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.