Keith Houchen: The man with a midas touch, strikes gold for Coventry

[bestbrother]

Season 14/15

SkyBet League One: 4th (playoff semi final losers)

A wild ride for everyone connected with Coventry City this season as not only did they get their much vaunted move back to their home town by returning to the Ricoh Arena, they also had arguably the biggest piece of news in the clubs history. On September 1st 2014 a Luxembourg businessman named Gregory Thom tookover the running of the club, not alot is known about 'Thom other than his bank balance contains more 0's than most people could imagine... essentially Coventry City were in the hands of a Billionaire.

The only downside to this was the date of the completion of the takeover as coming at the end of the transfer window, we would have to make do with the squad already assembled. However the good feeling around the place had a knock on effect and we would take the league by storm, racing to the top of the table with a healthy gap to 3rd place going into the new year as we lost just 4 games and ended 2014 on a 10 game unbeaten streak.

With January on the horizon we setup 2 major transfer deals to bolster the squad with James Vaughan and Patrick Roberts signing from Huddersfield and Fulham respectively for over £15m. Alas that proved to be a kick in the teeth and a rotten run of just 2 wins in 13, saw us slump out of the playoffs and desperately clinging on to any faint promotion hopes.

A brief upturn in results help push us back into the top 6, albeit taking thrashings at Notts County and Bristol City along the way. But we had done enough to finish 4th, part in thanks to other teams failing to make the most of their chance down the stretch.

Into the playoffs we went and a tough tie saw us face Sheffield United. We would share 6 at Bramall Lane, with the Blades scoring late on to save face. Then in the return infront of over 20000 fans at the Ricoh, we would once again fall to a late strike, this time crucially in injury time as we would lose 3-2 on the night (5-6 on aggregate) and ensure we had to face another season in League One next time round.

FA Cup: Third Round

We did as we expected here, beating Grimsby and Shrewsbury with ease before taking Championship side Brighton to a replay in the 3rd round. Unfortunately this coincided with our miserable run of league form and we slid out 2-0 at the AMEX.

League Cup: Third Round

A brilliant effort in a cup that 'matters little' as we dispatch Wolves 3-2 in the 1st round, before taking the scalp of the Manchester United 'kids' in the 2nd round on the TV in another 3-2 thriller.

More goals were to come in the 3rd round as this time we lost out in Extra Time, with Charlton scoring late to beat us 6-5 in one of the games of the season.

Johnstones Paint Trophy: WINNERS

Wembley and Winning are not words you often use with Coventry, but you could this year as we marched through the JPT with a swagger and beat surprise finalists Accrington Stanley 3-1 to lift the cup.

As mentioned we got given a few quid and could only spend it in January. At the time I didnt want to change too much so signed a couple of attacking options that should have given the team a boost. Both Vaughan and Roberts have Championship pedigree, with the latter potentially being a valid option should we make the Premier League.

Team of the Year:

Simeon Jackson top scored with over 30 goals in a fantastic season for him, whilst Midfielder Jim O'Brien would collect the League One PFA Player of the Year Award. Roberts and Vaughan would produce the goods in their half of a season, but with the majority of the team consisting of youngsters and journeymen, chances are things will look alot different next year.

[bestbrother]

Season 15/16

SkyBet League One: CHAMPIONS

We did it how we should have done it last year, but this time had the benefit of a whopping transfer budget that would probably put Premier League teams to shame. Over 100pts and over 100 goals, it wasnt always easy and infact we started the season losing 5 of our opening 7 fixtures.

After that though and a little kick up the backside from the Chairman, saw us fly towards the title and promotion which we duly clinched with 6 games to spare by beating Blackpool 2-1 at the Ricoh, before going on to finish the season in style as we end the campaign on an 11 game winning streak.

Some notables for us this year included a 7-1 win at Home Park, as we humbled the promotion contenders 'Plymouth on their own patch. Whilst we also racked up 5 goals in 4 other separate games to put a dominant gloss on proceedings.

FA Cup: Fourth Round

Another nice little run in this sideshow for our season as we ventured a round further before dropping to Premier League stalwarts Stoke City. Our 3rd round win over Leeds was a delight for the fans, but we had little left to deal with Stoke going down 2-0.

League Cup: Fourth Round

Another cup where we progressed a smidgen further as we enjoyed a pair of Midlands derbies' this time, firstly stuffing the Blues (Birmingham City) 4-2 at home, before valiantly falling at Villa Park 2-1 after extra time to Aston Villa.

Johnstones Paint Trophy: Southern Area Finalists

We actually wanted to win this and defend our trophy, but we would fall at the final hurdle by losing to Swindon Town on penalties in the Southern Area Final. A trip to Wembley would have capped off a wonderful campaign for us, but it wasnt to be and the Robins made their nest on our perch this time round.

It was an unfair year in League One, we had the budget to do what we wanted with the squad and duly did. The 2 most prominent buys for me were in bringing back Callum Wilson and Cyrus Christie. Both were former Sky Blues, ripped out of the club due to financial issues, so to get them back immediately put a smile back on the faces of our fans.

Overall roughly £60m was spent on adding to the squad, whilst players such as Simeon Jackson, Jim O'Brien and Franck Nouble, all regulars last time round, would find themselves out of the door and on the books of another.

Team of the Year:

What a team, make no mistake once their clicked, it was a joy for all to behold. Wilson, Vaughan and their deputy Joe Garner all delivered on the goals front. In the middle, Bannan anchored a midfield that saw Antonio and Roberts control the wings. Other notables include Jack Finch holding his own as an academy product, whilst Adam Bogdan did enough to hold on to the keepers shirt for the year over Jake Kean.

[bestbrother]

Season 16/17

SkyBet Championship: Runners Up (Promoted)

Back to back promotions clinched on the final day as we traveled to Bristol to beat City 3-1 and ensure that the Sky Blues would be back in the limelight for the first time in over 15 years. The season itself saw us in and around the top 6 for most of the campaign, as after another summer of heavy spending we looked to be one of the favourites (and rightly so).

A blip around Christmas set us back a little but we decided against adding players in January and pushed on in the new year with 6 wins from our next 9 fixtures. A memorable 7-1 blitzing of Birmingham ensured delight among-st the faithful, before we then fell short 4-1 at home to Norwich as expectations were tempered again after a the beating.

With promotion looking assured as we entered the last weeks of the season, we would go on to give the chasing pack hope by picking up just 1 point from 9, meaning we needed to beat Bristol City to clinch our place in the Premier League, doing so 3-1.

FA Cup: Third Round

In and out, QPR from the top flight do us 1-0 in one of those games that the Cup has.

League Cup: Second Round

Northampton are beaten on penalties as we beat our former landlords on TV in an exciting encounter. We then lost out in an 8-goal marathon to Newcastle, as the Ricoh is treated to another night of cup drama, unfortunately watching us lost 5-3 to the Magpies.

Recently relegated Sunderland are our pickings this year as 3 signings come south with Adam Johnson the pick of the trio. The capture of Patrick Bamford from Chelsea proved to be one of the better deals as his experience at this level ensured a flurry of goals, whilst record signing Alex Mowatt eventually settled in to be a solid contributor in the middle of the park after his £10m move from Leeds.

Team of the Year:

Bamford and Wilson provided the goals, as Patrick Roberts enjoyed life in behind the front 2 providing the ammo. Johnson unsurprisingly looked a class above in the division, whilst Rodwell anchored the middle of the park and gave us a platform to build on.

At the back we had one change with Micah Richards taking on the full back role from Christie and its his experience that helped us settle as a '4' to go on and be a promotion looking back line.

[bestbrother]

Season 17/18

Premier League: 17th

The position tells its own tale, but the prologue to that is a rash of administration failures and a change of focus from the owner as for the first time under his tenure we would spend less than we recouped (see Transfer details).

As for our fight against the drop, we were helped by the poor showings from Southampton, Burnley and Stoke as although we only picked up 10pts after the turn of the year, we never fell into the bottom three and would avoid relegation officially with 1 week to go. Our early season form looked to be enough to give us a chance of a mid-table finish as we won at both Arsenal and Tottenham, whilst taking a point off eventual Champions Manchester United at the Ricoh Arena.

However after our win against Newcastle at the end of December we would fall off the charts, picking up just 2 more wins against West Ham and Burnley respectively. Heavy home defeats against Tottenham 0-6, West Brom 0-4 and Liverpool 1-4 would less than endear us with the support, but with safety confirmed and the hope of a fresh look at the squad in the off-season, survival is the best we could have hoped for.

FA Cup: Third Round

Championship strugglers Nottingham Forest beat us by the odd goal as we fell flat in our efforts in this years Cup competitions.

League Cup: Third Round

For the 2nd straight year we would lose to Newcastle albeit with a little less excitement.

Things immediately went sour from the get-go as the basis of our promotion team would dismantle as quickly as we put it together, as once Patrick Bamford demanded a move to Burnley, my office became a drop in centre for players looking to move elsewhere. In total we would recoup £35m from deals as Rodwell, Antonio, Richards and eventually Callum Wilson would all make moves to other Premier League teams.

Administratively we failed on various fronts; firstly we would sign Mitchell Langerak to be our number 1 for the season.. only to confirm the deal with him failing to get a work permit and as such leave him in limbo (yet on the payroll) for a year without being able to get a registration. Then as we had put in various clauses to attract players whilst in the Football League, our big name signings on bigger wages would trigger various 'match highest earner' clauses that destroyed our wage budget ie Tyrone Mings wound up on £105,000 per week!

Our signings looked useful on paper, but had to be tempered by a lack of funds. The only shining light from our board came in January when they sanctioned and announced the arrival of Sami Khedira for a nominal fee.

Team of the Year: