FourFourTwo UK – September 2019

LASTSEASON

LEAGUEONE6thFACUPFifthRoundLEAGUECUP

SecondRoundTOPSCORERJohnMarquis(above,26)

LASTSEASON

LEAGUE ONE 8th FA CUP First Round

LEAGUE CUP First Round TOP SCORER Jordy Hiwula (13)

FourFourTwo Season Preview 2019-20 63

COVEnTRY CITY DOnCASTER ROVERS

SEASOn PREVIEW

FFTVERDICT

8

TH FFT VERDICT

11

TH

Coventry will play ‘home’ games at

St Andrew’s this year and without

Jordan Willis, who leaves aged 24

after more than 200 outings. Boss

Mark Robins is unfazed, however,

and putting plenty of faith in new

signings plucked from the Scottish,

French and Dutch lower leagues.

A play-off defeat on penalties and

gaffer Grant McCann joining Hull

put a huge dampener on Donny’s

uplifting 2018-19 campaign. The

eternal worry that talisman John

Marquis may leave, too, means

Darren Moore must act pretty fast

to keep the good mood going.

The big talking point among the fans

is a little thing I like to call ‘Cexit’. For

some reason, us getting booted out

of the purpose-built football ground

in the city of Coventry and relocating

to one in the city of Birmingham has

ruffled a few feathers in the fanbase.

This season will be different because

we’re going on a nice holiday and the

thousands of empty seats watching

our games will be a different colour.

Our key player will be new recruit

Kyle McFadzean, who should turn our

decent defence into a certified DMZ if

one of the two new keepers – Marko

Marosi and Ben Wilson – step up to the

plate. The returning wounded, Maxime

Biamou and Jodi Jones, could have

a huge impact on our goal return, too.

Our most underrated player is Liam

Kelly, a lower-league stalwart whose

steady rise is only now starting to get

the recognition that he fully deserves.

The signature local dish is sautéed

gloom on white toast.

The opposition player I secretly

admire is Siriki Dembele for the Posh.

I’m a sucker for a tricky lower-league

winger. His dancing feet tick my boxes.

The best away ground is Lincoln’s or

Portsmouth’s. Both ooze authenticity

and rocking atmospheres reflect that.

The pantomime villain will be anyone

associated with Sunderland. The drunk

uncle at the wedding has yet to sober

up and continues to stumble around

like a complete embarrassment. Sort

yourself out and go back upstairs.

Save the date for Sunderland away

[November 23]. The beef is real. They

hate Jimmy Hill. We love winning 5-4.

The fans’ opinion of the gaffer is

that delivering a promotion and two

Wembley appearances has made

Mark Robins [below] popular, though

his penchant for going on losing runs

for four or five matches does rock the

foundations. He came out swinging

on the ground debate recently, which

won him a lot of points in the polls.

If he left, he should be replaced by

Eric Black, because I refuse to let go

of the past.

We’ll finish either somewhere in the

top eight or liquidated.

The big talking point among the fans

is if we have any chance of replicating

last season’s unexpected surge to the

play-offs, especially with gaffer Grant

McCann leaving for Hull.

The best club social media account

is two-time FSF Fanzine of the Year,

Popular STAND (@vivarovers). Although

the actual fanzine is taking a season

off after hitting 100 issues, the socials

will be as sardonic as ever.

I won’t be happy unless we beat our

ex-manager, Darren Ferguson. I can’t

believe I’m saying this, but I’d like us

to beat Peterborough even more than

I’d like us to beat Rotherham.

Our key player will be John Marquis,

for his goals, or James Coppinger, the

heartbeat of the side – both inspiringly,

given his age and our reliance on him,

and depressingly, given his age and

our reliance on him.

Our most underrated player is Joe

Wright [below], twice a Wales U21

defender. I think he’s a great player.

The opposition player I secretly

admire is Jamal Lowe at Portsmouth.

He plays like a kid kicking a Coke can

around, as all the best players do.

The best away ground is Roots Hall

in Southend: fish and chips by the

sea, a few games of Street Fighter II,

then off to a proper football ground.

Our best celebrity fan is – or was –

the late, sort-of-great Paul Daniels.

The worst has to be Jeremy Clarkson.

The one change I’d make to the club

would be to have a bit more class and

empathy, instead of singing about the

social tragedy that’s taken place at

Rotherham in recent decades.

Look out for our new signing Madger

Gomes, though this is based on very

little other than the fact he’s Spanish.

The best thing about the matchday

experience at Doncaster is getting

a hug from Donny Dog. I swear they

wash that thing using unicorn tears.

The other recommendation for away

fans is to visit Doncaster Museum. It

has a huge stuffed pike that died a few

hundred years ago when people saw it

in the River Don and kicked it to death.

There’s a metaphor for the town there.

We’ll finish 10th.

FAn FILE

JAMES MCMAHON

@jamesjammcmahon

FAn FILE

LAURENCE KILPATRICK

@Thelonelyseason