We had little time to celebrate, our next game was a Premier League encounter with 12th placed West Ham and we had to win at Meadow Lane. The lads were playing pretty well and the goal finally came before half time, Sam Hinshelwood made a great run down the right flank and crossed it perfectly for Andrea Romano‘s header. Almost the same thing happened a few minutes into the second half but this time Hinshelwood‘s cross was headed in by Simon Kjaer. We totally dominated the game but West Ham defended well and got away with a decent defeat. Chelsea lost 1-0 at Burnley so we were back on top of the table.
The next game was away at struggling 19th placed Portsmouth. The muddy pitch at Fratton Park made it pretty difficult for us to play our usual passing game but it didn’t stop Zapata from banging in yet another corner kick header. Andrea Romano doubled our lead before half time with one of his trademark moves, he dribbled past his marker and powered it in from the edge of the area. Sergio Aguero was brought down inside the box a few minutes into the second half, Gergely Varga coolly netted the penalty and the game was as good as over. We put another goal past their keeper though, a parried missile shot from Fabian Delph was pushed in by Nicola Bonetti. Then we relaxed a bit and Pompey clawed one back but the three points were safely in our bag.
The last league game of the year was the most important one so far, second placed Chelsea were coming at Meadow Lane. It was our chance to prove that we were better than our main contenders and I made sure that the players were fully aware of that. We started the game very well but a few great saves from Petr Cech kept the score level. That wasn’t going to last though, Rafael Sobis made a spectacular 40 yard counter attack run and rifled it in from out wide, right under the crossbar! We kept control of the game after half time and Simon Kjaer doubled our lead with a corner kick header, his majestic leap over Chelsea‘s defenders was quite impressive. We were totally in control of the game, Chelsea were unable to show more than a few shots from distance. Ten minutes from time another corner kick found Simon Kjaer marked by Obi Mikel (a midfielder with below average heading abilities), my defender said thanks and headed it home! The game was quite nervy and the referee showed no less than 13 yellow cards but that didn’t matter too much to us, we dominated our opponent and taught them a lesson.
Here’s how the league table looks at the end of December, we’re six points clear with a game in hand! Burnley are this season’s surprise package, they are in 5th place with a real chance of finishing among the top four.
We had one more game to play before the end of the year, the FA Cup match with Championship side Derby County. I sent in mostly backup players and they did fairly well, especially in the second half. Midfielder Carlos Abad was the man of the match after setting up Rafael Sobis twice with very good assists and we ended the year on a nice high note.
And now the usual end of the year player stats sorted by average rating. Needless to say that I was impressed with Romano (18 goals and 12 assists) and Aguero (22 goals and 8 assists) but I have to say that I was satisfied with each player’s contribution so far. Those who played less games in the starting eleven always managed to produce good performances when I needed them with a special note for Rafael Sobis, he scored 13 goals in 12 games! That’s what I call efficiency!
January will bring a few important tests for the team: the Carling Cup semi final games with Manchester City and also a big game with Manchester United at Meadow Lane.
That’s how December 2016 was, thanks a lot for reading the update. Before closing the post I want to give you a quick update on the poll in which you get to choose my next team. 81 people voted so far ans the partial results look like this:
- Dorchester Town (37%, 30 Votes)
- Arsenal (with a twist) (26%, 21 Votes)
- Universitatea Craiova (20%, 16 Votes)
- Vico Equense (17%, 14 Votes)
Big thanks to all of the 81 people that voted so far, the others can do that until Sunday the 2nd of May!
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Lye
27 апреля, 2010 at 17:00
Hi mate congratulation on laying your hands on the last trophy club world cup. Well done on beating your closest rival Chelsea. Think you will open up the lead wider and wider as month goes by.
P.S based on the votes, i think you will get Dorchester.
Johnny Karp
27 апреля, 2010 at 17:41
@Lye
Thanks mate. About the poll, I think that as long as the gap stays below 10 votes between the first two or three choices then anything can happen. There is plenty of time until Sunday and I hope more people will cast their votes.
Ana Garcia
27 апреля, 2010 at 18:09
Great month, and 6 points clear with a game in hand means it will be very difficult to catch you.
Aguero with 22 goals in 28 games, seems he is worth every penny you payed!!:)
Matthew
27 апреля, 2010 at 18:28
Hi Johnny
I’m sure you will win the league. In my game I started off well with Southport the I lost in the FA cup 1st round and my player’s morale all drop and we can’t teams that we have already beaten away and we are losing quite heavily eg 3-1 4-0. Do you have any suggestions.
Thanks
Matthew
Laxeyman
27 апреля, 2010 at 18:30
Hi Johnny, a great month there, well done. I think you’ll win the league no problem, hopefully you can win them all this season!
Joseph
27 апреля, 2010 at 18:32
Brilliant again!! Aguero and Romano together are unstoppable!
Are you looking to bring aanyone in in January?? Thanks
Micheal
27 апреля, 2010 at 18:58
Hi jonny
Well done another great month. That win was very handy against Chelsea and it gives you some breathing space at the top of the league. Good luck for next month. :)
Johnny Karp
27 апреля, 2010 at 18:59
@Ana and Laxeyman
Thanks, we just have to keep going in the next couple of months and then it will be easier.
@Matthew
It’s difficult when the team starts to lose confidence, you might want to try to encourage the players and boost their morale on a short term. But on the long run only results can bring back confidence.
@Joseph
Indeed, they are an unstoppable dynamic duo. I won’t make any transfers in January unless I’ll have a really bad injury that would force me to replace that player. I hope there won’t be such events though.
ravenie
27 апреля, 2010 at 19:01
Despite the defeat to Milan that was a very good month for you. Looking forward to last half of your season :)
Kevin Mayo
27 апреля, 2010 at 19:38
Hi Johnny
Well done on another fabulous month. Clinching the World Club title completes the Notts County trophy cabinet.Nice to see you back on top at the end of the year and I’m sure there is further silverware to come. Brilliant!
Johnny Karp
27 апреля, 2010 at 21:46
@Micheal
Thanks mate. Indeed, that win over Chelsea was very important.
@Ravenie
Thanks. I was quite disappointed with that performance but I know that usually we can play a lot better than that.
@Kevin
Thanks, you’re quite enthusiastic :) Well, we have the league, the two domestic cups and the Champions League, I’ll be looking to win all of those again but I admit that I don’t have the same hunger for glory as last season.
Martin
27 апреля, 2010 at 23:29
Well Done Johnny Nice Set Of Results In The League.
I Can’t Believe Dorchester Is Leading The Poll, It’ll Be The Same Sorta Thing And I’d Like To See Something Different And More Interesting,
Only My Opinion Though
Johnny Karp
27 апреля, 2010 at 23:46
@Martin
Thanks buddy. About Dorchester, I don’t think it will be the same because the club is much, much poorer than Notts County, so it will be a very difficult test from that point of view. Anyway, the poll is not closed yet so you might get your wish after all :)
Martin
28 апреля, 2010 at 18:23
I Didnt Mean Exactly The Same But Just Basicly, Starting Low Down In The English Leagues Then Working Your Way Up