Hello dear friends, it’s time to find out whether my Dorchester Town held on for an Europa League spot or not. As you know February and March were quite painful for me and my team, we got beaten on a regular basis and only managed to clinch a win at the end of March. Despite that poor run we were still in 6th place with Sunderland and Birmingham just four points behind us. Now let’s see if we managed to hang in there or not.
Unfortunately the first game of April was against league leaders Chelsea, the most likely candidates to winning the Premier League at the end of the season. The Blues were coming from four straight wins but we had nothing to lose, I was hoping for a good performance and maybe a lucky point. Luck seemed to be with us right from the start as my lads were looking confident in pushing forward: four minutes into the game Dacian Varga had a shot parried by Cech but Jonathan Ezquerro was in the right place at the right time and pushed the ball in! We took the lead but things were not looking too well, Chelsea were pushing forward and the equalizer was just a matter of time. Gourcuff fired in a double on either side of the half time break in what was looking to be an one-sided affair. We did have a few good moments and we even dominated the last 10 minutes of the game but our best chance went to waste 30 seconds before the final whistle when Packie Doolin headed the ball over the bar from point blank range.
I was not upset, I saw that defeat coming. I was hoping for much more from the next game though, at home with 17th placed Stoke. We were in control of the first half but there were no clear chances for us apart from a long shot by Dacian Varga which rattled the crossbar. We finally took the lead three minutes into the second half when Jonathan Ezquerro (his form was more and more impressive) sidestepped a defender and placed the ball in. Stoke didn’t have much to show so we held on to that lead quite easily and grabbed the very important three points.
We had another home game coming up, I was hoping to get a win over Middlesbrough with the help of our fans. The first half display was quite worrying though, Boro were dominating us physically and they were winning most of the tackles and headers. Their superiority on the pitch was not converted on the scoreboard before half time, they missed two clear chances. We had a few better moments after the break but the visitors took the lead following another piece of poor defending from my lads. I was running out of ideas, I was just sitting there waiting for the game to end when Jonathan Ezquerro banged in another one, totally against the run of play! I wasn’t even hoping for that anymore so I pulled the team back to defend that point. We had to survive a great deal of pressure during the final minutes but my lads hung in there and we clinched a point. Middlesbrough surely deserved to win the game though, we have to admit that.
The last game in April was away at 14th placed Hull City, I was quietly hoping to get at least another point. The game ended in disaster for us but it was even before the hour mark. We had a pair of chances early on, then Hull took the lead but the game was still in the balance. Something happened after we let in the second goal, the team literally crumbled and Hull were all over the pitch. It was looking like a game between Barcelona and a League Two team (with us being the L2 side, of course)! We conceded three goals in less than 10 minutes but it could have been far worse, Hull had countless chances as my boys were looking like they were just starting to play football!
Despite that heavy beating we were still 6th but Birmingham were closing in on us, they were just one point behind.
And as you can see the last game of the season was going to be against Birmingham, we just had to hang in until then and battle it out directly with them for the last 90 minutes. Go to the next page to see how we did in May.
Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Jean Paul Borg
7 октября, 2010 at 22:52
I suggest you check out players that are released from the clubs that can help the team improve in the league, and in europe as well for your last season of the 2010 version. Nonetheless well done and by the way, you are one my lips too :) Lol. Well done mate. Post a pre-season post if you can so we can keep in touch with what players you bring in.
Johnny Karp
8 октября, 2010 at 09:41
Thanks Jean Paul. I will publish a pre-season report, hopefully in a few days.
Kevin
8 октября, 2010 at 00:44
Hello Johnny
A very respectable end to the season in terms of league position and you have done brilliantly considering where you have brought this team from in the very beginning. Glad to see another stadium expansion so your well on the way to the 81,000 I previously mentioned LOL!
Good luck to Romania on the weekend..against France that is and not the Young Lions :)
Johnny Karp
8 октября, 2010 at 09:40
Thanks Kevin. We’ll need only around 70,000 more seats, not too many :) Thanks for the good luck wish for Romania. Actually I’m more interested in the Under 21 game against England than the one against France, we seem to have better chances with the youngsters.
Lye
8 октября, 2010 at 01:30
Hi Johnny,
It’s a good season for you finishing 6th place and going into Europe for the first time. I am pretty sure we will have some surprises next season even though it could be your last. Looking forward to your pre-season report and i hope your board will increase the transfer budget for you. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
8 октября, 2010 at 09:39
Thanks Lye, I’m hoping for a good wage budget this time as we need to bring in quite a few players again.
Jack
8 октября, 2010 at 01:50
Fantastic first season Johnny! I know the end of season form wasn’t great but to achieve Europa league in your first season is brilliant. I would love you to carry on this game and take Dorchester to a Champions league victory but sadly I don’t think there will be time. On the other hand though starting with Universitatea Craiova could be something quite special… So everyone vote for it!!!… English leagues are boring (so last year).
Johnny Karp
8 октября, 2010 at 09:38
Thanks Jack, I see that your campaign goes on :)
mariano
8 октября, 2010 at 08:24
An amazing achivement!
The teenagers owners of the club must be very happy, ask their father for more money and make it an ultimatum:)!
After all you did you deserve a huge budget!
Now, serious, well done, you achived the same as with Notts in your first premier league season with a much weaker team, and very young too!
Johnny Karp
8 октября, 2010 at 09:36
Thanks Mariano. I guess I had more points with Notts County, this time we were a bit lucky to finish 6th. I guess I’ll have a good budget, they would have no excuse for giving me a small one! :)
Jean Paul Borg
8 октября, 2010 at 13:31
Hey Johnny, mariano is right, give them an ultimatum, it’s your last season so hehe :) Retire from your current FM 2010 game. Not long to wait for the new one :D
Johnny Karp
8 октября, 2010 at 15:32
That could a an option Jean Paul but they might sack me on the spot, I still want to end next season :)
Darren Smith
8 октября, 2010 at 12:04
Hey Johnny, well done on a fantastic season. You struggled a little this month but ended well and to qualify for the Europa League in your first season is amazing. Well done mate.
Johnny Karp
8 октября, 2010 at 15:32
Thanks Darren, I’m happy but also concerned considering the very poor form that we displayed in the last four months. The team will surely need heavy strengthening during the summer.
Ana Garcia
8 октября, 2010 at 14:10
Congratulations!!
Amazing achievement really to finish where you did and get some european football for a team that is so small!!
Good luck for next season if you decided to carry on!!
Johnny Karp
8 октября, 2010 at 15:33
Thanks a lot Ana. I will go on for at least another season, that’s certain.
mariano
8 октября, 2010 at 16:05
A few suggestions:
You could save you gave and just as a trial se what happens if you send an ultimatum, and even if they give you money, you will reload and without doing the ultimatum.
If it´s your last season sell some player´s, get 30 million cash, and buy good players with 48 months so you will have a budget of 120 million, and then when you quit, it´s the next managers or board´s problem by them you will be playing fm 2011:)
If you sell players soon enough, some leagues will pay them before july, so you might be able to use that money to get some free players or players with expiring contracts.
That is what i would do, i haven´t play FM in weeks…….
Cheers and all the best
Johnny Karp
8 октября, 2010 at 16:38
Thanks for the suggestion Mariano but I might consider that save/load thing cheating. The buying with installments seems to be a good option, I’ll think about it but I will not go that far as to jeopardize the club’s future, it wouldn’t be honest in my view. I can’t sell players until July 1st when the transfer window opens but I will surely arrange a few sales until then. The new budget should be in place before the end of June so I might still find a few good players with expiring contracts.
Laxeyman
8 октября, 2010 at 16:28
Well done Johnny, that’s an excellent first season in the Prem, although 59 points isn’t that many to finish 6th with. Still, it’s a good achievement. Looking forward to seeing what you do in pre season and good luck for you final season in FM10.
Johnny Karp
8 октября, 2010 at 16:39
Thanks Laxeyman, I agree that we were lucky to finish 6th with only 59 points.
Sayam Khan
8 октября, 2010 at 23:02
3 Words:
BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT!
Johnny, at the start of the season i was wondering if Liam Parker would rise to the premier league and bang in the goals, and he has certainly took my concerns away!
Anyway congratulations on your Europe place, good luck :-)
Johnny Karp
9 октября, 2010 at 11:57
Thanks a lot Sayam, I hope that Parker will do even better next season.
hils
9 октября, 2010 at 08:46
Well done Johnny!!!!! Great europa league finish!! But you were lucky to finish 6th!! Good luck next season!!!!!
Johnny Karp
9 октября, 2010 at 11:55
Thanks Hils, I guess all your good luck wishes worked! :)
bigbaz
9 октября, 2010 at 15:40
very well done! enough said
Johnny Karp
9 октября, 2010 at 18:39
Thanks Bigbaz :)
rab carr
10 октября, 2010 at 17:11
well done johnny taking dorchester to europe im amazed im able to read such a thing you really are probably the best manager of football manager congragulations :-)
Johnny Karp
10 октября, 2010 at 21:54
Thanks mate but you are too kind, I don’t think I’m the best.
Kevin
11 октября, 2010 at 10:12
I think you are too :)
hils
11 октября, 2010 at 19:24
I think you are too =)
Johnny Karp
11 октября, 2010 at 20:01
OK, that’s more that enough praising for just one day :)
rab carr
11 октября, 2010 at 18:09
your too modest johnny i declare you in my opinion to be the best there is out there at football manager,,, im praying the votes for you to manage the weakest team in scotland , reading you taking on the old firm at some point would have me glued to evey word lol
Johnny Karp
11 октября, 2010 at 18:17
The voting is still very close and there’s plenty of time for things to change until November 5th.