So, we played nine games, lost two, drew one and won six. That’s not too bad but we dropped points quite easily towards the end of the month.
Luckily the other teams didn’t do much better so we are top of the table on 50 points, three points clear of second placed Preston! The race is tight though with both Doncaster and Shrewsbury looking as worthy candidates for promotion.
Centre back Mervin Simon was elected Young Player of the Month, he totally deserved it after recovering from an injury that kept him on the sideline for around three months. Our best players so far seem to be centre back Daniel Pappoe and midfielder Graham Howson but I’m pleased with around half of the squad or even more. There is one big disappointment and that is striker Dale Hills, he doesn’t seem to find his feet even if I gave him several chances to feature in the starting eleven. He is still very young though so I haven’t given up hope yet.
As you can see from the above screen shot several of my players are being targeted by other clubs, mostly Championship and Premier League sides. One of them has already cracked under the pressure of speculation: centre back Oliver Nicholas requested to leave the club and I failed to persuade him to stay. He still has a contract with us though, I have placed him on the transfer list but set a good asking price for him: 1.5 million pounds. I doubt that somebody would offer that much but I would settle for 1 million, not less! I hate to be forced into selling players so if the deal doesn’t work out he will have to act like a professional and play for us until the end of his contract.
But Nicholas is not my «most wanted» player, young left back Grant Baddeley is the one who deserves that title. He put in impressive performances so far and they didn’t go unnoticed: Arsenal and Chelsea are interested in him! I will try to offer him a new five-year contract, he’s the best prospect at the club.
Baddeley didn’t score any goals this season, nor did he make any assists. What he did was extremely useful though: lots of perfect tackles and a great number of interceptions. The interceptions are the part of his game that I like the most, he seems to read the game extremely well for his age and he is seldom beaten to the ball when he decides to go for it.
We’ll have two big cup games in January, the FA Cup match against Championship side Southampton and also the first leg of the JPT North final against Notts County.
We’ll also have five league games to worry about so there will be a lot of action. That’s about it for now my friends, thanks a lot for taking the time to read this rather long post. By the way, don’t forget to vote for the Goal Of The Month!
Vaibhav C.
24 января, 2011 at 13:58
Well Done Johnny, you ended up being first at the end of December. You had a good run except for those last 2 games. Dale Hills’s attributes are good, maybe he will start to fins his touch later for you.
Johnny Karp
24 января, 2011 at 15:42
Thanks mate. I still believe in Hills’s ability, he’ll have until the end of the season to prove himself.
Mark
24 января, 2011 at 14:39
1st one in a while, hope to read some more very soon. Good luck for next month part from the Notts County Match as i am a massive Season Ticket holder with them, got Man City in the cup at the weekend Cant wait. Anyway Johnny Good luck and i hope to see you storming the Championship soon lol Take care Mark
Johnny Karp
24 января, 2011 at 15:44
Thanks Mark and best of luck to the Magpies against Man City! You know that I’ve managed Notts County in FM 2010, don’t you? Won the Premier League too :)
garryduncan
24 января, 2011 at 15:29
yet again a good month. couple of bad results in the month but ur team bounced back well. u are doin an awesome job with the motormen. hopefully ur post a new update soon as this is the only game i enjoy reading since the southampton game has gone…well done mate
Johnny Karp
24 января, 2011 at 15:45
Thanks Garry, I’m doing the best I can to post as often as possible. The other stories are just as good though, even better. At least that’s what I think :)
Sears
24 января, 2011 at 17:01
That was a great month Johnny considering the huge fixture list. Well done on going top of the table!
Johnny Karp
24 января, 2011 at 20:55
Thanks Sears, it’s a pretty competitive league…
James
24 января, 2011 at 17:02
Really good month Johnny, you were slightly unlucky with Preston, i wish you luck mate!
Johnny Karp
24 января, 2011 at 20:56
Thanks James, I agree that we didn’t have too much luck against Preston.
Laxeyman
24 января, 2011 at 17:53
Hi Johnny, good month, and the inconsistencies of Preston mean that you’re in a great position to win promotion. Funnily enough, Preston are also in League 1 in my game, and are top iof the table, but they do lose a lot of games. There’s a long way to go, but I reckon you can stay ahead of them and win promotion. Good luck!
Johnny Karp
24 января, 2011 at 20:58
Thanks Laxeyman. There doesn’t seem to be a dominant team in the league so I guess we have as good a chance as any of the top four.
Sayam Khan
24 января, 2011 at 18:44
Hey Johnny,
I hate December and January in football management, there’s too many games!
Anyway, i’ve noticed your not afraid to say harsh words at the end of a match if the result isn’t in favour of you! Also you make subs at half time quiet often!
Good month there anyway and to be at the top half way through the season is great
You did some brilliant scouting to snap up that 18 year old! Hopefully you can keep him at the club.
Good Luck!
Johnny Karp
24 января, 2011 at 21:01
Thanks for the good luck wish Sayam. About the team talks, usually I try to encourage the players and boost their confidence but I do use the whip as well from time to time. Most of the substitutions are forced by fatigue issues, my tactic requires a lot of running from the players and those with less stamina can’t be at the top of their condition for more than 45 to 65 minutes. I can’t remember which scout spotted Baddeley but he surely would deserve a fat bonus :)
ravenie
24 января, 2011 at 19:04
You never fail to surprise me Johnny. You just know how to win don’t you ;)
Johnny Karp
24 января, 2011 at 21:01
I don’t know Ravenie, it’s a game of chance :P
Darren Smith
24 января, 2011 at 19:14
Well done Johnny, that was a very successful month and you seem to be making League One look like a breeze. Howson is amazing, no wonder he assists so many with a freekick rating of 20!! Your competition is stiff with ex Championship sides like Doncaster, Preston and QPR lurking. However, you seem to have a very good squad and I’m confident in your sides chances. Good luck mate.
Johnny Karp
24 января, 2011 at 21:02
Thanks Darren, I might be looking to add a couple of transfers in January to boost our chances.
hils
24 января, 2011 at 19:19
Hi Johnny,good month there!!!!!!!!! You should do well from now!!!!!!!!! Good luck!!!!!!!!!
Johnny Karp
24 января, 2011 at 21:02
Thanks Hils!!!
Jack
24 января, 2011 at 19:19
Solid month Johnny, I can already see championship football. Its interesting Baddeley makes a number of interceptions because his anticipation isn’t one of his best attributes, what attributes do you think allows a player to make a lot of interceptions? Also I’ve been trying to create my own tactics of late and am struggling to do so really, do you have any tips whilst creating one? Your thoughts would be much appreciated, Thanks :)
Johnny Karp
24 января, 2011 at 21:06
Thanks Jack. About Baddeley, I think that his determination might help him to play well at this level. About creating tactics, first you have to figure out how you want the team to be playing, then use the tactic creator to shape it up and then tweak it along the way. It’s a trial and error process and I would suggest watching full games for a while to see more of what’s happening than in the highlights. That’s what I did when I created my tactic, I started from wanting an attacking, creative and aggressive team (high defensive line, press more, attacking strategy, more creative freedom etc)
Jack
24 января, 2011 at 21:10
Thanks Johnny that is a big help! Good look for the rest of the season!
Johnny Karp
25 января, 2011 at 07:50
Thanks mate, let me know whenever you need help.
Kevin
24 января, 2011 at 21:20
Hi Johnny
Well done in coping with that massive fixture list and even though you lost two games you’ve managed to go top which is fabulous. A long month to follow so I hope you can keep up the momentum as well as keeping Nicholas on the books. Scott Wooten is worth a look at as he fills in fr Nicholas really well in my Wrexham save. Also check out Danny West of Chelsea if he’s in your game too. Great update!!
Johnny Karp
25 января, 2011 at 07:51
Thanks for the two recommendations Kevin, I will have a look at those. I’m not too keen on keeping Nicholas but I won’t sell him cheaply either.
Arjuna
25 января, 2011 at 00:33
You had a lot of matches, but you managed to get to the top of the table and you should stay there. Championship, here comes Johnny!
Johnny Karp
25 января, 2011 at 07:52
Thanks Arjuna. There’s still a long way to go until reaching promotion but I guess we’re on track.
Lye
25 января, 2011 at 10:19
Hi Johnny,
A lot of games to be play and i thought you did pretty well. Sitting on top at this point of time is great as December is always the most difficult. No doubt this will put you in good position to win the title. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
25 января, 2011 at 14:29
Thanks Lye. I agree that we are in a good position but the title is still far away at the moment, lots of work still to be done.
Ana Garcia
25 января, 2011 at 18:46
Well done Johnny a really good month, you deserve a medal for just getting through it and then writing it! :)
But it was a really good read and good to see you topping the table, looks very close at the top though with most sides seperated by a few points am hoping you can stay there come the end of the season!
Good luck!!
Johnny Karp
26 января, 2011 at 06:55
Thanks Ana, now we should figure out who should give me that medal :) Just kidding, thanks a lot for the comment and for the good luck wish.
Vinners
26 января, 2011 at 15:21
Hey, sorry I haven’t posted for awhile. My pc’s was broken for ages. I kept up with your story and everyone else’s though! You’ve been doing very well, I was just wondering coz your stadium is still 2,500 like mine, are you hemorrhaging money? Coz I am and the board just won’t upgrade the stadium!
Johnny Karp
26 января, 2011 at 15:52
Hi mate, thanks for following the stories and sorry to hear about your computer problems. About your question, we are losing money but not too much so we are able to compensate those losses with the income from the cup games.
Vinners
26 января, 2011 at 16:07
It’s alright. I’m only slightly behind you on my game. 10 games into League 1 so I’ll catch up soon. Ah ok, well I went out the league cup straight away but I’m still in the johnstone’s so I’ll concentrate on that as it is possible to win and provides income. Next Season they better upgrade my stadium! Cheers Johnny
Johnny Karp
26 января, 2011 at 17:04
I have asked them to upgrade the stadium a few times but money is scarce so I guess both of us will have to wait for a while before having a bigger stadium.
Vinners
26 января, 2011 at 18:21
Yer they did that to me so I decided to see if they’d build a new stadium rather than upgrade and they agreed. I didn’t really want too but I’m just gonna go with it now hopefully it’ll be good. It’s gonna be done just before the next season so hopefully if I get promoted I can have a brand new stadium for the Championship!
Johnny Karp
27 января, 2011 at 06:45
That’s great, I didn’t try to ask them for a new stadium. I might do that now :)