Their first Premier League game for more than 25 years is still more than a month away but already Coventry can celebrate a huge victory.
A new three-year deal for promotion-winning boss Frank Lampard might have looked inevitable from the outside but during some tense moments of the close-season, it was far from it.
Now the hard part starts – building a team capable of staying in the top flight. Yet transfers cannot be the only focus for the Sky Blues, who like many promoted clubs have a challenging job making their infrastructure Premier League-ready.
Their start could hardly be trickier. Lampard’s men visit champions Arsenal on August 21, and face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium two weeks later. The home fixture with fellow promoted club Hull, on August 29, will give Coventry a better idea of where they stand.
Daily Mail Sport examines a crucial summer on and off the pitch.
Frank Lampard has signed a three-year contract at Coventry City, a major boost for the Sky Blues ahead of their first Premier League campaign since 2001
But Coventry supporters could be in for a long season unless the club get to work in the transfer market
Keeping Lampard happy
When Lampard led the celebrations at Coventry’s victory parade following their march to the Championship title, some at the club were wondering whether he had taken charge of his last game.
Daily Mail Sport understands Lampard had some concerns about whether he would be given a realistic chance of keeping Coventry in the Premier League. Recent seasons suggest promoted clubs need to spend at least £100million to have a shot at survival and sometimes even that is not enough.
It is also beyond doubt that Lampard was on the list of Fulham and Crystal Palace and had he been first choice for either club, he would have had a decision to make. Palace have long admired Lampard.
Yet it would have cost about £5m to prise Lampard from Coventry and in the end, the former Chelsea and England midfielder was happy to stay at the club where he has revived his reputation.
But Lampard asked often last season for significant improvements to the squad and facilities and he will be watching closely.
By the time the transfer window closes on September 1, Lampard needs to be satisfied he has a squad to fight for survival. Otherwise, Coventry’s season could get very tricky, very quickly.
Where they need to strengthen
Among Coventry’s top priorities is to re-sign goalkeeper Carl Rushworth, who did brilliantly on loan last season. Yet Daily Mail Sport can reveal Brighton are currently demanding £30m for the 25-year-old, who is seen in FA circles as a future England goalkeeper.
That price tag has certainly raised eyebrows at Coventry, given Rushworth has yet to play in the Premier League and is not first choice at Albion. Keep an eye on this one in the weeks ahead.
Goalkeeper Carl Rushworth impressed on loan at the CBS Arena last season – but Brighton’s £30million price tag has raised eyebrows at the club
How far is owner Doug King willing to push the boat out to improve Coventry’s chances of staying up?
Coventry also hope to tie up a club-record deal for Swiss centre back Aurele Amenda from Eintracht Frankfurt, who is expected to cost up to £20m. They need a new left back, too, and midfielders with similar running power to Frank Onyeka, who has completed a permanent switch from Brentford after an excellent loan spell.
This goes to the heart of owner Doug King’s plans. How far is he willing to push the boat out to improve Coventry’s chances of staying up?
The Sky Blues are expected to earn at least £115m from the Premier League’s broadcast deal yet King is unlikely to blow it on players alone. When sketching out plans in the spring, it is thought Coventry were reluctant to pay more than £50,000 a week to potential signings. If they stick to it, that will rule them out as an option for plenty of players.
There are contracts to arrange, too. Haji Wright has been the club’s top scorer for three seasons in a row and, like winger Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, has only one year remaining on his deal. Jack Rudoni, perhaps Coventry’s best player, has two years left and is also likely to be offered improved terms.
Yet unless King has a significant change of heart in the weeks ahead, Coventry are unlikely to spend as heavily as Sunderland, who committed £161m on transfers after promotion 12 months ago. That may cause tension between owner and manager and this is where Dean Austin comes in.
Austin’s crucial role
The Coventry transfer chief is perhaps the most important cog in the wheel, certainly on the football side of the club – which is why King promoted him from head of recruitment to sporting director last week.
Though relatively low-profile, Austin is regarded as one of the best in the business and at Coventry, he has proved it. Wright, Rudoni, Sakamoto, Ephron Mason-Clark and Milan van Ewijk joined Coventry on Austin’s watch and all were instrumental in promotion.
Haji Wright has been Coventry’s top scorer for three seasons in a row but only has one year left on his contract
Star midfielder Jack Rudoni, 25, is also likely to be offered a new deal
Where most leading recruitment figures rely heavily on data, Austin is a little more old-fashioned. While he takes data into account, Austin also has a huge network of contacts in some of the world’s lesser-known markets, such as Japan, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries. Austin trusts his eyes and those of his scouts at least as much as he does data.
After making more than 450 appearances as a player, Austin has developed into a top-class transfer operator and has passed the FA Level 5 course for technical directors. Working with wealthy owners can be a challenge yet Austin has earned King’s trust.
Once a deal reaches the crucial stages, King will step in. With more than 30 years’ experience in trading commodities, King backs his skills as a negotiator. But in the shark-infested waters of the Premier League transfer market, they will be tested to the limit.
Improvements off the pitch
Newly-promoted clubs need to worry about much more than the playing squad. The broadcast and media requirements for the Premier League dwarf those of the Championship and given they led the table for most of last season, Coventry were able to do some early groundwork.
Away fans must now be offered at least 3,000 tickets at the CBS Arena which means Coventry have had to adjust how home and visiting supporters are segregated. More space needs to be allocated for television gantries while there has been investment in flash interview areas and digital cabling.
| Aug 21 | Arsenal (a) |
| Aug 29 | Hull City (h) |
| Sep 5 | Manchester City (a) |
| Sep 13 | Brighton & Hove Albion (h) |
| Sep 19 | Nottingham Forest (a) |
| Oct 10 | Newcastle United (h) |
It is thought the club briefly considered switching the away section to the opposite end of the ground before deeming it too disruptive. These necessary improvements are understood to cost up to £8m.
The training ground, located in the Warwickshire countryside, has been upgraded but further work may be needed to bring it to Premier League standard. The club’s academy has only Category 2 status, which means it can be difficult to attract the best youngsters in the area.
Coventry will have retail bank Monzo as their front-of-shirt sponsor for the third successive year and it is proving a strong relationship. In January, Coventry fans were offered a home shirt for 1p if they opened a Monzo account – with impressive chief business officer Nicola Ibbetson steering the ship, expect more clever moves like that.
Coventry also recently opened a new retail store at the stadium, costing about £1.5m, and have an ongoing partnership with the Haas Formula One team.
So, can they stay up?
Coventry’s survival chances will probably be determined by how much King is prepared to invest in the squad.
Even a huge spend will not guarantee survival and if Coventry were relegated, they would be well placed to make an instant return, with at least two years’ parachute payments behind them.
Would King be open to outside investment? Virtually every owner is, though securing it is another matter. How many potential investors would be prepared to take a minority stake in the club if it gave them limited influence?
Perhaps King looks at the landscape as something like this: We finished above Ipswich and Hull last season and can do so again. All we need is for another club to perform as badly as Wolves did last year, and that would be enough for safety.
As things stand, Coventry’s squad needs significant surgery. The coming weeks will tell us a great deal about King’s short and medium-term ambitions for the club.
