We were through to the group stage and we were seeded 3rd for the draw. I think we were quite lucky as we avoided extremely tough opponents like Juventus or AC Milan but the group isn’t easy at all. Olympiakos are the favorites with Saint-Ettienne behind them while we are said to have the third chance. My goal is to qualify for the next round, it won’t be easy but it’s quite possible on paper.
The last game of the month was at home with Newcastle, they finished 12th last season but they had 9 points deducted for some reason. I was expecting a difficult game but we got off to a great start: a vicious shot from Rafael Sobis was parried by the keeper, the ball bounced clear and Guilherme was there to blaze it home. We continued to play well and Gergely Varga doubled our lead from a penalty kick just before the break. The second half was a festival of attacking football, my boys were unleashed! Guilherme returned the favor to Sobis by setting him up with a nice assist and then Sneijder rifled home another one of his left footed free kicks. Nicola Bonetti completed the rout with a fine shot from the edge of the penalty area, our fans were in heaven!
I guess we can be quite optimistic after this start, I was particularly pleased with our defense, it looked a lot better than last season.
My youngsters impressed everybody this month, Hinshelwood got the Young Player of The Month award with Barton and Varga right behind him!
We’ll have only four games to play in September due to international call ups (I’ll have two games to play with Uruguay though). We’ll start with a tough one at White Hart Lane and then we’ll have too face French side Saint-Etienne at Meadow Lane.
Well, that’s how it was. The defense is looking good so far with the Scandinavian pair in the middle (Nordtveit and Kjaer) and with Joe Barton, our enthusiastic youngster, on the left flank. The last game, the 5-0 victory over Newcastle, left everybody at the club in an optimistic mood but I guess we shouldn’t get carried away. The real tests will be the matches against the big teams, those games will tell us where we stand.
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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).