Coventry City began pre-season in style, becoming the first Championship side in three years to finish their campaign by winning all of their matches. This included big wins against the likes of Nottingham Forest, Portsmouth and Wolves U23s.
Similarly, Coventry fans were sent into panic mode when transfer rumours and offers began being submitted for the club's key men.
Gustavo Hamer was the subject of a £5,000,000 bid from Fulham which was laughed off, Viktor Gyokeres was also the subject of a fierce enquiry by championship rivals Middlesbrough but that was quickly ended by the clubs asking price of £20,000,000.
However, the most likely to depart was midfielder Callum O'Hare, who had a potential move to Burnley lined up, but Vincent Kompany's side were unable to meet the clubs asking price of roughly £10,000,000 and the deal fell through.
City also brought in four signings to strengthen the squad. Bristol City midfielder Kasey Palmer was first to arrive, as support for O'Hare, a position which Mark Robins has been desperate to strengthen.
Nottingham Forest defender Jonathan Panzo and Manchester City youngster Callum Doyle both arrived on season long loans, further improving Coventry's defence. Finally, Crystal Palace full-back Tayo Adaramola arrived as a replacement for the departed Ian Maatsen. Therefore, you'd assume that the summer couldn't have gone much better for the Skyblues. Well, it quickly came crashing down...
So... what went wrong so quickly?
Firstly, on the final training session before the season began, midfielder O'Hare suffered a hamstring tear whilst attempting a back-heel and even a month on, he's still expected to miss the next six-to-eight weeks.
Despite not scoring as many as he'd like, his absence has certainly been noticed so far and more importantly, he has not been replaced.
City drew their opening league match against old rivals Sunderland, courtesy of a second-half equaliser from Swedish international Viktor Gyokeres.
However, news quickly broke about the playing surface at the CBS Arena, as a result of the Commonwealth Games.
The stadium owners, Wasps RFC, decided to allow the games to use the stadium for the rugby sevens and due to their existing financial struggles, they failed to relay the pitch as originally promised.
City were forced to postpone their opening league home match against Rotherham United due to the pitch concerns.
The problem continued, when the EFL confirmed the club would have to honour their Carabao Cup match against Bristol City despite not having a home pitch.
Luckily, the club acted quickly to secure the Pirelli stadium, home of Burton Albion, but City lost 4-1.
Wasps meanwhile, refused to take ownership of the issues and instead continued to blame Coventry City for the state of the pitch and as a result, the club were again forced to postpone their next two home games against Wigan Athletic and Huddersfield Town whilst the pitch issues continued.
Fortunately Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, stepped in and the issue was quickly resolved.
Did this bring positivity back to the club?
Well in short, no. Coventry City lost 3-2 to Millwall despite leading 2-0 and suffered a setback with Gustavo Hamer being sent-off. City's next league game saw them fall to defeat against Hull City, with all three goals avoidable.
With both of Coventry's goalkeepers out of form and making basic mistakes, it really did not fill the fans with much confidence at all.
Unfortunately, things got worse for the Championship side.
Hyam was the one and only...
Coventry City then made the decision to sell the only centre-back contracted to the club beyond the 2022/23 season and more shockingly, he was sold to a Championship rival.
This of course, saw one of the clubs longest serving players, Dominic Hyam, sign for Blackburn Rovers for an initial fee of £1,800,000 rising to roughly £3,000,000.
This was without a doubt a major blow and it did upset manager Mark Robins, with himself confirming that he wouldn't see any of the money and a replacement would have to be sourced either on loan, a cheap fee or a free agent.
With fans understandably really unhappy, it caused a large amount of negativity to creep into a side that on paper, was arguably stronger than the previous season.
Concerns over the funding from the Hyam transfer not being in the squad were understandable, but that is Coventry City's current business model, and with most of the side being free transfers, it is no cause for concern.
Reasons why fans need to back the team
It was made crystal clear in pre-season that one player was always leaving the football club.
Therefore, fans should not be worried, as the player in question that left could have been one of the bigger names within the squad.
Similarly, the club off the pitch is experiencing several positive changes.
Firstly, this season saw the club smash their existing season ticket record, to well over 13,000 as well as smashing the shirt sales, courtesy of some outstanding kits from Hummel.
The squad itself is stronger this time round. More players have an additional year of Championship experience, loan players from the 2021/22 season, such as Jake Clarke-Salter and Maatsen have been replaced by stronger alternatives.
A much needed attacking midfielder was also drafted in and with a day to go, the chances of more additions are certainly still possible.
On the pitch, the Skyblues have lost two of their first three league games but the manor of which they've lost, have simply been down to individual player errors rather than a result of a poor squad or poor performances.
Since Mark Robins took the reins back in March 2017, Coventry City have enjoyed many successes.
An EFL Trophy win, the club's first promotion in 50 years via the League Two play-offs, a League One title and Championship survival have all been secured in such a short space of time and last season, the club spent over half of the season in the top six.
Things are certainly improving quite quickly for the Skyblues and fans need to stick behind the players and management that have supported their hopes and dreams ever since the Robins return.
There is simply no reason for negativity, the club is in the best position the club it been in since the 1990s and things under Mark Robins are only going to get better.
It may have been a challenging start to the season for Coventry, but there is no reason to believe that they cannot turn their fortunes around in the near future.