Notts County Story 2014-2015: The Season Ends

Hello folks, welcome back to my Football Manager 2010 story! My Notts County were full of confidence at the end of March after lifting the Carling Cup for the first time in the club’s history. We also were top of the table with Manchester City trailing 10 points behind us. Manchester City were also in our way in the Champions League quarter final but we took a nice advantage by beating them 2-0 at Meadow Lane in the first leg. But before continuing with Notts County‘s quest for glory I had a challenging international friendly to play, France vs England. Let’s see how it went.

I had quite a few important injuries to worry about, so the eleven that I chose to field at Stade de France was not the best by any means. On the other hand the French team looked pretty strong with world class players all around (including my own Chris Gadi)

The first half didn’t show anything special but France looked like the better side, we were forced to defend for most of the first 45 minutes. I had quite a few tired players at half time so I chose to make five substitutions of the total six that I had available. One of the substitutes, Kieran Gibbs, played a pinpoint through ball for Welbeck and the striker gave us the lead with a cool placed finish. Unfortunately Gibbs got injured a few minutes later so I was forced to send Walcott in on the left wing. The team looked a bit confused and France took advantage, striker Chris Gadi scored a sensational goal on a counter attack. France were pushing forward but we had two huge chances on counter attacks. Unfortunately Nathan Delfouneso missed both of them and, as it often happens in football, France scored. It was another fine move from Gadi, he did all the work and then set up Gomis for an easy finish. Delfouneso had another immense chance to score before the final whistle but he blew that too. It was a good effort from the team considering the important absences but we could have walked away with a draw. I had a reason to be happy though, Notts County‘s Chris Gadi was the man of the match, I guess he wanted to prove that he deserved more attention at the club.

Back to Meadow Lane then, we had a home game coming up in the Premier League, struggling 19th placed Ipswich were the visitors. We received some good news before the game, Manchester City lost 3-1 away at Arsenal, so we had a chance to open up a 13 point gap. Despite that I chose to rest most of the first team regulars for the next game, the second leg of the Champions League quarter final, I was quite confident that the backup players could overcome Ipswich. Ibrahimovic proved me right early in the game, he scored after dribbling past two defenders. Tinga doubled our lead only a few minutes later with a placed shot from the edge of the area, the three points were safe. Chris Gadi continued his good form in the second half, he made it 3-0 with a first time finish. There were bad news too, midfielder Kevin Thomson got injured again, he was going to be out for two weeks and that was added to the 3 months that he already spent with the doctors this season. Anyway, we were 13 points ahead of Man City with 6 more games to be played.

The next game was the very important second leg of the Champions League quarter final and I was pleased to begin the game with the 2-0 lead that we took in the home match. We got off to a great start, we took the lead only three minutes in the game through Rafael Sobis, he picked up a through ball from Sam Hinshelwood and rifled it home. Manchester City were unable to react, we were in control of the game and Rafael Sobis doubled the lead in the 18th minute. The Brazilian was in great shape and he created the third goal by running with the ball on the left flank and serving Bonetti with a perfect low cross. Tevez clawed one back just before the break but the game was as good as over. We controlled play in the second half too, my lads were moving the ball around beautifully. A team move led to our fourth goal, it was a beauty: quick first time passes between Young, Sobis and Guilherme left Manchester City’s defense in awe and Guilherme executed the keeper with a perfectly placed shot. Ashley Young gave Sobis the chance to complete his hat-trick, a perfect assist that the Brazilian couldn’t refuse. We totally outclassed Manchester City on their home ground, I was thrilled. Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

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

We were through to the semi final and our next opponent was Juventus, they just knocked out mighty Barcelona.

Everybody at the club was very happy after the Manchester City game but I had two things on my mind before the next game, away at Tottenham in the Premier League: complacency and injuries. I was worried that the players that achieved the magnificent success in the Champions League might be complacent in the next game and I also didn’t want any of the first team regulars to suffer an injury at that important stage of the season. So I decided to field the backups and a few players from the reserves at White Hart Lane. I didn’t expect the backup players to be complacent but they were, I couldn’t figure that out. Tottenham were undoubtedly the better team and won the game thanks to a fantastic finish from Kranjcar. My boys moved the ball around a lot but failed to provide creative solutions upfront, we were beaten for the second time this season. Fortunately Manchester City couldn’t get more than a 0-0 draw at home with Everton, so we were 12 points ahead with 5 more games to be played.

Our next game was at home with Liverpool, the Reds were down in 7th place after a disappointing run. I chose to field a full strength side, the most in form players that I had available. With three points in that game the title would have been ours, we had to win it. Rafael Sobis and Guilherme were out of contention with minor injuries, so Gadi and Ba had a chance to shine. We got off to a nightmare start, Fernando Torres scored right in the first minute and celebrated his 200th career league goal. Chris Gadi got us back on level terms only five minutes later, his dribbling skills left him one on one with the keeper and he finished the move with a placed shot. Then Torres missed a good chance on the break and Gadi doubled his tally with another sensational goal, he skipped past two defenders before placing it in. I replaced Demba Ba with Ibrahimovic at half time and the veteran Swedish striker doubled our lead right away with a powerful shot. We looked in control but it wasn’t like that, Liverpool were pushing forward and my lads were unable to cope with them. Some atrocious defending gave Liverpool quite a few chances to score and they did, twice. My team played quite badly after Ibrahimovic‘s goal, they might have thought that they already won the game. I was concerned about that attitude.

But I was all smiles a few seconds later, Manchester City lost 2-1 at Newcastle, so the title was officially ours! At that point we could focus on the Champions League, Juventus were coming at Medow Lane.

I was optimistic but after studying Juve‘s squad for a few minutes my mood changed. I couldn’t find any real weaknesses in their team, they had Buffon between the sticks, strong defenders like Chiellini, Diego in midfield and quite a few gifted strikers like Jo or Carlos Vela. I compared their players with mine and I concluded that the bookmakers were right, Juventus were the favorites. Rafael Sobis was not fully recovered so I chose to employ Gadi and Guilherme in attack hoping that their pace and skills could make a difference although Juventus‘ defense looked extremely solid. The first half was fairly quiet and even but we had a good chance, Gadi was clean through but his shot was parried by Buffon. Chris Gadi didn’t miss the target the second time around, he broke through on a counter attack and placed the ball past the keeper. The stadium was like a volcano ready to erupt, our fans were ecstatic. Their joy and mine lasted only six minutes, Juventus‘ creative force defeated our defense, a finely crafted move left Jo unmarked inside the box and he didn’t miss. Then Juventus took control of the game, they were pushing forward but we defended quite well. We had another chance on a counter attack but couldn’t finish it, Juventus proved to be the better team in the second half. Steven Defour picked up a yellow card and he was going to be suspended for the second leg, our chances to go through to the final were rather slim.

The next league game, away at Sunderland, didn’t matter anymore as we already claimed the title so I chose to rest all the first team regulars and even some backups. I sent in mostly reserve players but I didn’t expect to be humiliated by Sunderland. We lost the game quite heavily and the only positive aspect was that Lucas Biglia played again after four months. I was very disappointed and realized that some of the young reserves were not ready to play at this level and maybe they won’t ever be ready. Most of them will have to start packing their bags, I can’t accept mediocrity at this level. Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

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

Anyway, the second leg against Juventus was the most important thing. With Defour suspended I had no choice but to employ Tinga and Hinshelwood as central midfielders, not exactly my favorite setup. I thought about this game a lot before playing it and I chose to start with a counter strategy instead of attacking, Juventus‘ offensive power was far too good to ignore. I thought that the main thing would be not to concede and then try to strike on the break. The first 10 minutes of the game were quite painful, Juventus were pushing forward with great determination but we defended pretty well. Then we took control of the game in midfield but couldn’t break through their defense, we were unable to produce more than a shot on target. I was hoping for more after the interval but Juventus gave us no chance, they were moving the ball around with great ability and Ochoa had to show a couple of good saves to keep a clean sheet. Our attacking moves didn’t go far, we were always stopped somewhere at 25 — 30 yards from Buffon‘s goal. We were out of the competition but I’m pretty much at peace with the result, we couldn’t have done more.

The last three games of the season went pretty well, we beat Manchester City again and then won the Nottingham Derby.

The Nottingham Derby will not be played again next season, Forest got relegated due to that defeat so our fans had another reason to rejoice. We finished the season with 95 points and with considerable daylight back to the other contenders.

Rafael Sobis was our best player again as you can see from the player stats sorted by average rating. Guilherme showed consistency again by scoring 26 goals, I am quite pleased with my Brazilians.

On with the squad analysis then. Akinfeev will definitely be my goalkeeper for a few more seasons, he is great. Ochoa will be sold, I hope to get a tidy sum for him.

I’m pleased with all four full backs, there will be no changes there. There will surely be a new central defender to bring some competition for Nordtveit and Kjaer. Caceres is unhappy, he wants to leave and I will most likely let him go, he wasn’t very consistent this season.

There will be no major changes for the winger role, Young, Bonetti, Hinshelwood and Agnaldo will remain at the club. Rodney Sneijder will probably be allowed to leave, he served the club well for a long time but he can no longer help us at this level.

Most of the transfer work will occur for the central midfielders, that’s where we had most problems this season. Tinga and Smallwood can’t provide backup for the very important games so they will surely leave. Kevin Thomson had huge injury problems throughout the season and considering that he’s already 31 years old I guess his future will be better elsewhere. Biglia and Defour will stay, they are very important for the team. I already made a deal for a new central midfielder, he’s a regen Spanish youngster from Real Madrid and he will join us for free in July. He has great technical skills and also great creativity, I hope that he will find a way to adapt quickly.

I will look to buy another central midfielder and I have already identified a target: Stoke‘s Jonjo Shelvey. I gave him the chance to make his debut for England and he played very well so far. Stoke just got relegated so I hope they will let him go for a reasonable price.

As for the strikers, Ibrahimovic will be sold although he did pretty well this season. He wants to play more but I’m afraid his stamina doesn’t allow that so I’ll give him a chance to play elsewhere. The other four strikers will surely stay but if I’ll have enough money I will try to buy another one and maybe sell Demba Ba. I’m looking for either a superstar striker or a wonderkid that could grow while providing backup for Rafael Sobis and Guilherme.

I hope to get a much bigger transfer budget than last season, it was 30 million pounds back then. The club’s finances look pretty good at the moment so I guess they will give me enough to build a team that could lift the Champions League trophy next season. That’s about it folks, thanks for reading. Any transfer suggestions would be highly appreciated ;)

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