Gary Gardner: Why I chose Coventry City ahead of Leeds United
GARY Gardner could have been boosting Leeds United’s play-off push against Barnsley on Saturday – but it only took a brief chat with Lee Carsley to convince him to bolster Coventry City’s relegation battle at Brighton.
As exclusively revealed in yesterday’s Telegraph, the 19-year-old Aston Villa midfielder has joined the Sky Blues on a one-month deal.
And Carsley, City’s Under-18s coach, played a key role in that decision.
“The Villa manager told me that he’d like me to go out on loan for a month and straight away I thought of Coventry because it is close to home and a great place,†confirmed Gardner, the younger brother of Sunderland’s £6million summer recruit Craig.
“A few top-of-the-table clubs were after me but Lee Carsley is a close family friend.
"My brother phoned him a few days ago and asked what it was like here and he said ‘they’re a good bunch of lads who try to play football and the gaffer is top quality as well’.
“I trust Lee – he has looked after my brother and me for years, giving us boots and things – so when he told me Coventry are a great club my mind was made up and I thought ‘I’d love to go there’.â€
Pitched straight into a full training session after completing the loan formalities yesterday morning, Gardner confirmed: “The lads and staff have made me feel welcome and the banter is great which is what you want in football.
“I know Jordan Clarke, Nathan Cameron and Conor Thomas from England and a lot of the other youngsters came up to me to shake my hand and welcome me.
"I also know Gary McSheffrey, who played with Craig at Blues, and he has taken me under his wing.â€