Frank Lampard & Coventry City questioned over 'strange' transfer decision | OneFootball

FLW's Coventry City expert Chris Deez was left rather confused over Kai Andrews' January loan move to Hibernian.

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 sent exciting midfielder Kai Andrews on loan to Scottish Premiership side Hibernian for the rest of the season, which has led to some split opinions in the fanbase.

The Sky Blues sit top of the Championship table, but have seen their lead at the summit completely vanish over the last few weeks, after a dip in form.

Thankfully for Frank Lampard, he was able to bring in a few new faces in January to try and maintain his side's title bid, but this has led to questions being raised over his management of some of the club's most exciting young talents.

Andrews is a product of Coventry's academy, and looks set to become a star in the future, having made his full Wales debut at just 19 years old back in September last year.

Despite a handful of substitute appearances for the Championship leaders, Andrews has been sent out on loan to Scotland for the second time in his career, and some have been left wondering why.

Kai Andrews loan departure sparks fears of another Coventry City prospect slipping through the cracks

Following the news of the teenager's temporary switch to Hibernian, we spoke to Football League World's resident Coventry expert, Chris Deez, to gather his immediate thoughts on the move, and whether it was the right decision.

Chris told us: "I obviously love Frank Lampard, but his handling and management of Kai Andrews is a shining example of how he's not actually that good with youth players as so many people seem to think that he is.

"Kai Andrews, Raphael [Borges Rodrigues], Norman Bassette, all three young players that Lampard has waxed lyrical about over the past year, 13 months, but he's given them little to no opportunity to actually prove themselves, and show what they're made of.

"This is now Kai Andrews' second loan out to the Scottish [Premier] League. He made very little impact over at Motherwell, and I'm not big on the Scottish league, but I know that Hibs are one of the better teams.

"If he can't get into our team, and he couldn't make any impact at Motherwell, is he even going to see that many minutes at Hibs?

"Surely, even with how little game time he's been given by Lampard, we wouldn't be sending out a central midfielder on loan when that's the one area we need the most help in," Chris concluded.

It's clear to see that there is concern over the long-term future of Andrews, who is one of the most exciting young players at the club, with Chris keen to not see him go down the same path as the likes of Raphael and Bassette.

Of course, it's easy to say a player should be given more minutes, but when you're challenging for a title, experimenting with different players isn't at the forefront of the manager's mind, so a lack of opportunities can be forgiven.

However, Chris believes that Andrews may have been better off learning from the bench at Coventry and making the most of any chances that come his way, rather than a return to Scotland where he didn't succeed before.

"I'm happy for Andrews because when we've seen him there've been glimpses of something. There's quite obviously a very good player in there," Chris said.

"People who've followed him in the youth setup have said how incredibly good he is, how he's one for the future, and how he's one we should be able to cash in on one day.

"We used to have a fantastic academy and a fantastic youth setup, and it's really declined over the years. We're not producing the [James] Maddison's that we used to produce.

"I would've liked to have seen Andrews stay, be on the bench a little bit more, and actually get opportunities, even if it's just the last 20 minutes of a game that we've killed off. I'm not a football manager, so what do I know?