We had an easier game coming up as we were preparing to visit 21st placed Stockport with all our players back from international duty, shopping or whatever else they have to do outside of the club :) We had a solid first half, created a couple of chances but unfortunately we went back to our wasteful finishing… Aleksandar Mladenov broke the deadlock 10 minutes into the second half, he rifled in a superb 25 yard free kick to give us the lead an also the win. We created a few more chances but the finishing was quite poor again and we could have paid the price as Stockport came close to scoring a late equalizer.
The last game of the month was at home with 10th placed Walsall, it was a game that I surely wanted to win. We dominated the first half, we were dictating the tempo and creating the chances but we were also missing them quite easily. Omar Koroma made amends for that poor finishing only 30 seconds into the second half as he rounded off a good flowing team move. He did it again less than 10 minutes later so I guess I can forgive him for all the chances that he missed this month. It also was a special game for Michael Garrity, his loan from Everton was going to expire right the next day and he scored with a cracking 20 yard effort to say goodbye to our fans. He did pretty well for us but unfortunately his loan can’t be extended.
Getting beaten at the Avenue Stadium was quite a shock for Coventry: they were unbeaten until then but after that game they had a poor run as they drew 3-3 away at Walsall and lost 3-2 at home against Gillingham! With all those points that they dropped we were the new leaders!
The player that I would like to praise this month is right back John White, he has been extremely reliable until now and always showed good tackling and determination. He has quite an impressive average rating at this point, 7.25, by far the highest of his career so far.
Next month will see our debut in this season’s FA Cup, I really hope we can get past Notts County and get some prize money into the club’s bank account. We’ll also have a tough game in the league against 4th placed Gillingham but I hope that the players will do their best to keep the unbeaten record.
That’s how it was my friends, now I can officially say that we are genuine promotion contenders! We proved to be competitive against the best teams in the league, even if we had squad problems. I don’t think that we can go unbeaten until the end of the season but I think that we have what it takes to mount a serious promotion challenge and maybe even succeed. Thanks a lot for reading this important update, stay tuned for the rest of the season! :)
Sears
19 августа, 2010 at 23:20
Howdy Johnny,
All is well at Dorchester I see! 2 point lead from second spot, 5 point lead from third spot, I think if you continue this form you’ll create some breathing space in the next 2-3 months. Goodluck!
Johnny Karp
20 августа, 2010 at 07:33
Thanks Sears. I would surely love some breathing space but we’ll see if we’ll manage to get some or not.
mark
20 августа, 2010 at 03:04
Again you beat the odds and show your team are certainly not pushovers… three words…..Amazing,Amazing,Amazing!!
i have one request as can you how your board confidence in your next post?
Johnny Karp
20 августа, 2010 at 07:31
Thanks for the kind words Mark. I have written a note so that I won’t forget your request, will publish that in the next post for sure :)
Jin
20 августа, 2010 at 04:50
Johnny,can you send me your tactic?
thank you.
my email is kaiser577@126.com
Johnny Karp
20 августа, 2010 at 07:31
Jin, you can download the tactic from here: https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/2009/12/my-new-football-manager-2010-tactic/
ravenie
20 августа, 2010 at 07:47
So frustrating on my computer, everytime I look after I switch off the save I made is gone. I have not made a long running save because they keep disappearing. Can anyone help? Sorry SLIGHTLY off topic. Wow what a fantastic win over Coventry and they had 2 terrible results whiich can only benefit you..
Johnny Karp
20 августа, 2010 at 08:03
Ravenie, did you try copying the save game file to another location on your computer? I would suggest doing that on a regular basis and then you will have a backup just in case your file disappears again. However, I have never seen files disappearing from my PC, quite the contrary, they keep piling up :)
ravenie
20 августа, 2010 at 16:28
this has never happened before tho, im not sure how to do what u explained
Johnny Karp
20 августа, 2010 at 16:40
Let me understand what you’re saying: where do you look for the save?
Lye
20 августа, 2010 at 09:05
Still doing well mate, seems Coventry are having problems after being beaten by you. It is good news for you. Hopefully you can maintain the position there. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
20 августа, 2010 at 10:00
Thanks Lye. I hope we won’t go down like Coventry after our first league defeat, I’m sure we’ll get beaten sooner or later. I would prefer later :)
Kevin Mayo
20 августа, 2010 at 09:43
Hello Johnny
Well done on quite a superb month especailly that stunning win over Coventry with many of your regulars missing. That’s changed the complexion of the league and made you serious title contenders. Great stuff.
Johnny Karp
20 августа, 2010 at 10:01
Thanks Kevin, I was very pleased with that win over Coventry as I really wasn’t hoping for more than a draw considering the circumstances. That game showed that we have very good squad depth.
Plobdork
20 августа, 2010 at 10:18
wow johnny you always manage to win even when the odds are against you great win against coventry dorchester are going to be champions league champions some day:) :) :) :)
Johnny Karp
20 августа, 2010 at 11:25
Thanks mate, we’re surely going to win everything there is to win someday but we’ll have to show a lot of patience until then :)
Darren Smith
20 августа, 2010 at 11:59
Well done Johnny, you have remained unbeaten even after fielding an under par squad. You must be really happy with the way your team are performing of late. If you can keep up the form I reckon promotion is on the cards this year. Well done mate and goodluck for the next month
Johnny Karp
20 августа, 2010 at 12:16
Thanks Darren. I am quite happy with the team’s displays of late, especially with the defense. We conceded only one goal throughout the month and that is a very good achievement.
Laxeyman
20 августа, 2010 at 12:15
Another excellent month Johnny, well done! Your right in there for promotion, and I reckon you can do it as long as you avoid injuries. Good luck!
Johnny Karp
20 августа, 2010 at 15:44
Thanks Laxeyman, I hope we can do it with or without injuries :)
Jean Paul Borg
20 августа, 2010 at 13:33
Hey mate, you amaze me Johnny. Well done on beating Coventry with that under par squad. Don’t say that you can’t get unbeaten in a whole season, you can manage anything with some patience :) Thanks for all your advice. I am still going through my first league month of the first season with sassuolo.
Johnny Karp
20 августа, 2010 at 15:16
Thanks Jean Paul, I have the patience but I don’t know if the squad is good enough to go the whole season unbeaten.
Cal
23 августа, 2010 at 17:47
Good Job Johnny your team showed they are the most consistant and that is why you are winning the legue!
I cant believe a legue 1 team have 7 international player!!!
Johnny Karp
23 августа, 2010 at 18:07
Thanks Cal. They’re not world class internationals in top notch teams, Sierra Leone or Netherlands Antilles are not exactly Brazil or Argentina :) But I’m proud to say that I have a few youth internationals, including an English player! (Eddie Kelly, the right back).