Our last league game of the month was at home with MK Dons, a team that was predicted to finish 18th. We got off to a great start this time, Jonathan Obika managed to get on the score sheet again nine minutes into the game with a placed finish from inside the area. Around 20 minutes later Romanian centre back Alin Ratiu scored his first goal for the club with a corner kick header and we controlled the game until half time. Things were fairly quiet after the interval, we were keeping possession but not doing much with it in attack. Our opponents managed to score a late corner kick goal but the three points were ours!
A draw and three straight wins, it was certainly a lot more than I would have expected. I can only hope that we’ll keep this sort of for although I am quite sure that we will not be able to keep going like this all season long.
We had another game to play before the end of the month, the Carling Cup second round game against Premier League team Stoke. We were totally up against it and I have to say that I was fearing a good beating after I saw that Stoke had a certain Didier Drogba in their starting line up. The Ivorian is 34 years old in the game but he still has tremendous physical and technical attributes. Anyway, Stoke did outplay us in front of their own fans but we defended pretty well throughout the game. Drogba made the difference with a powerful header, my centre backs were unable to mark him because of his tremendous strength. We tried a reaction in the second half but my players were too slow to cause any damage. However, I congratulated them for the effort, a narrow defeat is a good result under the circumstances.
Unfortunately our best player of the month, striker Jonathan Obika, got injured during the Stoke game and it’s quite a bad injury that will keep him sidelined between four and five months! That’s a big blow for us but hopefully Omar Koroma will recover from his own injury and make us forget all about Obika…
Jonathan did very well so far, scored three times in four competitive appearances and also made two assists. He also netted a hat-trick in the first friendly game of the summer so I guess the good signs were there from the beginning.
We’ll have two interesting games next month, first against fellow newly-promoted side Exeter and the last game against my old acquaintances from Notts County…
That’s how it was my friends, I couldn’t have wished for a better start. Well, I would have spared all those injuries in my dream-start but I guess we’re doing well overall. Thanks for reading ;)
java
16 августа, 2010 at 17:30
Hey Johnny, wonderful debut there. Like what I said before, I can’t predict anything from your game but I believe you’ll get at least a playoff spot. :D Cheers!
Johnny Karp
16 августа, 2010 at 18:42
Thanks Java, I can’t make a prediction now either but I hope your belief will be proven right.
Darren Smith
16 августа, 2010 at 17:57
Nice one Johnny…what a way to introduce Dorchester into League One. Obika looks like he could be key this season. I honestly think you might be looking at a play-off place. Goodluck and keep up the great work!
ps thanks for your advice the other day, you really are a top bloke. Ill email when the company has replied to me. Thanks mate
Johnny Karp
16 августа, 2010 at 18:44
Thanks Darren. Unfortunately we won’t see Obika on the pitch until January and he might be back in top shape in February so it’s more than half a season lost for him. I’m happy that you found the advice helpful, you can ask anytime, no problem.
Kevin Mayo
16 августа, 2010 at 21:12
Hello Johnny
Well, pour yourself a glass of Plum Brandy and celebrate the great start to life in League One. Not too much though as I don’t encourage drinking :)
That’s a set back losing Obika early on like that, do you think you will gaet a loan signing in ? Good luck in the the local derby with Exeter.
Johnny Karp
16 августа, 2010 at 21:25
Thanks Kevin but the weather is a bit too hot here to have a glass of plum brandy, I might think about having one in November :) I don’t think I will bring in a striker on loan as we already have one (Garrity) and with Koroma recovering from injury we’ll have four strikers if you add Singh and Kazmierowski. There will be some problems once Garrity’s loan will expire in a couple of months but I guess we’ll manage.
Sears
16 августа, 2010 at 21:29
Hi Johnny,
another promotion is on the cards for you I think. Your team are doing way better then my Chelmsford City team. We found it extremely difficult to adapt to League One. Goodluck.
Johnny Karp
16 августа, 2010 at 21:31
Thanks Sears but it’s way too early to start thinking about promotion.
Sears
16 августа, 2010 at 21:35
So far so good! By the way, you know the way if you click on a player, how do you get their profile to come up?
Johnny Karp
16 августа, 2010 at 21:43
I manually hyperlinked their names to the respective profile pictures. You can do that in Blogger too but I don’t know if you will have the same overlay effect as I have here, the picture will probably open up in a separate tab or window.
Plobdork
16 августа, 2010 at 22:04
hi johnny you have done a wonderful start i dont belive you wont keep it up sad to here about the strikers it will be a setback but you will sort it out
question???? i am a league 1 team (leyton orient) what will i need for a lm for the one ive got is no good???
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2010 at 09:09
Thanks mate. I would suggest my left wingers, Revy Rosalia or Matt Richards. They both seem to be very good and reliable as left midfielders.
Plobdork
17 августа, 2010 at 16:01
does revy rosalia a regen or is he real cos i cant find him
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2010 at 18:26
Rosalia is not a regen but your game database probably doesn’t have him.
Cal
17 августа, 2010 at 08:04
Unlucky about the stiker but you had a great start!!
I think Koroma will do just fine!
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2010 at 09:10
Thanks Cal. Koroma should do well because in theory he is better than Obika and was our top goalscorer last season. I expect a lot from him.
Zheljo
17 августа, 2010 at 09:30
obika is a good player, loan from i used him in shrews game, he came on loan from parent club stoke. im also now a debutant in league one and the main problem i have is that i cant sign more coaches than 4.
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2010 at 09:43
Only four coaches? Your club must be in a very poor financial position then… I think I’m allowed to have 10 coaches.
Zheljo
17 августа, 2010 at 09:50
what is the main thing too look regarding finances? mine finances graph is currently at €1.4 M, the value of the team is € 2.8 M.
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2010 at 10:54
The main thing to look at is obviously the balance (difference between income and expenditure). If your balance is negative (in red) then you have to find ways either to increase the income or cut some of the expenditure or both. I never look at the team’s financial value, that’s just statistical information with little impact on the game.
Mat
17 августа, 2010 at 10:28
Hi Johnny.
Im a long time reader but first time commenter. I’ve loved all your stories especially your Blyth story but this one is certainly giving it a run for its money.
One question I had if you dont mind me asking but where do you actually live? I know your originally from Romania (At least I think) but still you still leave there? Im a proud follower of football here in Australia and I’ll try to be a bit more regualar in my contributions to the community
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2010 at 10:57
Thanks for the first comment! The Blyth story remains my own favorite too :) I still live in Romania, in Bucharest, the capital city. We used to have quite a few Australian footballers in the Romanian league a few seasons ago but now I think there is only one left, Spase Dilevski who plays for my favorite team, Universitatea Craiova.
Laxeyman
17 августа, 2010 at 10:53
Hi Johnny, that’s a great start, your team look fantastic going forward and are scoring a lot of goals, well done. Shame about the injuries, but hopefully your side can overcome those and continue your good start. Good luck!
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2010 at 10:58
Thanks for your support Laxeyman, I hope that we’ll keep on scoring a few goals every game :)
Lye
17 августа, 2010 at 11:19
Excellent start there mate. You can be cautious as you like but i am hopeful its another straight promotion :) Just two words from me «absolutely brilliant».
Johnny Karp
17 августа, 2010 at 11:29
Thanks for your optimism Lye! I just don’t want to get carried away, two or three wins don’t mean too much for a whole season in which you have to play no less than 46 league games. But I surely hope you’re right about the promotion :)