After two intense matches I had the chance to rest a few first team players as our next game was the FA Cup 4th round match against Championship side Swindon. The backup players that I sent in had a rather poor first half and it seemed that we were heading for a disaster when Swindon took the lead on the stroke of half time. We started to play a bit better after the break but we were still looking uninspired until Rafael Coelho hit the back of the net as a result of a magnificent solo effort. Substitute Laszlo Tamasi powered another one in seven minutes later to spare our blushes and push us through to the next round.
Back to the Premier League, our next game was away at 10th placed Bolton. The hosts managed to take the lead 18 minutes into the game after a very good team move but Christian Stuani drew level just four minutes later when he hit the roof of the net after a great run. Then we took control of the middle of the pitch but quite a few chances went begging. Bolton had a pair of good chances of their own on counter attacks but we finally clinched it 17 minutes from time when Stuani found the back of the net again with a perfectly placed shot from the edge of the area.
The final game of the month saw us playing against Birmingham again but this time at home. We managed to win the away game 3-2 at the beginning of the month but it wasn’t easy at all. This time it proved to be even more difficult as our finishing was not so good, Craig Carlisle missed a golden opportunity before the break. We continued to push forward but it was Birmingham who scored, a poor pass in midfield was intercepted and they hit us on the breakaway. We missed another two huge chances before Christian Stuani stepped up again and netted the equalizer 13 minutes from time when he rounded off a good team move with a powerful finish. We should have won this one…
We were on a 16 match unbeaten run and that saw us bouncing back in second position, four points behind Tottenham! The title race will be extremely tight, Chelsea and Arsenal are not far behind us, but I’m still not sure that we can really push for the title.
Jean Paul Borg commented on the last post asking to see how Liam Parker‘s attributes have improved since he joined the club. Here you go Jean Paul, first the screen shot that shows Liam Parker‘s profile in August 2014 when he first joined the club.
And now his attributes on the 1st of February 2016, a few days before he will finally return from the injury that kept him on the sidelines for two months. As you can notice almost all his attributes went up by a point, some of them increased by two points (marking, technique, composure, creativity, influence, and strength) and his positioning went up by three points! During this year and a half he also learned how to play as a left midfielder and that makes him an indispensable player for the club. I’m looking forward to his return on the pitch!
Next month we’ll have the Europa League tie against Olympiakos plus three so-so league games and probably the FA Cup 5th round will be added to the schedule.
That’s how it went folks, we are still second, our unbeaten run continues but, as I said, I am still not sure that we can challenge for the title. I’m saying that because we continue to show some lapses of concentration in defense and secondly the Europa League games might cause us some fitness problems if we will manage to get through to the next rounds. I guess only time will tell, don’t miss the next update!
P.S.: I have to thank you again for the wonderful response that you have given on the poll, I wasn’t expecting so many votes to be honest. Right now there are 311 votes recorded and the rankings are looking like this:
1. The weakest team in England (25%, 78 Votes)
2. Universitatea Craiova (Romania) (24%, 75 Votes)
3. The weakest team in Scotland (21%, 66 Votes)
4. Arsenal (with only under 25 players and under 21 signings) (21%, 65 Votes)
5. The weakest team in Italy (9%, 27 Votes)
The poll will be open until the 5th of November so if you haven’t already voted please do that by selecting your favourite option in the right sidebar.
Kevin
23 октября, 2010 at 23:29
Hi Johnny
Good result against Spurs and a fantastic win over Man City. Too bad about the dropped points with the visit of Birmingham but nonetheless you have established Dorchester as a real title contender. You really are in with a great chance of finishing FM2010 in superb style!
Johnny Karp
24 октября, 2010 at 08:47
Thanks Kevin. I fear that we will drop more points like we did with Birmingham though, that’s why I think we are not real title contenders…
Darren Smith
23 октября, 2010 at 23:49
YOU LEGEND!!!!!! I mean seriously, to guide Dorchester to five consecutive promotions, then be in contention for the top four in your second season within the Prem. AMAZING! I so hope you can shock the FM community and win the league!!!! Well done mate, you are the god of FM.
Johnny Karp
24 октября, 2010 at 08:46
Thanks Darren, you are too kind and a bit too enthusiastic though :)
hils
24 октября, 2010 at 08:18
Hi Johnny,some great results there!!!!!!!!!! You have a great chance of shocking the entire fm community when you win league!!!!!!! Good luck!!!!!
Johnny Karp
24 октября, 2010 at 08:45
Thanks for the confidence Hils :)
John
24 октября, 2010 at 09:26
Hey Johnny, fantastic as usual. I posted on here a few months ago when i was about to start a Blyth game but got messed up so i went with Havant & Waterlooville instead. Have achieved consecutive promotions to Premiership, finished 5th in my 1st season (would have been higher but for a dreadfull start to the season) won the FA cup and so just about to start my debut european season. The key to my success, LUCK lol. I have had some fantastic regens come through my youth system with 2 of them in the full England squad. What training and youth facilities do you have as you don’t seem to have had any stars come through yet?
Johnny Karp
25 октября, 2010 at 06:40
Thanks John and well done, getting consecutive promotions is quite an achievement. I think that the youth facilities are «basic» or something like that, the youth intake has been full of worthless youngsters every single season until now. I think I had just one promising lad coming through a few seasons ago but he got sold against my will.
Lye
24 октября, 2010 at 15:24
Hi Johnny,
Unbeaten in 16 games, that’s a very good run. I think you will definitely in the top four. I still believe you have a chance on the title. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
25 октября, 2010 at 06:36
Thanks Lye, I agree that the top four finish looks like a definite possibility now.
Sears
24 октября, 2010 at 19:23
Hey Johnny,
so far so good. Dorchester are now firmly established ass title contenders! I really think you can win the title, or even finish in the top two which would be an amazing achievement. Go for it!
Johnny Karp
25 октября, 2010 at 06:36
Thanks a lot for your confidence Sears, we’ll do our best :)
Sears
24 октября, 2010 at 19:24
Sorry, meant ‘as’ not ‘ass’!
Mal
24 октября, 2010 at 22:02
Are you planning on moving to FM 11 or staying with FM 2010?
It’s amazing what you have achieved, both with Dorchester and the blog.
Johnny Karp
25 октября, 2010 at 06:35
Thanks Mal. I will surely move to FM 11 starting November 5th.
Chris @ Chester
26 октября, 2010 at 16:10
Hey Johnny, Im back> I must confess that i havent looked at this website or even played fm for a while, but i am back with a new pc and a fresh desire to play. I have to read through the posts to catch up, but I must say I loved the win over man city. Made my day
hils
26 октября, 2010 at 18:33
It made mine as well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Johnny Karp
27 октября, 2010 at 05:37
Hey Chris, nice to see you back! I hope you still remember that you won a copy of FM 2011 so please send me your postal address :) The email is johnny[at]footballmanagerstory[dot]com
Sea
27 октября, 2010 at 08:23
I noticed you only had 3 english players in your squad and one was on loan
Do you have any problems with the homegrown rules like 8 out of 25 have to be trained in england and 4 have to be trained by your club
Johnny Karp
27 октября, 2010 at 08:32
I do have some problems with the home grown rule, I have barely fulfilled the minimum of 8 players to register in the 25-man squad. The 4 trained at the club is a rule only for the European competitions. Anyway, I don’t have any players trained at the club but since you don’t have to register under 21 players I can employ all of my players in the Europa League too.