Plymouth Argyle: Feb — March 2012

Hello readers and welcome back to my latest update from my Football Manager 2012 story.

February 2012

Well it had to happen sooner or later and sure enough the backroom staff broke the bad news that Asante was injured in training and will be out for up to 5 weeks.

Some good news though was that Bhasera and Marques had returned from their exploits in the African Nations Cup as their countries were eliminated in the group stages and so were back in the starting line up to face Southend.

Ironically it was Southend’s Kyle Asante who opened the scoring at Roots Hall after 17 minutes and it took a very long time for us to settle but we finally managed an equalizer with Lecointe heading home right on half time. A talk to Benik Afobe paid dividends as he headed in three minutes from the restart and after we controlled the second half Afobe set up Mark Leech for the killer goal late in the game.

Two Simon Walton free kicks, two Soukouna headers back across the box and two poached goals from Afobe inside the six yard area was enough to defeat Port Vale at home. That was followed by a really scrappy game away to Shrewsbury which after leading 1-0 for the longest time threw away in the last 3 minutes as the home side equalized form the penalty spot.

We stayed away from home for our next match against Crewe and a brilliant first half display by Soukouna saw a the young Frenchman head in two goals and set up one for fellow defender Curtis Nelson. Substitute Warren Feeney added a fourth 7 minutes from the end to complete a comprehensive victory.

     Crewe highlights

The Crewe game was marred by injuries with Soukouna picking up a knock and will be gone for three weeks and Afobe fractured his ribs and will be out for the rest of his loan term and will go back to Arsenal. That’s a huge problem as it leaves me with very little pace up front.

Tottenham’s Kudus Oyenuga seemed to fit the bill as Afobe’s replacement so I signed him on a one month loan and he made an immediate impact scoring the equalizing goal after Bradford had taken the lead at Home Park. Oyenuga’s neatly placed the ball into space for Lecointe to drive home the go ahead goal five minute before half time and that would prove to be enough for the win.

March 2012

The month started off with a very frustrating opening 45 minutes at home to Barnet going into the interval at 0-0. We were thrown a bone as Barnet were reduced to 10 men and after several shouts from the touchline we finally took the lead through a cracking shot on the volley by ML Will Atkinson after 81 minutes. Atkinson caught Barnet on the counter 4 minutes later to double the lead and secure the points.

Next up was a trip to the Memorial Ground to take on Bristol Rovers and it was the same story as in the previous game except this time we couldn’t get the ball across the goal line and we paid the price conceding a very late goal and thus ending an unbeaten run stretching back to Boxing Day.

The following game saw the return of Asante and Soukouna to the starting line-up but neither made any real impression and it was Rui Marques who headed home the only goal of the game in what was really a forgettable performance against Morecombe.

We looked more like our old selves particularly in the second half away to Cheltenham which saw Asante get back on the score sheet after defender Curtis Nelson gave us an early first half lead. A lovely glancing header by Will Atkinson in the dying moments rounded out very nice win on the road.

Three days later we were at home to Rotherham and despite them now lagging 16 points behind us still were in contention for a play-off spot and therefore posed a threat. Any underlying fears I may have had were soon put to rest as Asante poached his first of two goals after just 6 minutes, the second coming after the hour mark. Rotherham brought back the nerves with a quick goal after the interval after which we remained solid for the rest of the 45 and secured another 3 points.

We were away to Gillingham in the following game who proved to be very tough opponents having taken the lead after just 14 minutes. The equalizer came through Matt Lecointe who finished off a brilliant set of passes that started with the back four. Leconite grabbed his second of the game after Asante robbed the Gillingham GK of the ball which he received for an easy tap in.

In a strategic move I signed Spurs reserve GK Oscar Jansson on a three month loan in an effort to avoid initiating a contract clause for GK Romain Larrieu. He’s on £3,000 a week and one more game would allow him to stay an extra year which we simply cannot afford. So I’m trying to keep him out of the team!

We finished the month off with a 3-1 win at home to Wimbledon thanks to a late brace by substitute striker Warren Feeney whose two goals meant that we were promoted to League One!!

Current Table:

So with just six games remaining only Swindon Town pose any real threat to us taking the Legaue Two title.

Results Summary:

Fixtures:

We start the title run in with two games in two days and hopefully by the time we meet Torquay in the Devon derby we will have the seson wrapped up.

Super Sevens:

**Authors Note**

At the beginning of the game I just loaded up UK and Ireland leagues to add some realism as I suspected scouting would be restricted by the board. With promotion secured i’m hoping that will change next season so I took advantage of FM 2012 new feature and added the French Leagues whilst deleting the Welsh one. Apologies in advance to Wales :(

The completes this update and i’m looking forward to bringing you the season finale! Thanks for taking the time to read this.