We had one more league game before the Champions League clash, away at struggling 17th placed Stoke. They were on a poor run of seven games without a win so I chose to rest a few players for the more important game with Manchester City. The match began very well for us, Chris Gadi made a fine run and set up Sobis for an easy finish. We were quietly in control of the game and Rafael Sobis doubled the lead from a penalty kick 10 minutes after the break. Stoke were playing pretty well though, I felt sorry for them when Havard Nordtveit converted a corner kick into another goal. Rafael Sobis picked up a second yellow card in the final minutes, I can’t understand why he did that.
Our league performances were not very good this month (maybe except the Chelsea game) but we still managed to get all the points. Manchester City didn’t drop any points either, so the gap was still at 10 points.
Manchester City were on my mind in the Champions League too, we had to face them in the quarter final. I always prefer to play the first leg away from home but this time we had to take an advantage at home. The Citizens knocked out Celtic in the previous round and they were certainly hoping to get to the final. Our fans surely remembered that Manchester City were responsible of our only league defeat of the season, they beat us 2-1 in December. Anyway, let’s move on to the game. The first half was fairly even, each side had a good chance to score but both keepers, Ochoa and Forsyth, were in great shape. We looked a bit better in the second half, managed to get quite a few shots on target but none of them went past the keeper. We took the lead eventually thanks to Rafael Sobis, his determination was the key. He resisted a challenge from Lescott inside the penalty area and rifled in a thunderous shot from an acute angle, the keeper was surprised so he had to collect the ball from the back of the net. Adebayor had a chance to equalize right away but Ochoa denied him with a fantastic save. Our corner kick fortune continued into this game, a deflected cross sent the ball into the six yard box and Havard Nordtveit had no rivals there, he pushed the ball in! It was a great result but it came at a price, Steven Defour is going to be out of action for two weeks.
The month was not over yet, I still had one more game to play but this time it was an international game with England. The match was away in Northern Ireland in the European Championships qualifying group. The previous record of the two teams was totally different, we won the first two games of the group while Northern Ireland lost both of them. We had to win the game, no question about that, but I had lots of injury problems: goalkeeper Ben Foster, Steven Gerrard and last but not least Wayne Rooney. I chose to field Sturridge and Walcott upfront hoping that they could produce the goods. The game started well but we were unlucky, the crossbar saved Northern Ireland twice in the fist 15 minutes. We took the lead a few minutes later, a good move off the ball from Ashley Young was spotted by Jonjo Shelvey, he played a fine through ball and my winger placed the ball past the keeper. We missed a couple more chances until half time but the game was under our control. Left back Joe Mattock scored his first international goal five minutes after the break, he did that with a spectacular shot from 25 yards out. Sturridge closed the accounts two minute from time by finishing a team move, he deserved to get his name on the score sheet. Northern Ireland played with a lot of courage and determination but the better players won the game in the end.
At this point it is quite clear that we have to battle with Switzerland for the first spot, we’ll have our first game against them in June.
Next month will begin with an important friendly game, France vs England at Stade de France. Then I’ll be back at Meadow Lane for the tough games that I have to play with Notts County. The most important game of the month will be the second leg with Manchester City and if we’ll be able to go through to the semi final then we’ll have two more games to play before the end of the month.
I will have to be careful with the fitness levels in the squad, I think I might rest a few players in the Ipswich game to prepare for the Champions League clash and, if we’ll qualify, I’ll see what should be done to preserve our forces for the semi finals. I really hope we won’t have more injuries in midfield, otherwise things might get complicated. That’s about it, thanks for reading and please share your comments.
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Calum
7 марта, 2010 at 20:06
Great month Johhny! I am thinking about starting a blog up again, do you have any tips on who I should be????
Laxeyman
7 марта, 2010 at 20:39
Great month Johnny, well done. The title will surely be yours, and your in a very strong position in the Champions League! Hopefully with a strong defensive display, you will progress to the semi final! Good luck for the France game, and well done on the win over Northern Ireland.
Martin
7 марта, 2010 at 20:53
Great Month, Title Is Definetely Secured In My Eyes, Unless Something Extraordinary Happens!
Good Win Against Bordeaux And Great 1st Leg Vs Man City.
Btw, I Finished 2nd In My Game, With 77 Points And Arsenal on 80 After Getting Beaten 4-0 By 3rd Placed Chelsea On The Last Day!
Johnny Karp
7 марта, 2010 at 21:09
Thanks for the comments my friends.
@Martin
Finishing 2nd is always frustrating but you have to build on that for the next season, you will have a good chance of winning it.
@Laxeyman
I guess we need three or four more wins to secure the title, I hope to get them as soon as possible. The game against France will be quite difficult considering all the injuries in my squad but I hope we’ll get at least an honorable draw.
@Calum
Maybe managing your favorite team might be a good idea. Or you could try something new, maybe a foreign league or taking charge of a national team.
Calum
7 марта, 2010 at 21:16
Thank you Johnny. I shall assess my options tonight and shall maybe publish my first post about it tomorrow or on Tuesday.
Here is my blog by the way and can you please add it to your Links page if possible.
http://thefootballmanagerexperience.wordpress.com/
Johnny Karp
7 марта, 2010 at 21:27
Sure Calum, good luck!
Calum
7 марта, 2010 at 22:21
Thank you Johnny :)
Martin
7 марта, 2010 at 22:26
I Was Actually Pretty Pleased With Finishing 2nd, And Qualifying For The Champions League.
I Think Now That I Am Managing A Team With A Lot Of Stability And A Reputation As A European Competitor, I Will Be Able To Perform Better.
Sears
7 марта, 2010 at 23:15
Well done Johnny,your team seem to be getting better and better.Your in pole position to take the title and also book a place in the semi-finals of the champions league.
My computer had to get sent away and won’t be back for 3 week’s are so! I don’t know what I’ll do without my football manager! Who could survive that period of time without playing it? Or maybe its a sign for me to study because I’v the Junior Cert,(big exam in Ireland!) in the summer! Seriously I dunno how I’ll survive! There will be a long delay before I can post on my blog,that’s if my game is still on it when it get’s back!I’ll keep my love for the by visiting sites like this and talking to ye guys!
Johnny Karp
7 марта, 2010 at 23:19
@Sears
Thanks mate. I bet you can survive, especially with all the studying that you have to do :P Good luck with the exam, my advice is to dedicate most of your time to prepare the exam, you’ll have plenty of time for Football Manager after that.
Kevin
7 марта, 2010 at 23:38
Hi Johnny
Great read and a great month again for you.Still got that 10 point cushion which must be enough for the title especially with the results you are getting. Good result in the Champions League match as well which is crucial for the away 2nd leg. Congratulations too on winning the Carling Cup.
Calum
7 марта, 2010 at 23:47
I have chosen my team, Werder Bremen! Please check my blog from time to time to see how I am getting on.
By the way, how to instert the photos like that as I can only get it small and then you have to make it bigger, if you know what I mean.
Thank you.
Lye
8 марта, 2010 at 04:31
Hi mate well done. The league cup is in the cabinet and another title is well on course to join the league cup too. Taking a 2 goal lead to Man city is a good cushion. I believe you will score there and progress to the semi-finals. Nice work with England too.
You had almost won everything now except for the champions league. Have you thought about quitting or continuing the game after you had won the champions league trophy?
Johnny Karp
8 марта, 2010 at 08:21
@Lye
Thanks mate. If I’ll win the Champions League then I’ll have the opportunity to play for the Club World Cup, I definitely would like to win that too. There is also the European Super Cup, we failed to win it this season after getting beaten by Real Madrid. I guess we’ll have to win those two trophies too before considering another career.
@Calum
Interesting choice, I will drop by from time to time to see how it goes. When you insert a picture you can select the size (small, medium, full size). I use medium most of the times and also a plugin called LightBox for that nice overlay display.
@Kevin
Thanks, I hope that the 10 point gap is enough indeed. I’ll feel better if we’ll get a couple of wins in the first two league games, then we’ll be almost there.
FootballManagerGuru
8 марта, 2010 at 08:12
Hey there! Wow, nice string of results! League cup in the bag! And you look set to win the title as well (: Turning out to be a great season in England and in Europe. Cheers!
Johnny Karp
8 марта, 2010 at 08:22
@FMGuru
Thanks mate, it surely looks like a great season so far. I hope we won’t miss out on the glory at this point.
ravenie
8 марта, 2010 at 09:58
Honestly I don’t know how I did it but i’m now facing villareal in the europa quarters. I honestly have no idea how to beat them. I have now won bac to back league cups 3-2 again aet. Martin Rowlands is 33 now Johnny and my coaches tell me thei are better players. I am considering buying a new cm can you recommend any?
Johnny Karp
8 марта, 2010 at 10:03
@Ravenie
I can recommend my pair, Defour or Biglia. You can also try Axel Witsel, he’s a good player.
Calum
8 марта, 2010 at 13:49
My new post is up :D It took lots of effort but I’m pleased I got it finished.
sam warren
8 марта, 2010 at 16:18
I posted before about my blog but at the time it was a bit bare. Could you please look at it and tell me what you think about it. Maybe it could be good enough to be on your blog for next season.
thanks
warren
http://nufctnt.blogspot.com/
Johnny Karp
8 марта, 2010 at 20:53
Well done Warren, I just finished reading your post. I like the writing and that’s the most important thing, the layout and other technicalities are not so important. Maybe just a quick tip, make comments possible for anyone, not only people with Blogger, Google etc accounts. (there should be an option in the blog settings).
Sears
8 марта, 2010 at 22:57
Johnny,I’ll try,its not to important though and I’m doing quith well in my pre-exams!Also,in patch 3…does it have patch 1 + 2 in it?like the update’s ?
Martin
8 марта, 2010 at 23:29
I’m Doing The Junior Cert Next Year Sears!
But I Don’t Have To Do Irish Because I Came Over To Ireland After I Was 11 ys/o:P
ravenie
9 марта, 2010 at 09:55
Christ, I won the Prem, The Carling Cup and somehow somehow beat Bordeaux in the Europa League final. Martin Rowlands contract is running out so I’ve told myself i’m not renewing it, but I’ve found the perfect replacement a wonderkid of 20 at Juventus his attributes are amazing and a bid of £10m will be enough to prise him away from there. I need a world class left back, can anyone recommend.
Johnny Karp
9 марта, 2010 at 11:05
@Sears
I don’t know if you have to install the first two patches before installing the third, my game updates automatically through Steam so I don’t have to do that. If you try to install the 10.3 patch and it doesn’t require 10.2 already installed that means that all the previous updates are included.
@Ravenie
Well done mate, a fantastic treble. About the left back, you could try Fabio or Marcelo but they can be quite expensive. Criscito is a world class option too.
ravenie
9 марта, 2010 at 18:24
I have 55m to spend. You should have seen my face.
sam warren
9 марта, 2010 at 21:12
Thanks Johnny I have now made it available for everyone to comment I was pleased with your praise and I will be posting again soon.
Thanks
warren
TheZiggy
10 марта, 2010 at 05:27
A great month there. You seem to be getting as hyper-critical about the performance of your team as I am. It’s always a good sign though if the team is still getting the wins, even when they aren’t playing as well as they can.
Johnny Karp
10 марта, 2010 at 05:50
@TheZiggy
Thanks mate, I agree that winning games even when playing badly is a good sign but I am very demanding because I know how well the team can play. Probably fatigue is adding up towards the end of the season, that’s understandable.
ravenie
11 марта, 2010 at 09:39
I can’t believe I’m saying this but I cheated by saving and going on holiday and found out the result and if i thought my team of that reputation wouldnt win I would try again. This is why I’ve decided to start from scratch with Southampton
Johnny Karp
11 марта, 2010 at 10:06
@Ravenie
I don’t understand, you went on holiday (for how long?) and what happened?
Kevin Mayo
11 марта, 2010 at 14:45
Hi Ravenie
I believe you are saying you put the game in «holiday mode» and let it continue on for a couple of weeks to see if results were to your liking. If not then you would just re loaded the game back at the point where you selected «holiday mode» and tried again until you were satisfied by the outcome. I think that’s it?
Anyway, I can only say good for you in owning up. Honesty is always the best policy and it takes a lot of courage to come forward and say so. Well done and good luck with Southampton.
Martin
11 марта, 2010 at 14:56
Is It Cheating If I Go On Holiday Because I Get A Bit Fed Up (If We’re Playing Poorly) But Carry On No Matter What When I Come Back?
Johnny Karp
11 марта, 2010 at 15:03
I never went on holiday in Football Manager (any version from CM 98 to this day) so I really don’t know what that means. Does the assistant manager take charge of the team while waiting for your return?
@Martin
I don’t think that’s cheating but I would sack you if I were the chairman :P
Martin
11 марта, 2010 at 15:06
Ha, Its Good That Some Things In Football Manager Are Unrealisitc ;)
Johnny Karp
11 марта, 2010 at 15:13
Anyway, if it’s like Kevin describes it I would call that a waste of time because you would make different tactical and psychological decisions than the assistant, so the results can be a lot different. I still can’t fully understand all this but maybe it’s due to the fact that I’m quite tired at the moment.
hils
20 августа, 2010 at 10:41
hi johnny,can you please tell me who i should look out for agaist birningham sorry if my spellings are wrong
Johnny Karp
20 августа, 2010 at 10:48
I don’t know, each game is different. I assign a scout to provide reports on the next opposition, he should tell you which opposition players are dangerous.