Match Day Thread Watford v Coventry City – Saturday 2nd May, 12.30

Owner, manager and celebrity fans
Doug King became the owner of Coventry City (nicknamed the Sky Blues) in January 2023. Frank Lampard replaced Marks Robins as manager in November 2024 after a poor run of results in the Championship.

Coventry purchased the CBS Arena from Mike Aslhley in August 2025 after initially paying rent. Ashley had bid for the stadium in 2023 after Wasps rugby club (which had purchased the stadium in 2014) and the stadium holding company had fallen into administration.

Two of Coventry City’s most famous supporters are Christian Horner, the former team principal of Red Bull, and Richard Keys, the former Sky Sports presenter who now works for BeIN Sports. Horner’s wife, Geri Halliwell (former member of the Spice Girls) is a Watford supporter.

Championship Season 2025-26
Watford lost 1-3 away at Coventry in October 2025 when Louza scored a second-half consolation goal for the Hornets. Coventry City has already won automatic promotion and will play in the Premier League next season. The Sky Blues defeated Portsmouth 5-1 on 21st April to win the Championship title. The team sit at the top of the table with 92 points, having scored 93 goals but having conceded only 45 goals this season.

Players
Captain and defensive midfielder is Matt Grimes, in whom Watford was reported to be interested in the past when he was at Swansea. Jack Rudoni is another important midfielder, who joined from Huddersfield after their relegation to Division One in June 2024. Victor Torp (an attacking midfielder) is a former Danish youth international.

The first choice goalkeeper is Carl Rushworth, who is on a season-long loan from Brighton. Milan van Ewijk plays at right back while Liam Kitchen and Bobby Thomas are the two central defenders who have made the most appearances this season. Jay Da Sliva usually plays on the left side of the defence.

Tatsuhiro Sakamoto (a Japanese internationl) and Ephron Mason-Clark (a Jamaican international, who has scored 10 goals) are wingers. Haji Wright (an American international and leading scorer with 17 goals), Brandon Thomas-Asante (a Ghanaian international international and scorer of 13 goals) and Ellis Simms (scorer of 10 goals) are the three main strikers.

Watford line-up
Most Watford supporters will be glad do see the end of a disappointing season, which promised much more than was delivered. It will probably be Ed Still’s last game in charge of Watford. All the Watford players should be available for selection apart from Hector Kyprianou and Rocco Vata (plus injured Stephen Mfuni who has returned to Manchester City). Will Kwadwo Baah be left on the bench (rather than starting the game)? Will Ed Still decide to give an opportunity to some of the youngsters or will he prefer to select those players who are still likely to be at Watford next season?

I hope that will be Ed Still's final game in charge. I know that he has had to cope with a number of injuries in key positions (plus the bizarre decision to sign in January two midfield players who have not played for more than one year) and I think that Still was not helped by the club leaking that he would be leaving at the end of the season. However, he should never have been appointed based on his C.V. Was Still's appointment a favour to Mogi Bayat, his agent? I am not confident that the club will appoint a more suitable head coach next season and good players such as Louza will almost certainly be gone. Next season could be difficult, but the problems at the club appear to start right at the top.