Hello friends and welcome back to Ellesmere Port for another month’s worth of Blue Square Premier action. Our debut month saw the team producing a confusing set of displays with three wins, one draw and two well-deserved defeats. We were in 9th place at the end of August but that didn’t tell too much about the team’s strength or of it’s season perspectives. I was hoping to see better form in September, let’s see if the players managed to please me.
The opening game of the month was away at 14th placed Hayes & Yeading, I was quite curious to see my lads in action in another away game after losing the last one 2-0 at leaders Cambridge. This time things seemed to go our way right from the start, Danny Uchechi scored the opener nine minutes into the game with a cool finish that rounded off a nice team move. We created another pair of chances before the break but we only managed to double the advantage after the interval when Shane Williams played a good pass for Omar Koroma who displayed a great first touch and a good finish. Twenty minutes from time Williams capped a great performance with a goal of his own, I was very happy with his display. Unfortunately Oguzhan Ozyakup picked up an injury that was going to keep him out of the team for six weeks.
After the game I managed to complete another signing: 18-year old Irish central midfielder Nathan Rooney. I didn’t really need another CM but this lad seems to have great potential so when the scout presented his report I just couldn’t resist the temptation. Kurt Hammonds will leave the club in January as a result, his transfer has already been confirmed.
Next up, a home game with Kevin‘s Wrexham, they were down in 15th place. I was expecting to grab the three points but our display was disappointing, we only managed to get one shot on target and another one against the woodwork. It ended goalless and our inconsistency was showing yet again.
Luckily we had two more home games coming up so we had the chance to make it up to our fans. The first one saw us playing hosts to 10th placed Macclesfield and the game was made easy by striker Danny Uchechi again with a brace inside the opening 20 minutes. The visitors put on a very good second half display but we could have added more goals on counter attacks. Unfortunately we were hit by another injury, left winger Pablo Navas was going to spend a month on the sidelines.
The last home game of the month was against 15th placed Newport County. The game saw another clinical display from Danny Uchechi, he bagged another brace after an opening goal scored by centre back Oliver Nicholas. It was a dominant display and I was extremely pleased to have gone four matches without conceding.
The last game of the month was away at struggling Forest Green, they were down in 19th position. We got off to a good start again as centre back Oliver Nicholas headed one in six minutes into the match, just like in the previous game. Then we hit the woodwork before Leigh Smith made it 2-0 by sliding in an Omar Koroma low cross. The hosts could have gotten back into the game before the break but they missed a penalty kick. We could have killed off the contest before the break as we missed two great chances and Forest Green looked determined to produce a fightback after the break. There was space four counter attacks though but unfortunately Danny Uchechi missed two very good breakaway chances. The home side pulled one back eight minutes from time but we held firm and grabbed another three points.
The great run pushed us up in third place but we have to be cautious, we played only against teams from the lower half of the table this month.
The player that I’d like to single out is centre back Oliver Nicholas, he put on a string of very good displays since the start of the season. His only rating below 7 was in the opening day of the season, then he never went below 7.1 and also bagged four goals in the process. He is establishing himself as a key player in my defense and surely makes Ryan Carolan‘s departure easier to digest for our fans.
We’ll have a few more difficult games next month (Gateshead, York and Wimbledon) so we’ll know more about our strength after playing those matches.
That’s about it for now, we had a very good month but the games were against rather weak opponents. It’s too early to shout «promotion» but I guess we might be in with a chance. Thanks a lot for reading, I’m looking forward to your comments.
hils
28 ноября, 2010 at 13:39
Hi Johnny,great month there!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully,your team will continue the form!!!!!!!!!! Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Johnny Karp
28 ноября, 2010 at 15:21
Thanks Hils, I’ll try to pass on some of your enthusiasm to the players :)
SteveS
28 ноября, 2010 at 15:17
Nice job, Johnny. I’m a little surprised at that CM signing though. With such low dribbling. concentration, and positioning, I probably would have skipped him. Of course, I’m currently managing Wolves to a «fighting bravely against relegation» finish, so what do I know :) What is it that you look for to tell you he’ll be a good player? Anyway, good luck next month, and hopefully you’ll continue your drive for a promo spot.
Johnny Karp
28 ноября, 2010 at 15:20
Thanks Steve. About the CM, it depends on what you want him to do on the pitch. I signed this one because he has good determination, work rate and passing among other attributes. I will be publishing a post about the key attributes for each role, I’m working on it and I guess it should be online in a couple of days.
Steven
28 ноября, 2010 at 15:32
Nice results there
on your next post could you put up your club finances please?
Johnny Karp
28 ноября, 2010 at 16:41
Thanks Steven. We’re around 250K in red but if you want more details I’ll post a screen shot of the finances screen with the next update.
Laxeyman
28 ноября, 2010 at 16:19
Hi Johnny, great month, now you’ve got a decent chance of promotion if you continue to play like that. Hopefully you can stay clear of injuries too, as I’ve noticed that my team are picking up a lot more knocks in the Blue Square Premier. Good luck!
Johnny Karp
28 ноября, 2010 at 16:42
Thanks Laxeyman. We didn’t have too many bad injuries so far, hopefully that will continue for the rest of the season.
Paine
28 ноября, 2010 at 18:03
It seems that Uchechi and Koroma work well together, but as you said, hard games are yet to come.
Good luck for next month.
Johnny Karp
28 ноября, 2010 at 18:15
Thanks for the good luck wish Paine. Uchechi and Koroma are playing well but I’m a bit worried about the other two strikers, I gave them a few opportunities to play but they didn’t score any goals and played rather badly overall. I just hope that Uchechi and Koroma will keep it up a while longer…
paine
30 ноября, 2010 at 13:29
Some players unfortunately need to play regularly to have good performances, some others are always ready, even if you give them just a small chance.
It’s related to their mental attributes, I think.
Johnny Karp
1 декабря, 2010 at 07:50
I know, it requires patience and I do have that attribute sometimes. Sometimes I don’t…
Kevin
28 ноября, 2010 at 18:48
Hi Johnny
Pretty solid month there that keeps you on pace with the league leaders Cambridge.
Johnny Karp
28 ноября, 2010 at 21:02
Thanks Kevin but I’m not really looking at the leaders at the moment, we have to show consistency (both in the style of play and the results) and then count the points.
Vinners
28 ноября, 2010 at 19:32
Good Month Johnny! I’ve got 4 games left on my game. I won the league quite convincingly in the end. It was tight but the other started to lose silly games and I just kept winning/drawing. I was league champions with 7 games to go and I got the fa trophy cup final against Darlington. I managed to get myself 15k in the black so I’ll be looking to invest in my facilities in the summer. Keep up the good work!
Johnny Karp
28 ноября, 2010 at 21:03
Thanks Vinners. You have done really well to balance the club’s budget, I wish I could achieve that soon.
Vinners
28 ноября, 2010 at 22:46
Haha, you will. We benefit from a huge stadium so it just fills up and from time to time it REALLY fills up! I didn’t do anything inparticular to balance the budget apart from friendlies. I just watched the negatives go down and down and suddenly I was in the black. If you don’t get in the black this season, you definately will next season!
Johnny Karp
29 ноября, 2010 at 06:31
Well, our stadium isn’t huge and it rarely fills up…
Vinners
29 ноября, 2010 at 17:24
2,000 is pretty big if it’s only having attendances of 500-1000 on average :P
Darren Smith
28 ноября, 2010 at 19:38
Well done mate, you seem to be gaining momentum and the only concern would be injuries as Laxeyman said. Either way I reckon you’ll be in for the top five at least. Keep it up Johnny.
Johnny Karp
28 ноября, 2010 at 21:04
Thanks Darren, we’ll know more about our strength after next month’s games but I would take a top five spot if offered :)
Arjuna
28 ноября, 2010 at 22:52
Hey Johnny,
It look’s like your on course for at least a play-off place, and I feel that you should back-to-back promotions. You do have a tough december, but you should still get through them on top
Arjuna
Johnny Karp
29 ноября, 2010 at 06:32
Thanks Arjuna. We’ll have a tough November first, then we’ll see about December :)
Arjuna
29 ноября, 2010 at 08:18
Sorry I meant October :)
Arjuna
Johnny Karp
29 ноября, 2010 at 08:24
:)
Lye
29 ноября, 2010 at 06:20
Hi Johnny,
Good month for the team, even though it’s against weaker oppositions but if you do well against stronger opposition, it will be crucial. As usual your home ground condition seems bad. That’s the problem with lower league teams but your home form is fantastic. Hopefully this will see you through for a successful season. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
29 ноября, 2010 at 06:33
Thanks Lye. The board agreed that we need to relay the pitch but unfortunately there’s no money for that. Hopefully we’ll do it next summer.
Sayam Khan
29 ноября, 2010 at 19:54
Almost a 100% record in that month Johnny. I like that young player also, You seem to really like youngsters?
Johnny Karp
29 ноября, 2010 at 22:03
I like good players in general Sayam but my strategy for Vauxhall is to bring in young players that require low wages and that have enough potential to remain in the team as we (hopefully) climb up the leagues.
Sears
30 ноября, 2010 at 20:43
Good month Johnny,
regarding finances, it’s obvious the lower league clubs aren’t blessed with a lot of money so I guess you gotta hold in there. I find it difficult to make any sort of a profit when I managed Chelmsford. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
1 декабря, 2010 at 07:41
Thanks Sears. The good thing is that we managed to keep the balance around 200K in red, at least it didn’t become any worse.
Ana Garcia
30 ноября, 2010 at 23:56
My board never lets me relay the pitch and mine looks worse than yours!
But another good month, I guess in January its always the best time to see where your side may end up its a little early to call at the moment.
Anyways best of luck.
P.S Barca 5-0 Madrid :D!!!
Johnny Karp
1 декабря, 2010 at 07:40
Thanks Ana. The «El Clasico» match was an absolute joy to watch, Barcelona played a type of football that I’ve always wanted to see but I rarely did until Monday night. Fantastic! :)
Vaibhav C.
1 декабря, 2010 at 13:18
Hi Johnny
I just started following your story about Vauxhall Motors and I am impressed on what you have done so far. I have a question for you. Is Uchechi the to scorer in the league? Thanks
Johnny Karp
1 декабря, 2010 at 13:46
Thanks mate. No, Uchechi is not the league’s top goalscorer unfortunately, there’s William Grigg from Mansfield who scored no less than 15 goals while Uchechi has netted only 8.