Hello mates, welcome back to the latest episode of the Notts County Football Manager 2010 story! As you know from the previous post we were only two wins away from claiming the Premier League title for the third time in a row. Even more, we were on course for a quadruple after lifting the League Cup, we were still in contention for the FA Cup and the Champions League. Enough said, let’s get rolling…
The first game in April was away at 14th placed Tottenham, I surely wished to claim the first victory of the two that we needed. The game started with a fantastic proof of ability from Andrea Romano, he made a stunning 60 yard run on a counter attack and set up Jonjo Shelvey for an easy tap in. The game was fairly quiet until half time but Romano made it more lively again just after the break, he played another assist but this time it was for right winger Nicola Bonetti. We were safely in control and Romano wrapped up his excellent game with two perfect headers, it was a great afternoon for the Italian striker. Unfortunately his countryman, Nicola Bonetti, got injured and was going to be out for a month.
Next up, the away leg of the Champions League quarter final with Werder Bremen. We were in a good position after winning the home leg 4-1 but I hoped to continue our unbeaten run in Germany. After the first 10 minutes of the game it was quite clear that we were going to have a painful evening, Werder were much more determined and aggressive and we were under heavy pressure. Some good defending and a few top notch saves from Akinfeev kept us afloat but we finally cracked a few minutes before half time. I was hoping to see a different attitude from my players after the break but that didn’t happen, a fine move from Werder got them 2-0 up five minutes into the second half. Things were getting serious but somehow my lads woke up and took control of the game, Werder had no more chances to score until the last minute of the game. I guess it was all due to complacency but that could have been tremendously costly for my team, the bullet fizzed past our ears but fortunately did no harm. Our unbeaten run was over but I was relieved to be through to the semi final.
We’ll get to meet Atletico Madrid in the next round, the team that entertained us in the group stage. We managed to win both the away game and the home game back then, I surely hoped to do just that again but I was also aware of Atletico‘s tremendous strength. The other semi final was going to be an encounter between surprising Aston Villa and trophy holders Juventus.
The next game saw us travel to Wembley to meet Sunderland in the FA Cup semi final. We managed to beat them in both Premier League games, 2-0 at home and 1-0 away, so we had no excuses. The first half was quite poor though, Sunderland came pretty close to scoring the opener but their corner kick header hit the crossbar. We looked much better after the break and we finally got a break through: Romano was brought down inside the penalty area and Joe Barton coolly converted the kick. We were in control of the game and that reflected on the scoreboard a few minutes later, Rafael Sobis fired one in from inside the penalty area, in off the post. Liverpool beat Fulham 2-0 in the other semi final so we’ll have to beat The Reds to lift the trophy again.
Back to the Premier League, the next game was away at 18th placed Wolves. They desperately needed a few points to reach safety but we weren’t in the mood for charity, we wanted to claim the title! In fact, we solved the game before half time thanks to another impressive performance from Andrea Romano, one goal and two assists. I sent in a few reserves at half time and the crowd got to watch an entertaining last part of the game with four goals scored. That didn’t matter too much though…
… the title was ours!
With the title already in the bag and three days before the Champions League game I chose to send in the backup players in the next game, at home with Reading. They produced a solid performance though with Carlos Abad and Chris Gadi running the show. 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
5 апреля, 2010 at 19:36
Hi Johnny, congratulations on your title win! Also well done on beating Atletico, the game with Juventus will be tough but I think you’ve got a great chance. Good luck in the FA Cup Final.
Majk
5 апреля, 2010 at 19:40
We don’t like Juventus do we? No we don’t! Down with the old lady!
I’m rooting desperately for you Johnny to win the Final.
Congrats on the title this year, though you have to make it more exciting next season, this is just too unreal hehe.
Calum
5 апреля, 2010 at 19:45
Good luck in the final of the Champions League and in the FA Cup Johnny, I really hope your team can do it :D
Congratulations on another title, and good luck in the next month again!
sam warren
5 апреля, 2010 at 19:48
Well done johnny, good luck for the game against Juve. Well done on the premier league title you deserved it and just hoping that you can win all of the domestic trophies this season.
warren
ps I am doing well in my newcastle story but I was just wandering if you had any tips on how to get more people to my site.
I love blogging but if no-one is reading my posts I dont see the point in continuing.
Kevin Mayo
5 апреля, 2010 at 22:31
Hi Johnny
Congratualtions on winning the Premier League again. So that’s two down and two to go. That is a wierd schedule to end with so I’m assuming you will manage you squad very carefully so as to be at full strength for both Cup Finals.
Lye
6 апреля, 2010 at 04:38
Hi mate, congratulations on another title win. Its great to see you up against Juventus in the final, i think you will get your sweet revenge over them as your squad is definitely stronger this season. You have a good resord against Liverpool, so i think it will be another trophy for come May.
Johnny Karp
6 апреля, 2010 at 08:22
Thanks for your comments and good wishes folks!
@Laxeyman
I think we have a chance against Juve too, my team is better than last year but it will still be a tough game.
@Majk
I guess next season can be even less interesting, I intend to further strengthen the squad :)
@Sam Warren
Which site are you talking about, FM Guru or you old site?
@Kevin
The last three games, including the two finals, are 7 days apart from each other so I don’t expect any fatigue problems. I just have to protect my players from injuries but those can happen in training too so there’s not much to be done about that, I can’t just send them home.
@Lye
I’m pretty confident about the Liverpool game, they didn’t cause us too much trouble in the last games. Juventus will be a lot tougher but I agree, the squad is stronger than last year.
Mícheál
6 апреля, 2010 at 16:58
well done Jonny another league tittle to your name. The champo league next good luck with that. Will you be spending big this summer.
Johnny Karp
6 апреля, 2010 at 17:44
Thanks Micheal. I didn’t think about next summer yet, I guess it depends on the Champions League outcome. I might try to bring a star player though but you’ll know more about that in the next post.
sam warren
6 апреля, 2010 at 19:18
@ Johnny, I was talking about the FM guru site as I only blog on their.
Johnny Karp
6 апреля, 2010 at 21:06
@Sam
Well Sam, when I started the blog I went of for a few months writing and writing with nobody leaving any comments on my posts. So I don’t know a better way, just keep writing good stuff and the readers will come. I don’t know how all these people discovered my blog eventually but somehow they did :) And last but not least, the most difficult part isn’t building an audience but keeping it. That’s my two cents but there probably are easier ways.