Next up, another home game but this time it was a special one, the Nottingham Derby. We won the first game of the season at The City Ground 2-1 back in August and our fans were expecting another reason to celebrate. My lads were very motivated and the first half looked like a siege, Forest were under pressure throughout the 45 minutes but we failed to convert that into a goal. Tomas Pekhart headed one in just after the break, he didn’t have a very good season until that point. His previous goal for the club was scored a few months ago, in September! Lucas Biglia doubled our lead with a good free kick shot, we played very well and deserved to win the game.
The last game of the year was away at Anfield Road, Liverpool were in 9th place and desperately looking to climb up the table. Guilherme was still out, we had to survive without him. The first half was fairly even but Liverpool scored twice, first Gerrard blasted in one of his superb shots and then Skrtel flied over our defense and powered in a corner kick header. Sburlea took advantage of an error from Carragher to give us a way back into the game but we failed to keep up the pace in the second half. Most of my players were tired and Liverpool controlled the game with their industrious midfielders. We finished the year with a deserved defeat…
… but we managed to keep the sixth place. I guess we can say that we have what it takes to fight for an Europa League place, we have 18 more games to play and I reckon that we need another 10 wins to finish 6th.
Our best player so far was undoubtedly goalkeeper Sergio Romero, I can’t even count how many times I praised his fantastic saves. Guilherme and Sburlea gave us the goals that we needed while Lucas Biglia and Sam Hinshelwood were responsible for most of the assists.
As you can see from the squad screen shot we have quite a few unavailable players, that could be a problem for the first games of January. And we don’t have easy games at all, we’ll start with Chelsea at home, then the FA Cup game with Tottenham and then Manchester United at Old Trafford…
Anyway, I’m quite pleased with our progress so far and I hope to get those 10 wins that could give us the Europa League place, my target is to have at least 65 points at the end of the season. The board didn’t give me any extra transfer money, so I will probably look to bring one or two more players on loan to buy deals. I will be looking for a strong striker, one that could dominate the aerial game and supply Guilherme with passes. I will also try to find a good midfielder to provide backup for Biglia, we could be in trouble if he gets injured.
That’s about it for now my friends, I’m looking forward to reading your comments. I will be away for a few days starting tomorrow morning, I have to travel to another city to do some work for my job so I might not be able to reply to your comments and emails in a timely fashion. I will try to find time for that but I can’t promise anything. Don’t worry, I’ll be back on Saturday :)
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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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