a pass both long and short and he's hard in the tackle, meaning he is the dictionary definition of a 'holding-midfield' player. He needs to be allowed to sit in front of the defence and dictate the play, rather than being used in a flat midfield two, out wide or behind the striker where he is ineffective due to his lack of pace.
To accompany Fleck in this defensive role it is imperative that we sign a midfield destroyer, tall, physical, agile, quick, the kind of player that will take a booking for a cynical foul. Simply put, everything that Conor Thomas and Jack Finch are not. Much has been said about 18-year-old Ivor Lawton, but without ever watching him play - apart from at Primary School - I'll reserve judgement on him and the rest of the new academy graduates.
The advanced midfield three will be made up of two wingers and a central attacking midfielder - that's a number 10 for those of us who aren't privy to the language of the FIFA generation of football fans. After an impressive debut season, Jim O'Brien is probably the first name on Mowbray's team sheet for the new season.
O'Brien's industrious performances - which combined effective wing-play and the odd long range goal - saw him collect the Player of the Season award. It's hard to critique Jim, but it is necessary to question both his creativeness and delivery from out wide, which can be a bit haphazard. The need for pace and cleverness is an obvious, yet required request - I'll just stop all those who are currently screaming: "CARL BAKER" at their computer/tablet/phone screens, get over it, wipe away the tears, he wasn't that good and he's long gone.
James Maddison completes the triumvirate of players the team should be built around. There is no need to overcomplicate the analysis of Maddison, he's a bloody good player and could well go on to be a bloody great player. For now at least he is ours and we should utilise him effectively. He could be used out wide or as the lone striker, but his ability on the ball means that he is made for the number 10 role. Rather than be in and out of the game on the wing, or overpowered physically as the lone striker, allow him the time and space that a player with his potential requires. Do so and he will surely thrive and subsequently move to the Premier League in the near future.
The return of Danny Swanson has been met with mixed reactions by City fans, but whatever your personal view it is clear to see that there is a player there, even if we have yet to see it. Intermittently and incorrectly used by Pressley, Swanson will have the number 10 role in his sights and competition for places can only be a positive. O'Brien and Swanson are fantastic options to have, but the need for pace and creativity cannot be stressed enough, the talent is out there and it is for Mowbray and Venus to find it.
Marcus Tudgay should always be appreciated by City fans for that goal against Crawley which prevented us from sinking to new, horrifying lows. He has duly been granted a new one year deal and will work as an effective impact player off the bench. More forwards are quite evidently needed and rather than taking on the likes of Nouble, Jackson and a array of failed loan forwards - not including Dominic Samuel - we should look at League 2 and Non-League, where 'gems' continue to be found. I'm not even talking about the likes of Charlie Austin et al, a player of his quality isn't needed in a league that is in a continuous decline in terms of quality.
The basis of the team:
GK: New Player (Replacement: Lee Burge/Reice Charles-Cook)
RB: Aaron Phillips (Replacement: Jordan Willis/Dion Kelly-Evans)
CB: New Player (Replacement: Aaron Martin)
CB: Reda Johnson (Replacement: Jordan Willis/Cian Harries)
LB: Chris Stokes (Replacement: Ryan Haynes)
CDM: New Player (Replacement: Conor Thomas/Jack Finch/Ivor Lawton)
CDM: John Fleck (Replacement: Conor Thomas/Jack Finch/Ivor Lawton)
RW: Jim O'Brien (Replacement: New Player)
CAM: James Maddison (Replacement: Danny Swanson/George Thomas)
LW: New Player (Replacement: Danny Swanson/Kyle Spence/Devon Kelly-Evans)
ST: New Player(s) (Replacement: Marcus Tudgay)
Acquire what is needed and a successful season beckons. Instead of returning to the negative ways that are a depressing theme of our club, be patient and allow Tony Mowbray and his backroom staff to do their jobs. The time to panic about signings or a lack of, is not now. We finally have a man in charge who, if anything, is over qualified for the job. What he and the squad need is your unwavering support as we enter a new season.