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[texasbum06]

Season 1

The Sky Blues

September 2015



The transfer window is closed, we have no money, but we have two new players to show for it. Our first match of September is a J. Paint Trophy match against Leyton Orient. They run the same 4-4-2 as our last two opponents so we keep our formation the same but make whole-sale changes to give the youth some chance against a League 2 opponent. What could go wrong?

J. Paint Trophy
Leyton Orient 1 - 0 Coventry City
LEY - Payne 72'
MOTM: Cisak

And now I remember now why you don't ask stupid questions like that. Martin takes a knock early and Maddison is forced to leave the pitch not long after. We failed to make an impact at any point of the game and our ineptitude culminated in the second half when some terrible defense resulted in a wide open tap in for Payne just in front of goal. This will be a tough one to swallow and is a good reminder of why you should never get too confident before the ball is even kicked off.



With that disappointment now out of the way we have to find a way to move on and not let it hang over our heads. A home match against mid table Peterborough is hopefully just what we need. They run a 4-4-2 wide diamond and we decide to exploit their gap in the midfield and send out a 3-5-2 to overwhelm them. The wingers are given instructions to get back on defense so we won't be exploited ourselves, and on a promising note, Armstrong is back from injury and will pair up with Henderson at the front. Ricketts and Gadzhev are away on international duty so they are unavailable for selection, but we should be alright for this one.

Coventry City 1 - 1 Peterborough
COV - Armstrong 43' (PEN)
PET - Bostwick 77'
MOTM: Vincelot

The first half went in our favor and just a few minutes before the break Armstrong showed some skill and got past the defense only to get taken down in the box allowing him to convert from the spot for the lead. This time, we decided to keep pushing and not shell up. Perhaps that was the wrong decision and in the 77th minute Bostwick fired a stunner that pinged off the left post and in forcing us to settle for a draw.



Next up is Bradford away. They are sitting just behind us at second in the table, but lucky for us they play the flat 4-4-2 that we've had a good amount of success against so far this season. We return to our preferred 4-1-4-1 with Armstrong up front and put speed out on the wings with Murphy and Jones. In the middle it's the always reliable Vincelot at the base and the tired old legs of Joe Cole and the tireless legs of Andy Rose paired up ahead of him. A few changes in our back line as we look to get back to our ways of keeping the other team out of our net.

Bradford City 2 - 3 Coventry City
BRA - Marshall 27', Clarke 90'
COV - Cole 15', Jones 23', Armstrong 90'
MOTM: Vincelot

We start the game brilliantly with Vincelot chipping the ball over the defense for Cole to hit around the keeper. And 8 minutes later Cole sets up another finding Jones on the right for a great shot to the far post. We're feeling good at this point but then we got caught out on the counter and Bradford gives us a sucker punch with Marshall finishing a nice effort to take away the momentum we thought we had. After that there was probably more fouls than shots as both teams resorted to just kicking each other rather than playing football. With not much time left we decide to shift and park the bus challenging them to beat us. While they send everyone forward we get a break away and Armstrong finishes it to seal the match. But as if just to make me mad they score a second almost immediately off the kick off, but the time left is too little and we hold on to take all 3 points. Jones picks up a knock and will miss the next match, but nothing more than that.



Despite conceding late, it was still a good win to secure our place at the top against a quality opponent and now we head back to Ricoh Arena to take on Barnsley who are treading just above the relegation zone. They also run a flat 4-4-2 and we stick with our formation giving Joe Cole a rest and bringing in Maddison, playing Lameiras in place of the injured Jones on the right wing, and changing out the entire left side of our defense as punishment for allowing that last minute goal.

Coventry City 0 - 2 Barnsley FC
BAR - Watkins 14', Winnall 89'
MOTM: Davies

Garbage, all of them. This is a match that we had no business losing, and yet they came in and dominated us on our home pitch. The fans weren't happy, the players weren't happy, and I wasn't happy. Their first came early from a rebound off of a save and they added their second at the end catching us out on the counter as we tried to push for an equalizer. For the entire 90 minutes we proved to be completely ineffective in all aspects. We have to move on though and can't let this hang over our heads. If we want to look at positives, at least no one got hurt.



Everyone is still hanging their heads after that one, but we have no time for that. We are still at home, this time against 6th place Gillingham. They use a 4-4-2 diamond formation which suits me since whole sale changes were on the books anyway after the last game. A 4-5-1 is the formation of choice and we plan to clog the midfield to neutralize their numbers while attacking them down the wings to exploit their lack of width. Wingers are told to stay wide, Armstrong is to stay central, and a midfield trio of Cole, Vincelot, and Gadzhev will have to do the trick.

Coventry City 0 - 0 Gillingham FC
MOTM: Nelson

This time we played a little more inspired and if not for a superhuman effort from Stuart Nelson in goal we might have run away with this one easily. This was a good team and we took a point, but I can't help but feel like we should have taken more when at home.



Alright, time to get back to winning ways. York City, last in League 2, 0 points taken through 8 matches. We can win this one. Better yet, they play a 4-4-2 flat allowing us to move back to our favored 4-1-4-1. Back line stays the same after keeping a clean sheet, Armstrong keeps his position up front, and the real changes are in the midfield where we give Joe Cole a rest and move Andy Rose into his position rather than Maddison due to his poor showings so far this season. Gadzhev gets another start, and as usual Vincelot occupies his spot at the base.

Capital One Cup
Coventry City 2 - 0 York City
COV - Rose 28', Murphy 86'
MOTM: Rose

That's more like it. We didn't dominate quite like I was hoping for, but we stayed comfortable all throughout. Rose opened it up early dribbling around the defense and beating the keeper into the upper 90. After that they tightened up and we couldn't really get anything going, but at the same time they offered no threats of their own so we were happy to exchange uselessness. Murphy put the closing touch on it with a late goal and we got our win to move on in the cup.



We move on away to Chesterfield now who are tied with us on points for the season but sitting in 4th due to goal differential. This one looks like it should be a good test for us. They use an odd formation of a 4-4-1-1 playing a CAM almost as a deeper lying supporting striker. We invert our midfield around to have two in the holding position and one playing the 10 role. Only 1 change is made in the personnel with Joe Cole replacing Gadzhev and slotting into the number 10 spot. Armstrong has been struggling playing centrally so we instruct him to drift wide and have both wingers cut inside with the full backs overlapping to provide support on the wings. Vincelot and Rose will be responsible for keeping their CAM in check throughout the match.

Chesterfield FC 2 - 2 Coventry City
CHE - Campbell-Ryce 76', Ebanks-Blake 89'
COV - Vincelot 18', Rose 64'
MOTM: Rose

Oh great, this again. Another fast start followed by a late collapse. Vincelot opened it early and Rose followed it up with a stunning long distance shot to double our lead and make it look like we would see out the match comfortably. Of course, we were foolish to have such thoughts. Campbell-Ryce halved the lead with 15 minutes left and as if right on cue Ebanks-Blake headed home the equalizer in the last minute giving us a point for our efforts which really should have been 3.

Youth Academy

The transfer window is gone and so too is our money, but we take what little we do have left and hire ourselves a youth scout. He's not very good mind you, but he's all we can afford. We send him off to scout England and we give him a map just in case his sense of directions is equal to his judgment and experience. He will be away for just 3 months and after that the plan is to hit up Scotland, Ireland, and Northern Ireland in no particular order. Let's hope that we can inject some homegrown potential into our academy.

[vrabbit]

thanks guys, I wasn't sure whether to consider the Eredivisie a step up and I think I consider Russia more of a lateral move. There's no way I'll make a move before the season ends but when jobs I would be interested in come up I apply regardless just to get a grip on where my rep is at. Beşiktaş, SC Heerenveen and CSKA Moscow all offered me after I applied so that's a good sign at least. Beşiktaş even took it a step further and weeks after their offer had expired they offered me again without me even applying. It'll be interesting to see what jobs are available when the season ends, I have a good thing going at Kayserispor (minus the budget of course) so I'm not desperate to move unless a good job is available. I'm less likely to take a BPL job since I'm looking to get there with Newport but I might bite if the right team (with a generous budget) comes along.

[southernmetalhead]

The league as a whole, yes Russia would be a lateral move. But strictly by club, CSKA has a ton of money and a lot of good players.

[vrabbit]

I'm itching to post my next Newport update (January) but before I'll comment on the following CM's: Avellino, Luton Town, West Ham, Newcastle, Stuggart, Coventry City, and Nott'm Forest.

[vrabbit]

Quote: Originally Posted by southernmetalhead

The league as a whole, yes Russia would be a lateral move. But strictly by club, CSKA has a ton of money and a lot of good players.

agreed, so I was really shocked I didn't get turned down by them. But as a coach I'm looking to move up against tougher competition and CSKA would definitely be easier than Kayserispor

[vrabbit]

well I guess I'll be following Udinese this upcoming season

[Simppu12]

Back to the Top

Transfers Out

Sandro Wagner, Striker, 75 Ovr, €5,000,000 to FC Lorient

The 29-year-old striker spent only five months at the club, and during those five months he failed to hit the back of the net even once. Wagner was simply useless out on the pitch and we ran out of patience with him.


Transfers In




Davie Selke

73 Ovr, Striker, 22 Years Old, Germany

€6,900,000

VfB Stuttgart were fast to replace their summer transfer flop Sandro Wagner as they announced the capture of German striker talent Davie Selke only two days after Wagner had been sold. The 22-year-old Selke made his debut for Werder Bremen in 2013, which was followed by some goals and a very controversial move to RB Leipzig in 2015. Selke helped Leipzig achieve promotion to the top tier of German football in 2016, but in the following season his side got relegated back to the second division. Now the strong and capable goalscorer is hoping to live up to his potential at surprise of the season Stuttgart, who are second in the Bundesliga.


January 2018



SC Freiburg 1 - 1 VfB Stuttgart
Niederlechner 5'
Dzsudzsák 73'

Our first game on Legendary could've ended better for us as we had several, or eight, good opportunities to score in the game. Niederlechner put the home side into the lead very early on with a powerful near-post strike. We managed to equalise with Balázs Dzsudzsák's curling effort twenty minutes before the fulltime whistle.



VfB Stuttgart 2 - 1 Borussia Dortmund
Wood 12', Dzsudzsák 51' pen
Pato 30'

Second game on Legendary against a top team and boom - we beat them. Somehow Dortmund never really looked confident on the ball and I guess we just wanted the victory more than them. Bobby Wood's counter attack goal and Dzsudzsák's well taken penalty were enough to secure us the win.


Bundesliga Table

1. Bayern München, 45 pts
2. VfB Stuttgart, 41 pts
3. Hertha BSC, 33 pts
4. Borussia Dortmund, 32 pts
5. SC Freiburg, 32 pts
6. VfL Wolfsburg, 30 pts
----------------------------------------
16. Eintracht Frankfurt, 19 pts
17. 1. FC Köln, 18 pts
18. Hannover 96, 12 pts


The Squad

Spoiler

Spoiler

Goalkeepers

Ramazan Özcan, 32 years old, 76 ovr
Timon Wellenreuther, 21 years old, 74 ovr
Benjamin Uphoff, 23 years old, 62 ovr

Right Backs

Kevin Großkreutz, 28 years old, 76 ovr
Jean Zimmer, 22 years old, 72 ovr

Left Backs

Emiliano Insua, 28 years old, 76 ovr
Maximilian Mittelstädt, 19 years old, 71 ovr
Philip Heise, 25 years old, 70 ovr (on loan at Sturm Graz)

Centre Backs

Koray Günter, 22 years old, 75 ovr
Nico Elvedi, 19 years old, 72 ovr
Duje Caleta-Car, 20 years old, 71 ovr
Timo Baumgartl, 20 years old, 70 ovr

Central Midfielders

Christian Gentner, 31 years old, 74 ovr (C)
Serey Die, 31 years old, 74 ovr
Ádám Nagy, 21 years old, 74 ovr
Johannes Flum, 28 years old, 73 ovr
Hany Mukhtar, 21 years old, 72 ovr
Alexander Ring, 25 years old, 71 ovr
Arianit Ferati, 19 years old, 65 ovr (on loan at RB Salzburg)

Wingers

Filip Kostic, 23 years old, 81 ovr
Balázs Dzsudzsák, 29 years old, 77 ovr
Tobias Kempe, 27 years old, 74 ovr
Marco Rojas, 24 years old, 73 ovr (on loan at Greuther Fürth)
Christian Pulisic, 17 years old, 72 ovr

Strikers

Bobby Wood, 24 years old, 76 ovr
Nemanja Nikolic, 28 years old, 75 ovr
Lukasz Zwolinski, 23 years old, 74 ovr
Maximilian Philipp, 22 years old, 74 ovr
Davie Selke, 22 years old, 73 ovr
Shawn Parker, 23 years old, 71 ovr (on loan at Greuther Fürth)
Jan Kliment, 23 years old, 71 ovr (on loan at SV Sandhausen)

Starting XI




My Thoughts

Form - Tieing with Freiburg was a slight upset but the win against BVB after that was great. I also adjusted some sliders in the CPU's favour after that win because, quite ironically, after turning the difficulty up the point gap between us and third-placed Hertha has grown instead of getting smaller.

Transfers - I was very happy when Lorient accepted our counter offer of 5M for Sandro Wagner because it meant that we were getting rid of him. He was completely useless for us, getting only a single assist in eight or nine appearances, and he spent the last couple of months rotting in the reserves.

With one striker gone I decided that it would be good to bring another striker in. We made several offers for Hoffenheim's Mark Uth, Frankfurt's Luc Castaignos and Haris Seferovic, and AZ Alkmaar's Vincent Janssen, but after some failed deals for one reason or another we decided that the young Selke would be the best option for us. He is well-suited for our target striker role and now I just hope that he lives up to expectations.

All of the three most expensive transfers of the window involved Bayern München. They signed Real Madrid's James Rodriguez for €115M (!), even though they have the likes of Mesut Özil and Mario Götze, and if that wasn't enough they went ahead and signed David Silva for €55M. Bayern also sold Robert Lewandowski to Chelsea for €76M, which makes me question their remaining fire power, although I think they still have Thomas Müller.

February - The first game of February is a very important (for me personally) game against Hertha BSC at the beautiful Olympiastadion away from home. After that we face our bogey team Hannover at home, which is then followed by a Europa League match against Saint-Etienne. After a trip to Augsburg we have the second leg of the Europa League fixture at home. We will get only a day of rest after the game against the French side before we play against Werder Bremen. The month is finished off with a game against a solid Schalke 04 side.



Thank you for reading this post! I hope you have enjoyed it! Any feedback or suggestions will be appreciated!

[vrabbit]

Simp, I love you for recognizing the ease of your success in your first season in the Bundesliga with Stuggart and wanting to do something about it. That's important because obviously you want the CM to be somewhat realistic. All that being said let's enjoy the magical run Stuggart is having this season and I think you deserve credit for putting together a really good roster and pulling the right strings at the right time. Case in point your handling of Wagner which differs on how Marccelino has handled Sebastian Vegas at Newport County and your approach seems to be working out a lot better. You then make another great move upgrading with Selke who could really battle Zwoliński for that starting spot next to Wood. Like cabee against Exeter I think we all look forward to your game against Hertha!

Tex, I absolutely freaking love the new CM and the new style of your updates. Most importantly you seem to be feeling it which is what's necessary in order for you to stick with it. You had a really good start to the season and your risky approach with different formations paid off then (although I'm not sure how realistic the different formations are, I may need schooling on this). You also made subtle improvements to your squad that nobody will put on the headlines but that may help you achieve those high goals the club has set out for you. September looks like it was a bit more of a challenge for you but you're still in great position in the league plus I think if you just achieve direct promotion and not win the league the board will still be happy lol.

SMH, who knew Hagi would be this good a manager? He has Avellino on point, dismantling Serie A teams in the TIM Cup like it's child's play while staying above everyone else in Serie B. In all honesty anything but a double would be a let down at this point, although you're setting us up for a slip-up with your March update and you also didn't disclose who your opponent will be in the TIM Cup final (if it's a team like Juventus then expectations of a double are lowered a bit). I won't say in which one but I recently had a month very similar to your March in one of my CM's so I think I know how you feel. On the other hand, for you, your success up to this point has allowed you to remain in a leading position regardless of a so-so month.

Indi, did you really give us an update with a full season? That's abuse. You're yellow carded on my book. I will be honest, I didn't realize your update was that extensive so I had to sort of pick highlights but obviously it was a hell of a season comfortably winning the Championship and having an amazing run in the F.A. I want to comment on some players since you're probably analyzing your roster: I had the opportunity to get Oliver Burke on loan in the first couple of season at Newport and his pace alone is worth rostering. If you're able to develop him either through loans or training he could be valuable depth for you down the road. Antonio has always stood out to me in Moose's CM so it's no shock to see he's been such a stud for you and I'd definitely build around him for a couple of seasons, he's definitely BPL material especially for a recently-promoted side. I'm also not shocked Assombalonga came around for you because he's been an absolute pest to play against in the Newport CM and I think he too can be a valuable asset for you in this CM even if it's just off the bench. I look forward to seeing who you bring in.

cabee, that update on Exeter-Newcastle was very well done. I thought you did a great job of taking a game that was very emotional on a personal level AND on the pitch and brake it down as it developed. It was very enjoyable to read. The rest of your month was clouded by a poor showing against ManCity but overall you continue to be in great shape in the BPL. It's really a shame the board won't reward your performances so far with additional budget, I agree with you that it's total BS.

Moose, the second yellow on Noble was total BS, reminded me of the second yellow Marcelo Diaz got vs Argentina in the Copa America final. I was expecting you to still manage a way to get points out of that game which speaks to my expectations from your squad. You have me hooked on whether you won the CL group. Jumping back to the previous episode thank you for sharing Neymar's spectacular strike, that was insane. Is Rondon hurt or are you just more comfortable bringing him off the bench? Is there much of a gap between him and Masana?

Chico, from what I gathered Pigott has all but taken over at ST for Mackail Smith? Ballsy. It was a rough November and I wonder if your B-team's struggles will make you move Pigott back into that lineup. You'll feel better about your loss in the JPT when you check out one of my next updates, I guarantee that. Watch our for Mbokani in that COC quarter-final, he shows up deadly against smaller squads like ours.