The first battle was at home against a good team, Swindon Town. They were in 6th place and they were fighting for a playoff place, so I expected to have a tough game. In the first half of the game I was left staring at the pitch like I didn’t understand anything anymore. My players looked like they were on some kind of sedatives, an absolutely disgraceful performance. Swindon took advantage of that and they were leading 2-0 at half time! It looked like our dreams would be shattered right from the first game of the month.

My lads came out all guns blazing in the second half and made me forget the poor performance of the first 45 minutes. They were shooting from all the possible and impossible positions and finally achieved a superb comeback, absolutely thrilling! We won the three points in the 88th minutes with another great header from our Spanish centre back, Daniel Sanchez Ayala.

Here’s how the top of the league table looked like with 4 more games to be played:

1. Leeds – 84 points

2. Bradford – 83 points

3. Blyth – 82 points

4. Sheff Utd – 81 points

We were still out of the automatic promotion positions but with 4 more games to be played anything could happen. Our next game was against newly promoted Torquay. They were in 21st place, fighting to stay clear of relegation, so I expected a hard fought game. We dominated the first half and one of their defenders, confused by all the pressure, put the ball past his own keeper before the break. The game was heading our way but after half time our striker managed to get two yellow cards in 3 minutes and he was sent off! And guess what, the second yellow card was for… diving! With only 10 men on the pitch we were under pressure but my Irish centre back, Ryan Carolan, banged home a header from a corner kick to make it 2-0. Our goalkeeper took care of the rest, saving every ball that came his way. Torquay finally scored in the 87th minute but it was too late for them, we left with another 3 points in the bag!

No major changes in the league table though, we were still in 3rd place but tied with Leeds.

1. Bradford – 86 points

2. Leeds - 85 points

3. Blyth – 85 points

4. Sheff Utd – 84 points

Next up, our last home game of the season, against 15th placed Northampton. It was a chance that we couldn’t miss so my players took the game to our opponents right from the start. Their penalty area was literally under siege but somehow they escaped, we couldn’t score although we had a lot of chances. The second half was the same, with us piling up the pressure and them trying to strike on counter attacks. We finally scored in the 69th minute and the last 10 minutes of the game were a true nightmare, with their keeper coming to our box for the corner kicks! We survived the final dash, a hard fought win and another 3 points, much more difficult than I expected.

At the end of the game we received some good news from our rivals too, Bradford played away at Sheff Utd and drew 1-1 while Leeds drew at home against Swindon! And guess what, we were the new League One leaders!

1. Blyth – 88 points

2. Bradford – 87 points

3. Leeds – 86 points

4. Sheff Utd – 85 points

Things were still pretty tight but everything was in our hands, we had to get another 3 points from the next match and hope for the best! And our next match seemed to be an easy one, away at Crewe, the last placed and weakest team in the whole league! On the other hand, I thought that the Crewe players have nothing to lose wile we have all the pressure on our shoulders, so the game might not be as easy as it looked.

We were quite lucky to get an early goal, a beautiful shot by Swedish midfielder Fredrik Sjokvist from the edge of the penalty area. I thought that the Crewe players would crumble and that we would have an easy game ahead of us but what happened after that left me absolutely shocked! The Crewe players were attacking like there was no tomorrow, like they were fighting to win the damn Champions League! Fortunately for us things were a lot more quiet after the break, we controlled the game and gave them no more chances to score. It wasn’t a beautiful win, but who cares, the three points are all that matters.

Immediately after the final whistle I went to check the other League One results, hoping that our rivals didn’t manage to win their battles. Bradford won easily, 4-1 at home against Torquay, so they were still in 2nd place, only 1 point behind us. The first good news came from Northampton, they managed to beat Leeds 2-0! That means that Leads are out of the battle, they were 5 points behind us now! The only one remaining was Sheffield United, but what happened, they lost too! They lost 2-1 away at Port Vale so they were now 6 points behind us with only one more game to be played! We were promoted! Another miracle, another fairytale!

We even had a chance to hand on to the 1st place in the table but with all the promotion celebrations we were not able to get anything out of the away game against Leeds. The outplayed us from the first whistle to the last. Bradford won their away game at “our friends”, Crewe, so they climbed up to the first spot.

But I didn’t regret losing the 1st place, not for one second. We were promoted to Coca-Cola Championship, that’s all that matters!

From the four playoff teams I thought that the best one was Leeds but surprisingly enough, they were knocked out in the semi final by Swindon. And guess what, Swindon defeated Sheffield United in the final, 2-0!

But let’s get back to my heroes, the Blyth Spartans. Here’s how the best eleven of this season looked like. There’s one thing that I find important, 7 players of the best eleven played for us last season too and so far I don’t see why they wouldn’t play for us next season too. The only “new” players were the keeper, Ayala, the centre back, and the wingers.

Our top goalscorer was once again Laszlo Csongor, our Romanian striker. He had a bad injury right in the middle of the season but he recovered well, scoring 16 goals for us. He’s one of the leaders of the team and a favorite among the fans.

Sandor Vaida, our new left winger from Hungary, set a new record for our club – 19 assists this season! He also scored 8 goals, a very important player for us. And he’s only 20 years old!

Centre back Daniel Sanchez Ayala was the main man in our defensive system, he played very well throughout the season and he made his presence count in the opposition penalty area too. He scored 9 goals with his powerful headers from corners and free kicks! If he only had just a bit more pace he would become a superstar. He got his first Under 21 cap for Spain this season, that makes me very proud.

And finally I’d like to present a player that might do very well for us in the future. He’s a Czech regen left winger, Martin Panik. I signed him on a free transfer last summer. He already played 21 games for us, scoring 4 goals and making 14 assists! His problem is that he can’t play the whole 90 minutes, he gets tired after 40 – 45 minutes, but that might improve in the future. Otherwise, his pace and technique caused our opponents a lot of problems so far.

That’s about it folks, another miraculous promotion and another beautiful season for my Blyth Spartans. Our financial situation is not very good right now, we’re 500K in debt, but hopefully with the Championship TV rights I’ll get a decent transfer budget next season. I really don’t know what we’ll be able to achieve in Coca-Cola Championship, it depends a lot on the new players that I’ll bring to Blyth and that depends on the money… What do you think, will we get relegated right away? And do you know any good players that might also be very cheap?

P.S.: Curt asked me to upload my saved game, so here’s the download link if anybody else might be curious enough

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The first game of the month was a difficult one, at home against 6th placed Southend. With all the injury problems I had no choice but to switch back to the lone striker tactic on a regular basis, so my squad will have to adapt again to the old system. We were quite unlucky against Southend as they scored an early goal and my lads lost their heads a little bit. My right winger, Will Buckley, kicked an opponent right before the break so we played the whole second half with only 10 men. Despite that we dominated the game but we only got a draw at the end of it.

We had a good chance to regain some morale in the next game, away at relegation threatened Cheltenham. They were in 23rd place before the game and their chances to avoid relegation were quite slim. I was expecting an easy win but somehow we nearly lost the damn game! We scored a late equalizer from a penalty kick and I guess we could blame the bad luck but this was a game that we should have won, with luck or without. We lost 2 important points but we had to carry on, we were still there with a chance.

The next game was at home against 8th placed Shrewsbury, a difficult opponent. We absolutely had to win this one, otherwise our automatic promotion dreams could have turned into a nightmare. The pressure was high and we didn’t play particularly well but our captain and most experienced player, Oswaldo Chaurant, took care of things by scoring two fine goals. You know what they say, when the going gets tough the tough get going…

Next up, an easy home game against 18th placed Barnsley. I just couldn’t imagine not winning this one and it seems that my players thought the same way too. We were 4-0 up in the 17th minute! The rest of the game was just an official training, there was no more pressure and sometimes no more concentration either. With this result we climbed up to 2nd place, 3 points behind League One leaders Leeds United.

And the next game was against the 3rd placed team, Sheffield United. They had the same number of points as us, 77 points, but we had a better goal difference. Unfortunately for us I couldn’t send in the best players in my team for this match: I had 4 injured players and as if that wasn’t enough we were also missing another 4 players that were away on international duty with their national teams! I barely had 16 players to bring to this match, so in these conditions I thought at the beginning of the game that a draw would me more than satisfying. We were 1-0 up after Laszlo Csongor scored again but we were not able to keep the lead at least until half time. We fought for every ball and kept the scoreline to 1-1 in the second half, it was a good thing that we managed to get out of this game unbeaten.

The last game of the month was another tough one, away at 8th placed Colchester, a strong team with very good wingers and strikers. It seemed that the first half would end with no goals scored but in the last minute the referee awarded them a penalty kick They defended their lead in the second half but we managed to score the equalizer and get an important point out of this match as I was really afraid that we were going to lose it.

Just take look at the League One table and you’ll understand the toughness of the battle we’re fighting! We were in 3rd place but any of the first four could claim the 1st place at the end of the season. I guess that a playoff place is already in the bag but it would be a shame to miss the automatic promotion…

We have 5 more games to play and I’m going to list them for you. Here we go:

- at home with Swindon (6th place)

- away at Torquay (22nd place)

- at home with Northampton (15th place)

- away at Crewe (24th place)

- away at Leeds (1st place)

I hope that if we will win the first four games the last game against Leeds might now matter anymore. Anyway, each one of these 5 games is crucial for our promotion battle so we have to be 100% focused, even against Crewe. After all, we almost lost at Cheltenham and they are just slightly better than Crewe… What do you think about our chances, can we make it?

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The next game was one of the two matches that were previously postponed, away at 19th placed Brighton. We could climb up the table with a win here but at the end of the game I was happy to get a draw. It was a very difficult game, with both teams creating several chances to score so the final 1-1 scoreline was the deserved result.

The team was not playing as well as I would have wanted, the players were tired and I was forced to rotate the squad frequently. In the home game against Norwich our top goalscorer, Romanian striker Laszlo Csongor, was finally available after more than two months. He was severely injured, fractured ribs, and we have missed him a lot. I gave him the chance to play again in the second half and he celebrated by scoring a late goal that brought us the 2-0 win!

The morale of the players was good and I expected no problems in the next game, at home against Bristol Rovers. We controlled the first half easily but we only scored one goal. After half time Bristol took control of the game and after scoring an equalizer I feared that we would crumble. Fortunately for us we played very well in the last 15 minutes of the game and brought home an important 4-1 victory.

Next up, an easy game away at relegation threatened Charlton. We dominated the game and I expected to win by a bigger margin but at the end of the day the three points are all that matters. With this win we finally climbed up in 2nd place in the League One table, only one point behind the leaders, Leeds United! Despite that I still was a little bit worried because the team wasn’t producing the flamboyant football that we showed in the first half of the season.

We were unbeaten in 8 League One games but I felt that we would get a setback sooner or later. It was sooner… 14th placed Carlisle United punished us drastically for our defensive errors, they scored twice in 3 minutes after half time and my lads lost their heads completely. We lost our first game in February but we were still flying high towards the top of the table.

We absolutely had to win the last game of the month, at home with 13th placed Rochdale. We didn’t play too well but we kept cool in front of their goal and converted the few chances that we had. A 3-0 win that is important for the league table but we were not playing like real promotion contenders… And Atanas Apostolov got injured, he’ll be unavailable for around 6 weeks, just what we needed

The League One table was incredibly tight at the top, any of the first five teams could fight for the top two spots. We were in 3rd place with 11 more games to be played. I think that a playoff place is almost already in the bag but it would be a shame not to get at least the 2nd place and automatic promotion.

My recently injured striker, Atanas Apostolov, was declared February League One Player of The Month, a great achievement for him as he played very well for us throughout this month. He scored 10 goals for us this season but unfortunately he’ll be available again only in April, so the season is almost over for him.

So far so good, we still have 11 games to play and maybe a few more if we get to the playoff. I hope that my players won’t get injured in these last two months of the season, otherwise it will be an uphill struggle for us. What do you think, will we be strong enough to achieve promotion to Coca-Cola Championship this season?

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In the first game of the year we had a tough battle ahead of us, away at 6th placed Burnley. Fortunately for us my right winger, William Buckley, scored a fabulous early goal that gave us more confidence for the rest of the match. Buckley signed last summer, he came on a free transfer from Reading and he normally isnt’ a first team regular but due to some injuries he plays more often lately. Take a look at the video, it really is a gem.

We controlled the game after scoring the goal, not allowing our opponents to create chances. It was an important victory against a direct rival for promotion.

Next up, the postponed home game against Leeds United. Leeds were in 3rd place but they have been leading the table for a few months in the beginning of the season. Despite the 3-1 scoreline it was a very difficult game. I can say that without the two individual efforts by our Venezuelan midfielder Oswaldo Chaurant a win could have been unlikely. With this victory we climbed up to the 4th place in the League One table, it looked quite promising.

After winning the tough game against Leeds we had another very difficult one ahead of us, at home against 6th placed Port Vale. It all looked pretty well at the start, Yoneyama netted his first goal for Blyth and we were playing quite well. Port Vale got the equalizer before the break and the second half was an absolute nightmare. Between the 65th and the 75th minute we missed three huge chances by hitting the crossbar, three times in 10 minutes! A couple of minutes after the caught us on a quick counter attack and they scored It was one of the most frustrating games that I’ve ever experienced but that’s why football is so beautiful…

After the disappointing defeat we had to get prepared for the FA Cup 3rd round game, away at fellow League One side Burnely. We managed to beat them 1-0 in the first game of the year but now they played a lot better and got the draw, so we’ll get to play them again…

The third game against Burnley in a single month, I already knew their first eleven by heart Now we had the fans on our side and we couldn’t miss, we won the game without too many problems. We were through to the fourth round and that was very good for the club’s financial balance.

Unfortunately in the fourth round of the FA Cup we were up against a way better team, Southampton FC. They were in 4th place in Coca-Cola Championship, with good chances of getting promoted to the Premier League. We scored an early goal and everybody was hoping that we could withstand the pressure and get a great result. Their left winger, Andrew Surman, proved that he’s a great player and turned the game around all by himself. In the second half we managed to create a few chances but we were denied by their goalkeeper, he pulled off some absolutely fantastic saves. That was it, our FA Cup run was over, it was nice while it lasted…

We could focus on the League One campaign, we still had to face very difficult games each week. And the most difficult was… the next one, against Bradford, the League One leaders. Fortunately our little Japanese striker scored again and played very well over all, so we got an important win which consolidated us in 4th place.

Next up Hartlepool. They were in 17th place, so it was a game that we had to win, we couldn’t afford to lose points to the weaker teams of the league. It wasn’t easy but my young strikers banged in another two goals to secure the victory!

The last game of this very long month was at home against 18th placed Darlington, another opportunity that we couldn’t afford to miss. We won the game with ease, 3-0, but unfortunately my young regen Irish striker, Christian Short, got himself injured and will be out for two months!

Thank God this month is over, it was the most difficult so far… We were in 4th place at the end of it, 7 points behind the 2nd placed team but with two games in hand! If we could win those two games next month (away at Brighton and at home against Bristol Rovers) we’d have a chance to fight for automatic promotion!

No distractions allowed from now on, we have to be focused and get the most out of each and every game if we want to get another fabulous promotion. I’m quite confident because the team is playing well, my only worry is related to the injuries that might strike. We already have a few players out and if a couple more would get injured I’d be in a very tight spot. Hopefully that won’t happen…

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We were facing a tough test right in the first match of December, a home game against Sheffield United, a very good team that was in 2nd place back then. Unfortunately for us my best centre back, Daniel Sanchez Ayala, got injured after 15 minutes and I decided to take him off to minimize the risks to his health. It was a bad decision because we lost our defensive balance and that allowed Sheff Utd to score easily. Honestly we were no match for our opponents, they won the game without problems although a draw might have been fair. Our 6 games unbeaten run came to an end but the worst thing was that Ayala was going to stay away from the training ground for a full month

The next game was against a team we knew very well from last season, our fellow newly-promoted Torquay. They were having a disastrous season so far and they were in 23rd place before the game. We had no problem beating them, it ended 5-0 but I lost both my strikers due to injuries. And my top goalscorer, Laszlo Csongor, picked up quite a nasty knock that will keep him away from the pitch for two months! That might be quite a blow for us

With none of my favorite strikers on the pitch we could only get a draw at 15th placed Northampton and I can say that we were lucky to get that draw. We simply didn’t have enough strength upfront anymore and that was showing on the pitch.

Next we had to play the game that was postponed a couple of months ago, away at Norwich. If we won the game we would have climbed up the table in 4th place but although we created loads of chances we couldn’t get more than a draw. We also missed a penalty kick…

However, we were still in 5th place and the next game was a good opportunity to consolidate our position. We had to play at home against the last placed team in League One, Crewe. They had a good attack but their defense was absolutely lousy, so it’s no surprise that we won 4-2. We finished the game with only 10 men on the pitch because I made all the three substitutions just before my central midfielder got injured in the 64th minute.

We had only one more game to play in 2011, a very important one against 2nd placed Leeds United. Unfortunately the rain and the poor facilities that we have at our stadium made the game impossible to be played.

After I canceled the link with Middlesborough my board finally agreed to search for a new parent club and the best one from the ones they recommended to me was Bolton Wanderers. They were in 6th place in the Premier League and I hope to get some reserve players on loan from them soon.

At the end of the year we were in 5th place with the game against Leeds still to be played. I guess the position is very good for a newly promoted team and I even hope to improve it in the future because the squad is beginning to show signs of progress.

One of the best players for us so far was the Hungarian left winger that I signed for free last summer, Sandor Vaida. He scored 5 goals and made 8 assists so far this season, causing all sorts of problems to the opposition right backs. He is one of my favorite players and he is already a transfer target for bigger clubs like Q.P.R. I hope he won’t leave us too soon though

So that’s how it went… Now I want your help a little bit. What do you think about the new month by month approach? Should I stick with it or go back to the half season posts? Or maybe should I try something in between the two? Since you’re the ones that I’m writing for I really want to know which way you thing I should go. Let me know!

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