Conor Coventry is open, engaging and affable, but one question from The Athletic prompts the former West Ham United youth product to pause for thought.
It is 14 months since the midfielder swapped West Ham for League One Charlton Athletic in search of opportunities.
He has become a lynchpin in Nathan Jones’ promotion-chasing team, who are fourth and still in the hunt for the automatic promotion places with two games remaining, but emotions are still raw for the 25-year-old when it comes to his former club.
“I find it weird watching West Ham,” Coventry tells The Athletic. “I haven’t been back to the London Stadium since leaving. If I went back, I can picture the lads giving me stick and telling me to let it go.
“There have been two managers (Julen Lopetegui and Graham Potter) this season who I haven’t played under. It would feel strange going back and I don’t enjoy watching them as much. It’s nice seeing Ollie Scarles (academy graduate) and (Aaron) Cresswell in the team doing well. Hopefully, I can go back at some point but probably not now.”
Coventry made 10 first-team appearances for West Ham, but they were sporadic. From a debut in September 2018 against Macclesfield Town, then of League Two, in the Carabao Cup, Coventry was never given a regular run of games.
His sole Premier League appearance came against Manchester City nearly four years later and his career has included loan spells with Lincoln City, Peterborough United, MK Dons and Rotherham United.
Coventry was still reluctant to leave West Ham earlier, having harboured hopes of being a first-team regular. His contract was set to expire at the end of the 2023-24 season and a discussion with former manager David Moyes prompted a tough decision when Charlton made their interest clear.
“Moyes was always honest with me,” says Coventry. “There were times when he would say, ‘Conor, I think you’re better off leaving’. Then other times when he would tell me to stay. He helped me transition from the academy into the first team. You can be in a bubble when you play for the under-21s. As much as I loved training with Declan Rice and Mark Noble, I needed that experience of playing something meaningful, which is why I went out on loan.
“I tore my hamstring at Rotherham at the end of the (2022-23) season. I played the first pre-season game with West Ham but had a setback after. We went to Australia for the tour and I didn’t play any of the games. I missed roughly five games, so I was struggling with my fitness. I had a few options but they didn’t feel right. I decided to stay until January. Charlton first showed interest around November and it just felt right.
“I had waited a long time for a chance at West Ham. Staff and the players told me to stay and I felt I was good enough. There were times when I had options but I still backed myself to earn a place in the team.
“In training, I felt close to being in contention. It’s hard to say I should’ve left earlier because that’s not how I felt. I developed so much training with (Jarrod) Bowen, (Lucas) Paqueta and all these top players.”
Even the new start at Charlton has had difficulties. He was signed by Michael Appleton on January 12 — but within 12 days the manager had been sacked and replaced by Jones, with Charlton in relegation trouble.
It was at that point that he turned to a former West Ham team-mate.
“It was a difficult time leaving West Ham and then the change at Charlton. When the gaffer (Jones) arrived, we spoke when he took over about where I could improve and what he liked about me.
“I’m a more well-rounded footballer now, but there’s still more to come. I’ve overcome disappointments and not playing consistently in my career. But this is the best I’ve felt and I needed this stability.
“In the process of me leaving and starting at Charlton, (Pablo) Fornals helped me massively with advice. I still speak to him now. Fornals treated every young player as if they were his son. Even the new signings, he went out of his way to bond with them. He’s someone you would love to have in your team. Just so genuine and one of my favourite team-mates.”
This season, Coventry and Charlton, who have been in League One for five years, have been transformed. He has started 42 of their 44 league games and impressed in his holding midfield role as Jones has built a team pushing Wrexham and Wycombe Wanderers for automatic promotion, with a play-off place secured. In November, his form earned a senior call-up for the Republic of Ireland squad for the Nations League game against England.
“Last summer, I arrived for pre-season with the intention of being in the team, so it’s great to feature heavily in the push for promotion — the gaffer has shown great faith in me,” Coventry says.
“Maybe people from the outside thought we wouldn’t be around it. But we all had confidence we would compete and here we are now. I believe the club can return back to where it belongs (the Premier League, where they have not played since 2006-07).
“We’ve seen it with recent performances from the team. The club is back on a rise and hopefully we can end the season on a high. I look back positively on my year here.”
Coventry returned to West Ham’s training ground before finalising his switch to Charlton. Given time constraints, there were no players or coaches present at Rush Green. The realisation of leaving his boyhood club finally sank in.
“Being there is all I knew, so it felt strange waking up one day and no longer being a West Ham player,” he says. “I went to Rush Green and my seat in the training ground was next to Ben Johnson (who left last summer to join Ipswich Town on a free transfer). I got a bit emotional thinking me and him made it this far into the first team. But it was just me and the security guards because I got to the training ground late.
“It would’ve been nice to see people but maybe it was for the best so I wouldn’t get emotional. Jamo (the kit man) dropped more of my stuff off the next day and had a picture of me with the Conference League trophy. I wasn’t on the bench or played in the build-up to the Conference League win, but it’s given me that inner drive to experience that winning feeling again.
“Hopefully, I can do it with Charlton
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“In the process of me leaving and starting at Charlton, (Pablo) Fornals helped me massively with advice. I still speak to him now. Fornals treated every young player as if they were his son. Even the new signings, he went out of his way to bond with them. He’s someone you would love to have in your team. Just so genuine and one of my favourite team-mates.”
In a time when so many PL players live in their own bubble, these are the sort of qualities that make the coaches and managers of tomorrow. The ones that empathises with the inevitable struggles of youngsters trying to break into professional football. It's easy to be a mate to a Ronaldo or Messi because everyone wants to be just that. Not all top players have that desire to help others.