Hello dear friends and welcome to the future, my career as manager of Notts County has just reached the year 2015! At the end of December 2014 we still were in a good position despite some serious injury problems. We were top of the table two points clear of the second placed team, Manchester City. We were also still involved in all the cup competitions, including the Champions League.
The first game of the new year was our debut in this season’s FA Cup, the third round draw pitched us against Championship side Crystal Palace. I chose to rest all the first team regulars, so I sent in the backup players and a few youngsters from the reserves team. We started the game well, dominated the first half but Ibrahimovic missed a couple of good chances. We continued the siege after the interval but our strikers were having a bad day. Rodney Sneijder had to step up again and give us the win from a dead ball situation, he sent in another one of his left footed free kick shots to push us through to the next round.
We had another cup game coming up, the first leg of the Carling Cup semi final against Stoke. The Carling Cup was one of my main targets at the end of the season, so I was keen on getting through to the final. The game began well for us, we were pushing forward quite nicely but Fabianski saved two certain goals in the first 15 minutes. The goal did come eventually, a free kick shot from Joe Barton was parried by the keeper but Bonetti was there once again on the rebound to push the ball in. Guilherme doubled the lead just before the break with a placed shot, we were in control. We could have scored one or two more goals in the second half but failed to do that due to some relaxed finishing. I was quite worried when I saw Defour coming off injured but it wasn’t too serious, he was going to be out of action for at most seven days.
The first league game of the month was at home with struggling Middlesbrough, they were down in 17th place and we had quite a good time in our previous meeting and defeated them 4-1 in August. The players were determined to close the game as soon as possible and Guilherme gave us the lead two minutes into the game with a fabulous strike from the edge of the area. Then Ashley Young doubled the lead after a nice move and places shot and Nordtveit made it 3-0 from a corner kick just before the break. We were totally in control of the game and Guilherme scored his 20th goal of the season in the second half, it was a fine long range shot. I was quite pleased with our domination of the game, Middlesbrough looked like certain victims from the first minute to the last.
We had a much more difficult match coming up, away at 5th placed Aston Villa. They were having a very good season and they held us to a 0-0 draw at Meadow Lane in August. The first half was fairly even again but Guilherme could have given us the lead: another fine shot from 20 yards out hit the post instead of the net. The game continued in a similar fashion after the interval but we took the lead from a dead ball situation, left back Joe Barton scored his first senior goal with a fine free kick shot from the edge of the area. The goal gave my players more determination and a few minutes later we doubled the lead, midfielder Kevin Thomson celebrated his return after an injury that kept him away from the pitch for two months. Aston Villa clawed one back immediately and could have equalized two minutes later but the woodwork helped us. We were under pressure in the last 20 minutes, I switched to a more cautious setup and survived until the final whistle with a few great saves from Ochoa.
We survived a tough game but the most difficult game of the month was right ahead of us, at home with 4th placed Arsenal. They surely remembered the previous game, it was our first victory at the Emirates Stadium and quite an emphatic one, it was 3-1 back in September. The Gunners were looking for revenge but we played well in the first half, controlled the game but failed to make the better ball possession count on the scoreboard. Arsenal had a good chance with Bendtner on a counter attack but Ochoa did well to stop him. We got out of the dressing room with more determination and managed to push Arsenal into their own box after the interval. And the goal came eventually, Guilherme got the ball for us with a fine tackle in midfield, then the ball went to Demba Ba and the Senegalese finished the move with one of his trademark powerful shots. Arsenal tried to react but we stood firm in defense and didn’t allow them to create any clear cut chances. It was a hard fought game and a well deserved win, I was quite pleased. Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Kevin Mayo
4 марта, 2010 at 23:26
Hi Johnny
Greetings from a sunny Canada. Yeah!!
Anyway fantastic month there for you, all solid perfomances and a nice little cushion at the top of the table too.Capturing Akinfeev on a free transfer is just amazing and your other two signings look to have decent attributes and so should do really well for you.
Well done on another successful month.
Martin
4 марта, 2010 at 23:26
Well Done Johnny!
Akinfeev Is Really Good And His Reflexes Etc Are Better Than Ochoa’s.
Gadi Looks Good Too, 19 Goals In 19 Caps!
The Regen Also Looks Really Good, It Looks Like He Will Provide Good Competition To Your Penalty Master, First Choice Right Back, Gergely Varga.
Laxeyman
4 марта, 2010 at 23:52
Hi Johnny, well done on a fantastic month. The new signings look good, maybe you’ll have a settled goalkeeper from now on after all the chopping and changing! Gadi must be good if he’s scored that many international goals, so to get him so cheap is amazing! The regen looks good too, good luck for February!
Lye
5 марта, 2010 at 02:57
Hi mate, another great month for push to the title. To be able to sign Igor Akinfeev on a free is amazing, he should be your first choice for many years to come. The other two players are proven international, it should be a welcome addition to your team.
FootballManagerGuru
5 марта, 2010 at 04:23
oh wow. Akinfeev on a free transfer. you’ve just saved yourself so much money there. Can’t wait to see how your young full back turns out. seems like a sick regen (:
TheZiggy
5 марта, 2010 at 04:36
Excellent month there Johnny. Some superb signings as well, and looking good in all competitions right now.
Johnny Karp
5 марта, 2010 at 11:33
@TheZiggy
Thanks mate, I am quite happy with the way the team is performing right now.
@FMGuru
Akinfeev is one of the best keepers in the world, seeing him for free didn’t leave me any other choice but to offer him a good contract. The right back looks like a good player, I hope he’ll do well.
@Lye
Thanks for the comment, I reckon that the hunt for bargains went pretty well this time. :)
@Laxeyman
Thanks, I guess I won’t find a better keeper than Akinfeev.
@Martin
Thanks. You are right, Varga had no valuable backup, now he can even lose his place in the team to that regen youngster.
@Kevin
Sunny Canada? That should be interesting :P Thanks for the comment, I hope to see some good performances in the next months too.
cory berman
5 марта, 2010 at 17:07
I agree with everybody else akinfeev is one if not the best keeper in the game but i’ve noticed a repeating theme in almost everyone of ur games: Ochoa keeps you in so many games with incredible saves! what will you do now and in the future!!! (well done on a great month :)
Johnny Karp
5 марта, 2010 at 17:23
@Cory Berman
Thanks for the comment, I guess Akinfeev will produce at least as many great saves as Ochoa did. Anyway, Ochoa still has a part to play because Akinfeev can’t be registered for the Champions League games.
sam warren
5 марта, 2010 at 18:49
Yet another good month and some excellant signings Johnny. After reading your blog since the start of the season I have decided to start my own (i no its a bit late but new updates have come out so I will start now)
Could you please check it out and give feedback on what you think. Hopefully it may be good enough to be on your website by next season.
http://nufctnt.blogspot.com/
Thanks anyway
warren
Johnny Karp
5 марта, 2010 at 18:52
Thanks for the comment Warren. I had a quick look at your blog and I can say that you’re off to a good start. I’ll keep an eye on your progress, good luck!
Sears
5 марта, 2010 at 21:05
Well done Johnny,Good results + very good tramsfer’s.On mymy blog,when I added a new page and did a post,i returned to the blog and couldn’t fine my new page?
Johnny Karp
5 марта, 2010 at 23:08
Thanks Sears. I have no idea about what went wrong on your blog, try to publish that post again and it should probably work the second time around.
ravenie
6 марта, 2010 at 10:49
Johnny I have great news. I was 2 nil down in the Carling Cup Final (somehow I got there) against Arsenal and I switched some things about at half time and my young hot prospect Angelo Balanta got 2 goals before Guilherme scored from the spot, I kept control of the game and I was pleased with the character my players showed. Its only march but guilherme has got 30 goals in all comps. he should be called up for Brazil!
Johnny Karp
6 марта, 2010 at 13:22
@Ravenie
Well done mate, congrats! Guilherme was called up for Brazil in my game but he got to play in only one game, I guess they have better strikers than him.