Hello dear friends, a new update of the Notts County Football Manager 2010 story is ready to go! I have to admit that I was a bit excited by the good start of the season with all the transfers and the European debut, so I sacrificed a couple of hours of sleep to play the game :) I was very eager to see how the new signings would perform in the Premier League and I guess you’re quite curious too. Let’s see what happened…
The first game of the new Premier League season was away at newly promoted side Reading, they were determined to have a good start. We played quite poorly in the first half, the team seemed unable to set the right tempo. Reading were deservedly leading 1-0 at the break, something had to change. The lads picked up the pace in the second half and the goals finally came. Midfielder Kevin Thompson seized an opportunity to score from inside the penalty area and, just a few minutes later, Guilherme netted a nice through ball from Demba Ba with a well placed shot. Sam Hinshelwood got off to a great start of the season by getting his name on the score sheet, he did that with a fine header to connect with a far post cross. I was quite pleased with the last 45 minutes, the team looked solid out there.
The next game was the first leg of the last Europa League preliminary round, we were welcoming Romanian side Rapid Bucharest at Meadow Lane. Anything less than a win would have been a disaster, I surely wanted to go through to the group stage. The game was not very difficult, Rafael Sobis and Marcelo Moreno had fun with the Romanian defenders and the score line was 3-0 after 46 minutes. We got a bit complacent after the third goal but I guess the three goals difference was enough to have a quiet away leg.
We had a much more difficult challenge to face in the next Premier League game, away at West Ham. We were under pressure throughout the game despite having a better ball possession, West Ham had numerous opportunities to shoot but they were quite wasteful. We had our own chances on counter attacks but failed to convert them. Overall the result was fair but I was a bit disappointed with our performance.
I chose to rest most of my important players for the second leg against Rapid, the qualification was already won from the first leg. The team looked a bit complacent but Rafael Sobis solved the game for us right away, a quickfire double and we were 2-0 up after 7 minutes! Sabrin Sburlea got a goal from himself although I employed him as a right winger in that game. I was a bit disappointed because of the two goals that we conceded but I guess the players’ attitude is understandable.
Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Lye
1 февраля, 2010 at 19:41
A very good start there mate, you should be able to qualify from the champions league group as i think you had avoided the traditional strong teams. You had invested well on the young players and they should be able to return your investment this season. Lets see whether your team has what it takes to challenge for the title this season as its still early now.
Calum
1 февраля, 2010 at 20:31
Well done Johnny! A strong month for you there. I am certain you will finish in the top 4 this season. Good luck mate!
Johnny Karp
1 февраля, 2010 at 20:51
Thanks Calum and Lye, you’re a lot more optimistic than I am :) Btw Lye, it’s only the Europa League, I hope to get to the Champions League next season :)
Laxeyman
1 февраля, 2010 at 21:19
Well done Johnny, good start there! Looks like your young players are doing really well for you. I agree with Calum, and I think a Champions League place is within your grasp. Good luck in the Europa League, that is quite a tough group but you’ve got a good chance of going through!
Martin
1 февраля, 2010 at 21:28
Well Done Johnny, Good Month Especially The Emphatic 5-0 Win Against Newcastle.
Btw, I’ve Just Started Over As Notts Co. But I’m Not Going To Blog On It.
As Soon As I Win A Few Games I Start To Think I’m Great And Then Decide To Do A Blog! :P
That Europa League Group Doesn’t Seem Too Bad, It Could’ve Been A Lot Worse!
Kyle WHU
1 февраля, 2010 at 21:33
West ham are turning out to become a bit of a bogey team, but great start johnny. One more question, I’m currently in a career that started at cheltenham got promoted then Wigan wanted me, so I went there and I always seem to struggle against the small clubs, and my defense never know what try are doing. So here’s the long awaited question how important would you say the training schedule is? It’s just I never seem to change it, it may seem a pointless question but it’s something that’s annoying me.
Johnny Karp
1 февраля, 2010 at 21:45
@Kyle
I guess the training schedule is important but I never succeeded in creating a good one myself. I use Tug’s Training, you can find it in the downloads page.
@Martin
Thanks buddy, best of luck with The Magpies! I hope you’ll do better than me! And you’re right about the Europa League group, we were quite lucky.
@Laxeyman
Thanks mate, it will be quite a long first half of the season with all those cup games but I hope to survive it.
Bilal Ahmad
1 февраля, 2010 at 21:44
Johnny well done for this month your looking good! 4th place with a game in hand! Your Europa group looks decent except for Olympiakos who will be hard to beat!
Johnny Karp
1 февраля, 2010 at 21:47
@Bilal
Thanks mate, but the league table is not very relevant at the moment. I’m looking forward to the first Europa League group game, especially because it will be at home.
TheZiggy
1 февраля, 2010 at 22:33
Very good start to the season, especially the demolition of Newcastle. The signings to make the defence more solid, certainly seem to have paid off. I feel you have a good chance of progressing through from you Europa League group. Early indications are great, although as you rightly say, it’s when you play against the other top teams that you’ll know how much you’ve progressed.
Good luck.
Kevin Mayo
2 февраля, 2010 at 01:52
Hi Johnny
Good start to the season and there’s my boy Hinshelwood with another goal! Excellent result against Newcastle which must have been nice to watch. I think you have a good chance in the Europa League to as that’s not a bad draw for you…as you say on paper at least. Good luck next month.
Lye
2 февраля, 2010 at 04:33
Ops sorry about that mate, guess i was too sleepy when i submit the comment. On the other hand, i always dream your Notts team playing in Champions league :)
Johnny Karp
2 февраля, 2010 at 09:09
@Lye
No problem mate, we all have dreams :)
@TheZiggy
Thanks for the comment, the team surely looked stronger than last season so far but it’s still to early. I’m looking forward to those big games against Chelsea or Manchester City, those will tell us more about who we really are.
@Kevin
Thanks mate, the Newcastle game was a huge pleasure for me indeed. Hinshelwood is becoming a star… He can also be employed as a playmaker in midfield, he’s a real treasure for the club.
Majk
2 февраля, 2010 at 20:42
Hey Johnny!
Good work there, I’m really impressed with what you’re achieving with your team. I have some interest in what kind of Tactic your using. Is the same one you’ve been using since league one, or is it tweak even more?
I’m finding it a bit hard to keep control in my games with Millwall, even though I know it’s much down to the material I’m limited to since it’s my first PL season. But still it would be interesting to try out some ideas and see if the made any changes. My tweaks for my tactics are at their best really, but it seems playing with a 3-back line is pretty hard with average-joe defenders.
I’ll prolly just have to settle for a decent 12th-14th position in PL this year and then buy me some better players and have continuity with my tactics.
But still… Interested in your set-up!
/Majk
Johnny Karp
2 февраля, 2010 at 20:46
@Majk
Thanks mate. The tactic is based on the one I’ve used since League One but I’ve tweaked it along the way. I’ll put it the latest version up for download in my next post. I found it pretty hard to keep control in the games after getting promoted, we let in quite a few goals but the attacking power got us out of trouble most times.
Martin
2 февраля, 2010 at 22:13
I Was Thinking, Your ‘Club Status’ In Your Board Confidence Must Be 100%. I Had That On My Chelsea FM 2009 Game But Obviously Its Not As Hard As Notts Co.!
I Was Also Thinking, When Cristiano Ronaldo Is 34/35 Or Something(On The Game), I Wondered If He’d Be A Free Agent? :P
Majk
2 февраля, 2010 at 22:16
@Martin
I’m sure Cristiano could be a free agent even at the age of 32.. but his wages would still be insanely high.
Johnny Karp
2 февраля, 2010 at 22:24
@Martin
Those are interesting questions, I opened the game just to find the answers for you (OK, I was quite curious too after reading your comment). Well, the confidence is not quite 100 %, my job status is listed as «very secure». About Ronaldo, it’s too early to verify, he’s only 28 and still playing for Real Madrid. The most well known player that is available for free at the moment (september 2013) is Massimo Ambrosini from AC Milan (36 years old).