Carrying Coventry

Wow that's some tense games, great feeling when it tips over in your favour but makes you go completely mad when it doesn't. Great achievement anyway, good luck in the Premier League :)
 
3rd season - Friendlies & Signings

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Friendlies, 2015
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So, we are in the Premier League. The moment of pure ecstasy has calmed down and the realisation that we may struggle this season has sunk in. As well as having a thin squad, we lacked quality for the Premier League. I opted to sign quality rather than quantity. I was given an ?8m transfer budget and used it all up. With the signings made, I knew that our friendlies would be tough. The team needs to gel together and learn from each other. Here are how the friendlies ended:


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As you can see, the results weren't pretty. Pre-season doesn't matter, as long as fitness levels increase and team cohesion does too. Let's look at the fun part, our signings:


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As you can see, we used up all of our budget. We had to, and the outcome was great. Aside from Henry Jones, all the players signed are ready and capable to perform in the Premier League. In terms of outings, we didn't sell anyone. They either left on a free after expired contracts or were loaned out. Diouf and Maik Taylor retired, which I half-expected.

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Signing Parr filled me with joy. We needed to strengthen that left-side. By signing him, though, we strengthened the left and the right. This meant that we killed two birds with one stone. Parr is built for this level and will, undoubtedly, be a star performer in the coming season.


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Here is the signing of the window: Henri Lansbury. Lansbury, who won Player of the Year in the Championship last season, missed out on promotion as we knocked his Forest side out. To add insult to injury, we went ahead and plucked him out of their side too. Lansbury will be the perfect partner for Fleck. I'm extremely excited to see how he performs in competitive matches.

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The signing of Ayala is a strong one, too. He is ready to play at this level and can still improve infinitely. We needed to solidify an incredibly weak central defence. He was the start of that.

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Ash Taylor did two things: improved our quality in defence and added depth. He is not as good as Ayala but he has the potential to be a very good partner for the former. He will be battling with Stoor for a place next to Ayala. Healthy competition is a must for someone of Taylor's age!

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We needed a goalkeeper. That was the plan as soon as we started last season. Taylor would retire, Woods would get loaned out in the 3rd season leaving us with Hamer and the new goalkeeper for the Premier League. Federici is that goalkeeper - a coup considering he is coming in on a free.

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Henry Jones was a signing who brings nothing more than depth to side. He isn't good enough for this level but will play the cup games to alleviate pressure and fitness issues from our first-choice midfielders. That concludes the signings.

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This is the tactic we will be looking to use in the Premier League. All is experimental in the first few months, though, and this is subject to change. Regardless, this is the first team. My goalkeeper is Federici - he is concealed because of the Scorpio v2 skin resolution on my computer. Parr is injured for the first two weeks of the Premier League. Our first two games: MANCHESTER UNITED AND ARSENAL. I'm scared. The next update will contain our first month in the Premier League. I'm excited, yet scared.​
 
3rd season - August - Welcome to the Premier League!

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August, 2015

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So, this was our first month in the Premier League. We played three extremely tough matches and one cup match. Overall, I like the feel of the squad although I am yet to find the perfect formation for us. We lack obscene amounts of quality as striker and will have to endure this until January.



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Overall, I'm happy with this month. We did lose twice, but look at the opposition. Also, progression to the 3rd round of the cup is great.


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I was overjoyed with our defensive performance in this game. We kept both Rooney and Van Persie quiet, so much so that the only goal scored was by Evra from a set-piece. We didn't create much but, our standout chance, ended up hitting the crossbar after a decent long-range shot from Lansbury. Lansbury's injury would only sideline him for four days. We picked up a load of bookings in this game which is a testament to how aggressive and eager to not concede we were. Only 1-0 and that is down to our defending rather than United's poor shooting.

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A loss to Arsenal. No surprises here. We actually scored at one point but it was offside. Arsenal ran rampant and really could have scored another two goals. I just wanted this run of big teams to end so we can get a proper start to the league.

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Well, finally we win a game... Except it isn't in the league. Derby were second best all game and we really should have scored more considering how dominant we were. An 8 minute flurry of goals decided the game. Moussa and Christie both scored from the right-flanks after skinning Derby's left-back. We're through to the 3rd round where we will take on the mighty Carlisle.

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Our first point of the season! I detest playing Stoke on FM, regardless of who I am managing, because I can never cope with them from set-pieces no matter how hard I train on them. Twice we had the lead, twice we lost it. We can be proud of this performance, though, as we outplayed Stoke massively. Unfortunately, two goals from set-pieces left us undone. Otherwise, this was another great defensive performance.


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One point this month was enough to see us finish just outside the relegation zone. Tell you what, I'd probably take that come the end of the season! My plan with Coventry now that we are in the Premier League is to become a consistent team in the league and establish ourselves over the next 2-3 seasons. I'm also aiming for my first trophy over the next 3 seasons so expect me to try extremely hard in the cup competitions.


PLAYER OF THE MONTH:

Daniel Ayala.
Ayala was superb this month, despite keeping no clean-sheets. He performed at a high level, kept United's strikers quiet and even scored a goal. I have a feeling he will be a key player for us this season; I certainly hope so considering how much we paid for him.
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THE SAVE IS OVER

Unfortunately, the save is over. I really don't want to play with Coventry anymore because they're just not built for the Premier League in two seasons. Every player sucks, and that's me being nice. I'm really not enjoying it and have therefore decided to end it. What I would like to ask you guys is what save you want me to do an FM story on next. This time, I won't end it prematurely.
 1) Deportivo la Coruna (club I support)​
2) Athletic Bilbao
3) Norwich
4) Swansea
5) Lille
 
I've been reading, well done on what you done, I say as I haven't seen many french club stories, go for Lille.
 
In hindsight, maybe back-to-back promotion wasn't the best thing. We needed time to build and, instead, have been thrown into the deep end of the Premier League with players not good enough for the league and a sub-standard group of staff. Regardless, I'm still very happy with what I achieved at Coventry. Expect to see a new FM story from me in the coming days. I hope you have all enjoyed my story and written communication, be sure to keep your eyes peeled out for more content from me! Thanks.
 
That's a shame, how about uploading it for someone else to try?
 
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