Next up, a trip to Craven Cottage to meet Fulham. The first half saw a hard-fought game with both teams looking determined to fight for every inch of turf. Fulham took the lead by rounding off a good breakaway move but we managed to pull back through Omar Koroma who received a killer pass from Brazilian Mancini. We came very close a few minutes later but it was Fulham who struck during injury time to take the lead at the interval. We came out with a good attitude in the second half but we had no luck as Mohammed Tchite hit the post a few minutes after the break. Fulham struck the fatal blow on 56 minutes and then the game was entirely theirs, my players were looking down and out. Omar Koroma gave us a glimmer of home when he scored his 50th goal for the club on 72 minutes but Fulham were the better team on that day.
We had one more game to play, at home with Doncaster. Everything was all set, I was preparing for the game when some disturbing news reached my office: 18 year old striker Mark Simmons didn’t turn up for the game! You can see the reason in the screen shot below, I was furious!
I handed him a well deserved fine and guess what, he felt that I treated him unfairly! I was very disappointed by his attitude so he will have some time to reflect… in the reserves squad. I can’t tolerate such behavior and if he doesn’t understand that then he will have to pack his bags and go to a more understanding club.
Back to the game then, I felt that we had a good chance to get a win and forget all about our disciplinary troubles. Unfortunately we got off to a nightmare start as Doncaster scored from a free kick only three minutes into the game. We were unable to react properly until half time, our attacks were not nearly incisive enough. We played much better after the interval, we were piling on the pressure but failed to hit the net. We missed two incredible chances from close range and we paid the price for that, our second defeat in a row.
We are sitting 19th after five games, we could have been higher up with better finishing.
Next month we’ll start with a tough away game at surprise leaders Coventry but none of the other games can be considered to be easy. We’ll have a tough fight ahead of us…
That’s how our first month in the Championship went, thanks a lot for reading. I can’t say that I expected to have more points but I surely didn’t expect to see one of my players failing to turn up for a game! That never happened to me before, I have seen players failing to turn up for a training session but not for an actual competitive game! Did you even encounter such a problem?
Laxeyman
1 сентября, 2010 at 13:09
Hi Johnny, not a great start, but I wouldn’t worry too much, I’m sure you’ll climb up the table when the strikers find their shooting boots. A mid table finish would be a good achievement, but I reckon you might be able to get into the play offs. I’ve never seen any player miss a match before, I’ve had some miss training, but certainly not a match. Hopefully he’ll realise that he was wrong, and good luck for next month.
Johnny Karp
1 сентября, 2010 at 16:34
Thanks Laxeyman, I surely hope that we’ll get in some more points next month.
Lye
1 сентября, 2010 at 13:25
Hi mate, i believe your players are still finding their feet. Things should change for the better once everyone settled in. I remember encountered once but i think in FM09. I am looking forward to a better month from your side though it will be extremely tough in the Championship. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
1 сентября, 2010 at 16:35
Thanks Lye. You are right, we should get out of the bad streak and get some good form going. I hope we’ll be able to do that soon.
Sears
1 сентября, 2010 at 13:44
Hi Johnny,
I think that’s a good start to the season. I think everyone knows how big a step it is from League 1 to the Championship. Like Lye said, your team are still finding their feet so hopefully they will adapt soon and start picking up some points. Otherwise morale will drop and you may find yourself invloved in a relagation fight. But wow, I’ve never seen a player skip a match before, only trainings. Oh ya, I think I saw him drinking a few pints of Guinness in my parents bar last night :-D
Goodluck in the next few months mate, they really could make or break your season.
Johnny Karp
1 сентября, 2010 at 16:37
Thanks Sears. If you see that lad in your parents’ bar again don’t give him any alcohol anymore, only orange juice, OK? :)
hils
1 сентября, 2010 at 16:19
Well done Johnny,everyone has a bad month sometimes,a fantastic draw against West Brom and even better win against Sheffield United. Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (if simmons treats you like that again either release him or Just keep him in the reserves for the rest of the season)
Johnny Karp
1 сентября, 2010 at 16:40
Thanks for the good wishes Lye. I will not release him on a free transfer but if he doesn’t behave I will try to sell him in January.
hils
1 сентября, 2010 at 17:47
Johnny my name is not Lye!!!!!!!!!!
Johnny Karp
1 сентября, 2010 at 18:11
LOL, sorry Hils :) I got things mixed up a bit. You have to show some understanding though as I just quit smoking and I tend to forget things or get confused quite often lately :)
Cal
1 сентября, 2010 at 17:28
Unlcucky Johnny not the start you had in mind.I cant believe that player thought he was treated unfair!!!! Thats football for you! Hope you can get a bit of form!
Johnny Karp
1 сентября, 2010 at 17:47
Things could have gone even worse if we would have lost the first two games so I guess we can’t complain.
Kevin Mayo
1 сентября, 2010 at 17:31
Hello Johnny
Well you got off to an indifferent start but it’s early days so there’s plenty of time to re-group and focus your efforts on the league campaign. Having those early injuries didn’t help matters. I haven’t ever seen anyone not turn up for a game myself so that’s weird. Anyway good luck for next month.
Johnny Karp
1 сентября, 2010 at 17:48
Thanks Kevin. We’ll see about that youngster, I’m not giving up on him yet, maybe I can educate him :)
Darren Smith
1 сентября, 2010 at 18:36
Hey Johnny, life is tough in the Championship isn’t it. The big jump in quality can be tough to adjust to but hopefully your side will perform better as they gel. Next month looks a little easier so hopefully Dorchester will be back on track soon.
Johnny Karp
2 сентября, 2010 at 07:02
It is tough Darren, you are right. I hope we’ll prove to be strong enough.
Mat
2 сентября, 2010 at 12:06
Tough start Johnny,
Usually I’d be saying that your team is not up to the Championship but I have learnt over the past few years to not rule out anything when it comes to your teams
Best of luck for next month
Johnny Karp
2 сентября, 2010 at 15:48
Thanks for the good wishes Mat. I guess it’s still early to judge the team’s abilities, we’ll see if things will improve or not.