Back at the Avenue Stadium for the next game, Yeovil were coming to visit. They were predicted to finish 8th so I was expecting a tough game. The first half was quite spectacular, both teams were looking to attack and both sides were denied by the woodwork. It was all square at half time but we could have broke the deadlock just after the break. Unfortunately we hit the crossbar once again right after the interval. We continued to push forward but some good goalkeeping deprived us of a well deserved goal. We finally managed to get one in 12 minutes from time, left winger Rosalia powered one in from inside the penalty area. We were in control and the last minute of the game brought us another goal, right winger Jason Mycoe made a good run and crossed the ball into the box, striker Koroma cushioned it with his chest and fired in a superb half volley.
We were enjoying the three consecutive wins and looking to get the fourth in the last game of the month, away at mid-table Accrington. We started the game pretty well but we were not incisive enough. I was quite sure that we would go to the dressing room with a 0-0 score line but my goalkeeper had other plans, he fumbled a cross right into the path of Accrignton‘s striker and we were one goal down. Things could have gotten even worse but a wild 35 yard shot hit the crossbar above my keeper’s head just before half time. The team came out with a great attitude in the second half, we were piling on the pressure and striker Kazmierowski finally scored the equalizer 13 minutes from time. My lads wanted to win though, they kept on pouring forward and the reward came during the last minute of the game, a fine team move was finished off by right winger Aleksandar Mladenov.
I was quite pleased that the players managed to recover from the two initial defeats and earn four straight wins, we were lying in 2nd place!
The player that I would like to single out is left winger Revy Rosalia, snapped up on a free transfer last July. He is an international player for Netherlands Antilles but he can be considered a Dutch player since he only played in Holland until now. His career started at Den Haag in the Eredivisie but then went on to play for smaller clubs in the lower leagues. He did quite well for us until now, scored an important goal against Yeovil and always looked solid on the left flank.
We’ll have only five games to play next month so I hope to recover some of the injured players and maybe continue the winning streak for a few more games.
That’s how it was folks, I was hoping to get 9 points out of the fist five league games, we got 12 and I’m quite happy about that. The team is very confident and the level of play seems to get better with every game. It’s still early to make predictions though, we’ll have to confirm the good run next month and then see where we might stand. Thanks for reading and I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts.
Sears
21 июля, 2010 at 13:53
That is a wonderful start Johnny! Despite that opening defeat to Bury your team managed to respond quickly and win the next 4 leaguen games. Hopefully your Dorchester team can continue picking up wins and I’m sure you will get promoted. Goodluck!
java
21 июля, 2010 at 16:07
well… for a newly promoted team,
it’s a good start johnny. u’re the best,
by the way.
i think, maybe «the shot»s story will be over.
the game couldn’t be loaded. :(
do you know what happenned?
Laxeyman
21 июля, 2010 at 16:33
Good start Johnny, you bounced back impressively from the opening day defeat, well done. The finishing seems a little worrying, but hopefully your strikers can start banging them in next month, and earn you some good wins. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
21 июля, 2010 at 16:54
@Sears
Thanks for your optimism and good wishes.
@Java
Sorry to hear that, probably the save game file is corrupted. There is no solution other than having a backup save file. I always select rolling autosave to multiple files to prevent such problems.
@Laxeyman
Thanks mate, I am looking forward to better performances from my strikers.
java
21 июля, 2010 at 16:59
yea… i get it. thanks mate..
i think i’m going to make another game.
i’ll post it tomorrow. don’t forget to take a look… ;)
MO
21 июля, 2010 at 17:54
Excellent start! And guess what, i am from Bury and they beat you :-)
Darren
21 июля, 2010 at 18:47
Well done Johnny, some fantastic results their. 4 wins from five games so early on is amazing. Your players will still need time to settle so we could see even better thing to come. Just remember you heard it here first. Dorchester for the play-offs, you’ll probably get top 3 after I’ve said that.
Anyway well done Johnny
Johnny Karp
21 июля, 2010 at 19:02
@Java
OK, I’m looking forward to your new career.
@MO
Thanks, Bury beat us and then recorded four straight defeats, an opposite run compared to ours.
@Darren
Thanks a lot for your confidence. Normally the team should play better once the new players will settle in but that’s just theory. The pitch will tell the truth.
Cal
21 июля, 2010 at 19:05
Unlucky in not having the best start but hopefully you can turn it around and win the legue!!
Good Luck!
chris @ chester
21 июля, 2010 at 20:43
See I told you that you wouldnt have much trouble in league 2. You can put the Bury match down to your players gelling, thats what i would do :-)
Kevin Mayo
21 июля, 2010 at 21:19
Hi Johnny
Well fater a little hiccup at the start you soon got into your stride and guided the team to second place with some solid victories. Revy Rosalia always seems to be recommended in my games so I think he should do well for you. Great start!
Johnny Karp
21 июля, 2010 at 21:31
@Cal
Thanks for the good wishes but we were not unlucky during the first game, we deserved to lose it.
@Chris @ Chester
Well, I guess they didn’t gel right after those two initial defeats but it could be an explanation :)
@Kevin
Thanks Kevin, Rosalia is just one of the players that impressed me and I hope that the other ones will give me reasons to praise them in the future updates.
mark
21 июля, 2010 at 22:10
hi johnny, i am only 18 years old and been reading your blog for the past 6 months and i am impressed about your managment skills and desicion making in your notts co and dorchester game.
i being a soccer fan since 5 years old and been playing footballmanger when it was the 07 version. i was wondering about the website staff members. Are they all adults (including you) with careesr and doing the fun out of this game by blogging or am i wrong which they are some students within your staff?
anyway, good luck on your dorchester game, sorry my english is not that good……
Johnny Karp
21 июля, 2010 at 22:48
@Mark
Thanks a lot for following the stories. About members of the footballmanagerstory.com team, I don’t have everybody’s resume but there are a few students too, even younger than you. As for me, I’m 30 years old with a job and so on but that doesn’t stop me from loving Football Manager.
mark
22 июля, 2010 at 00:06
man i wish i could join your team of writters.
keep it up with dorchester
Johnny Karp
22 июля, 2010 at 07:19
Mark, I can tell you that you’re not the only one that wants to join the team :) I received quite a few applications lately and unfortunately I had to turn a few people down. Anyway, you can send me an email and we can talk about it if you really want it. The address is johnny[at]footballmanagerstory[dot]com
Sears
22 июля, 2010 at 00:26
@Johnny, is there any chance you could show us your coaching staff in your next post? Like something similar to what Kevin did in his Wehen post, just a picture of there attributes! Thanks mate if it’s not a problem.
Johnny Karp
22 июля, 2010 at 07:20
Sears, do you mean the Training>Coaches screen? I can do that, no problem.
Lye
22 июля, 2010 at 10:54
Good response for the team mate, recovering well to win 4 games in a row. I will be waiting to see how your team will end up this season. I am pretty sure most likely its going to be another successful one. Good luck.
java
22 июля, 2010 at 13:02
Hey, Johnny my new career starts.
I decided to take control of Aldershot again, with a better player i found from another league game i’ve played before.
http://kickinorder.blogspot.com/2010/07/my-new-shots.html
thanks for the tips sir, good luck with dorchester anyway. ;)
Sears
22 июля, 2010 at 13:39
@Johnny, yes, thats it. Thanks.
Johnny Karp
22 июля, 2010 at 19:47
@Lye
Thanks for the kind words mate, I hope you will be proven right again at the end of the season :)
@Sears
OK, I just made the screen shot, it will be in the next post.