Hello my friends and sorry for the delay, I was very busy these last few days and although I played the playoff games I didn’t have the time to share the story with you. So here goes… We had a wonderful season, we finished 3rd although the media predicted at the start of the season that we would finish 18th, so just reaching the playoff is quite an achievement. In the semi final we were going to meet Tamworth, they finished just behind us in 4th place in Blue Square Northern. I was quite optimistic before this battle because we won both league games that we played against them, 2-1 at home and 1-0 away.
We were going to play the first leg away from home and that was a slight advantage for our counter attacking tactic. My boys were totally concentrated for the game and they played brilliantly, we dominated the game and we won 2-0 away from home with 2 goals scored by my Romanian centre back Remus Ardelean (both goals came from corner kicks!).
I had no fears for the second game, I was sure that we would preserve the advantage that we took in the first leg. We let them have more posession of the goal but we struck on counter attacks, we won the game with a comprehensive 3-1 lead and we were ready for the final!
The final was not going to be played in two legs, only one decisive game against Southport. They won their semi final easily, they finished second in the league. Despite that I felt that we had a slight advantage because we didn’t lose against them in the league, we won the away game 3-2 and drew 1-1 at home.
The game was going to be played at the Pirelli Stadium in Burton-on-Trent with more than 3000 people in the stands, a nice atmosphere for us as we were used to our 800 spectators for our home games. We were very motivated, the lads understood that this was a big chance for them and we won the game not allowing our opponents to have any shots on goal! Our reserve striker Shaun Reay was the hero of the game, he scored twice after half time!
Here is a video capture of the three goals that we scored, I hope you’ll enjoy watching it!
Here we are, the Blyth Spartans won promotion to Blue Square Premier against all odds! Remember, the bookmakers gave us a 150-1 chance to win promotion, if one of our fans might have placed that bet he’d be a rich man right now! The board was thrilled and the fans were ecstatic!
There you go, a great triumph for the Blyth Spartans but now I have to be very wise in pre season and pick the right players for the tough challenge ahead of use, surviving in Blue Square Premier! In the next post you’ll find out all about the pre season, the players that I’m going to buy and sell and the friendlies that we are going to play. Until then, best wishes and enjoy your Football Manager 2009 games!
Mariano
6 июня, 2010 at 23:32
i started reading your spartan´s story late,though ,i want to congratulate you for the outstanding achivement!
would be good if you could place a post explaining the method you use to select the players you decide to buy.
for the first time ,today i started using skill filters to scout players,but so far is not working,so i might stick to the stars given by the scouts and the information related to position,skills ,personality and so on…….
good luck in your transfer market period before season 2!
Johnny Karp
7 июня, 2010 at 08:18
@Mariano
Thanks. There isn’t really a «method» for selecting the players, I explained that before on various occasions. Just a lot of searching, comparing and so on. Most times I rely on the scout and assistant reports too but sometimes I don’t take their advice if I think it’s wrong. I use skill filters too when searching for a specific type of player, it narrows down the selection and makes it easier to pick the right players.
Mariano
7 июня, 2010 at 09:57
ok,so it seems,you are quite a master in fm:)
i will start reading your blog from the begining so i can lear from your managing skills….
i will start from the begining reading your chester story….
hope it can help imroving my management!
Johnny Karp
7 июня, 2010 at 09:58
@Mariano
Thanks. I also recommend reading the comments, there is a lot of information in there from myself and other managers.
Mariano
7 июня, 2010 at 12:57
i started reading your chester story….how do you do it?:)
i´m struggling at the begining of the season with my rochdale game,i believe i didn´t do good with the new signings…….do you know where i can download reliable filters for scouting?
Mariano
7 июня, 2010 at 12:58
do u know where i can download some rliable scouting filters?
thanks
Johnny Karp
7 июня, 2010 at 13:02
Sorry, I don’t know where you could find scouting filters to download. You could try on the big communities like sourtitoutsi or fmscout or the official forum.