Andy Turner: In order to stay up with the play-offs, Coventry City needs to utilize “Kelly in the middle” more often.
Fortunately, the January acquisition has recovered swiftly to allay fears in the middle of the field. On Monday night in the FA Cup, he played over 70 minutes against Maidstone and made a late appearance against North End.It’s interesting to note that Liam Kelly, City’s most versatile and possibly best-equipped central midfield player, has gone unnoticed for months.
Prior to Torp’s midterm arrival, Josh Eccles had been favored above the Sky Blues captain to play with Sheaf. Additionally, in his quest for stability, he blows hot and cold like a lot of young people do. However, it makes more sense to give the homegrown talent valuable playing time rather than obstructing his path with an experienced coach who is nearing the end of his tenure with the team.
Joel Latibeaudiere, a Jamaican international who was brought in as a center-half and has frequently covered at right-back, has also been favored on occasion and performed admirably, not least in the hard-fought 1-1 draw at Leeds United. That’s a useful attribute that will undoubtedly be used a couple more times in the campaign’s last 12 championship games. Sakamoto will likely be used more frequently at the back now that he is out for the duration of the season, allowing Milan van Ewijk to push forward, just as he did on Monday night when City altered tactics midway through the second half.
Fabio Tavares has been given the chance to play right wing, but he is still developing in that role. He appears much more at ease and productive when he plays more centrally, as demonstrated by his two goals in the FA Cup, which he scored with Matty Godden late in the fifth round match. It’s also likely that Robins may mix and match a little more in the upcoming games due to a lack of options and numbers.
However, Kelly is in the middle, which is the only place where a round peg fits a round hole. He proved once again on Monday night that he still has a lot to offer the squad. He was excellent towards the conclusion of the previous season when he entered to support the play-off drive and earned a new one-year deal in the process.
Upon the 34-year-old’s first start since October and just his 12th appearance of the season, Robins said, “He did well.” In the end, he was moaning about cramps, which is to be expected. I told him to simply go ahead and finish it since I was out of substitutes. Fortunately, he did, as he had been absent for some time. Thus, it was actually nice to see him back on the field.
Kelly’s main task will be to avoid getting hurt, but if he succeeds in doing so, he will undoubtedly be utilized more in the closing stages. Positional awareness, composure, leadership, experience, passing range, and work rate are just a few of the many qualities he offers. Additionally, he can pick up a good forward pass or ball, as demonstrated in the Cup game when he helped set up four of the five goals. Although that was against a non-league team, Kels is clearly more than capable at this level, and there are still plenty of wonderful songs to be played on this “old” fiddle.