We had a mixed bag of results in the next four league games but to be honest I was only thinking about the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final :)
And that day finally came, we were back at Wembley after losing last year’s final to Peterborough. Last season we were coming from League Two, now Oldham were the surprise package of the competition. They were almost certain of getting promoted to League One though as they were leading the League Two table quite comfortably. The game started and we took charge in midfield, we were dominating but wasted a good chance early in the game. Three minutes after the half hour mark things got a bit problematic for us as striker Omar Koroma was forced to leave the pitch on a stretcher, it was quite a blow and a bad sign. Oldham were displaying some skill on counter attacks and they managed to draw first blood five minutes before half time on a quick breakaway. My lads reacted furiously, we started pouring forward and managed to score the equalizer just before the break when Tiberiu Paduraru blasted one right between the keeper and the near post. The first 20 minutes of the second half were rather boring, both teams were quite cautious (I’m responsible for our more balanced display since I was quite afraid of Oldham‘s counter attacks). Our major problems appeared on 66 minutes when centre back Alin Ratiu had to leave the pitch injured… I had already made all the three substitutions and we were down to 10 men. I had to make a choice and since Oldham were employing a 5-2-3 counter attacking setup I felt I had to have four men at the back. So I made an improvised defense with right back John White moved as a centre back and left winger Revy Rosalia in his place as a right back. I kept one striker and moved the other one in a wide forward position and also switched the strategy to «counter». Oldham were looking more and more confident though, they were pushing forward but my improvised defense stood firm and took the game into extra time. I was hoping to survive until the penalty shoot-out but the players were getting more and more tired, mistakes were being made by both teams. Just when I was starting to think about who to pick for the shoot-out my players managed to craft a good looking counter attack, the ball was squared for Simon Ferry rushing in from midfield and he powered it right in! I have to admit that we shamelessly ran down the clock during the last minutes of extra time but we won it!
So, we added another piece of silverware in our shabby trophy cabinet…
Then I started to give some of the backup players more chances to play for the first team but that’s not the only reason for our poor performances during the last seven games of the season. We lost three of those seven games but it didn’t matter too much anymore…
… we won another title, our fourth in a row!
Coventry finished second just 7 points behind us and Millwall managed to win the play-off and get promoted.
Now you can have a look at the players statistics for the season, sorted by average rating. Omar Koroma was our main man, he scored 22 goals and played 14 assists. Our wingers did a lot of hard work as you can see from the distance covered/90 minutes column while the loaned players were among our top performers.
I already started to think about next season, we have to prepare for the Championship as it won’t be easy at all. I already arranged the selling of two of the current players, Alin Ratiu and Mimoun El Kadi but also managed to sign four new players that will join the club on the 1st of July! Let me introduce them one by one.
The first one is Mexican midfielder Jonathan Dos Santos, Giovanni’s younger brother. He was contracted to Barcelona but the Catalan club released them so I thought that he might add some South American flavor and creativity to our midfield.
The next signing comes from Spain too, his name is Javier Vila and he’s a midfielder that is playing for top flight Almeria. He appears to be a good prospect at the age of 20 so I hope that he will develop his skills at Dorchester and maybe make a step forward in his career.
I was trying to bring in only young players, mostly under 21 and under 23, but when I saw Mohammed Tchité on a free transfer I couldn’t resist. He is a very fast striker from Rwanda but he also holds a Belgian passport after playing for Standard Liege and Anderlecht for several seasons. He might do a good job for us in the Championship, his pace could make a big difference on counter attacks.
Last but not least, my personal favourite: 19 year old Irish winger Packie Doolin (I love the name!). He was released by the Shamrock Rovers for some reason but from what the scouts told me and from what I can see this lad has got a great deal of potential that could really take him to the world’s top clubs. He has good pace, great determination and good technique, I really hope that he will develop into a good player for us.
These are all the transfers that I could manage to arrange before the season ended and I fear that I won’t have too much money during the summer. As you can see from the table below we had one of the lowest average attendances in League One but it was impossible to make that much better because our stadium’s capacity is only 5009 places! I am pretty sure that the board will be looking to expand the stadium and that might take out all the money that they might have.
Oh, by the way: our club’s balance is around 300K in red right now due to all the bonuses that we had to pay the players for winning the league and the JPT so things are not looking rosy. Anyway, I’m going to enjoy this success and start looking for young prospects that could help the team grow in a season or two. But you’ll know more about my strategy in the next post, thanks for reading this one :)
P.S.: Don’t forget to enter your scores in the Predictions Contest, I just submitted mine :)
mark
27 августа, 2010 at 23:59
seriously, what can i say, amazing.amazing…..AMAZING!!!! you did it again.
about your signings, quality signing but i think you should need more as cola-cola championship is tough.
again, amazing
and yes, the first comment on this page!!!!!
Johnny Karp
28 августа, 2010 at 07:57
Thanks for the praise Mark. We’ll surely need more quality players, that’s a fact.
Sears
28 августа, 2010 at 00:13
Hi Johnny,
what a fantastic end to the season. It’s a huge achievment to complete the double, with any team. I guess your going to go one better than my achievement at Chelmsford City :-)
You’ve already signed some quality players before you begin your journey in the Coca Cola League Championship. I think you get 1.1 million euro in TV revenue, so that should boast your finances. Packie Doolin seems to be an exciting prospect, I’m glad your signings players from my home country. eventhough your stealing the best talent from my fav club :-D I can’t wait to see your pre season report, I wish you look, and remember, the quality in the Championship is far bigger than that in Legaue 1. Goodluck mate.
Johnny Karp
28 августа, 2010 at 07:58
Thanks Sears. Well, I’m not stealing them from the Shamrock Rovers, they are letting them go for some reason :) I know that the Championship is a lot tougher but thanks for reminding me :)
Lye
28 августа, 2010 at 04:41
Hi mate, not surprising that you arerolling the game fast but that was expected with you leading the packs for large periods :) Fantastic achievement.I hope your board can expand the stadium as that is the foundation for an improve finances. The signings look good and seems like hot prospect in future. Hope you can sign some quality players when the transfer window open. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
28 августа, 2010 at 08:00
Thanks Lye, I guess you can call this «a double» :)
hils
28 августа, 2010 at 07:59
JOHNNY KARP,your just to good for football manager!!!!!!!!! In my game,a have started a new one with Kettering,a spanish team in liga bbva and sestao.
Johnny Karp
28 августа, 2010 at 08:01
Thanks Hils, you’re just too kind ;) You’re managing all those teams in your game?
hils
28 августа, 2010 at 08:43
Yes johnny. i am managing all those teams!!!!!!!!
Johnny Karp
28 августа, 2010 at 08:47
I have never tried something like that but I think it can be a lot of fun.
Kevin Mayo
28 августа, 2010 at 10:00
Hi Johnny
As a late poster it looks like all the superlatives have been taken up so I’ll just say a simple congratulaitons on your league and cup double although Tchite looks brilliant for his age. Good luck with your off season plans.
Ana Garcia
28 августа, 2010 at 10:24
Congratulations hope you can make the next step up!
Nice to you sign a Spaniard and a fromer Barca player!
I will be cheering for both!! :)
Johnny Karp
28 августа, 2010 at 14:45
Thanks for your support Kevin and Ana! :)
Laxeyman
28 августа, 2010 at 11:27
Well done Johnny, another brilliant season, Dorchester keep on marching up through the leagues! Well done in the JPT, a bit sad to see Oldham down in League 2 :( You’ve already made some good signings, hopefully you can make some more in the transfer window :)
Johnny Karp
28 августа, 2010 at 14:47
Thanks Laxeyman. I’m currently «wheeling and dealing» as I started the pre-season campaign. Tough negotiations are underway, hopefully we’ll get some good signings in.
Darren Smith
28 августа, 2010 at 12:47
Wow another fantastic promotion, your only one league away from the promoised land, well done mate. You really have done wonders with limited resources. Especially looking at your av attendances. Good job and I look forward to seeing how you adjust to the Championship!
Johnny Karp
28 августа, 2010 at 14:47
Thanks Darren, hopefully the club will be rich someday :)
Jean Paul Borg
28 августа, 2010 at 13:22
Can you name your starting eleven that you played to win the League One? I’m sure you’ll need improve on your team but you’re a great manager and I think you can finish in the play-offs next season. Good luck mate.
Johnny Karp
28 августа, 2010 at 14:50
Thanks for the confidence Jean Paul. My best eleven would be something like this: Nicolau — White, Barbero, Carolan, Daprela — Paduraru, Labyad, Bangura, Rosalia — Carlisle, Koroma. As you can notice four of the eleven are loan players so the first thing I should do is find to replacements for them.
Jean Paul Borg
28 августа, 2010 at 17:58
You have already made signings that have a great career ahead of them. I believe you can sign good enough players. Check out Ciprian Daec, he’s a Romanian Winger.
Johnny Karp
28 августа, 2010 at 18:02
I know Deac, he just got bought by Schalke a couple of days ago for 3 million euro. I doubt that I can get him in the game though, maybe when we’ll be up in the Premier League.
Jean Paul Borg
29 августа, 2010 at 14:07
That is why I recommended him as I think he’ll add some good fire power up front although he’s a winger. How about attempting to get Joel Matip, he’s another player that plays for Schalke in real life. They’ve got a pretty decent youth setup, check them out.
Ryan Inskip
29 августа, 2010 at 10:34
Johnny, another top season by the sounds of things :)
looking forward to see how you cope in the Championship! I’m currently managing Chester in BSP, and after keeping them up last year (they start on -25) im struggling to take them to the next level (League 2 etc) Any tips, tactics you use thatn you could pass on to a fellow ‘football manager’ ;)
Johnny Karp
29 августа, 2010 at 10:51
Thanks Ryan, I’m quite curious to see how we’ll do in the Championship too :) You did well to keep Chester up with that huge point deficit. About the advice, you can check out our lower league management guide, I’m sure you’ll find some useful information in there: https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/2010/07/football-manager-lower-league-management-guide/
Ryan Inskip
29 августа, 2010 at 11:47
Cheers fella, awesome guide :)
all the best for the new season
ravenie
29 августа, 2010 at 10:56
Well I can’t say I’m surprised. You are already Dorchesters most successful manager, another brillliant promotion from you Mr Karp. On another note, Gergely Varga (you may remember him as a RB from your Notts County save) is a goalkeeper in my game in Hungary, only gets good for the championship though. I really shouldn’t keep on going but I won the Championship with Ipswich signed a few good players (De Camargo, Eddie Nolan, Naingollan) and I accidently promised top half finish.
Johnny Karp
29 августа, 2010 at 13:30
Thanks Ravenie. I remember Varga but he was a regen and I think so is that goalkeeper in your game. Anyway, well done on winning the Championship and good luck, a top half finish might not be unrealistic at all.
Andries
1 сентября, 2010 at 11:20
Hey Johnny,
Good luck in the Championship! I esspecially like to read details such as in the last in the paragraph, that makes your story special in my opinion. Nice job!!! Thanks for posting!
gr Andries
Johnny Karp
1 сентября, 2010 at 11:33
Thanks Andries, we’re going to need all the good luck we can have in the Championship :)
Cal
1 сентября, 2010 at 17:25
Congratulations on winning and getting promoted the championship is a huge step up i hope you can cope!
Johnny Karp
1 сентября, 2010 at 17:46
Thanks Cal, I hope so too :)