Moving on to the next game, the FA Cup 3rd round replay against Chelsea. We were playing in front of a capacity crowd at Avenue Stadium but that didn’t impress Chelsea and they didn’t give us too many chances to survive the game. Joe Cole scored the opening goal and then Pato stepped up and netted a brace, we didn’t have enough quality in the squad to reply.
I didn’t expect to beat Chelsea though so I was very happy to collect the new gate receipts record, 110,000 pounds! :)
Back to the Championship, our next game was a tricky one away at Doncaster. The first half was fairly even, the two teams looked like there was no difference between them. Unfortunately there was a difference on the scoreboard at the end of the half as Doncaster took the lead thanks to a beautiful shot from 25 yards out. We tried pretty hard to level the game after the break but our attacks were rather wasteful. Maybe we would have deserved to get a draw but we surely didn’t play well enough to win the game.
We had a perfect chance to get back on track as the last game of the month was at home against bottom of the table Coventry. Things didn’t set out too well though: we wasted a couple of chances early on and then our opponents took the lead on a corner kick! Mohammed Tchite leveled the game for us 10 minutes before the interval and then on-loan striker Liam Parker scored the winning goal 15 minutes from time. We dominated the game and Tchité made the score line more realistic with a last minute goal.
The month was over and we were up in 6th place, we were in a play-off position for the first time since the start of the season!
Young centre back Stefan O’Brien impressed me this month, he had the chance to step up and replace injured Fabricio Coloccini and he played very well. I hope that he will finally start to fulfill his potential.
Next month will see us playing five games and two of them will be important clashes with promotion contenders Derby and Swansea.
I don’t know if we can hand on to that play-off spot but I have to admit that it feels quite nice to be sixth in the Championship at the end of January :) Thanks a lot for reading and for your continuous support.
Vinners
10 сентября, 2010 at 20:01
Good Month Johnny! I cannot believe that my beloved Reading is in the relegation zone! But then I cannot believe you drew with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge! I believe you’ll get a play off place so keep it up!
Johnny Karp
10 сентября, 2010 at 22:48
Thanks Vinners. That draw at Stamford Bridge was quite pleasing even though we barely came out of our own half during the 90 minutes.
hils
10 сентября, 2010 at 20:39
Good month Johnny. Great draw against Chelsea! Do you mind posting a screenshot of the Premier League table so far? I am curious to find out because Reading our in the drop zone!!
Johnny Karp
10 сентября, 2010 at 22:49
Thanks Hils, I will post the Premier League table in the next update.
Ana Garcia
10 сентября, 2010 at 23:24
Well done Johnny!
Chelsea is my boyfriends team but looking at the stats of the home game against them you played really well!!
I mean you had 49% of the play created a few chances and they were hardly testing your keeper with only four shots on target! But they had that clinical edge.
League wise and you are definatly in the hunt for a playoff place it looks like the automatic places have maybe just eluded you, but a good run of form now and who knows!!
As always best of luck Johnny!!
Johnny Karp
11 сентября, 2010 at 09:42
Thanks a lot Ana. About the Chelsea game, they scored the opening goal early on and I guess that’s why they didn’t continue to push forward like they did in the first game.
Kevin Mayo
11 сентября, 2010 at 00:34
Hello Johnny
Firstly fantastic achievment in getting a draw at Stamford Bridge but too bad you couldn’t become a giant killer though the extra cash is nice. Considering the board is trying to sell players behing your back you are doing really well to move up into sixth place. Good luck next month!
Johnny Karp
11 сентября, 2010 at 09:43
Thanks Kevin. I guess I’ll continue the game until I’ll see this board leaving after a takeover :)
ravenie
11 сентября, 2010 at 12:04
I havent been able to play fm for ages. Not because I haven’t had the time but because Ive had so many problems just being able to play it. I’ve tried reinstalling and stuff but i NEED HELP :(
Johnny Karp
11 сентября, 2010 at 12:15
You can send me an email Ravenie and I’ll gladly help you if I can. Or you can post your problem details here and we’ll see what can be done.
Sears
11 сентября, 2010 at 12:21
Hi Johnny,
fantastic draw at Chelsea, the extra cash should come in handy. The play off spots seem to be very congested, a few wins next month may leave you in a more comfortable position. Goodluck!
Johnny Karp
11 сентября, 2010 at 12:41
Thanks for the good wishes Sears. You are right, the table is very tight and every point makes a big difference at this stage.
Laxeyman
11 сентября, 2010 at 13:01
Well done Johnny, that was a good month, despite the board not helping you by accepting offers for your players. Hopefully you can hang on to that play off spot, good luck!
Johnny Karp
11 сентября, 2010 at 14:54
Thanks for the good wishes Laxeyman!
Darren Smith
11 сентября, 2010 at 13:49
Hey Johnny, well done on another good month. Sixth place at this stage is amazing and if you can keep going who knows. Anything can happen in the play-offs as my Bury side showed. Goodluck mate and keep it up.
Johnny Karp
11 сентября, 2010 at 14:55
Thanks Darren, I hope we will hang in there among the top six.
Lye
11 сентября, 2010 at 16:46
Hi Johnny, you did well in Stamford Bridge but the quality of Chelsea is too much for you to handle at the moments. Nice job there holding a play-off spot. I think you can get it. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
11 сентября, 2010 at 16:58
Thanks for your kind words Lye.