Hello dear friends, the World Cup is keeping everyone busy and exciting but lower league clubs have a life of their own too, don’t they? Welcome to another episode of the Dorchester Town story! We got off to an excellent start in Blue Square Premier, far beyond any expectations. We managed to get five wins and a draw out of the first six games and we were top of the table at the end of August! Everybody, including myself, was curious to see if we would be able to continue the good run. Let’s see what happened in September 2010.
The first game of the month was at home against 6th placed Wrexham, I was hoping to continue the good form. Striker Sergiu Jivan didn’t need too much time to show his skills yet again, 12 minutes into the game he took the ball, dribbled past two defenders and smashed it into the top corner from inside the penalty area! The first half saw a great spell of dominance from my lads and we managed to score again after a fine team move, left winger Alexandru Gheba fired it in. We scored twice in the first half but we surely could have hit the back of the net a few more times since we struck the ball against the woodwork no less then three times until half time! The second half was much more quiet, we kept things under control and grabbed the three points.
The next game was a tricky one away at 5th placed Kidderminster, a team that was challenging for promotion. The game started perfectly for us, right winger Domondi was brought down inside the box and the referee pointed to the spot. We had a great chance of scoring an early goal but Sergiu Jivan‘s penalty kick shot was parried by the goalkeeper! The team didn’t suffer too much though, we kept on pushing forward and striker Marius Dabu gave us the lead 23 minutes into the game with a perfectly placed shot that went in off the post. We continued to play pretty well and could have doubled our lead just before the break but Dabu missed a very good chance. The boys were looking a bit tired at half time but I was hoping to hold on to the one goal lead. That didn’t happen though, Kidderminster scored five minutes into the second half and my team looked unrecognizable. We tried to react but immediately got punished on a counter attack and we were contemplating our first defeat of the season. We did manage to create a couple of chances to equalize but thing were not looking good. We got lucky a few minutes before the end of the game, an error in Kidderminster‘s defense was promptly speculated by Jivan, he fired the ball home with real venom. We even had a late chance to win the game, Jivan was one on one with the keeper but he failed to get the ball past him.
We had an easier game coming up, at home with 19th placed Grays. It turned out to be more difficult than expected though, we dominated the first half but were not incisive enough to score. Even worse, Grays managed to score just before the break and it was the first time they ever came forward in the first half! That was a bit unfair and harsh but that’s football. I encouraged the lads at half time and they rewarded me with a spectacular performance in the second half. We were piling on the pressure right away and Grays just couldn’t cope with that, Marius Dabu fired in a splendid hat-trick and gave us another three points.
Next up, the most difficult game of the season so far, away at second placed Mansfield. They were 5 points behind us and they were surely relishing the opportunity to make that gap a lot narrower. They were showing good form too, Mansfield were on a five match unbeaten run. We found ourselves under pressure right away and Mansfield scored only six minutes into the game thanks to a superb shot from the edge of the area. I was expecting the worst but my players reacted extremely well, they surprised me too! We missed a couple of chances right away and then Sergiu Jivan scored the equalizer after getting rid of his marker and firing it in from inside the area. We were piling on the pressure and Mansfield‘s defense cracked again seven minutes later, right winger Mycoe was brought down inside the box and this time Jivan didn’t miss the penalty! We continued to push forward after half time and striker Marius Dabu took advantage of a good assist from Jivan to double our lead. The match was fully under our control, Mansfield were unable to threaten us. We even managed to scored another two goals during the last 10 minutes of the game, I admit that I was impressed! Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Vinners
22 июня, 2010 at 12:35
Nice one! They were good results especially the away comeback 5-1 win against Mansfield. I hope it continues, good luck!
Sears
22 июня, 2010 at 13:13
Well done Johnny. Another great month for you. Your team is still unbeaten and if they continue this fine form your will get promoted for sure,,, Goodluck!
Kevin
22 июня, 2010 at 13:22
Hi Johnny
Nice to see that you’ve established a six point cushion at the top of the table. Early days, though I feel another promotion coming along soon. Well done.
Lye
22 июня, 2010 at 13:54
It was another impressive run. Its still early but i already have the feeling. JUST WHO CAN STOP JOHNNY AND DORCHESTER FROM PROMOTION IN BSP! Well done mate.
Johnny Karp
22 июня, 2010 at 14:08
@Vinners
Thanks, that win over Mansfield was extremely pleasing indeed.
@Sears
Thanks for the good wishes.
@Kevin
Thanks, setbacks are likely to appear sooner or later but that six point cushion gives me a bit more confidence.
@Lye
Thanks mate, I guess nobody can stop us except… ourselves. Complacency and injuries could be our main opponents at this point.
Majk
22 июня, 2010 at 15:30
You might get 1 or 2 losses during the season but it’s looking like a rather pleasant journey all in all. You’ll certainly coast on through to the League 2.
Your team is playing some great football, and yet again you prove what a massive tactical set-up you possess.
Great job!
Laxeyman
22 июня, 2010 at 16:27
Hi Johnny, what an amazing job you’re doing! You should now get promotion after that brilliant start, but good luck fir the rest of the season!
Johnny Karp
22 июня, 2010 at 17:05
@Majk and Laxeyman
Thanks a lot for your support and kind words. I feel a bit guilty because I’m not doing much to keep the good run going: I’m using the same tactic every game, almost the same starting eleven every game, I just sit back, relax and enjoy watching my players. I did some tweaks during a few games but nothing too complicated. I guess I’m getting a bit complacent myself :)
burak_gs
22 июня, 2010 at 18:36
great job mate.i wasnt following this story untill today, after the mexico match i read all the way to here and really impressed.i wanted to make a few comments also but just couldnt stop reading lol
anyway first,i think injury of the experienced argentinian striker is a gift if you planned to pcik him in starting eleven next to Jivan because Dabu was my favourite attacker last season since the very day he singed for you.
for the current season i wish you have a few more new players but i know about the financial problems.but i think this current squad is still enough to get an easy promotion.i dont know the exact tactic you use but if you use an advanced playmaker and/or attacking midfielder, your new Spanish lad can make real big contribution in my oppinion.he seems one of the best ( left back is fantastic for BSP but i mean among the contracted players )
ofcourse you knew this job pretty well and you will surely go all the way to the premier league, even you will be champions if you keep playing.but my only concern is how the board will react (or maybe there will be a lucky turnover :) ) when you win promotion and the team become professional.because as you know in england, money is not a big deal after league 1 :D
thats why i want to challange myself with a bottom-lower club out of england-spain or italy.i think that team you told me -Hagi’s club- would be nice.what was that by the way ?
is there a way that i can see you corner tactic and where you put your best header ?
and at last it is really sad to see AFC Wimbledon is that much bad.it was my life at FM 2009, we achieved all the success we can and even got richer than barca and real :(
hmm this is quite long.sorry about that.hope you can continue this fantastic run with the Magpies. :D
Johnny Karp
22 июня, 2010 at 19:12
@Burak_gs
Thanks a lot for the comment, the longer the better :) I’ll try to answer a few of your questions:
1. I was planning to use Biagini alongside Dabu with Jivan as a backup. Now I guess Biagini will be the backup once he’ll recover from the injury.
2. The tactic that I’m using can be downloaded from here. Juanje is my playmaker indeed but not as an attacking midfielder, he is employed as a central midfielder set to playmaker. As for the corners, the best header is set to attack far post while one of the strong central defenders is set to challenge the goalkeeper. That’s about it in a few words, you can see it in detail if you download and try out the tactic.
3. Hagi’s team is called Viitorul Constanta but I’m not sure if you can play as their manager in FM 2010 since they were in the Romanian Third League which is not included in the game. They will surely be in FM 2011 though since they got promoted to the Second Division.
Thanks again for reading the story. :)
burak_gs
23 июня, 2010 at 09:32
oh then i should find another suitable team till FM 2011.
about the corner tactic i also heard about the «farpost tactic» , tried every combination but thats never been as effective as the old «nearpost flick on /challenge keeper/ 6 yard box tactic» for me.anyway i will try your one also, hope will be good for me too.
thank again mate.
Johnny Karp
23 июня, 2010 at 09:44
@Burak_gs
Actually I think that there is a way to manage them in FM 2010. Somebody made a patch to activate the Romanian lower leagues, 3rd and 4th if I remember correctly. You can check it out here:
http://www.fmscout.com/i-875-Romania-Unleashed-2010.html
Jack
23 июня, 2010 at 10:41
Hey Johnny another great month, keep reeling the stories off! Oh and Burak beat me too it, I was going to suggest you manage a lower league Romanian side, after the Dorchester game of course, would be a good challenge especially to win Champions league. Oh and its nice to see Kidderminster Harriers getting some positive results as it is my local team :P
Johnny Karp
23 июня, 2010 at 18:44
@Jack
Thanks for the comment. I guess I will manage a lower league Romanian club at some point, this blog here has a future and there will be plenty of time to manage all kinds of teams. Kidderminster were lucky to get a draw against us :) :P
Diana
15 июля, 2010 at 13:36
I see that your team is unbeaten, it will definitely promote. Good luck!