DON Goodman believes Coventry City will suffer relegation from the Premier League next season if the Sky Blues show loyalty to the players who achieved promotion.
Frank Lampard guided Coventry to the Championship title this season as the Sky Blues ended their 25-year exile from the top-flight.
Coventry have not yet made any new signings ahead of the 2026/27 season but have rewarded Bobby Thomas and Victor Torp with new contracts.
The Sky Blues also recently saw a club-record bid for on-loan goalkeeper Carl Rushworth rejected by Brighton and Hove Albion.
Sky Sports pundit Goodman urged Coventry to be ruthless in terms of the club’s recruitment.
And Goodman believes Coventry will suffer relegation back to the Championship if Frank Lampard shows too much loyalty to the players who helped the club win the title this season.
Speaking to Parimatch Casino, Goodman said: “First things first, that Coventry City group should really enjoy the fact that they’ve won the league, and not only won it, but won it very easily.
“They were far and away the best, most consistent team in the Championship, and you have to enjoy those moments because they don’t come around often.
“However, the hierarchy needs to set that aside for a moment, there is much work to be done.
“The fact is, many of those Coventry players who did the business this year are going to find themselves not starting week in and week out.
“If they keep the squad exactly as it is, they will go straight back down. There is no getting away from it.
“It will be interesting to see how they go about it. We’ve seen Sunderland really go for it, and Leeds go for it to a slightly different level.
“I suspect Doug King will look at both models and how they achieved survival.
“Given what the club has been through, I know Doug King will not jeopardise the finances of the club, which makes me think they will look closer at the Leeds model than what Sunderland did in terms of actual spend.
“As a club, they know they have to be ruthless. Loyalty to the players that got them there will see them come straight back down.
“That’s not meant to be disrespectful, it’s just a sad fact. If you go through that whole squad, I think if you really stretch it, you could probably find five, six, maybe seven players at an absolute push who might be able to adapt and cope with Premier League football.
“That leaves an awful lot of rebuilding required.”
The current Coventry squad has little in the way of Premier League experience with only on-loan midfielder Frank Onyeka, striker Ellis Simms and defender Luke Woolfenden playing more than 10 games in the top-flight.
However, Goodman praised Coventry’s head of recruitment Dean Austin and believes the club should target players with top-flight experience in the transfer market.
Goodman added: “It’s a massive job. What’s needed is Premier League experience.
“Look at the influence Granit Xhaka had at Sunderland, or how Leeds brought in Calvert-Lewin, James Justin, and Sean Longstaff to add to a group that already had top-flight experience.
“Whether Coventry has any chance of surviving will depend entirely on their recruitment, just as it did for Sunderland, Leeds, and Burnley.
“I don’t think Burnley quite got theirs right, whereas the other two did. The ramification is that Burnley are back in the Championship, while the others will play Premier League football next season.
“Dean Austin, the head of recruitment, has done a fantastic job. When I found out Coventry had the fifth-lowest wage bill in the Championship, I nearly fell off my chair. It’s unbelievable.
“Milan van Ewijk would be one of the players who I think will be able to handle stepping up to the Premier League, particularly when they have the ball.
“He will be tested more when they do not have the ball, but I am fascinated to see how they go about it.”
