Here we go again dear friends, a new update of my Premier League season is ready, hot out of the oven! My Notts County were in 6th place at the end of November and I thought that the six games that we had to play in December will show whether we can hope for an European spot at the end of the season or not. The board say that they would be happy with a top half finish but considering how the team has played so far the fans were beginning to hope for more.
The first game of the month was at home with 18th placed Blackburn. It started badly for us, we conceded a corner kick goal right away. We reacted well and Guilherme got us back level with a superb finish, right out of the top drawer! We continued to push forward but we only took the lead a few minutes before the break when Sburlea converted a fine through ball from Tinga into a goal. Blackburn played well in the second half and put us under pressure on numerous occasions. We had our own chances on counter attacks but we missed them. It seemed that we were able to hang in there and grab the win but Romero failed to intercept a cross and the score was level again. We tried to react and we succeeded, Sburlea headed on a long ball, Guilherme received the pass and finished it off with a placed shot! It was a thrilling game that we won thanks to Guilherme‘s class.
The next game was away at fellow newly promoted side Newcastle. They had a very good start of the season and were lying in 7th place, right behind us. We had a very good first half, controlled the game and scored twice. Tinga gave us the lead with a fantastic missile shot from 30 yards out and wonderkid Sam Hinshelwood made it 2-0 with a fine corner kick header. Newcastle switched to a 4-2-4 formation after the break so I chose to change the strategy from our usual «attacking» to «counter». It proved to be a good move, we defended the lead without suffering too much so we went home with all the three points.
Next up, a difficult home game, Tottenham were coming at Meadow Lane. Their season was not very good though and I hoped to capitalize on that, they were down in 16th place despite having a very good squad. We dominated the first half but couldn’t break their defense. Fortunately centre back Martin Caceres found the right moment to score his first goal for the club, he gave us the lead with a corner kick header. We had to defend in the second half, Tottenham tried pretty hard to get back on level terms. We defended well though and even missed a few chances on counter attacks.
So far so good, three wins out of three games. The next match was at home with 11th placed Aston Villa, a very good team that had a few problems in the early stages of the season. We dominated the first half once again and Sabrin Sburlea converted the pressure into a goal right before the break. The second half was fairly even but we had one single problem: Agbonlahor. My defenders just couldn’t keep him quiet and he turned what could have been another win for us into a draw… Guilherme picked up a minor injury and he was going to be out for 9 days.
Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Laxeyman
18 января, 2010 at 20:53
Well done Johnny, another good month there! I reckon you only need around 62 points to finish 6th and I’m pretty sure you will do it! Good Luck for January, you’ve got some tough fixtures coming up.
Martin
18 января, 2010 at 20:54
Sburlea Looks To Be A Good Little Player In The Premier League
Good Luck On Your Job Work:P
Johnny Karp
18 января, 2010 at 21:08
@Martin
Thanks buddy, I’m very happy with Sburlea’s contribution as he’s one of the players that came in from the beginning of my Notts County career, in League Two.
@Laxeyman
Thanks mate, I said 65 to be absolutely sure. Or maybe 68 would be 100% sure, it depends on how the other teams play. January will be quite tough indeed, I hope to survive the first three games and then see what we can do.
Martin
18 января, 2010 at 21:42
By The Way Everyone, I’ve Got A New Post:D
http://martinfmstory.blogspot.com/2010/01/january-and-february.html
Kevin Mayo
18 января, 2010 at 23:35
Aha!
You sneaked in an update before leaving :) I’ll take a good look when I get home. Another excellent month it seems.
eddie eddie
19 января, 2010 at 02:20
Good month for you and good luck.
Johnny Karp
19 января, 2010 at 06:35
@Eddie
Thanks mate.
@Kevin
I just couldn’t leave without posting it, could I? :) I am leaving in a couple of hours, take care.
Lye
19 января, 2010 at 10:19
Good job mate, half a season gone and your team is estalished in the premier league. Seems like europa place is within your sights as long your team don’t go out of form for the second half of the season, i believe we will see you in europe next season.
Wilko
19 января, 2010 at 15:28
Great results my friend your home record is great, If you could only transfer that form when your away you will be force to be reckoned with, Oh and well done with the derby win
marvin
21 января, 2010 at 09:36
i’m not surprised with how notts county are performing well in the premier league because he’s done that before with blyth and i’m confident his team can secure a place in the europa league or probably in the champions league by the end of the season. Too bad i’m still playing fm 09 because fm 10 is still not in the market here in the philippines, only a few in our country loves football so that’s why fm 10 is still not available.
Kevin Mayo
21 января, 2010 at 11:20
Hi Marvin…Mabuhay!
You can always download FM 2010 through Steam which is what I have done for the last two versions as it’s not easily available in Canada either.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/34000/
Nick
21 января, 2010 at 12:31
Hey Johnny,
Firstly congrats on the popular blog. Unfortunately for me, this reeks of cheating, I have played FM from way back when it was still called Championship Manager.
I have played with many teams, and with many people and I have never seen someone put together 3 seasons in a row like this without the save/load cheat.
I’m sorry if I am falsely accusing you, but I have lost interest in this blog as it seems completely generated.
I understand that Notts County is an easy team to play as they start the game with a strong squad, lots of money and a sugar daddy, but the pure domination you have experienced in this game just strikes me as fake.
Once again sorry if I am wrong and congrats on the blog.
Rooneye
21 января, 2010 at 16:15
Well done Johnny looking good :) I reckon you’ll get into Europe so good luck with that! I just noticed you have Jacob Mellis, I have him on loan on my Southampton game, though I didnt think he looked that good, does he get better after a few years? Do you think I should try and sign him permanently?
@Nick 6th in the League isnt dominating, Johnny has built up a good team, not superstars but the team as a whole is playing very well together I dont think he is cheating at all. I myself have brought a team to the prem like that with back to back promotions. Having followed Johnny blog for over a year now, I know that he is a very good FM player he knows how to get the best out of his players and tactically is very good. Plus he writes his blog practically daily, if he was to reload all the time it would take forever, so no I dont believe he cheats, not at all.
Kevin Mayo
22 января, 2010 at 02:19
Rooneye
Ref: Nick comment
Well said mate. I think you summed it up very nicely there. Johnny has a full time job so he’d never have time to keep re-loading the game and updating his blog on a regular basis, as well as all the comments he posts on other blogs. I believe he’s just very analytical and tactical astute….in my humble opinion.
Johnny Karp
23 января, 2010 at 15:46
Hello folks, thanks for your comments and sorry for the late response, I just came back home half an hour ago.
@Marvin
I also got my game through Steam, it’s a very convenient to buy the game in Romania too.
@Nick
I don’t think that I can prove that I don’t cheat, my education tells me that the one who accuses somebody of doing something has to back it up with some proof. Anyway, Rooneye is right, I don’t have enough time to do that. Secondly I don’t think there will be any fun left if I would cheat, I would just quit playing the game if I was tempted to do that. The pleasure of playing FM is, for me, thinking the tactical aspects, scouting and finding solutions. Cheating would ruin all that and I guess that’s why I never thought about doing that.
@Rooneye
Mellis is a decent player, he did well in Championship for my team but I think I will let him go at the end of this season, I have better midfielders than him.
@Kevin
As a matter of fact I have a full time job and a part time one…
paine
23 января, 2010 at 17:38
A cheater?
Uhmmm….some months ago a bloke came to my blog accusing me to cheat, cause he thought that my achievements were out of this world and other funny things like that.
Of course there’s not a proof that Johnny or anyone else is not cheating, from what I saw he’s a good tactician and a very good team builder (an underrated skill that is vital in FM), then, as he said, he seems to have fun playing FM and writing on this blog too, in my opinion only a mental guy could enjoy a game where he cheats…and I don’t think Johnny is mental.
Or not…?!
Johnny Karp
23 января, 2010 at 17:45
Thanks Paine, I hope I’m not mental :) Btw, will you update your blog on a regular basis again?
paine
23 января, 2010 at 17:58
It seems that after a busy period and some random FM games not really exciting for me, I could have found a game to talk about on my blog…
Johnny Karp
23 января, 2010 at 19:01
Great, I’m looking forward to reading the story :)
Mihai
23 января, 2010 at 20:33
I also made it with Notts after winning the play-offs in the Championship. I’m only 11th place bur I made it in the League Cup final and lost 4-2 against Chelsea. I made my own tactic but I’m struggling in the league.
My team:
Velthuzien
Bianchini (game made player) — Medel — Simayes — Mattock — Fellaini (DM) — Mcgeady (LM) — Ninis (RM) — Vukcevic (Van der Vaart) (AM) — Cardozo (ST) — Santa Cruz (Ruben Rochina) (ST)
Sonny
23 января, 2010 at 21:20
will you be spending in the transfer window ?
Johnny Karp
24 января, 2010 at 11:09
@Sonny
I don’t have much money left, only a couple of millions, so I will probably look to bring one or two players on loan to buy deals.
@Mihai
You seem to be doing quite well, your midfield looks very good. With a few new players next season you should be challenging for a top spot.
Martin
24 января, 2010 at 13:20
Johnny, I Went A Bit Crazy Yesterday And Finished My Season! :P
Im Gonna Do A Post For The Rest Of The Season Now So I Dont Fall Too Far Behind…
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