Advertise on podcast: Coventry City Daily Digest

Wednesday the twenty eighth of October. Two things this morning, and then Saturday from both ends. LAMPARD ON ELLIS SIMMS (press report, one named origin: Andy Turner at Coventry Live, reporting the manager on Monday). Simms was left out of the Coventry City matchday squad altogether against Fulham, having come off the bench and scored against Newcastle earlier this month. Asked whether the striker was injured, Frank Lampard said no, he just cannot pick everybody, he has to cover at the back, in midfield, on the wings and up front, and that it was unfortunate for Ellis, adding that it will not be every week for Ellis, in fact the opposite. On how the call gets made, Lampard said he watches training every week and tries to decide on that, and that it is the toughest decision of his job, the hardest bit. Turner has Simms on one Premier League start all season, the opening game at Arsenal, and about three quarters of an hour of league football off the bench since. NEW BEER AND POURING PARTNER (club official). Coventry City announced yesterday morning a new multi year partnership with Molson Coors, the brewer behind Carling, who become the club's Official Beer and Pouring Partner. In the club's own words the deal brings a range of Molson Coors beer brands to the Coventry Building Society Arena, led by Carling, with Carling branding across selected concourse bars and the screens inside the ground, matchday advertising, a presence on the club's own digital channels, and Carling activations in the Arena's indoor fan zone across the season. The club have it extending to the Arena's wider events programme as well, not just matchdays. Nicola Ibbetson, the club's Chief Business Officer, says the partnership will help the club keep improving the experience for fans and hospitality guests across the Arena. SATURDAY, AND THE SUNDERLAND TEAM NEWS (press report, same named origin, relaying Régis Le Bris after Sunday's goalless draw with Leeds United). Sunderland at the Arena on Saturday afternoon, three o'clock. Dan Ballard, who headed Sunderland past City in the play offs in May of twenty twenty five, misses the game with a thigh strain he has carried since the start of this month and is not expected back until late November. Le Bris called it a shame and said Ballard had been in a good place. Thomas Meunier, out since a hamstring injury against Brighton a fortnight ago, is one Le Bris is hopeful about, in his words probably available coming off the bench for tonight's cup tie with Brentford. Turner's reading is that it could pave the way for a start at the Arena. Centre forward Wilson Isidor is a late call, with Le Bris saying they are just on the edge with him. Romaine Mundle is out with a knee injury until the end of the year. OUT ON LOAN (press report, same origin, as of Monday). Norman Bassette was joint top scorer in the Belgian top flight with Nicolo Tresoldi of Club Brugge, on seven goals in nine appearances for Westerlo, five of them in his last four games. Liam Kitching has started all eight Championship games for Sheffield United, the full ninety in each. STANDING. Nothing further on Bobby Thomas. Nothing more on the Everton away trip now the allocation has sold out. Play up, Sky Blues!

Tuesday the twenty seventh of October. Two things this morning, and the first one has a clock on it. EVERTON AWAY SOLD OUT (club official). Coventry City confirmed yesterday afternoon that the full away allocation at Hill Dickinson Stadium has sold out. Wheelchair bays remain available, sold through the Loyalty Points Scheme. Successful Away Ballot members have until ten o'clock this morning to buy their tickets. If tickets remain after that window closes, the club say they will communicate further on sale windows. LAMPARD ON THE UNDERDOG TAG (press report, one named origin: the Coventry Observer). After Saturday's home defeat to Fulham, Frank Lampard reaffirmed that City will pretty much be underdogs every game this season, and in his own words, let's make that clear. On the attack, he said there was no real zip at the top end of the pitch, and that City want to create more up there. WHAT IS NEXT. Sunderland at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Saturday afternoon, three o'clock. Both sides have now played eight. Sunderland are twentieth, City are nineteenth, and there is one point between them. STANDING. Still no diagnosis on Bobby Thomas, and still nothing from the club. Nothing new on the CoppaFeel auction, nothing new on the loans out. Play up, Sky Blues!

Monday the twenty sixth of October. A quiet morning, for a simple reason: the club have put nothing out since Saturday's match report. So one story leads, and it is Bobby Thomas. BOBBY THOMAS (press report, one named origin). Speaking after the Fulham defeat, Frank Lampard said he hoped the injury was not serious, and that he did not know the extent of it because the game was still going on and he had not seen Thomas since. The Coventry Telegraph have it as a problem with the lower leg, with ice strapped to the left leg below the knee. Still no diagnosis, and still nothing from the club itself. Lampard also made the point that it was not illness that brought Thomas off: Thomas had been unwell going into the game and played anyway, and something else was bothering him by the time he came off. The club's own match report (club official) put that down to the fifty fifty with Alex Iwobi. WHAT IS NEXT. Sunderland at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Saturday afternoon, three o'clock, with no midweek tie. Sunderland are bottom of the league after a goalless draw with Leeds United at the Stadium of Light yesterday, a result that extended their run without a win. City are nineteenth. So it is nineteenth against twentieth on Saturday. TICKETS. The Everton away tickets go on sale this morning at ten, working down through the loyalty points, one ticket per supporter number. Nothing new on the CoppaFeel auction, nothing new on the loans out, nothing new from the training ground. A short bulletin, because the news was short. Play up, Sky Blues!

Fulham won nil one at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Saturday, and Oscar Bobb's goal with ten minutes left was the difference. Today's episode goes through the game as the club's own match report tells it, from Shea Charles's early effort and Josh King hitting the post to Brandon Thomas-Asante's chance from a mishit back pass and Stephen Mfuni's header at a second half corner. Bobby Thomas went off around the hour after a fifty fifty with Alex Iwobi. There is no diagnosis and nothing from the club beyond the match report, so the episode says that and no more. Team news for the record: Frank Lampard named the same starting eleven that began against Tottenham on Monday night, with one change on the bench, Ellis Simms out and Yann Gboho in, Gboho still waiting on a Premier League debut. Gus Hamer was among the substitutes after appearing for the Under twenty ones on Tuesday. The Irish Examiner has Lampard's post match press conference, including his view that Fulham found a moment of quality that Coventry could not find, and that there was no real zip at the top end of the pitch. Alvaro Arbeloa thought his own side are improving and put the game down to the quality of one player in one moment. The defeat leaves Coventry second from bottom, nineteenth, and it is a second defeat in a week. Coventry City Daily Digest is an independent daily podcast for Coventry City supporters, gathered and produced each morning for a five o'clock release. The news in this episode is as at half three this morning. Play up, Sky Blues!

Matchday. Fulham at the Coventry Building Society Arena, Saturday 24 October, 3pm kick-off, and it is sold out. The club have opened the Ticket Exchange for it and published the figure behind it: across the Hull, Brighton and Newcastle games an average of 2,218 season ticket holders did not attend each match. They surveyed the supporters who stayed away without listing or forwarding their seat, and nearly a quarter did not know they could list it on the Exchange at all, 16% did not know they could forward it, and 9% were not sure how. Listing stays open until 90 minutes before kick-off and listed seats can be bought right up to kick-off. Fulham and Sunderland are both Category C fixtures. Travel warning for today. Coventry City say West Midlands Railway have told them there will be a reduced service between Leamington Spa and Nuneaton because of traincrew availability, affecting supporters using Coventry Arena station. The club advise checking the service before setting off and considering alternative travel. The matchday shuttle bus from Coventry train station runs as usual, first service at midday. Turnstiles open at 1.30pm. The kiosks are running Halloween specials. The view from the other dugout: VAVEL have Fulham head coach Alvaro Arbeloa saying he has watched all of Coventry's games and calling them very, very competitive, able to combine but quick to get at the box, wide and direct and dangerous on the counter. "They fight for the first ball, they fight for the second ball, they fight for rebounds, they fight for everything." He says you can see the work Lampard is doing with his team, and that Coventry can score from nothing. Two numbers from BBC Sport. After 16 clearances against Newcastle, the second-most by any player in a match this season, and a game-high seven at Tottenham, Bobby Thomas now tops the Premier League for clearances. Less comfortably, the Sky Blues have conceded more than twice as many goals from outside the box as any other team in the league this season. Squad news: defender Tionne Critchlow-Woyo has joined Southern League Premier Central side Stratford Town on a one-month youth loan, having had a spell at Spalding United earlier in the season. Scholar Josh Stidder joins him at Knights Lane on a work experience loan. The CoppaFeel shirt auction is live. Bidding has opened on the signed match-worn and match-issued shirts from the Newcastle game, including those marking Ellis Simms and Milan van Ewijk's 150th appearances. It is hosted by Budds, opening bids are £50 a lot, every shirt is a single piece, and all of the profits go to the charity. It is a timed auction concluding from 7pm on 5 November. Everton away ticket detail: City have the full allocation of 3,001 for Hill Dickinson Stadium, on sale from 10am on Monday 26 October working down through the loyalty points. Adults £30, seniors and young adults £25, under-18s £20, plus a £1 booking fee per ticket. And the matchday programme: 76 pages, £4, with Frank Onyeka the cover star and a sit-down interview about his time at Coventry and his return to the Premier League. Lampard and Matt Grimes preview Fulham inside. The club are marking the Premier League's No Room for Racism campaign today and the programme profiles Cyrille Regis. Bobby Gould looks back at the club's first season in the old First Division, and there is a combined XI of former Coventry and Fulham players. Play up, Sky Blues.

Frank Lampard's press conference before Saturday's home game with Fulham, reported by BBC Sport. Loum Tchaouna and Yann Gboho were both left out of the squad that travelled to Tottenham Hotspur on Monday and neither is injured: Lampard says both are training and both are fit, and that they are still adapting to what he wants on and off the ball and on and off the pitch. Tchaouna has to understand that, as every player does, and is working towards it; Gboho has talent, that much is certain. There is not always the drama in an omission that people assume, Lampard says, selection is the hardest part of his job, he has no favourites, and players are picked on how they train and how well they suit the game plan. On Josh Eccles, the calf problem has cleared but the ankle has not and is affecting his rehab: Eccles is progressing but has not returned to training on the grass, and Lampard says the ankle has been an annoyance for all of them. Gustavo Hamer asked to play for the Under-21s on Tuesday night because he wanted minutes, which Lampard says he likes a lot, adding that he and his staff have been really impressed with Hamer's work ethic and that he is a good example; Hamer started in midfield and Coventry won 2-0. From the club: the Fan Village is open for Fulham, with the Exhibition Hall open from 12pm and entry via Gate 27 ahead of the 3pm kick-off, bars, food and live music through the hall and Saturday's earlier Premier League game on the big screens. The Museum of Me joins the Fan Village, with up to seven supporters from across Coventry presenting their own museums of objects, photographs and memories and what the Sky Blue Army means to them, among them Louie, who is eight and plays for Copsewood Tigers; Sue, whose dad printed the matchday programmes at Highfield Road and whom Jimmy Hill would always help carry them in; Lewis, co-founder of Proud Sky Blues; and Iqbal, a lifelong fan now unable to get to games because of caring responsibilities. Also on Saturday: the Red Bull Wings Cup, a 1960s Jaguar from Jaguar Heritage Trust, Family Zone activities, and Sky Blues in the Community raising awareness of the Premier League's Together Against Suicide campaign. For Breast Cancer Awareness Month the club has published the stories of three supporters: Sonia, diagnosed earlier this year at 28 and partway through chemotherapy with surgery and radiotherapy still ahead; Sarah, a City fan of 42 years who had breast cancer during the pandemic and says a letter from the club and having the football to focus on helped her through it; and Joanne, whose dad, uncle and dad's friend were all diagnosed, and who says the stigma around male breast cancer leaves men isolated, with many unaware they have breast tissue so that symptoms are ignored and diagnosis comes too late. The club's campaign with CoppaFeel runs to the end of the month. Fulham visit the Coventry Building Society Arena on Saturday 24 October at 3pm, and Lampard reads Fulham as a side that wants the ball whose results are not aligned with their performances.

Coventry City's Under-21s beat Swansea City 2-0 on Tuesday night in the Professional Development League, the club's own report calling it a dominant win, with Liam Kelly's side arriving on a run of five wins in six. Gustavo Hamer, who came off the bench at Tottenham Hotspur the night before, started in midfield and Jake Bidwell started as captain, the club saying both dominated the early stages with their experience and leadership clear. Hamer increasingly dropped deep and directed operations alongside Elliot Betjemann, while Bidwell praised centre-backs Tristen Batanwi and Riccardo Di Trolio. Coventry's first goal came from the penalty spot after Harry Gray's shot was palmed down by an outrushing Swansea defender, Betjemann blasting it down the middle as the keeper dived right. Billy-Ray Cullinane then won the ball with a perfectly timed sliding tackle and fizzed a cross to the far post for Joshua Stidder to finish on 71 minutes. Swansea's best moments were a test of Jack Ruddy after 11 minutes and a curling second-half shot from Jones that Ruddy turned round the post. Coventry move up to third, Swansea slip to sixth, and Kelly's side travel to Cardiff City on Tuesday 27 October. The Coventry Observer has Matt Grimes, who has started all seven Premier League games this season, saying there is more belief and confidence about the squad now than on the opening day at Arsenal, that Coventry are starting to believe they belong at this level, and that it is all about learning and adapting. Fulham visit the Coventry Building Society Arena on Saturday 24 October at 3pm. There is no team news yet and nothing from the club on Josh Eccles or Luke Woolfenden.

Coventry City's winning sequence ended at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday night, Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Coventry City. James Maddison curled Spurs ahead after 14 minutes following Mohammed Kudus's run past Jay Dasilva, Jack Rudoni levelled five minutes after the restart from a shot that came back off Brandon Thomas-Asante, and Omar Marmoush restored the lead in the 58th minute after, in the club's own words, appearing to catch Milan van Ewijk in the face as he controlled the ball, with the referee allowing play to continue. Ben Davies made it 3-1 deep into injury time. Frank Lampard, speaking to BBC Sport, described two outstanding goals for Tottenham and called the second questionable because of the arm up in the face, while saying he was very pleased with the performance and that Coventry were in the game to say the least. Jack Rudoni told Sky Sports it was frustrating and that Coventry took the game plan to them well. Lampard had made one change from the Newcastle win, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto replacing Ephron Mason-Clark, with Taiwo Awoniyi back from suspension and Kaine Kesler-Hayden back from injury, both introduced from the bench along with Frank Onyeka, Mason-Clark and Gustavo Hamer. The club has confirmed that two December home fixtures at the Coventry Building Society Arena have been selected for live broadcast on Sky Sports: Ipswich Town is brought forward 24 hours to Tuesday 1 December, 8pm, and Aston Villa moves to Sunday 13 December, 4.30pm. Coventry have also opened registration for a timed auction of signed match-worn and match-issued shirts from the 4-1 win over Newcastle United, with all profits going to CoppaFeel!, including shirts marking Ellis Simms and Milan van Ewijk's 150th appearances. Coventry are 17th after seven games on six points. Fulham, one place and one point below, visit on Saturday.

Frank Lampard has won the League Managers Association's Everest Men's Performance of the Week award for Monday's four one against Newcastle United, confirmed by the club on Friday, and he won the same award in February after a three one against Middlesbrough. CoventryLive carry his verdict on Sidiki Cherif, the nineteen year old he calls a bit special and a big signing in our intention and in the expense of it, and report that Kaine Kesler-Hayden is available and hoping for his first matchday squad of the season, with Josh Eccles two or three weeks away and Luke Woolfenden a little longer. Lampard also talks to the same paper about Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, faith, trust, and how he makes the calls on the players he leaves out. And Coventry City join all twenty Premier League clubs behind No Room For Racism, whose two dedicated match rounds run from 17 to 25 October and take in Monday night at Tottenham, with Brandon Thomas-Asante appearing in the campaign's new film. The LMA award and the No Room For Racism item are confirmed by Coventry City. Everything else in this episode is a press report carried by CoventryLive, so nothing here claims independent corroboration. Sources named on air: Coventry City and CoventryLive. Play Up, Sky Blues!

Frank Lampard met the press ahead of Monday night at Tottenham, and CoventryLive report the smiles of Monday gone and the four one re-analysed with a colder eye: no performance is absolutely complete, and he is always fearful of resting on something and thinking that you have made it. Taiwo Awoniyi is available again after a three match ban, which leaves a selection call on Sidiki Cherif, and Lampard's own answer on it. CoventryLive make the case that the wider game is catching up with Bobby Thomas, who by their count is one of only three Coventry outfield players to have started every league game. And Gordon Strachan, in charge the last time Coventry City were a Premier League club, tells supporters to be patient in the market and warns that it is wages, not fees, that put clubs at financial risk. Every item in this episode is a press report. All four are carried by CoventryLive, so nothing here claims independent corroboration; the Strachan interview was published by Boyle Sports and quoted there. Sources named on air: CoventryLive and Boyle Sports. Play Up, Sky Blues!

Frank Lampard on Brandon Thomas-Asante, the forward who came up through Ebbsfleet, Sutton United and Salford and who his manager says now looks every inch a Premier League player. Then the harder thing Lampard said on Monday night, which CoventryLive read as a message to the wider squad: we are a promoted team and we need everybody, and a few lads need to know that. CoventryLive put names to both sides of it, from Tatsu Sakamoto working his socks off to Loum Tchaouna and Yann Gboho not getting on at all. Simon Jordan, on talkSPORT's White and Jordan show, says Doug King deserves the same degree of adulation as the people he employs, and that he never went into the boardroom to drink their Chardonnay either. Plus the selection call building for Tottenham, with Taiwo Awoniyi's suspension served and Sidiki Cherif having taken his chance. Sources named on air: CoventryLive and talkSPORT. Every item in this episode is a press report, carried by one publisher, and is labelled as such in the audio. Play Up, Sky Blues!

Doug King on talkSPORT the morning after the four one: he was never concerned about Coventry's start, every game in this league carries high jeopardy, and home form, in his words, is where Coventry will live and die. The owner wants the Coventry Building Society Arena to feel a little bit nicely hostile, and he does not want a side that quietly does all right and then gets thrown out of the back door. Newcastle's head coach Matthias Jaissle apologises to the travelling supporters and says it is a feeling you do not want to have when you feel as though you should have won. Bobby Thomas, Ellis Simms and Caleb Yirenkyi on the night itself, and Jack Rudoni's grandmother replies to the shirt he lifted for her. Plus Tottenham away on Monday, and the Marbella team bonding camp Roberto De Zerbi has flown them out for. Sources named on air: talkSPORT, ChronicleLive and CoventryLive. Every item in this episode is a press report and is labelled as such in the audio. Play Up, Sky Blues!

Coventry City four, Newcastle United one at the Coventry Building Society Arena, and, as Jack Rudoni put it afterwards, a first home win in the Premier League in twenty five years. A Rudoni penalty inside six minutes, Sidiki Cherif three minutes into the second half, and late goals from the substitutes Ellis Simms and the eighteen year old Stephen Mfuni, with Sven Botman replying for Newcastle. Coventry climb to fourteenth, six points from six games, and out of the relegation zone. Rudoni tells Sky Sports about the penalty and about the celebration he dedicated to his grandmother. Frank Lampard calls it an outstanding performance in a difficult match and tells his players to keep their feet on the ground. Plus tickets on sale for Fulham and Sunderland at home, and Tottenham away on Monday. Sources named on air: Coventry City FC, BBC Sport, CoventryLive and Sky Sports. Club official and press report are labelled as such in the episode. Play Up, Sky Blues!

It is matchday at the Coventry Building Society Arena, Newcastle United at eight o'clock. Andy Turner at CoventryLive expects Milan van Ewijk straight back in at right wing back after a slight hamstring issue, and with Taiwo Awoniyi serving the last match of his ban he makes the centre forward slot a toss up between Ellis Simms and Sidiki Cherif. Frank Lampard talks to CoventryLive about the backroom staff he leans on, from assistant head coach Joe Edwards to set piece coach John Dempster and new head of goalkeeping Sal Bibbo. The club have put out the matchday guide and tonight's programme. Plus the numbers behind the game from BBC Sport: only Derby County, in 1899, have ever won two top flight games in a row after losing their first four without scoring. Sources named on air: CoventryLive, Coventry City FC and BBC Sport. Press report and club official are labelled as such in the episode. Play Up, Sky Blues!

Coventry City open the 2026 Level Playing Field annual fan survey, the charity's yearly collection of what disabled supporters actually experience on a matchday. Former Sky Blues striker Jay Bothroyd, speaking after a guest appearance on a Betway presented show and reported by CoventryLive, says the summer meant taking a chance on players without Premier League experience, and that some of them may need a bit of time to adapt. Plus the match officials for Monday night, Newcastle at the Coventry Building Society Arena at eight o'clock, and where the table has us going into it. Sources named on air: Coventry City FC, Level Playing Field, CoventryLive, Newcastle United and BBC Sport. Club official and press report are labelled as such in the episode. Play Up, Sky Blues!