The Sky Blues were denied promotion back to the Premier League with the very last kick of the season after losing to Luton Town in a penalty shootout in the play-off final at Wembley.
The striker’s departure cost the Sky Blues much in the summer.
As a result of failing to clinch the top-flight for the ensuing season, Coventry then lost a number of important players during the course of the summer transfer window. Viktor Gyokeres, a centre forward, left for uncharted territory and joined Sporting CP in Portugal for an estimated £20 million,
Gyokeres scored 38 Championship goals in his two full seasons with the Sky Blues, thus it was inevitable that the team would need to find a replacement for him and use some of the money earned by his departure to do so.
By the time the market closed, it was also undeniable that club owner Doug King had, at least on paper, spent the money required to fill that gap at the CBS Arena.
The Sky Blues had acquired two new centre forwards by the time the market shut down at the beginning of September, helping to lead the line without Gyokeres.
Ellis Simms was the first of those hires, coming from Everton for a reported sum of between £6 and £8 million, after a standout loan stint with Sunderland in the Championship during the first half of the previous season.
The arrival of Haji Wright, an American international who joined from Turkish team Antalyaspor for a club record sum of €9 million, came next.
The desire to see the pair succeed in Mark Robins‘ team will have been strong given the need for those new signings to produce the calibre of goals Gyokeres had previously provided, both to ensure the Sky Blues are again competitive in the Championship this season and prove those sizeable fees were money well spent.
Because of this, the recent developments about both of those strikers will undoubtedly have been a huge relief to many who support Coventry.
Given that Simms and Wright both had rocky beginnings with the Sky Blues, many supporters of the team are now hoping that the recent events will serve as a turning point.
Simms made a significant step forward for Coventry on Saturday when, in just his tenth game for the club, he scored his first goals for Mark Robins’ team, netting twice to secure a 3-2 victory away at Millwall.
Then, on Wednesday, it was Wright’s chance to make his mark. He was in the right place at the right time to display the kind of precision finishing that is typical of a centre forward and score the game-winning goal for the Sky Blues against Blackburn in the 85th minute.
Wright’s scoreless streak of 11 games ended with that strike, and he also scored for the first time since August, which will undoubtedly have relieved some of his pressure.
In just a few days, the goals from Simms and Wright have given Coventry six points, which might be significant as the season nears its conclusion.
King is now beginning to see the return on his investment that he will have desired, and the fact that those goals were so crucial in helping Coventry secure those victories may also give Simms and Wright the motivation they need to continue and make even more significant contributions to the team in the upcoming season and beyond.
In light of all of this, it may be argued that Coventry’s match-winning players in their most recent two games had greater significance than just the six very welcome points they earned. This is especially true with their victories this week over Millwall and Blackburn.