Building. Nicely

AND SO the squad-building commences – or at least the squad-building announcements have commenced.

Rowland Winter made it fairly clear in his recent interview with Chris Wearmouth that he pretty much had his squad nailed down for the upcoming season's hostilities, and it was, therefore, gratifying to see the first announcements from the club earlier this week. And equally gratifying that the quality that has been procured appears to be that of a level that equates to a step-up instead of just a consolidation, or worse.

Rumours had been rife (and in the case of one player had been sort-of announced on his club's Sportnetwork unofficial site as a done-deal) for a while, but it's always wise to keep one's counsel until an official trumpet is tooted, of course.

So when three quality forwards' names were sprung on us the other day it was a nice surprise in part, while also a relief that names were named and the process had begun in the public domain.

The signature of Jonathan Kpoku, while pretty much already a given, was a good step along the road of shoring up the pack in the face of the release of Alex Woolford to Bedford. And while I have the greatest of respect for Alex, I believe RW has pulled off a bit of a coup here, and the second row, with Nile Dacres packing down alongside Kpoku is going to be an extremely potent unit in the Championship. Dacres needs no introduction, and I think we all saw the way he improved last season with regular starts, especially alongside Cam Jordan. I don't see that dynamic deteriorating any next term, and a partnership with JK, freedom from injuries permitting, is a lip-smacking prospect.

Stepping forward one, last season's front row had its challenges. Phil Boulton was, as ever, magnificent, but tighthead is a tough spot, and with the best will in the world, Phil ain't as young as he once was, and going forward his appearances/match time are going to have to be managed carefully. This is where the next signing obviously comes in. Joe Jones is a unit. Of that there is no doubt. His record at Doncaster in last season's third-place performances speaks for itself, playing in every game and by all accounts being nobody's mug. Great shout.

At the other end of the most important bit of the team (you can argue if you like), having lost Ben Nutley to retirement following what was in my view his best spell as a Coventry player, there was very a definitely an openside hole to be plugged, and the acquisition of Jersey's Josh Bainbridge may well turn out to be the ace in the pack in that regard. Widely highly regarded by afficionados of the second tier game, Josh is an out and out jackaler in the mould of Jack Ram and Jack Preece, and is very capable of carrying on that tradition. A former England u20 man who appeared 70+ times for Leeds scoring 22 tries, still only 25, Josh has the toolkit to go a long way with the club.

Along with Tiki Nayalo, Adam Peters, and Ryan Burrows, the back row will be looking to dominate.

The second player announcement followed hot on the heels of the first, and included another widely-anticipated joiner in scrum-half Joe Snow from Premiership Exeter. Joe needs no introduction to Cov fans, having spent the last short season at the BPA in tandem with the outgoing Pete White. Another quality acquisition, Joe will share the No9 position with Josh Barton, with Tom Emery also available if required (assuming his retention. TBC).

Two full-season loans were also revealed, one being winger Sam Aspland-Robinson; another who needs little-to-no introduction, having spent a good chunk of last season at the BPA, and looking increasingly comfortable while doing so. The other is a newcomer – Tom Griffiths, a centre who is on the books at Newport Gwent Dragons. Tom, while being relatively unknown to us, comes with lots of positive comments from other Championship fans, and is seen as someone who will definitely make an impact alongside the likes of Forsyth and Owen. Both are here for the duration, being based with Cov, and training with Cov, rather than with their own contracted clubs, so to all intents and purposes are Cov players. I'm happy with that

All in all then, positive vibes.

Let's see if there's more to come, and hopefully not too many DRs if RW's words ring true. No reason to doubt the latter.