Leeds United: Will Leeds be sent to Coventry or flourish?

National World - LocalTV

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00:00Anyway, we'll move on to the final topic, which of course is looking ahead to the visit of Coventry

00:05to Rhodes this weekend. Coventry is always a team that I'm not sure what to make of because sometimes

00:12you think that they're not that good, but then it's like, it's only realized by the end of the

00:16season that they're up near the playoffs. And you think, how have they done that sort of thing? Of

00:19course, you know, they were beaten playoff finalists on penalties a couple of years ago

00:24against Luton. And you think, well, because they don't obviously spend a lot of money, but I think

00:31they often get, you know, quite, you know, good young talent in and they develop it quite well.

00:36So yeah, they're an interesting side, so it won't be an easy game, not at all. But again,

00:43it's one where if what we're saying before is true in terms of leads having to show their

00:47promotion credentials, they have to go and be winning games like this. They can't just be a

00:50fault to be drawing as much as Coventry may be a good side. They're going to go up. You can't be

00:56slipping up too much of the ball. They've already had their fair share of slip-ups this season in

01:00terms of not putting where they should have done. So they have to go and win really, don't they?

01:04I think that's totally fair enough. Yeah. Because as you say, I think they are playing catch-up to

01:07a degree. Well, they are because of where they are on the table. The six, they need to be higher.

01:10They want to be higher. They need to be higher than that. And this is another chance to get

01:13another three points in the bag and move hopefully a bit more at the table. But it won't be easy,

01:16100%. And you've actually nailed it with Coventry. That's exactly what I thought when I was thinking

01:21about what to say about them because I just don't know what to expect from them. That's the thing.

01:25They're a team that everyone's got huge respect for under a manager in Mark Robbins that everyone's

01:30got huge respect for. People often say about him, why hasn't he been offered bigger jobs and moved

01:35a bit higher up? And I could see that. But obviously Coventry are a big club in their own

01:39right and stuff. But this season, they've had a really bad start. Let's be honest about it.

01:45Obviously, closer to the drop zone than they are to the playoffs. So, yeah, I don't know really how

01:50this will go. The thing I'll say about Coventry is I watched him in the League Cup game against

01:53Tottenham and I thought they looked very, very good. They basically looked like they were about

01:57to go through until Spurs' late comeback and stuff. And I remember watching that and thinking,

02:02if Coventry play like that against Leeds, it's going to be a very, very hard game indeed for

02:06Leeds. But then obviously, they went and followed that up with a 2-1 defeat at home to Swansea at

02:09the weekend, which has now got about to back down. You don't expect from them, do you?

02:14It just sums them up at the moment. You just don't know what to expect. And I think Mark

02:16Robbins is scratching his head a little bit because he's sort of questioning commitment

02:20and stuff at the moment and whatnot, which is understandable. And there's been player

02:25interviews where they've sort of, like I said, admitted that they were respected a lot better

02:29this season. And that's fair enough. And obviously, it's the battle of the last two

02:33beaten playoff finalists because, as you quite say, Coventry two years ago and Leeds last season

02:37as well. So, that's another facet to it, as is the fact that Coventry got four points from Leeds

02:41last season. So, Leeds are yet to beat Coventry under Daniel Farker. So, they'll be hoping to

02:47sort of break that up this weekend. And yeah, you're right. They're at home and they're a good

02:51side. Even if the really good Coventry turn up, Leeds have got to go and win it. They're

02:56four to seven favourites. I think that's a bit short because that suggests if Leeds don't win,

03:01it'll be a massive surprise. And I don't think it will be a massive surprise if they don't win,

03:04but hopefully they do. You'll probably back them too. But it'll be hard. They've got some very

03:07good players. Obviously, Ellis Sims and Haji Wright, in particular, two players who scored

03:12against Leeds last season in the two-one win at Coventry. They'll both be very dangerous.

03:16And they've got two very good new players in. They've got more than two good new players in,

03:19but two in particular. Brandon Thomas Assante is a player that everybody knows all about.

03:23Obviously, he's a real goal threat. And Norman Bissette is another striker they've brought

03:27forward, they've brought in. He looked good against Coventry, sorry, against Tottenham as

03:30well. And they've got good forward players, there's no doubt about that. And Robins will

03:33probably try and have them set up solid at the back as well. So, hard game again,

03:37another one where early goal feels key. Say that about Orwellian road games. I think it's true,

03:41though, because the longer it goes nil-nil, the more anxious the fans get, the more confidence

03:45the visiting team get, et cetera, et cetera. So, very, very hard game to call. We'll wait and see

03:51on team news. But the bottom line is, especially considering the playing catch-up, got to go and

03:57win it. And also, not just that, but it's because of when you look at what's coming up. You've got

04:01Coventry at home on Saturday, and then next week, the following week looks hard. Norwich away on

04:06the Tuesday night, all right, Norwich might not start quite as well as they wanted to. And then

04:10Sunderland away the following Friday night. I mean, that's huge. So, if you're going into those

04:15two games without three points against Coventry, or even with a point against them, then suddenly,

04:20you know, that really ramps up the pressure on those two games.

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