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Darragh MacAnthony lost it over Mason-Clark and reveals transfer advice to Coventry City
Darragh MacAnthony insists that Coventry City have a “real player” on their hands with Ephron Mason-Clark.
Sky Blues fans have given a mixed verdict to the winger’s first few months at the CBS Arena following his £4.25million signing from Peterborough United as the player has taken time to adapt to the Championship. But Posh owner and chairman MacAnthony is confident City haven’t seen the best of the winger yet, who may well get more of a chance to shine in coming weeks if Haji Wright’s ankle injury keeps him out for any length of time.
Asked by one City fan how the club can get best out of the 25-year-old, MacAnthony explained on his Hard Truth: Inside the Football Industry podcast, plain and simply: “Play him in the right position! So, what I have been told and if my information is incorrect, please accept my apologies in advance.
READ MORE: Club owner says ex-Coventry City boss Mark Robins is ‘unbelievable fit’ for Championship rivals
“I’m told he’s only played in his rightful position on the left-hand side of a three once or twice, and he’s been playing him as a right winger. When we had Ephron at Peterborough, the worst I saw him play was in two games when the manager played him on the right wing, and I lost my **** because he was absolutely ineffective.
“Ephron, if you watched him, and I am sure they did many times before buying him, his strength is on the left. Great win for Coventry (against Boro) by the way, so I think they are starting to purr and will start doing the usual and rising up the table. But who am I to tell Coventry what to do and how to pick a player? So I don’t want headlines, any Coventry journalists listening here and trying to create spats between me and Coventry.
“It’s not about me criticising Coventry. I have been asked about my player, who they bought and why they’re not getting the best out of him. And, I’ll tell a story, and it’s actually Ian Holloway related.
“We had Dwight Gayle, who is one of the best number 9s we have ever had, one of the best strikers who we played down the middle. We sold him to Palace for £6million and me and Barry (Fry) were in Ireland celebrating when the deal went through. We were sat there at the training camp in Ireland when we got a phone call and it’s Ollie on the phone.
"Barry put him on loud speaker and Ollie’s first question to Baz was, ‘Baz, can he play wide left in a three?’ and we looked at each other, shaking our heads, and again, I’m not saying players can’t play in certain positions but if you’re looking at or buying a player – Dwight Gayle – and you’re watching him, and he’s a nine, this is his strength, down the middle and then you take all those strengths away by playing him in a position he’s not used to... If you want to teach him that position, fine, but if that’s the pivot you’re going to start from. It’s not going to work.
“And if Coventry are trying to pigeon hole Ephron to play in positions that are not to his strengths he’s going to take a while. Can he become a wide right player? Can he play in the middle? Potentially.
“What are his best attributes and talents? His best talent was playing left side, basically taking on defenders, crosses, assists, goals, back post. He’s strong, he’s physical and he should be made for the Championship.”
He added: “My advice to Coventry during the summer was to buy Harrison Burrows. I don’t know who Coventry’s left-back was but I said buy Harrison Burrows because he and Mason-Clark were the best left side in the football league last year. The best, by a mile. They just knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”
Burrows eventually signed for Sheffield United where he is proving to be a big hit.
“Ephron’s other strength is protecting his defender,” he said. “All good attacking full-backs need a winger in front of them. Ephron Mason-Clark is two styles. He will defend, he’s physical, he will help his full-back and he will run at 90 miles per hour at full-backs, attack them, go on the outside and cause and make goals, and then go on the inside and score goals. Those are his strengths.
“I spoke to his agent two weeks ago and said, ‘look, he took a while to bed in at Posh, it will take a while to bed in at Coventry.’
“They have a player. I have seen some Coventry fans come at me about him being a waste of money, whatever. I am telling you right now, you have a ******* real player there. You might not have seen it yet but you will see it. He is a player.”
He added: “The modern day attacking footballer can play anywhere across the front three but then you look at someone like Mo Salah and 99 percent of his game time has been on the right for Liverpool, coming in on his left foot. When have you ever seen Mo Salah playing on the left wing? He’s a world, world class player, one of the best in the Premier League so why has he never played on the left?
“Now I am not comparing Ephron to Mo Salah. He’s played most of his career on the left of an attacking three or a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, he’ll always be that left winger coming in off the line. All of his career. So why now are you paying all that money and you want to play him over there? Even some of my managers wanted to play him as a 9 and I told them, he’s not a 9. He can’t play with his back to goal, he has to come from there (the left). Some players, that’s who they are.”
