"Not sure it's the greatest decision" - Coventry City surprise issued over Brad Collins & Fabio Tavares | OneFootball

FLW's Coventry City fan pundit is surprised at the retention of Sky Blues duo Brad Collins and Fabio Tavares after the summer window.

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 were steady with their business in the summer transfer window, but there is surprise that potential departures for goalkeeper Brad Collins and forward Fabio Tavares hadn't come to fruition.

The Sky Blues finished the summer with six incomings and five departures. Mark Robins has strengthened and showed the door with players, in a bid to improve on their ninth-placed Championship finish from the 2023/24 campaign, where they just missed out on the play-offs.

Some, however, may see a lack of game-time this season due to their chances of an exit not happening, with the aforementioned Collins and Tavares two players that may not see much time in the squad this season.

Ex-Barnsley man Collins made 28 appearances after taking over from Ben Wilson as the Sky Blues' number one last season. Since the arrival of Oliver Dovin though, it's perhaps a surprise that Collins hasn't sought a starting position elsewhere.

As for Tavares, he hasn't quite hit the ground running at Coventry, and now entering his fifth season since his move from Rochdale, it doesn't look like the 23-year-old will be getting his desired breakthrough anytime soon.

Coventry City claim issued on Brad Collins & Fabio Tavares

FLW'sCoventry City fan pundit, Neil Littlewood, has expressed his surprise at the duo's retention this summer, and suggests a move for both would have been ideal for all parties for game-time.

"I think the one player that we all thought was going that but didn't was Brad Collins," Neil told Football League World.

"First-choice keeper last year but had a poor end to the season, and we bought in Dovin, who is quite rightly our new number one.

"Collins has made it quite clear he doesn't want to be a number two, we have Ben Wilson who will stick around for that, and it looked like for all the money in the world that Collins would go. "He hasn't, and now we're stuck with three first-team goalies on our books which, I think, for a Premier League squad, isn't an issue, but, when you're paying three wages for goalies, when you've got a budget as tight as ours, I'm not sure it's the greatest decision. "But, you can only sell people if interest comes in. I'm guessing there was no interest in Collins. "I probably wouldn't of minded seeing him go out on loan. It is what it is. "The only other one would've been Tavares, who's got a year left on his contract and hasn't made the impact that we wanted him to. "He had a bad injury, he has come back and flirted with the first-team squad, but I think a loan would've done him really good this season, but he's still with us.

"They're the two mainly I'm surprised are still with us."

Fabio Tavares may still have a chance at Coventry City but Brad Collins doesn't

Despite the shot-stopper only having one season under Robins, Collins should certainly look for a move.

Taking into account Dovin's age of 22 and status in the Sky Blues squad already, it's unlikely Collins will get a look in, and with Ben Wilson looking like the number two after playing in Coventry's 1-0 win in the EFL Cup versus Oxford United, the writing seems to be on the wall.

In Tavares' case, he still has a part to play. Although there seems to be a number of options that can play off the right flank for Cov, Robins has made it clear he's happy that Tavares remained, following interest from Reading on deadline day.

Robins told Coventry Live: "I think with Fabio, I am happy that didn’t materialise, that move. But you can’t have too many strikers. They've got to perform and be ready to go."

Tavares has shown signs for the Sky Blues, including his involvement against Manchester United, which sparked Coventry's comeback in the FA Cup semi-final.

But, he's going to have to work hard to make his claim of starting for Robins' side.

Injuries haven't been kind to him, but maybe the attacker can get his big break this campaign, but he'd need the likes of Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and Ephron Mason-Clark to perhaps pick up a knock or perform poorly to get a chance.