Notts County Story — October 2012

Hello my dear friends, welcome back to Notts County’s Football Manager 2010 quest for glory! This will be a rather quick update as we only had three games to play in October… Until that point our Premier League season went quite well, we were in 5th place at the end of September but I was sure that a few defeats could get us into the low region of the league table.

The first game of the month was away at 6th placed Sunderland, it seemed that we had a tough battle to fight. Sunderland came out with the clear intention to score, there were numerous moments of pressure for my defense in the first half. One player ran the show in the first 45 minutes though, right winger Sam Hinshelwood. His raids on the right flank were unstoppable and his crosses produced the two goals for us, the first one scored by Tinga and the second by the insatiable Guilherme. Goalkeeper Sergio Romero was fabulous once again, his saves were brilliant. Sunderland continued to attack in the second half and finally got one in thanks to a long range shot from Tainio. Lucas Biglia placed the three points in our bag with a well executed finish only a few minutes later, the fans were quite happy about it :)

The next game was at home with 13th placed Birmingham, we had to confirm our good form and get another good result. Sam Hinshelwood gave us the lead with a fine corner kick header but we conceded a goal from long range again, Mark Van Bommel powered in a volley from 30 yards out. Guilherme got us back on track right before the break but things were level again only a few minutes into the second half, we conceded a corner kick goal. The team got back in attack after that shock and I liked the way they played, with great determination and creativity. Two penalty kicks and another great finish from Guilherme gave us a high scoring win and the first hat-trick for the star Brazilian striker.

That was all the Premier League had to offer in October, we consolidated our fifth place with fellow newly promoted Newcastle just above us in 4th. Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City seem to have something above the rest, they conceded just a few goals so far…

The month was not over yet, we still had the Carling Cup 4th round game to play, away at West Ham. The first half was fairly even, the two teams battled hard for the ball in midfield but failed to produce anything special upfront. The second half was different, West Ham looked slightly better and managed to put us under pressure several times. We stood firm and hoped to go to the extra time. We finally did, but not as we expected. We took the lead in the 80th minute thanks to Italian winger Nicola Bonetti but we couldn’t hang on to that lead, West Ham made it all square only a few minutes before the final whistle. Both teams looked tired in extra time, chances were created on both ends. Sabrin Sburlea found the strength to power one in, we were in the lead again. Unfortunately things ended quite badly for us, West Ham equalized again and won the dreaded penalty shoot-out…

The fans were disappointed, they expected us to reach the Quarter Finals and I was quite bitter too. My deepest regret was that we were not able to hang on to that extra time lead, we conceded a rather foolish goal. Take a look at the screen shot below, that’s how that equalizer was scored. West Ham had a free kick from around 30 yards out and Scharner, the goalscorer, was completely unmarked inside our penalty area! I can’t understand why my players left him all alone like that but I guess I’ll have to live with that regret.

We’ll have the chance to get revenge over West Ham right away, the first game of November will bring them at Meadow Lane… We’ll have some tough matches after that one, Everton, Fulham and Manchester City, the title holders!

That’s about it folks, I’m looking forward to reading your comments. And before closing the post I’d like to make a quick statistical announcement, this is the 200th post that ever got published on this website! Big thanks to all the readers and authors that brought us this far!

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