Gary Mcsheffrey is heading back to Coventry. Angie Freel welcomes him and a plethora of new signings to the Ricoh.
Bothroyd boosting Sky Blue ranks
New Manager Aidy Boothroyd has so far kept to his word and began signing players to strengthen the Sky Blue squad.
After confirming that the services of Clinton Morrison, Stephen Wright and Dimi Konstantopoulos and a few others were no longer needed, first through the door was the return of Coventry born Gary McSheffrey. Out of contract with Birmingham, McSheffrey returns home as a free transfer on an initial one year contract.
'A signing that makes a statement' is how Boothroyd described it and I would have to agree with this too. Four years after leaving the Sky Blues, Gary is back and appears to be hungrier than ever for success and here to prove a point.
Having left the Sky Blues a young up and coming striker with potential of really making it in the Premiership, McSheffrey returns as a slightly older and wiser player with Premier League and promotion experience, something nearly all of our other players are lacking.
Boothroyd has also confirmed that he sees McSheffrey as a striker not just someone who can fill in on the wing. Up front was where McSheffrey always seemed at his best but rarely used.
Strength
With the exception of the return of the Mac, Boothroyd has turned to the luck of the Irish with his three following signings Roy O'Donovan, Stephen O'Halloran and English born but former Under 21 Ireland captain Richard Keogh, taking the clubs Irish tally up to seven, possibly eight if Doyle returns from his loan at Leeds.
Second free signing through the door was 22 year old Aston Villa left-back O'Halloran. Described as pacey and strong, O'Halloran has been unable to become a Premiership regular due to a spell of injuries which he now says are behind him. T
hird signing, 24 year old O'Donovan joins Coventry also on a free transfer from Sunderland. The attacking midfielder/striker is another player to return to Coventry on an initial 1 year contract this season having started his career as a Sky Blue trainee but later being told his services were no longer required.
Keogh joins the Sky Blues from Carlisle on a three year contract. The 23 year old defender has already got 170 appearances under his belt and was a big fans favourite at Carlisle.
Joke
The new signings means the Coventry's back four now include an Englishman, Irishman and Scotsman, but hopefully there won't be any jokes around that line up later on in the season!
I hadn't really heard much about these three players before which seems to be the general feeling about these signings, but if these relatively unknowns are anything like the other unknowns that we have signed in the past such as Westwood and Gunnarsson, then I think we may all be pleasantly surprised.
Things seem to be going good so far this summer, just one outstanding issue of Westwood's new contract needs to be resolved quickly. Boothroyd seems fairly confident that he will be staying and signing a longer deal but this does seemed to have dragged on for some time now.
Boothroyd's talk of a big summer Premier League loan signing is also yet to happen, however, he has said he doesn't see that happening till August after everyone has done the majority of their deals. Fingers crossed on that one.
Feeling genuinely excited now for the next few weeks and the coming season. Welcome home Gary, come on you Paddys and PUSB!
Will the Bothroyd revolution finally end a run of false dawns at Coventry? Give us your thoughts by filling in the feedback form below.
