"He gets quite a bit of hate" - Coventry City surprise claim levelled at Josh Eccles | OneFootball

Mark Robins' side have had a very disappointing start to the campaign, but may have started to turn a corner.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Coventry City have been one of the surprise packages in the Championship this season, but all for the wrong reasons, with Mark Robins' side failing to provide the same quality as they have done in the past.

It had seen the Sky Blues drop into the relegation zone before Saturday's spectacular comeback against fellow early strugglers Luton Town.

Rob Edward's Hatters had found themselves 2-0 up at the CBS Arena before an excellent revival from the home team saw them score three second-half goals to hand them their third victory of the season.

Haji Wright's 91st minute winner sparked scenes of utter jubilation in the West Midlands at the weekend, and has perhaps brought new life to a club that looked to be stuck in a rut. Nevertheless, some of their players must start to find consistency now after what has been a dreadful opening few months for Coventry.

Claims made about two surprise Coventry performers

Although Saturday was the perfect way to stop the negativity that is surrounding the Sky Blues, so far in 2024/25, performances have not been good enough across the board.

It has led to Robins facing pressure for the first time in a long while after the success he has previously had, but it has also led to some supporters getting on the backs of those who have produced big moments in the past.

Football League World has asked their Coventry Fan Pundit, Ryan Murphy, who has surprised him this season, either in a good way or a bad way after the first 12 games of the season.

He told

"But one player that gets a lot of stick, and he's from Coventry as well, is Josh Eccles. He isn't always amazing, isn't always great like in seasons before this, but this season, and I think he's been one of the only players that can come out with much credit, and he's been very consistent. He's certainly been the most consistent player this year."

"He gets quite a bit of hate, which is quite sad to see. Just because he has played badly at times in the past, I think certain fans have stayed with that mindset about him and their opinions are made-up, whereas this year there's no argument about it. He's been the most consistent player for City, 100%."

Ryan continued: "Negative would have to be Ellis Simms. He's been very poor this season, but again Saturday, that was the best I've seen him in a City shirt. He was unplayable, Luton couldn't live with him at all.

"He could have had two or three. He was running everywhere; he didn't give anything up. He got his well-deserved goal, which got us back in it, and then obviously we went on to win the game.

"If he played like that every week, we would be in a different league position. He was a right handful, and hopefully that's the end of his poor spiral because he was fantastic on Saturday."

Coventry must take momentum from Luton victory

The next few weeks before the third and final international break of 2024 will be crucial to Coventry's season, and could ultimately dictate Robins' future at the club if results do not pick up.

This is where the manner of their victory over Luton comes in, as coming back from two goals down will only breed new confidence into a team that was clearly lacking it beforehand.

Simms' start to the season was a clear indication of that lack of confidence, as he had failed to live up to his own very high standards before the weekend. Nevertheless, he was fantastic against the Hatters, with his proactiveness in the box shining through.

On another day, the 23-year-old could have scored more than the one that he did, racking up an xG rate of 1.49 from eight shots. While he had only 24 touches of the ball, it was his ability to be a constant threat that proved so difficult to contain.

The striker must continue to be this threat as the campaign progresses, otherwise it could be a difficult few months for Coventry.