The next game was away at 19th placed Coventry, it was a good chance to get back to winning. We solved the game during the first half, we dominated it with great authority. The first goal was scored by 17 year old right winger Sam Hinshelwood, Sir Alex Ferguson is asking about him, he wants to take him to Manchester United! With all due respect Sir, he’s my boy! Tomas Pekhart scored the second goal, he headed in a good cross from Rodney Sneijder. We could have scored a lot more in the second half but I was happy to get the three points.
We had the FA Cup 4th round game coming up, fellow Championship side Brighton were our opponents. Rodney Sneijder scored his first goal for the club to give us the lead, that goal was quite important. Mark Randall got sent off for picking up two yellow cards, it was his first game for us… We finished the game with only 9 men on the pitch, Pedro Botelho was sent directly to the hospital and we will be out for 4 months! Anyway, we were through to the next round. The draw wasn’t lucky for us, we got Arsenal in the 5th round!
The bad luck from the draw continued into our next league game, at home with 9th placed Crystal Palace. We defeated them 2-0 in September but this time we just couldn’t score. Their goalkeeper, Julian Speroni, was unbeatable but we even missed in front of an empty net! Even more, we nearly lost the game in the last 10 minutes, Crystal Palace had two good chances on counter attacks…
The last game of the month was a very difficult one, away at 4th placed Middlesbrough. We won the home game against them 2-1 in September but it was a tough battle if I remember correctly. Each of the two teams scored in the first 10 minutes, it seemed that we were in for a spectacular game. Then midfielder Giampiero Pinzi got sent off for a brutal tackle, I wasn’t expecting such a rash behavior from an experienced player like him. Szalai remained on the pitch as a lone striker and he scored right away, he finished off a fast counter attack to give us an unexpected lead. We defended well until half time but the last 45 minutes were a living hell. We couldn’t survive in the second half, most of my players were exhausted and Middlesbrough were pushing forward like maniacs… I guess we could have walked away with a draw if it wasn’t for that red card but that’s football, you have to pay for the errors.
That defeat relegated us to 2nd place, Newcastle were the new Championship leaders. We still had 8 points more than the other promotion contenders but the battle will be fierce…
We’ll have some tough games in February, beginning with Bristol City and Ipswich, then we’ll have to prepare to be trashed by Arsenal, then recover and face Newcastle…
That’s how it was, quite a painful month with lots of injuries, red cards and two league defeats. I guess I’ll be looking to bring another player on loan from Arsenal, a midfielder, and just hope to survive February without any more long term injuries, another couple of those could ruin our season.
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Martin
2 января, 2010 at 14:45
I Can’t Believe Ben Amos Scored! You Must Have Been Shocked When It Happened !
I Don’t Think I’ve Seern You In 2nd Place Without Any Games In Hand Before
Times Are Getting Tough For Your Notts Co. Team.LOL!
Johnny Karp
2 января, 2010 at 14:46
I jumped off my chair when I saw that ball go in :) But times are tough indeed, I hope I’ll be able to get promoted though…
Martin
2 января, 2010 at 14:53
I Just Got Mauled By Leeds…6-0 :O
I Just Don’t Know What Happened
We Don’t Perform Away From Home…But Not Usually That Bad
Johnny Karp
2 января, 2010 at 15:05
Leeds have a great team Martin, I had a lot of trouble with them too.
Kevin
2 января, 2010 at 15:39
A bit of an up and down month for you but at least you are still in an automatic promotion spot and have a points advantage over the chasing pack. A goalkeeper scoring is always special as long as it’s not in his own net!
http://myfm2010.blogspot.com/
Lye
2 января, 2010 at 15:50
Hi mate,no worries there, there will be highs and low throughout the season. You will still get promoted based on the comfortable lead with 3rd place team.
Johnny Karp
2 января, 2010 at 16:50
@Lye
I am a bit worried, 8 points is not a very comfortable lead considering the tough games that we still have to play.
@Kevin
I guess I’d settle for the second place after all, getting promoted is the goal to achieve. I wouldn’t want to go through a playoff though…
Sonny
2 января, 2010 at 23:58
dont get worried these blips happen from time to time next month youll be back on track (probably top of the table).
Johnny Karp
3 января, 2010 at 13:08
Thanks Sonny, I hope to get back on track indeed.
Matthew
3 января, 2010 at 13:47
Such a shame that Elmanader isn’t so clinical in real life :(
(I am a Bolton fan)
Well done so far though
Johnny Karp
3 января, 2010 at 14:21
Thanks Matthew. You’re right, Elmander could have better scoring stats, he surely has enough abilities to be a good striker.
James
3 января, 2010 at 22:37
How do you send your keeper into the box? well done by the way….
Kevin
4 января, 2010 at 00:25
Hi Johnny
Last 48 hours has been a nightmare with PC. Turns out my security system provided by my internet service actually prevented access to the internet as well as slowing other programs. After all that effort with Swindon I only feared the worse. Thankfully everything is back working again.
James
4 января, 2010 at 05:35
Hi Johnny i realy want to make a blog to show people about my careers but i dont know how will you help me PLEASE!!!
Johnny Karp
4 января, 2010 at 09:06
@James
About sending the keeper into the opposition box, you have to set his individual instruction for attacking corners to «challenge keeper» or any other position in attack, «attack ball from deep» or any other. «Challenge keeper» seems to be the most effective though. About the blog, you can check all the advice that Martin received on the previous posts for the same purpose, starting a blog.
@Kevin
Sorry to hear about your PC problems, those things are quite annoying.
James
4 января, 2010 at 13:45
Cheers Johnny =)
eddie eddie
14 января, 2010 at 22:06
Good results for you there.