Notts County Story — March 2016

Here we go again folks, a new episode of the Notts County Football Manager 2010 story is ready! Despite a few injury problems we were still looking good at the end of February, top of the Premier League, won the Carling Cup and also were still in contention for the FA Cup and, most important, the Champions League. Let’s see how we went on from there.

The first game in March was at home with Fulham, a team that was exceeding the expectations and was lying in 12th place. And they were very close to getting a perfect start, a free kick shot hit the post, then traveled down the goal line and hit the other post before Akinfeev got a chance to catch the ball. Fulham‘s bad luck continued a few minutes later as Cristian Zapata converted a corner kick with one of his trademark powerful headers. Fulham were the better team in the first half and I guess we were lucky to go to the dressing room with the one goal lead. We showed a bit more football in the second half and young reserve  right winger Luiz Henrique scored his first goal for the club by heading in a cross from Agnaldo. Fulham hit the woodwork once again before Rafael Sobis put the game beyond doubt by finishing off a quick counter attack. It was a pretty poor performance from my lads but the finishing was top notch.

Next up, the FA Cup quarter final clash with Championship side Stoke City. They were fighting for promotion to the Premier League and were lying in 4th place at that time. I decided to send in a few young lads from the reserves hoping that they have enough to overcome a Championship side. The first half was fairly quiet but there was a player that wanted to prove something: reserve striker Xabier Atutxa. He placed in two perfect shots from inside the box. He got a bit of confidence and did it again in the second half, skipped past a defender and slotted it home to earn his first hat-trick for the club!

I guess a hat-trick deserves a screen shot too, here’s 19 year old Spanish striker Xabier Atutxa. He is Basque actually, I bought him for 1 million pounds from Athletic Bilbao last summer. He is a very talented lad and I hope that he will become a star of the future.

And now, the most important game of the month, the second leg of the Champions League tie against Valencia. We managed to snatch a 2-2 away draw last month so we had a good chance of going through. We started the game well, we were moving the ball around in Valencia‘s half but were unable to find a break through. Then disaster struck just when everybody was expecting us to score, right back Stefan van Dijk made a horrible late tackle in midfield and the referee had no choice but to send him off. I took out one of the strikers and sent in Gergely Varga and just when I was thinking about what to do next Nicola Bonetti made a blitz run down the right flank, crossed it low into the box and Rafael Sobis volleyed it straight in! I switched the strategy to counter as I expected a fierce reaction from Valencia and it was a good move, we kept the game under control until half time. The second half was more lively but we kept possession very well, Valencia only managed to create a couple of chances that were not too dangerous for Akinfeev to handle. On the other hand Rafael Sobis had two good chances to strike on counter attacks but he missed them. We were trough despite playing more than an hour with 10 men on the pitch, I was very pleased. The quarter final opponent will be strong German side Werder Bremen with the first leg to be played at Meadow Lane.

We had a few more Premier League games until then, the first one was away at last placed Birmingham. I expected to win it and the lads were determined to do that, we were all over them right from the start but hit the woodwork twice in the first 20 minutes. We kept on trying hard but it was the other team that scored, Birmingham‘s first shot on target went straight into the back of the net! That was a bit frustrating I reckon. We continued to push forward in the second half and Chris Gadi finally banged one in but not before hitting the crossbar once again. We won it eventually, a through ball from Fabian Delph was slotted in by Chris Gadi but I was very disappointed with the finishing, we should have scored at least three more goals. Well, I guess we can blame bad luck and carry on… Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

The next game was against another bottom of the table team, at home with 19th placed Middlesbrough. Andrea Romano was back in the starting eleven after recovering from his broken arm and he made an instant impact, a perfect assist for an early goal by Rafael Sobis. The Andrea Romano doubled the lead with a placed shot and he missed a couple more chances until half time. We were totally in control of the game but Middlesbrough scored somehow, it was a fluke goal that we should never had conceded. Anyway, Rafael Sobis settled things a few minutes later by placing in his 30th goal of the season.

The last Premier League game of the month was at home against 13th placed Sheffield United, the team that held us to a surprising 1-1 draw back in November. The first half was entirely ours, we dominated the game but the finishing was horrendous, my lads were unable to place the shots on target. A few minutes into the second half Ashley Young surprised everybody with a murderous tackle in midfield, he was sent off and that was just what we needed… Sheffield United parked the bus despite the one man advantage and it was all over, we couldn’t find a solution to get past their overcrowded defense.

While we drew with Sheffield United Chelsea lost a game, so the lead was now up to 14 points with a game in had. If my calculations are correct we only need two more wins to secure the title, I hope to get those six points as soon as possible.

The month was not over yet, we had to give our best for the Champions League quarter final with Werder Bremen. Having the first leg at home was a slight disadvantage but I was hoping for a good win to take away in Germany. Werder knocked out Galatasaray in the previous round and from what I’ve seen their most dangerous players were midfielder Mesut Ozil and gigantic centre back Mertesacker. Their team looked quite solid overall so I wasn’t expecting an easy evening.

The game started perfectly for us, Rafael Sobis headed in a cross from Fabio and things were looking good. Werder produced a fierce reaction though, they hit the post twice from close range a couple of minutes later. Then Andrea Romano stepped up, he created a perfect chance for Rafael Sobis and the Brazilian was not in the mood for forgiveness, 2-0. We were keeping the game under control but Werder clawed one back with a splendid long shot, Akinfeev was unable to get a hand to it. Then we had to withstand a bit of pressure until half time but we survived with a bit of luck. We played a lot better after the interval, Werder were under pressure but we missed quite a few chances. Cristian Zapata had to step up again, he flew high into the opposition box and headed in a corner kick, 3-1. We kept on pushing forward and Rafael Sobis finally netted his third goal of the evening, he could have scored 5 of them in the second half. We played very well in the last 45 minutes and I guess the three goal lead is a good advantage to defend in the second leg.

April will become pretty crowded if we get past Werder Bremen, so I hope to claim the Premier League title as soon as possible. We’ll also have the FA Cup semi final with Sunderland, it would be a shame to miss the final after reaching this stage.

That’s how it was my friends, the team played pretty well this month despite the two red cards. I would have wished for better finishing but I hope that my strikers are saving their goals for the Champions League semi final and, hopefully, final :)

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