Hello again dear friends, a new episode of the Notts County Football Manager 2010 story is ready to go live! We were right on track at the end of February, top of the table with a comfortable gap over Manchester City, 10 points. We had to keep winning and consolidate our league position but we also had two very important cup games, the Carling Cup final and the Champions League first knockout round second leg with Bordeaux. Let’s see what we managed to do.
The first game of the month was at Wembley, the Carling Cup final with Liverpool. The Reds knocked us out of the FA Cup last month but that was not too relevant because I chose to field the usual substitutes in that game. Liverpool won 3-2 back then thanks to a hat-trick from Fernando Torres, I hoped that my defenders would keep him quiet this time. We were back in the Carling Cup final after four years, we managed to get there as a League One team in 2011 but Everton crushed our dream of lifting the trophy by beating us 4-1. Now we had a much better chance. We started the match pretty well, we were dominating the game but Reina miraculously stopped a couple of shots in the first minutes. He was forced to get the ball out of the net eventually, Tinga sliced their defense wide open with a through ball for Demba Ba and the Senegalese striker powered it home. We kept the game under control in the second half but couldn’t double our lead. The game was heading for a hot finale when Guilherme placed one past Reina but our joy was short lived as Mascherano banged one in from 30 yards out. We continued to attack though and a last minute penalty kick sealed the win, Joe Barton slotted it home. We never looked like losing this one, the team played very well and we could even have won it by a bigger margin. My dream came true, the League Cup was now in our proud and growing trophy cabinet. Josep Guardiola got sacked by the Liverpool board right after the game and they offered me the job along with a hefty transfer budget, no less than 80 million pounds! I declined the offer but I’m still thinking about who I would have bought with that kind of money…
We didn’t have much time to celebrate, a tough league game was right ahead of us. We had to play at Stamford Bridge against 3rd placed Chelsea, a team that we beat 3-0 in October after a wonderful performance. Chelsea were 16 points behind us with one game in hand, so they had to win the game in order to preserve their slim title hopes. We were in good shape, playing well again but Petr Cech denied our claims for an early goal with a couple of fine saves. Chelsea went down at the half hour mark, Rafael Sobis and Sam Hinshelwood gave us a two goals lead in only four minutes with perfectly placed shots from inside the penalty area. Chelsea tried to react after the interval but they failed to produce more than a few shots from distance. They were out of the title race and I guess they deserved that, we looked like a much better team.
The next game was supposed to be an easier one, at home with 15th placed Wolves. I wanted to get revenge after the away game, it was quite frustrating then because it ended 2-2 with my boys missing lots of chances. Guilherme got us off to a good start with a placed finish but we failed to do more in the first half. Guilherme doubled the lead a few minutes after the break after picking up a superb assist from Sam Hinshelwood, I was expecting more goals at that point. The team got complacent though and Wolves were intercepting lots of poor passes. They found a way back into the game and they even had a couple of chances to equalize in the last minutes, Akinfeev stopped them with his fantastic skills. I was very disappointed but I guess the three points are all that matters at the end of the day. Nicola Bonetti got injured during the game, he was going to be out for 10 days, enough to miss the important match against Bordeaux.
We had a slim advantage over Bordeaux after the first leg, we managed to snatch a 1-1 draw but Bordeaux clearly dominated that game. A goalless draw would have been enough for us but I surely wanted to score. It didn’t happen in the first half, both teams looked rather cautious and no clear chances were created. Bordeaux came out of the dressing room with a different attitude after half time, they were all over us and Ochoa had to produce a couple of wonderful saves to keep us afloat. Then we got lucky, a corner kick against the run of play gave us the lead as Kjaer banged it home with a far post header. We took control of the game after the goal, Bordeaux were looking shaky. A few minutes later Sam Hinshelwood proved his qualities again, he dribbled through the defense and placed the ball past the keeper! Bordeaux were unable to react, they were looking like a totally different team. We were through to the quarter final and the draw pitched us against Premier League rivals Manchester City. The first leg was going to be played at Meadow Lane only a week later! Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
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.