Notts County Story — February 2017

Hello dear friends, welcome back to the Notts County Football Manager 2010 story! We were right on course at the end of January, top of the table and still involved in all the cup competitions. There was a setback though, Sergio Aguero and Andrea Romano got injured and were expected to be back only towards the end of February, maybe just in time to play the League Cup final with Arsenal.

The first game of the month was away at 9th placed Sheffield United, a tough opposition to face without my two best strikers. We had a decent first half, created a few chances but the finishing was rather wasteful so it was all square at half time. We needed somebody to make the difference and, as it happened before, Ashley Young stepped up and delivered a well placed shot to give us the lead and the win. It was a scrappy victory but a well deserved one.

Next up, the FA Cup game with Championship side Wigan. It was supposed to be an easy game but it got much more complicated right from the start, left winger Agnaldo made a brutal tackle and got sent off only 25 seconds into the game! An upset was beginning to look possible for Wigan and they nearly took the lead but the ball hit the crossbar instead of the net. Their dreams were shattered in just a few minutes though, James Milner and Rafael Sobis scored a couple of fine goals to tranquilize the atmosphere. I refused to pull back hoping that we could score one more so Wigan had space and created a few chances before half time. I made some tactical changes at the interval and the second half was way more quiet as a result. James Milner struck again a few minutes from time to complete a fine afternoon for him.

Back to the Premier League then for a home encounter with disappointing 16th placed Everton. We played a great first half and didn’t leave any doubts about the winner of the game at the end of the 45 minutes. Guilherme started things off with a fine goal, he skipped past two defenders and scored with a placed shot. Then Simon Kjaer dominated the aerial space in Everton‘s box and scored with two corner kick headers just before the break. Everton found themselves on the wrong end of a siege after half time, my lads were playing with real passion. We could have scored a few more goals but we had to settle for just one, Rafael Sobis whipped in a fine curling shot from the edge of the area.

The next game was quite important for the club and for the fans, the Nottingham Derby at The City Ground. Forest were down in 17th place and we were keen on «helping» them to get relegated. We started the game very well and took the lead after 15 minutes, Guilherme played a fine through ball for Sam Hinshelwood‘s placed finish. Rafael Sobis doubled the lead just before the half hour mark, a well timed assist from Jonjo Shelvey found him all alone inside the box. We were all over them and looking comfortable but things took a strange turn a few minutes later: Guilherme‘s powerful shot from the edge of the area hit the crossbar and bounced around 30 yards back into the pitch, Forest got a hold of it and launched the counter attack that ended with a goal. My boys were stunned and three minutes later it was 2-2! We resumed the attacks in the second half, missed a few good chances along the way but Forest could have also struck on counter attacks. The pressure was rising inside their box though and the ball finally landed inside the net, Carlos Abad powered it in from the edge of the area. Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

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

The next game was a pretty special one, not because we were meeting Celtic in the Champions League but because it was my 500th game in charge of Notts County! (or so they say, I didn’t count). The players rewarded me with a spectacular performance, it was looking like a training game at times. Guilherme, Rafael Sobis and Ashley Young were simply unstoppable, I had nothing to do during this game but to sit back, relax and enjoy the show. Celtic scored a superb consolation goal to complete the spectacular game but the qualification was 99% settled.

We were going to Wembley for the last game of the month, the Carling Cup final against Arsenal. We were surely looking to lift the cup for the 3rd time in a row and confidence was extremely high: Romano and Aguero were back in the starting eleven! And The Gunners found themselves under heavy pressure right away, Sergio Aguero had a fantastic first half. He was dribbling past anybody that was coming his way and scored two fantastic goals before the interval. Arsenal had to thank goalkeeper Joe Hart for keeping the score decent at half time. Arsenal tried to react in the second half but we kept them under control with ease. Andrea Romano had to score one too though, he showed the crowd at Wembley his trademark turn and shoot move to make it 3-0.

While we were battling for the League Cup Chelsea played another league game and reduced the gap to only four points. We have two games in hand though. It also seems like Manchester United are out of the title race already, so I guess it will be between us and The Blues.

Next month’s schedule doesn’t look scary at all but it might be a bit busier if we’ll play the Champions League quarter finals and the FA Cup semi final.

That’s about it folks, thanks for reading. I hope to play the games in March tonight and post the update tomorrow, stay tuned. ;)

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