DOUBLE TROUBLE!
ROBINS MUST WIN JANUARY FIGHT TO KEEP HOLD OF STARS JONES AND DUCKENS, WARNS EX-CITY FAVOURITE ADEBOLA
ALL eyes will be on Coventry City forwards Jodi Jones and Duckens Nazon come January when fans will be desperately hoping the club keep hold of them.
Jones was the subject of interest from other clubs in the summer and, after raising his profile further with four goals and several eye-catching performances, will almost certainly attract the attention of higher-placed teams in the mid-season transfer window.
Sky Blues leading scorer Nazon, meanwhile, is due to return to his parent club Wolverhampton Wanderers in the New Year when Mark Robins is expected to try to extend his stay at the Ricoh Arena. Wolves, of course, may want to introduce the Haitian into their own first team or even cash in on the 23-year-old if they get a tempting offer for his services.
But former Sky Blues star Dele Adebola believes City could find themselves fending off bids for Jordan Willis and Rod McDonald after developing an outstanding partnership at the back. “January is going to be an important time at the club because players like Jones and Nazon would be hard to replace if they left,” said 42-year-old Adebola. “But I think this season’s success so far has been built on the team’s defensive strength. When it’s like that you only need the odd goal to win games and it’s always better to build off a solid foundation. “You will still need goals, and that will be a challenge, but the key to it for Coventry this season is keeping those two centrebacks fit and at the club because January won’t only bring bids for Jones and the attacking players but they might find one or two clubs coming in for the defenders as well.”
Adebola was back at the Ricoh last month to watch City play another of his old clubs, Crewe Alexandra. And the one-time centre-forward couldn’t help but be impressed by the pair in the 1-0 victory.
“Crewe got to a point in that game when they hit two brick walls, Rod McDonald and Jordan Willis, who I thought were just as impressive as anyone else in the game,” said Adebola, of the pair who have helped City record eight clean sheets out of 12 so far this season.
“At the end of the game the French lad Nazon got man of the match and I saw a great performance from Jodi Jones who absolutely terrorised his full-back. But as a constant, I thought the two centre-backs were immense.
“They dealt with everything that came near them; they talked, they were aggressive and they were everything you want from centre-backs.
“And I left that game thinking that if Coventry can keep those two fit they have got a great chance of being there or thereabouts at the end of the season.
“During the game I wasn’t aware of how many clean sheets they’d kept and how much their early season success has been built around those two. But after the game I disagreed with the man of the match and went for those two because in my first view of Coventry this season they put in a really good performance, and that was their third game in a week, so it was really good to see.”
As for Nazon and Jones, he said: “I thought Nazon looked a little bit tired against Crewe but you could see how much he wanted the ball and how much he wants to score goals.
“He was testing and probing all the way through and looks as if he wants to turn and shoot, and that’s great because I think Coventry missed a goal scorer last season. And he looks to be that player.
“Jodi Jones was a little bit different and I thought the way Mark Robins set the team up was tactically perfect.
“He had Jodi playing away from everyone else on the wing and they got the ball to him and left him oneon-one with his man looking for a pull-back.
“After 25 minutes Crewe got onto it but that looks as if it could be a big part of Coventry’s success this season if they can get Jodi isolated and finding pockets of space.
“All credit to the manager because the goal that won the game was all down to the way he’d set them up.”
January is going to be an important time... players like Jones and Nazon would be hard to replace if they left Dele Adebola