September Morning — The Magpies In The Championship

Hello my friends, welcome back to my Football Manager 2010 story. Our first month in the Championship was very good, we were still unbeaten after 5 games and it seemed like we were on course for a top spot at the end of the season. I knew that it was just the beginning of a long winding road so we had to work hard and earn the points on the pitch.

I decided to bring in a new player at the end of August, I felt we needed another right/left winger to provide enough depth in that area of the team. As there was no transfer money left and we were already over the wage budget I had to find a good player on loan. I was happy when Ajax Amsterdam accepted to loan Rodney Sneijder for free and without any wage contribution from our part.

The first game of the month was away at 17th placed Crystal Palace, they didn’t have a good start this season. Our first half was extremely poor though, we couldn’t get past their aggressive midfield. We looked better after the break and Tomas Pekhart gave us the lead with a fine right footed drive from 25 yards out. We defended well after scoring that goal and Sburlea doubled our lead just before the final whistle after a blitz counter attack.

We had a tough game coming up, at home with 4th placed Middlesbrough, a very strong team with fast talented players upfront. The first half was fairly even but Boro had luck on their side, they scored a total fluke — a wild cross from the left flank got past the keeper, hit the post and then went in… We were much more offensive in the second half, our midfielders showed much more creativity. As a result of that we scored two identical goals, Alibec and Szalai scored after receiving superb through balls inside the box, right through the middle of their defense. We defended well after the second goal and I was relieved to see Digard sent off after a murderous tackle, he deserved the red card much earlier. We controlled the last minutes of the game easily and the final whistle gave us a very important win, a hard fought one too.

The next game was another difficult one, away at 6th placed Bristol City, a very strong team that just got relegated from the Premier League. We had a poor first half again, goalkeeper Ben Amos kept us alive with some magnificent saves. Bristol City did score eventually, they deserved to take the lead after missing quite a few good chances. I was hoping to keep the narrow gap at the end of the first half but somehow we managed to score, Sneijder hit the post, the ball bounced clear and Pekhart finished it off with a quick volley. We kept possession very well in the second half and even created a few chances upfront. We had a great chance to win it in the last minute of the game, Sburlea was clean through but Orr fouled him just outside the penalty area… He got sent off for the professional foul but he saved the goal, good choice.

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That was our last league game of the month, we were top of the table!

There was another game to be played before the end of September though, the Carling Cup 3rd round clash with fellow Championship side Derby County. The game started wonderfully, young Spanish midfielder Carlos Martinez played a perfect through pass for Denis Alibec and we were 1-0 up right away! The Romanian striker was having a great day and he scored again 15 minutes later with a superb shot from the edge of the area, it went right under the crossbar! Derby tried hard to get back into the game in the second half but Alibec scored again, he was unstoppable. My defenders made a very bad error in the last minute of the game but it didn’t matter anymore, we were through to the last sixteen!

The draw didn’t show any mercy though, we’ll play Manchester United in the next round. Even worse, the game will be played at Old Trafford… We’ll also have some pretty tough league games to play in October, particularly the away game at Nottingham Forest, our fierce rivals!

I guess October will be pretty interesting :) That’s how September was, I was satisfied that we kept our unbeaten record but I’m quite sure that we won’t be able to stay unbeaten for a long time, the opponents in Coca-Cola Championship proved to be very strong. I guess anything can happen from now on but I definitely hope we can stay in the high side of the table.

As always, I’m looking forward to reading your comments ;)

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