Hello folks and welcome back to Dorchester as we prepare for another month of Championship football. As you know our first month in the Championship didn’t go particularly well but not too bad either: we got one win, two draws and two defeats for a total of 5 points which landed us in 19th place.
With Mark Simmons sent to the reserves team (he failed to report for a match if you remember…) I felt we needed to bring in another striker on loan and I managed to snap up Liam Parker on transfer deadline day, a talented youngster from Manchester United. He can also play as a right winger so I guess he might provide good cover throughout the season.
On to our first game of the month, we were playing away at top of the table Coventry. They were a newly-promoted team just like us but they got off to a fabulous start and were unbeaten in 5 games! We were coming from two straight defeats so we had to do something. Unfortunately there isn’t much I can tell about the game, it was the most boring match I have ever witnessed and it couldn’t finish any other way than with a 0-0 draw. The two sets of players chased the ball around for 90 minutes but they looked more like track and field athletes than actual football players.
Our next game was away at 16th placed Scunthorpe, we had to get out of the poor run… The first half didn’t give me too many reasons to be happy, we were unable to keep possession and Scunthorpe dominated the game. We defended well though, that was the only positive note. Our game improved after the interval, we were playing much better and even managed to create quite a few clear chances. Unfortunately we wasted all of those chances, the biggest one fell to midfielder Javier Vila but he hit the post from close range.
Our first home game of the month was a tough one as we had to face 5th placed Swansea. I was hoping to get a win though but things got off to a bad start as Swansea took the lead early on thanks to a good shot from distance. We were unable to get it together until half time, Swansea were in control of the game without breaking too much sweat. We came out with a better approach after the interval and it finally paid off as Omar Koroma was brought down inside the penalty area, he was clean through so we got a penalty and a red card for the opposition centre back. Mancini stepped up and slotted home the penalty kick, his first goal for the club. Swansea missed a great chance on a counter attack a few minutes later but then we took over, created chances again and missed them again as our strikers were looking bereft of confidence.
Before moving on to the next game, let’s remember what happened last month with 18-year-old striker Mark Simmons. He failed to report for a league game after being seen walking out of a bar in the middle of the night. I handed him a fine and he replied that he felt I treated him unfairly. As a response I moved him to the reserves team and that seemed to have done him some good as he issued a statement in which he admitted that he made a mistake. He will remain with the reserves until the beginning of October though, forgiveness is not that easy to earn. Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Jack
3 сентября, 2010 at 13:52
I think that was a great month Johnny! Unbeaten in five is a fantastic achievement. I think play offs are a realistic goal but who knows if you build on this month’s performance. Tchité looks to be finding his feet, can’t wait until all the youngsters do to!
Johnny Karp
3 сентября, 2010 at 18:52
Thanks Jack. I don’t know about the play-offs, my goal is to achieve a mid-table spot but I might reconsider that in December.
hils
3 сентября, 2010 at 16:15
Well done johnny! Unbeaten in five is amazing. The play offs seems a realistic target but to be optimistic i would say that you could clinch the last automatic promotion place. Tchite looks to have found his goalscoring expectations. Good luck!
Johnny Karp
3 сентября, 2010 at 18:53
Thanks for your optimism Hils but we shouldn’t get carried away, we only won two out of the five games after all.
hils
3 сентября, 2010 at 21:52
In my game ive retired 2 managers and replaced them with three new ones. They are: scotland,England and Argentina. (Im considering putting Ever Banega in the international squad,what do you think about this)
Johnny Karp
4 сентября, 2010 at 09:26
Banega does have one or two caps if I remember correctly. Anyway, I can see no harm in giving him a chance.
Darren Smith
3 сентября, 2010 at 18:05
Hey Johnny, although you are not in play-off form Dorchester are only a few points off the top six. Your side seem to be playing more consistantly now and going unbeaten must have a positive effect. I hope you can build on this months form and keep climbing the table. However a mid-table finish would be fantastic. Well done Johnny and good luck for next month.
Johnny Karp
3 сентября, 2010 at 18:54
Thanks Darren, I hope that the confidence will have a positive effect on the team’s form indeed.
Kevin Mayo
3 сентября, 2010 at 18:42
Hi Johnny
Well you remained unbeaten for the month so that’s a good thing. Hopefully you can build on those back to back wins and make a big move up the table!
Johnny Karp
3 сентября, 2010 at 18:55
Thanks for the encouragement Kevin, I hope so too :)
Lye
4 сентября, 2010 at 01:26
Hi mate, those last 2 wins will bring some confidence back to the team especially the strikers and i think that’s a good thing. I believe you are going to build on that and have a good result next month. I have a feeling you are going to grab a play-off spot and i hope that comes true :)
Johnny Karp
4 сентября, 2010 at 09:27
Thanks Lye, I hope that your «feeling» will prove to be right :)
Laxeyman
4 сентября, 2010 at 12:36
Hi Johnny, a lot of draws for you, but at least your side are hard to beat. Your form picked up well near the end and hopefully you can carry that on into next month. Good luck!
Johnny Karp
4 сентября, 2010 at 17:10
Thanks Laxeyman, if the strikers will continue to score on a regular basis then we might see more good results.
Sears
4 сентября, 2010 at 15:44
Well done Johnny, despite drawing a few games, your still unbeaten. I think a play off spot is on the cards. Goodluck!
Johnny Karp
4 сентября, 2010 at 17:09
Thanks Sears but we did lose two games in August.
Dave
6 сентября, 2010 at 10:49
Hey, being new i want to congratulate you on your achievements so far in football manager, they’re freakish. The Championship is quite a jump from League 1 but you’ve performed well this month and hopefully you can continue it :)
Johnny Karp
6 сентября, 2010 at 13:16
Thanks Dave, it is quite a jump indeed.
Ana Garcia
6 сентября, 2010 at 12:40
Nice start!
You just need to turn some of those draws into wins and you will be pushing at the top end of the table.
That said you have had a really encouraging start and 10th after 10 games isnt too bad considering!
Good luck for the rest of the season Johnny! :)
Johnny Karp
6 сентября, 2010 at 13:17
Thanks Ana. Turning draws into wins sounds good, unfortunately it isn’t as easy as it sounds :)