Blyth Spartans Story — Premier League September 2014

After the triumphant European debut and a good start in the Premier League my Blyth Spartans had to keep up the good work and stay up in the league table. We had a perfect chance to continue with a win, we had to meet newly-promoted Queens Park Rangers.

We dominated the game from the first second to the last but we only scored once, Tomas Necid powered one in. We should have won by a bigger margin but I was satisfied with the performance, we didn’t give Q.P.R. any chance.

Next up, the first game in the Europa League group stage, a tough away battle at Olympique de Marseille. They were strong favorites to win this game but we proved to be the better team. My lads played very well and we definitely could have won it but their keeper, Steve Mandanda, was absolutely stunning, he kept a clean sheet with some miraculous saves. Anyway, it was a good away draw but at this level you don’t get too many chances, so you have to make the most out of each of them…

After the tough European battle in France we had another one coming up, away at Middlesbrough in the Premier League. We dominated the first half but Bendtner surprised us on a quick counter attack and scored an early goal. Fortunately we had Tomas Necid in great form, he scored a superb goal from 25 yards out. Take a look at the video:

We were ready to push for a win in the second half but my right back was sent off, so all the plans had to be remodeled. We kept the game under control with only 10 men on the pitch and went home with a well deserved draw. Maybe we could have won it with 11 men in the second half but that’s how it is, if you make mistakes you have to pay.

The next game was another tough one, the Carling Cup 3rd round with Liverpool. Tomas Necid continued to show great stuff out there, he solved the first half with a superb double! Liverpool pushed forward in the second half but we kept cool and steady in defense to get through the next round. I was very impressed with my defenders, they had no problems with handling Torres & co although Liverpool were trying hard to score.

The last game of the month was the toughest of them all, at home with Arsenal in the Premier League. Arsenal were unbeaten, like we were, and played very well until that point. Nicao got injured during the Liverpool game, nothing serious, but he was out for the Arsenal clash. The first half was even but Adebayor made the difference with his tremendous skills. We played better in the 2nd half and Cristian Suarez scored his first goal of the season from a corner kick. We had another couple of chances but failed to make them pay, it ended 1-1.

We were still unbeaten in the Premier League along with Newcastle and Arsenal. So far so good, we were in 4th place, our goal for this season.

October will be a massacre, we’ll start with Werder Bremen and then Liverpool, title holders Manchester City and the cherry on the cake, Chelsea! I’d be thrilled if we’d manage to keep our unbeaten run through the next month…

Over to you now, what do you think about out season so far?