Notts County Meet Liverpool — November 2010

Hello folks and welcome back, the Notts County Football Manager 2010 story goes on! We were pretty happy at the end of October, still top of the League One table and still unbeaten in all competitions. Even more, we were through to the quarter finals of the Carling Cup and everybody in town was waiting for the match of the season at Meadow Lane with Liverpool. But until then we had other battles to fight.

The first one was the FA Cup game with semi-professional side Hyde. I expected an easy game so I gave a well deserved rest to my first team regulars. The game proved to be fairly easy indeed but I was a bit disappointed with some players, I might let them go in January. Anyway, we were through to the next round and I was pleased about that.

We had another cup game coming up, away at League Two side Chesterfield in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. I guess words can’t describe what happened in this game, it was a total demolition, I felt sorry for the Chesterfield players in the last minutes of the game :)

Next up, a League One game, at home with 23rd placed Stockport. We had a poor first half but Pekhart managed to get a header in to give us the lead. The other striker, Szalai, scored an identical goal in the second half and despite conceding a corner kick goal in the last minute we were in control throughout the match.

Another home game coming up, 18th placed Yeovil were coming at Meadow Lane. Our opponents defended their goal with great determination and we struggled to get the ball in the box. Fortunately Adam Szalai found the back of the net again to give us yet another precious three points.

The last league game of the month was at home with 7th placed Swindon, a solid team. We didn’t perform too well but managed to dominate the game. Unfortunately we lacked precision and inspiration in the opposition half, we couldn’t score and I felt that we couldn’t do that even if the game continued for another 90 minutes…

Anyway, we were now 4 points ahead of 2nd placed Huddersfield, we were right on course for getting promotion.

Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

The Liverpool game was getting closer but we still had another one before the big day, we had to meet poor Chesterfield again in the FA Cup. We were less convincing this time but we still managed to get four goals past their keeper, not bad. We are going to play Premier League side Hull in the 3rd round but that game will be played in January, still a long time until then.

Finally, the big day was there, Liverpool were coming at Meadow Lane for the Carling Cup quarter final. Gerrard and Torres didn’t come though, their manager gave them a rest, but their first eleven still looked mighty strong…

I hoped for a narrow defeat at the beginning of the game, I asked my players to give their best out there and fight for every loose ball. Liverpool dominated the first 20 minutes, it was normal, but we were defending well. That was until disaster struck in the 15th minute, Benayoun crossed a ball and Marc Muniesa tried to clear it but he deflected it right past Kasper Schmeichel! The lads reacted pretty well though, we had a better ball possession after the 20th minute, we got a few corners but that was all, the first half ended with the one goal lead for Liverpool.

The second half started a bit better for us, we were looking more confident on the pitch and I hoped that we could create a few chances to score. It all went wrong in the 54th minute though, Babel crossed a ball from the left flank, the ball took a strange curve and landed into the back of the net! It was unfair, but that’s football. I didn’t hope for anything special at that point, I just wanted the game to end while the scoreline was still decent… But things got a strange way of happening, you know that.

57th minute — Midfielder Giampiero Pinzi fired in a missile from the edge of the area, out of frustration I think, and it went in! A glimmer of hope maybe? Fact is that the goal gave my players a lot of confidence and we were dominating the game, even created a good chance of scoring but missed it…

79th minute — We were still dominating but just couldn’t get it in, I was on the edge of my seat… Left back Charlie Mulgrew got some space on the flank, crossed it to the far post, it went past Reina and Szalai was there… header… get in! We turned the game around, it was 2-2!

The team was enthusiastic, we were pushing forward like maniacs! We had another couple of chances in the last minutes, pretty good chances, but Reina made some spectacular saves to keep Liverpool afloat! The game ended 2-2, we were going to extra time!

The first half of the extra 30 minutes was pretty quiet, both teams looked exhausted. We picked up in the second half and began pushing forward again but we lacked the inspiration to create danger. Something happened five minutes before the final whistle though, Liverpool‘s left back was sent off after picking up his second yellow card! Liverpool pulled back, they were waiting for the penalty shootout. And it seemed that we were heading for that ending but…

last minute — We were pushing forward, Liverpool were defending with the entire team. We couldn’t find a way to disrupt their defense, a long range shot seemed to be the only way. Midfielder Jacob Mellis found a bit of space at the edge of the area and fired a right footed drive, we had nothing to lose… It went straight through the crowded penalty area… and into the net, Reina couldn’t reach it!

Get in! It was probably the most beautiful victory I ever experienced in Football Manager, an outstanding achievement. We were through to the semi final of the Carling Cup!

The draw was quite funny, we’ll play Hull City, the same team that we’re going to meet in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. Can we get to the final? I definitely hope so but it will be extremely difficult, we’ll have two legs to play in the semi final.

But until the fancy semi final we’ll have a pretty busy month of December to survive through…

That was it, one of the most beautiful months for me as a manager, a glorious triumph against Liverpool, what more could I wish for?

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