Coventry City’s free scoring midfielder Carl Baker has played his last game for the club and will reportedly be making the move up the M1 to League 1 rivals Barnsley after the Coventry Telegraph reported last night that Baker has been told by Coventry his services are no longer required.
This will come as a surprise to many City supporters as the crowd-pleaser who was in hindsight ominously stripped of the City captaincy last week, has always been a natural goal threat for the Sky Blues with the midfielder reaching double figures in the goal charts for consecutive seasons, despite being seen as a somewhat inconsistent performer for the club.
More worryingly for Coventry fans is that the decision to release Baker comes alongside the departure of the flamboyant midfielder Franck Moussa whose 12 goals last season saw him picked up by Championship outfit Charlton Athletic, as well as the sales of the clubs prolific strike force- Leon Clarke and Callum Wilson.
Clarke returned to Wolves in January after netting 23 goals in 34 appearances for the Sky Blues whilst academy product Callum Wilson left for Bournemouth this summer after setting League One alight in his first season for City, scoring 22 goals, making him 3rd top scorer in League One. That despite missing 3 months of the season with a shoulder injury.
Last season Coventry finished 4th highest scorers in the league with 74 goals, but ominously, taking away the goals from this seasons departures, the goal tally dwindles to just 19. A stat that would have inevitably seen City lose their League 1 status.
Even more disconcerting for supporters is that the clubs squad for the coming season sees midfielder John Fleck as the clubs top scorer, alarmingly with just 4 goals.
| Coventry top scorers |  |
| Leon Clarke (left) | 23 |
| Callum Wilson (left) | 22 |
| Carl Baker (leaving) | 19 |
| Franck Moussa (left) | 17 |
| David McGoldrick (left) | 16 |
| Stephen Elliott (left) | 4 |
| John Fleck | 4 |
It isn’t all doom and gloom for Coventry however as manager Steven Pressley has managed to bring in strikers Shaun Miller from Sheffield United and today has offered Marcus Tudgay a one year contract: Both players with the potential of making their mark on the League One goal charts. Alongside those additions, there is hope that the club has found the next Callum Wilson within the academy with a couple of youth team graduates featuring in the clubs pre-season friendlies so far.
- Done deal. Coventry bring in Tudgay.
Nevertheless, there is immense pressure on the strikers brought in to hit the ground running for a threadbare Coventry squad that has been reduced massively by this summer’s transfer activity.
The hope is for Pressley to bring in another couple of strikers before the season kicks off with one particular name mentioned being Josh McQuoid with Sky Sports reporting that Pressley is waiting to see if the Bournemouth player features in Eddie Howe’s plans before making his move.
What is certain is that Coventry need fresh faces with an eye for goal. Otherwise, this season could prove a struggle for Coventry as the effect of a goal scoring exodus from the club takes hold.
