"Someone like Alan Browne" - Coventry City urged to fix issue Gus Hamer's exit caused | OneFootball

Coventry are still yet to find a substitute for what Hamer offered, according to FLW's City fan pundit.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Coventry City have been instructed to go and get an Alan Browne-type midfielder in the January transfer window after failing to replace Gus Hamer.

There's no doubt that Coventry should have some money at their disposal to use in the new year when the transfer market opens. It maybe won't be as much money as they would like, as former striker Viktor Gyokeres feels unlikely to move away from Sporting Lisbon in January, and therefore activate City's 10% sell-on clause, but some resources should be available.

One area of the pitch has been identified by Football League World's Sky Blue fan pundit, Ryan Murphy, as something that the club absolutely have to address in 2025.

Coventry told to address midfield issue in January

The centre of the pitch used to be one of the strong points of the team that plays at the CBS Arena; now, it's a worry for them. They have a couple of strong options left in Josh Eccles and Ben Sheaf, but losing Callum O'Hare in the summer and Hamer the summer before that has weakened their options.

Murphy believes that a central midfielder needs to be acquired in January. He identified the lack of a replacement for Hamer as being a big problem, and would like to see a player similar to Sunderland's Alan Browne join Coventry in the winter window.

City had reported interest in the former Preston North End captain before he left to go to the Black Cats, as per Alan Nixon.

"For me, the position that we need to strengthen would be central midfield," stated FLW'sCoventry fan pundit. "We're crying out for someone else in there; we can't just rely on Eccles and Sheaf.

"They both have injury records that are not great, they do miss quite a bit of football. If we lose one, or even both, we're in massive trouble in that midfield. It's screaming out for help.

"We still haven't replaced Gus Hamer. We've had a couple of transfer windows now and still not got a replacement in.

"Someone like Alan Browne that went to Sunderland. An experienced head - and I believe we were actually in for him - that is the ideal player we need. Someone like that who knows the Championship inside out, plays a lot of games and uses his experience to play well.

"He'd be someone that you'd want. I'm not saying that we would sign him, he's gone now, but someone of that player mould is what we need."

Coventry have to prepare for January interest in Ben Sheaf

The weakened state that the Sky Blues find themselves in won't make their negotiating position in the January window any better. Clubs higher up the table, or even in the Premier League, could see them as a bit of an easy target; the carcass of a once strong team whose flesh could now be picked at by the vultures that are circling ahead.

A central midfielder should be on their shopping list, but their January midfield concerns shouldn't stop at just recruiting one; they should be worried about losing one too, because Sheaf's quality is well-known.

The 26-year-old Arsenal academy product was reportedly being looked at by Ipswich Town, Fulham and newly relegated Luton Town in the summer.