Greetings from Canada and a Happy Thanksgiving to you all. It’s time for yet another update on my final FM 2011 story so let’s take a look at how The Saints performed over the last couple of months.
November 2011:
Two days after our defeat at Reading we were back at home to face Hull City. We got off to a fantastic start with Andrew Davies scoring after just three minutes with two more goals being added inside the first twenty minutes. The game was effectively over when Hull were reduced to ten men before half time and we really should have added more to our tally.
We followed the win with a very disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Norwich where we dominated proceedings but could not get the ball to cross the Norwich goal line despite several great opportunities.
A very poor performance indeed saw us taste defeat by a goal to nil away to Peterborough but we somehow managed to retain our top spot in the table.
With three games already played in the first eight days of the month the injuries were starting to add up with some being more serious than others; the worst being Vidal and Clifford. Thankfully we had a two week break coming up before out top of the table clash with Blackpool.
I did however make two short term loans to cover the defence. Jordan Spence from West Ham and Patrick van Aanholt from Chelsea.
The international break was over and it was time to host Blackpool at St Mary’s. Tom Cleverley got the game off to an electrifying start bagging a goal within the first minute after latching on to a through ball by Stevanovic from the centre circle. Cleverley was there again minutes later with a spectacular diving header that whizzed past both defender and goalkeeper to set the home fans into a frenzy. That was short lived as Blackpool pulled one back with just 10 minutes gone but we steadied ourselves and more pressure resulted in a third goal just before the half hour. That frantic first half would prove to be enough to beat Blackpool though remarkably Jose Fonte had three headers cleared off the line and two more hit the bar!!
Indicative of the month our inconsistent form continued as we then crashed away to Coventry by a score of 2-0.
White Hart Lane was next for our League Cup Q/F match with Spurs and once again I went for second string players simply because we had to play the new league leaders Birmingham next. We gave a good account of ourselves frustrating the home side for much of the match and although they dominated the game it wasn’t until the 86th minute that Spurs took the lead by which time exhaustion had ripped through the lads like a tornado. Although we lost I was extremely proud of their efforts even though we never looked like causing an upset on the night.
Results Summary:
December 2011:
I was happy to be in a new month and perhaps a fresh start as our form had been pretty lousy over the last several weeks. We started off against Birmingham at home which saw Jose Fonte head in an equalizer in the 55th minute as we battled for a point to keep us in the running for promotion.
Swindon Town provided the next opposition with Guly do Prado breaking the deadlock on the hour with a superb diving header. After Swindon had equalized with 11 minutes remaining Jason Puncheon scored the winner with a brilliant glancing header off a Chamberlain cross to snatch all three points at the County Ground.
Our next two games saw comfortable wins over both Cardiff and Derby County but then a lack lustre effort away to Doncaster brought the winning streak to an end.
The final game of 2011 and yet another top of the table clash this time against Nott’m Forest who were in first place with a lead of just two points. We took the game to Forest, controlling the midfield but once more our strikers failed to make chances count in front of goal and in a tense final 15 minutes it was defender Eric Botteghin who headed in the winner from a free kick that put us back on top of The Championship.
Results Summary:
League Table:
So we lead the pack going into 2012 but it’s going to be a tough race all the way to the end as the leader it seems is constantly changing. We will start the New Year away to Barnsley before entertaining Newcastle in the FA Cup third round.
That completes this report and my following updates may be a bit more consolidated as I’m anxious to move on to the FM 2012 Demo and see what the new game is like. The Icon is there on my desktop waiting to be explored but I don’t want to get distracted from this story so for now it remains «unclicked».
Thanks for taking the time to read this and I look forward to your comments.
Johnny Karp
9 октября, 2011 at 13:04
Still looking good there Kevin despite the few setbacks. Your lads had a proud afternoon against the Spurs, that narrow defeat is a very good result if you ask me.
Kevin
9 октября, 2011 at 17:34
Yeah, not bad considering our varying form. I was happy with that Spurs result as well.
Darren Smith
9 октября, 2011 at 13:08
Looking good for promotion Kevin which would be a nice way to end your FM 2011 career. I can’t wait to see how the season finishes and know what you’re dealing with in terms of temptation. After I clicked the demo icon I just can’t go back to FM 2011. :)
Kevin
9 октября, 2011 at 17:35
It would be nice to end FM 2011 with a title but promotion would be nice too. That red icon is very tempting indeed :)
Laxeyman
9 октября, 2011 at 15:10
Not bad Kevin, and the fact that your still top despite some inconsistent results is fantastic, because when you do hit top form you should be able to widen the gap, and hopefully you can do that over the next couple of months :) Good luck!
Kevin
9 октября, 2011 at 17:38
I’m hoping to widen that gap with some new players I have my eye on come January :)
vaibhavc
9 октября, 2011 at 15:42
Compared to your old form, this is a sudden drop! But this is still good. You are first and if you go on a huge winning streak, you will win the title with ease. I can’t go back to FM 11 since I got FM12.
Kevin
9 октября, 2011 at 17:39
I’m not sure what really happened? We suddenly didn’t gel as a team for a while. As for FM 2012 that’s why I haven’t clicked the icon yet :)
MDTM
9 октября, 2011 at 20:55
Hey Kevin,
Looks like your team is suffering from the same inconsistency mine is! At least you start the new year with a win under your belt and a 1 point lead on the table. Best of luck for the second half of the season!
Kevin
10 октября, 2011 at 18:45
I still can’t figure out why we become inconsistent particularly with the strikers
Martin - F.M.J.S
9 октября, 2011 at 21:21
Hi Kevin
Nice to see that your still at the top of the league. Unlucky with the result against Spurs. Shame you had to rest player but it a great result mind. Good luck with the rest of the season.
Kevin
10 октября, 2011 at 18:48
Thanks Martin. We could have taken the Spurs game to extra time but I don’t think we would have lasted too long
Lye
10 октября, 2011 at 02:43
Hi Kevin,
Looking good. It will be a three horse race and you can promote straight up but i hope you can win the title for us. Good luck.
I have briefly taken a look at FM12 but have not start playing. Just familiarize with the user interface etc. I quite like the team report and new tactics feature. Waiting to finish my Telford story then i will take a deeper look.
Kevin
10 октября, 2011 at 18:50
Hello Lye
I think you are right about the title race and hopefully we come out on top at the end :)
I’m looking forward to getting into FM 2012 myself..the video series has been great.
CsAtlantis
11 октября, 2011 at 03:32
You’re still hanging on to the top spot and are looking good for successive promotions, unlucky against Tottenham there in the quarter final, looking good, you have some sweet loaness too, what are QPR and Wigan doing? They don’t look so good :P
George Dobson
11 октября, 2011 at 19:00
well done kevin good luck with the rest of the season the fm 12 demo is very good.