Notts County Story: May 2014 — Chasing A Dream

Hello folks, we’re finally there: the last episode of my fifth season as manager of Notts County! It has been a great season so far, with some ups and downs but at the end of April we were still in a good position to challenge for the title, one point behind Manchester United with a game in hand! Things were not looking too well for my team though, my best two strikers were injured and they were going to miss the end of the season.

The first game of the month was crucial, it was a direct battle with Manchester United at Meadow Lane. A defeat would have shattered our dreams, a draw would have been pretty good as it would have preserved our chances but a win would have been wonderful… As I said earlier our biggest problem was in attack, the two best strikers (Guilherme and Sobis) were injured, so I had to start with Moreno and Demba Ba. The players were also very tired after the incredibly busy schedule that we had to face in April. Manchester United had all their best players available, Rooney included.

Every single ticket was sold, the stands were packed with fans and I hoped that could encourage the players to fight until the last drop of energy. The condition was not very good, most players were on the brink of exhaustion but it was the most important game of the season, we had to use our heads and our hearts to keep the legs moving. The game finally started and Manchester United were looking better than us, they were dominating the game but were not able to show more than a few shots from distance. On the other hand my lads looked unable to create something special in the opposition half, we only had one shot on goal in the whole first half. We were forced to defend and try to hold on to the ball for as long as possible, as the half time match stats show.

Manchester United were building up the pressure after half time as my players were more and more tired. At that point I was just hoping for a miraculous draw… It could have all ended 10 minutes into the second half, Rooney shot on the volley from inside the six yards box, our keeper was beaten but the ball hit the post, bounced clear and then was sent far away by my defenders. It was a huge chance and you can’t imagine how relieved I was when I saw the ball bouncing away after hitting the post…

Two minutes later, substitute left winger Rodney Sneijder got fouled near the opposition’s penalty area, I hoped the free kick would have given us a bit of time to breathe. Sneijder stepped up to take it with his left foot, it went past the wall and into the net, right between the keeper’s hands and the post! The stadium nearly crumbled down, our fans were shouting and cheering as if they saw a miracle in the making.

We had to survive another half hour… I switched the strategy to counter but some of my players were unable to run, they were just walking around the pitch and trying to hold on to the ball and pass it… Manchester United had a great chance of scoring a few minutes later, Berbatov was clean through, one on one with Romero, but my keeper got a hand to it, another fantastic save! My players were defending heroically, nothing went past them in the following minutes. We were also trying to hold onto the ball but it was pretty difficult as some of the players were incredibly tired. We managed to survive somehow, Manchester United didn’t have any more clear cut chances until the final whistle! If you look at the stats you could say that we literally stole the win from them but considering my players’ fitness I can say that it was a heroic battle and a well deserved win.

If you look at the condition levels within my team right after the game you can see that a few players were extremely tired. I was hoping to recover some of them for the next match, the game in had that we had to play away at Sunderland.

We only needed two more points from the last two games but I was hoping to get three of them right away :) Sunderland were in 10th place, they didn’t have any more goals to aim for but I was sure that they would put up a good fight. As if the fatigue wasn’t enough of a problem, my right winger wonderkid Sam Hinshelwood got injured in training before the game, he’s going to be out for three months! It was a big blow for the team as he has been an essential player throughout the season. We had to live with that though…

We made a terrible start to the game, Sunderland were shooting at will from outside our penalty area and even from inside. My team looked unable to keep them under control and one of those shots went in eventually. We had to react and the team slowly took control. Ten minutes later a through ball from Demba Ba found Bonetti unmarked in the area, the young Italian smashed it in! We continued to push forward and were rewarded just before the break, Demba Ba finished a team move with a delightful log from the edge of the area! The team was quite confident in the second half, we kept the game under control but failed to create any more chances. We nearly got punished 5 minutes from time but Romero was our guardian angel once again, he saved it and the title was ours!

Our fans were delighted and I was too, we pulled it off against the odds and despite the hardships that we had to endure lately.

Confidence was high within the team but fitness was pretty scarce, so I decided to rest most of the players in the last league game, away at Aston Villa. I sent in a few worthless youngsters from the under 18 team but I didn’t have 11 of them so I had to field a few first team players. We lost the game 3-0 but I didn’t care about that. What I did care about is that one of the few first team players that had to be on the pitch got injured, Rodney Sneijder was going to miss the Europa League final and the FA Cup final! 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 Europa League final was going to be played in Torino at the Delle Alpi stadium, it was a slight advantage for our opponents. Palermo had a solid team, they knocked out Galatasaray, FC Porto and Arsenal to get to the final. Their line up included two very good players, Uruguayan striker Abel Hernandez (he could be a key player for my World Cup campaign) and Argentinian attacking midfielder Javier Pastore.

The bookmakers stated that we were slight favorites and they proved to be right immediately, we scored an early goal! It was all thanks to a good tricky cross from left back Joe Barton, it landed in the middle of the six yard box and Bonetti fought well to put pressure on the keeper. I don’t know what happened exactly but I do know that it went in and their keeper was the last man that touched the ball!

Palermo reacted immediately and Hernandez forced Romero to a great save. We continued to play well though and got another one in twenty minutes after the first goal, Demba Ba took a shot from an impossible angle, the keeper didn’t react and the ball went in!

Palermo missed another good chance before the break, I was delighted to go to the dressing room with a two goal lead. As some of the players were already tired I was forced to switch to a 5-4-1 setup with three centre backs and Moreno as a lone striker. I also switched the strategy to counter and it paid off, we controlled the second half and didn’t give Palermo any more chances to score. Moreno even missed a couple of chances on counter attacks.

It was a proud day for the club and also for me, that result pushed me up into the Romanian Managers Hall of Fame, behind some legendary names like Mircea Lucescu. That didn’t comfort me too much though, we had another game to play, the FA Cup final, and I had no more left wingers, Agnaldo got injured in the Palermo game!Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

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

That injury forced me to send in striker Demba Ba as a left winger. Sburlea and Moreno were the only choices I had for the attack and I was quite worried about that because Moreno didn’t score in the last 581 minutes he played and Sburlea… I couldn’t even remember when he scored the last goal but I believe it was in 2013! Arsenal had no such problems and they were tipped as favorites.

Arsenal were looking better in the first minutes of the game, they were more aggressive and fit. We looked pretty solid at the back though, Arsenal were unable to create chances. Our strikers were totally useless though, they couldn’t even hold on to the ball. The 90000 fans that came to see the game at Wembley must have been pretty bored at half time.

The second half began in the same quiet way until the 58th minute, a corner kick cross was fumbled by Arsenal‘s keeper and Bonetti was the quickest to react again. He sent the ball towards the empty net, it touched Nordtveit along the way and went in! It was the touch of luck that we needed! Oh, by the way, Nordtveit is a former Arsenal player :)

I switched the strategy to counter because I was expecting a fierce reaction from Arsenal. That reaction didn’t come though, we were controlling the game and midfielder Steven Defour doubled our lead 17 minutes from time with a perfect shot from the edge of the area!

Arsenal were falling apart, they were pushing forward chaotically and were leaving huge gaps behind their defensive line. That situation was perfect for Lucas Biglia, he played a perfect ball behind the defense for Moreno, the Bolivian advanced a few yards with it and lobbed it past the keeper! His goal drought was over and he ended it in style!

The last minutes were quiet, Arsenal were down and out and my players were just passing the ball around to the delight of our fans! We won a superb treble that enriches the club’s proud history!

I guess words are not enough to describe how this season was for me, a thrilling and rewarding year that I will surely remember for quite some time. I am just too happy now to perform a squad analysis and prepare for the new season, I will do that in the next post. Now I’m going to take a quick break for a day or two and enjoy the success :)

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