In January, McFadzean moved to Blackburn from the Sky Blues.
Coventry City had a busy January, much like the majority of EFL clubs.
The Sky Blues were active right up until the transfer deadline, even bringing in a player on that day, as they were always seeking for ways to get stronger.
Coventry City let Kyle McFadzean join Blackburn Rovers
However, as you can see above, the club made an intriguing departure during the window with the departure of seasoned center-half Kyle McFadzean.
Before the transfer deadline, the 36-year-old left the CBS Arena to sign a free transfer to Blackburn Rovers.
Considering that McFadzean’s departure was made possible by the Sky Blues’ permission to leave, we were curious about the opinions of Coventry City fans regarding this decision.
We chatted with FLW’s Sky Blues fan pundit Neil Littlewood to gain his insight into McFadzean’s exit in order to better understand that.
Right time to allow McFadzean to leave
“Absolutely gutted to see Fadz go, it feels like the end of an era,” Neil explained to FLW when discussing the experienced defender’s departure.
“What a servant he’s been to the club. An absolute mountain of a man.”
“But, the timing was absolutely right. He hasn’t played since November and when he has played this season, he’s looked a shadow of what he has done the past two years where he’s arguably been our best defender.
“You could tell the writing was on the wall when we brought in three centre-halves in the summer and Joel Latibeaudiere who can play in that sort of role. Bobby Thomas, Liam Kitching – they’ve been absolutely brilliant and it feels as though the torch has been passed a little bit.
“He hasn’t grumbled, he hasn’t complained, but I think at his age, he needs to be playing football at this point of his career, and he deserves that.”
Not only does Neil feel the timing was right, but also says he is happy with how the club handled the situation.
“I’m glad that the club handled it the way that they did,” he added.
“They gave him the free transfer, they didn’t try and stand in his way, they’ve let him go.
“He’s friends with Dom Hyam from his time at Cov, and from what I can gather from the interviews that he’s done, he’s going to be staying with Dom Hyam up there.
“So that’s good from that point of view to see he’s finally going to be playing football again, he’s finally going to be happy again.
“And, fair play to Blackburn. They’ve got themselves an absolute stalwart, an experienced centre-half who should help them for the rest of the season, just hopefully not the second to last game of the season when we go there.
“The writing’s on the wall though there isn’t it – if we need a result to get into the play-offs, we have to go to Blackburn away similar to last year.
“I’m not expecting a Ben Wilson goal, but I’ll take a Kyle McFadzean own-goal in the 89th minute.”
McFadzean’s Coventry career in numbers
Neil mentioned earlier that McFadzean’s career with the Sky Blues was excellent, and even though it ended in the end, it was probably the right time for him to leave.
The defender, who participated in League One and the Championship with the team and was instrumental in their recent rise, leaves the CBS Arena.
In fact, McFadzean has made 171 appearances across all competitions since 2019.
For the rest of the season, it will be interesting to see how he does at Blackburn.
Leave a Reply