Blyth Spartans December 2014

Here we go again, the Blyth Spartans Football Manager 2009 story continues. My Spartans did pretty well so far in their second season as a Premier League team, we were in 2nd place at the end of November and my dream of getting a Champions League place seemed realistic. We did pretty well in the Europa League too, we needed at least a draw at Werder Bremen to qualify for the first knockout round.

We defeated Werder 4-0 at Croft Park and I expected another win, they didn’t seem good enough to cause us trouble although they had some good players in their squad. My boys played perfectly, we were in complete control of the game and won it convincingly, 3-0. With that result the qualification was in our hands, the last group match will be an opportunity for the backup players to show their skills.

We had a tough battle to fight until then, a home match with Manchester United. They were in 9th place after having a bad start but they were looking better and better lately. It was a great match for the fans, with lots of goals. I think that we could have won it but some defensive errors proved to be costly. I expected that, since my favorite centre backs,  Suarez and Radulescu, were both suspended. Take a look at the highlights, please note Grange‘s superb free kick goals :)

Next up, another tough match, the Carling Cup quarter final game with Arsenal. We played well but missed far too many chances and you can’t do that against Arsenal. HeitingaPavlyuchenko punished us with two goals from dead ball situations, the first with a corner kick header and the second with a great free kick shot. clawed one back but it was too late, we were out of the Carling Cup.

I was pleased that the next game was the last Europa League group match, away at Romanian side Unirea Urziceni. I had the chance to rest some of my first team players, we were already qualified for the next round. But I didn’t expect to lose the game, I don’t want to lose any game! Although we dominated the first half the scoreline was unbelievable, we were 3-2 behind! I really don’t know how that happened, maybe my backup goalkeeper, Itumeleng Knune, knows more… Fortunately veteran striker Roman Pavlyuchenko was there, he drove the team forward with one goal and two assists and got us out of an awkward situation.

We won the group, so we had better chances of getting a decent team in the draw for the first knockout round. And luck was on our side in the draw, the team that we’re going to meet in the first knockout round is Dinamo Zagreb from Croatia.

Back to the Premier League now, we had a tricky away game to play, at Fulham. They were in 19th place but they looked pretty well in the last league game, they drew 0-0 with Chelsea! The game was pretty boring, Fulham were trying to destroy our passing game and we just couldn’t break them down. We should have won this but we didn’t show enough creativity to surprise a hard working opponent.

Next up, a home game with newly promoted Bolton. They were in 17th place and not looking very convincing. We dominated the first half but didn’t create anything special. Bolton took their only chance and scored from a corner kick. I was furious at half time and from what happened in the last 45 minutes I can guess that my players were ashamed of their performance. They looked completely different in the second half and scored four times to make me happy again :)

The last game of the year was away at 13th placed Everton, a very good team that played below expectations until then. It was an even game and it seemed that Nicao‘s late goal might have given us another 3 points. That was not the case though, a defensive error gave Robin van Persie a huge chance and he didn’t miss…

Anyway, we were in 3rd place at the halfway point of the season, not bad at all. The fight for a Champions League place will be fierce though, the league table is incredibly tight.

At the end of the year UEFA presented their awards and I’d like to share them with you. Sergio Asenjo received the best goalkeeper award, with Fabianski in 2nd place.

The big surprise was the defender of the year award, my Damien Grange got it! With Tiberiu Radulescu in 2nd place! Awesome!

Manchester City‘s Hamsik was the best midfielder with Tottenham‘s Luka Modric as runner up.

Vagner Love won the best striker award again, with my Tomas Necid in 2nd place! Lionel Messi won the World Footballer of the Year Award...

Here are my team’s statistics so far, Necid and Nicao showed great firepower upfront, with Pavlyuchenko as great backup when needed.

But the big surprise was undoubtedly French right back Damien Grange, he scored 9 goals and made 10 assists! He is wanted by Liverpool, Manchester United and Roma now but they’ll have to wait a bit, I won’t sell him anytime soon.

We have some nice games to play in January, with decent opponents. The toughest game will be the FA Cup 3rd round match with Newcastle, but the league games are fairly accessible, we have to get as many points as possible.

That’s about it, 2014 is now over, a great year for my Blyth Spartans with some great Premier League performances and with a fantastic European debut… The transfer window will be open again in January and I will probably try to sell some backup players that are starting to moan about getting more first team football and with the money I might get for them I’ll try to buy some decent replacements, we’ll see.