Notts County FM 2010 Story — March 2012

Hello folks, the Notts County journey towards the Premier League continues with a new episode, probably the most important so far. We were back on track after a series of good results in February, we just had to keep winning in March to get closer to our promotion dream. We had some tough games to play though, I wasn’t expecting an easy run.

The first game of the month was away at 18th placed Leicester, they held us to a 1-1 draw at Meadow Lane back in October. The game turned out to be a crazy one, absolutely insane. Leicester scored an early goal and dominated the 1st half, despite having one man sent off in the 20th minute. We tried to make a comeback in the second half but we were punished on a counter attack. The man who did that was Uruguay‘s rising star, Gonzalo Barreto, on loan from Tottenham. I already gave him a few caps in the national team and it seems that gave him some confidence… Alibec clawed one back for us right away, Pekhart created an easy chance for him. A few minutes later right winger Kamil Grosicki broke through their defense and was fouled inside the box! Penalty kick and another red card! With a two men advantage we pushed forward with great determination and finally completed the comeback with a great header from Alibec! Tinga was sent off after that but it didn’t matter anymore.

After the good comeback in the Leicester game we had a huge challenge ahead of us, the Nottingham Derby at Meadow Lane. We won the City Ground game 3-1 in October, it was a huge result for our fans, they were delighted about that. We dominated the game, I was quite pleased with the performance, but unfortunately we lacked precision and creativity upfront. As it often happens, we got punished for that, Forest scored in the 80th minute after a lightning fast counter attack. We missed two golden opportunities to score in the last 10 minutes and that was it, we lost it… The fans were quite upset about that and I was too. We played well though…

We had to make the fans forget that game quickly, we had to win the next matches and give them something to cheer about. The next game was away at 13th placed Barnsley, a team that held us to a 0-0 draw in November. We played pretty well in the first half and could have scored at least three goals. My players seemed to lack confidence but luckily we did score before the break, Gergely Varga converted a penalty kick. Charlie Mulgrew scored his first goal of the season after the break, a fine free kick shot from 30 yards out. Barnsley dominated the second half quite clearly but we managed to survive by conceding only one goal and clinch the victory.

We had another difficult game coming up, away at 8th placed Southampton. We won the game 3-1 in November but it wasn’t easy at all, The Saints have a pretty solid team. Ben Amos was back between the posts after the injury and he had a spectacular first half, he kept a clean sheet with a few sensational saves. Our attacking players did quite well too, Szalai and Alibec made Southampton‘s defenders cry and ask for their mommies, they were absolutely unstoppable! We got a massive result but there were bad news with it, Alibec picked up a knock after scoring the hat trick, he’s going to be out for a whole month!

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Our fans were less unhappy after that result but we had to keep up the pace. The next game was at home with 10th placed Queens Park Rangers, we drew 1-1 away from home in October. My boys played well again but it was pretty tough. Szalai gave us the lead with one of his headers, Sam Hinshelwood created the goal with a great run and cross on the right flank. Q.P.R. got back level in the second half but centre back Marc Muniesa banged in a corner kick header in the last minutes of the game to give us the win. Unfortunately another one of my strikers got injured, Sabrin Sburlea will be out for 3 weeks!

There was one more game to be played before the end of the month, away at 12th placed Reading. We won the home game with some difficulties, 2-1 in December. My boys were unleashed though, Parvulescu scored his first goals of the season and my only two valid strikers, Szalai and Pekhart, displayed their finishing skills. I guess the Nottingham Derby disappointment can be forgotten :)

The play-off place was secured but at this point we can certainly hope for more than that. We are 4 points ahead the 2nd placed team and we have a game in hand, I can’t consider anything else than the Championship title!

There are 5 more games to be played and we only need three wins out of five to secure the title. That is if my calculations are right, I never was good at that :)

That’s how March was, thanks for reading. We won’t have any impossible games in April, maybe only the Derby and Doncaster games could cause us more problems. Maybe Cardiff too… You can never say you won a game before the final whistle though, we still have to give our best on the pitch to secure the title. Questions? Comments? Don’t be shy, I’m looking forward to reading your opinions! ;)

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