Hello my friends, here’s the first post of the new year, I hope it will be a great year for everyone. It’s a new year in my game too, my Notts County were top of the table at the end of 2011 in Coca-Cola Championship after a very good first half of the season. The financial aspect of the club was not looking too good though, I had no transfer money and I was already over the wage budget. That’s why I decided to sell two of my players, they didn’t have much of an impact in the first half of the season.
The money helped me to balance the wage budget a little bit but I was still over the amount that the board approved at the beginning of the season. The two players that I sold were midfielder David Edwards and striker Nikita Andreev, I felt I no longer needed their services and I received good money for their transfers.
The first game of the year was away at last placed Swansea. It looked like and easy game but we got only a 1-1 draw against them at home back in August. We dominated the game entirely, created lots of chances but just couldn’t hit the net. The game was heading towards a 0-0 draw, I pushed my team forward and that gave Swansea two big chances to score on counter attacks in the last 15 minutes. We nearly lost the game but we finally won it thanks to… goalkeeper Ben Amos! That’s right, Ben Amos scored!
I sent him to the opposition box for the corner kicks in the last 20 minutes and he headed one in right in the last minute! It was a beautiful header too! :)
The next game was at home with Sheffield Wednesday, they were promotion contenders at the beginning of the season but a poor run of results relegated them to 15th place. We defeated them 1-0 in August and I hoped to achieve another victory against them. Sburlea gave us the lead in the first half by finishing off a quick counter attack, we were in control. Disaster struck in the second half, our hero, Ben Amos, punched a crossed ball but instead of sending it out of the box he pushed it right into our own net! Tomas Pekhart stepped up and gave us the three points goal, he sent in a great free kick shot from 30 yards out. There was bad news after the game, midfielder Carlos Martinez picked up a nasty injury, he was going to be out for three months! That was a big blow so I went to search for a replacement player on loan. I found help at our parent club, Arsenal, they agreed to send Mark Randall until the end of the season.
We had a tough game coming up, away at 5th placed Bolton, one of the best teams in the league. We drew 1-1 with them in August, I was expecting a very difficult battle. We dominated the first half but were a bit unlucky, a good header from Rodney Sneijder hit the crossbar instead of going in. The second half wasn’t as good, Marc Muniesa gave the ball away and Elmander doesn’t refuse such presents, he banged it in without regrets. We tried to push forward but Bolton proved to be the better team, they scored again and grabbed a well deserved victory.
Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
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.