Hello dear friends, time for another update! I was so excited and eager to play again that I gave up on a few hours of sleep and got back to managing my beloved Notts County. We were still in with a chance to win the title at the end of March, we were three points ahead of second placed Manchester United with two games in hand. The problem was that we had at least nine games to play in April, an incredibly busy and difficult schedule. Fasten your seat belts, we were in for a roller coaster ride!
The first challenge was the Europa League quarter final with Olympique Marseille, a very good team that came from the Champions League. Their squad featured some great players like goalkeeper Steve Mandanda and creative attacking midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa, it wasn’t going to be an easy battle for us. They knocked our Liverpool and Dinamo Kiev in the previous rounds and they also had the slight advantage of playing the first leg away from home. The first half was very entertaining, sparkling and bubbly like a glass of good champagne, both teams created a couple of chances but both keepers were in great shape. The second half was a bit different, my team looked better than OM but Steve Mandanda was absolutely fabulous, he made some miraculous saves to keep the score level. We were unable to beat him and he deservedly won the Man of the Match honor. Agnaldo picked up a yellow card so he was going to be out of the second leg but that was the least of my concerns, we had to score away from home to have a chance of getting through.
Until the trip to Marseille we had a league game to play and it wasn’t just another Premier League battle, it was the Nottingham Derby at Meadow Lane! Forest were down in 14th place and they probably remembered that we beat them 3-1 on their own ground back in December. Manchester United played their league game a day before us and they won it convincingly, 3-0 at Tottenham! The pressure was on us but Sam Hinshelwood relieved some of it right away, he finished a cross from Agnaldo with a soft touch on the volley. Just when Forest seemed capable of putting up a good reaction the referee punished them with a harsh penalty kick. Varga slotted it home and then we took control of the game. The match was even easier in the second half as Forest‘s left back got sent off after picking up two yellows for holding onto Hinshelwood‘s shirt, that’s the only way he found to stop my wonderkid. Forest were lucky just to survive until Nordtveit scored with a corner kick volley. Guilherme picked up his yellow card just a few seconds before the final whistle, the foul was completely unnecessary and stupid.
We didn’t have too much time to enjoy the nice derby win, the next game was only a few days later, away at Marseille for the second leg of the Europa League quarter final. We got off to a nice start, sent a couple of good shots on target right away but Mandanda was fantastic again. Then we got a bit lucky, eleven minutes into the game we had a free kick from 30 yards out. Biglia took the shot, it got deflected off the wall and the ball went high into the air and into the six yard box. Right winger Nicola Bonetti, the smallest guy on the pitch, was the quickest to react and he placed it in with a header! Marseille made an instant reply though, a fine shot from the edge of the area went past Romero but we were still leading on away goals. The pressure was rising in our penalty area so I decided to switch the strategy to counter hoping to survive their attacks and maybe get a chance to stab them on a counter attack. We survived until the break but the pressure got even higher after half time, we had our back against the wall as Marseille were pushing forward like maniacs. It got even worse when Demba Ba, employed as a left winger, got sent off after picking up the second yellow. I had to take out one of the two strikers, Rafael Sobis, and send in Sneijder as a left winger. I also took out Bonetti and replaced him with Hinshelwood, I was looking to improve our ball possession to relieve some of the pressure that our defenders had to endure. We were under siege in the following minutes but we had a chance to counter, Sneijder made a run on the left flank, dribbled past his opponent and swerved in the cross… Hinshelwood was right there at the far post, he headed it in from point blank range! Get in! Confidence was high, the lads started to move the ball around for minutes while Marseille‘s players were desperately trying to get it back. It was all over, we were through to the semi finals where we were going to meet Russian side CSKA Moscow.
That would have been a reason to celebrate but I changed my mind after looking at our schedule. Only one of our league games got postponed for May, so we had to play 5 games in the last 10 days of the month. Even worse, the last three games were scheduled almost one day after the other! That was absolutely insane, I had to figure out a way to survive… Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Laxeyman
16 февраля, 2010 at 21:28
Hi Johnny, not a bad month there. That schedule is horrible, it shouldn’t be allowed! 2 games in 2 days! It looks like the title is going to come down to that game against Man Utd. If you win or draw I am pretty certain the title will be yours! Good luck you’ve got a hugely important month coming up!
Kevin Mayo
16 февраля, 2010 at 21:54
Johnny
What a massive post almost like a Tom Clancy novel in size :)
I’ve only got time to quickly review it so I’ll print and read on the subway tonight. Anyway what drama has unfolded for you in a hugely challenging month and I can relate to sacrificing sleep for playing when it gets down to the wire.I’m confident you will walk away with three trophies come the end of May and maybe a World Cup to follow?
Well done though!
Sears
16 февраля, 2010 at 21:59
Good win in the Europe league.. Hope you win it! Tough game ahead against man u..title decider! Confident you should win all 3 cup’s though! Wish you luck!
Johnny Karp
16 февраля, 2010 at 22:37
@Sears
Thanks mate, I guess everything (including the cups) depends on the Man Utd game…
@Kevin
Thanks for the comment and don’t forget to get off at the right stop mate! :P
@Laxeyman
Thanks mate. The schedule was horrible indeed, I’d rather say 3 games in 4 days!
Sears
17 февраля, 2010 at 00:41
I’v just won the playoff’s beating Huddesfield 4-2.. need to rebuild for the Premier League!.. Any recommendations for the following will be very much apprciated- Goalkeeper,Right,Left,Center Back,Defensive mid,Right winger + Center Mid.
Bilal Ahmad
17 февраля, 2010 at 02:21
I agree with Laxeyman if you win or draw against united the Premiership is yours! Hope you win against Palermo in the Europa League Final (Also how the hell did Arsenal lose!! It would have been a better Final if they were there) and you got Arsenal in the FA Cup final that’s going to be difficult however still believe you will win.
Lye
17 февраля, 2010 at 02:43
Hi mate, what a hectic schedule and what a long post you had made. I am as relieved as you when you finished the month as it certainly won’t be easy playing those matches. Can you sleep after that? :)
I will be cheering for Notts County mate, with the support of the home fans, i hope you can prevail over Man Utd. Come on, you can do it. Hope to see you bringing all 3 trophy back in the cabinet when the season ends. Good luck.
Elections
17 февраля, 2010 at 13:16
Great story thus far and I cannot wait for the ending. You make the whole experience of computerised football management so realistic with your story telling. Very very cool! Keep it up
TheZiggy
17 февраля, 2010 at 14:31
That’s bad luck with the insane schedule. I’ve seen it happen in my game to Tottenham one time, who had also progressed that far in both the EURO Cup and FA Cup. Hopefully SI will resolve that, because in real life the fixtures wouldn’t get to be that congested with matches on consecutive days.
I don’t know if it’s a weird effect from the schedule of the EURO Cup, or some bad luck which fixtures get moved.
If you lose out because of it, a large part will have been due to this bizarre scheduling of matches. Good luck.
Martin
17 февраля, 2010 at 21:19
Well Done On Your Great Progress In The Europa League And For Staying In The Running For The League Title.
You Just Have To Keep Focussed And Prepare For A Tough Battle
Sears, You Should Try Salvatore Bocchetti For The Centre Back Place.
Also, Kyle Naughton For Right Back, Eric Tie-Bi For Defensive Midfield. Mcdonald Mariga For The Centre Mid. That’s All I Have To Offer. Lol
Johnny Karp
18 февраля, 2010 at 00:08
@Martin
Thanks mate and good recommendations :)
@TheZiggy
Thanks for the comment. The fixtures thing should definitely be resolved, I hope the new patch will do that.
@Elections
Thanks a lot for your kind words.
@Lye
Thanks buddy. I can sleep pretty well at the moment because I’m awfully tired after a tough day at work :)
@Bilal
Thanks for the comment and for the confidence :)