I already installed the new Football Manager 2010 but I decided to play one last season with the mighty Blyth Spartans in Football Manager 2009 and then move on to the new and exciting FM 10. Here we go…

You already know the new signings from the previous post, now it’s time for the real deal, the matches that might bring even more silverware for the Spartans. The first game of the season was the Community Shield clash with Arsenal. I had quite a few players away with their national teams at the Olympic Games but that didn’t bring too much trouble, we kept Arsenal quiet throughout the game. Unfortunately Fabregas curled in one of his shots in the first half but we prevailed thanks to two corner kick headers by Cristian Suarez.

Next up, the first Premier League game of the new season, away at Old Trafford. Manchester United were determined to get a win but we played very well defensively, with goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo in top form. It was a very entertaining game and although both teams created a lot upfront it seemed to be heading for a 0-0 draw. We had luck on our side though, centre back Cristian Suarez headed home another corner kick to give us a perfect start in the Premier League!

The first game at our own Croft Park was with Fulham, everybody expected us to win comfortably. Fulham defended heroically but they couldn’t stop Daniel Aquino, the Spanish striker scored twice and looked in very good shape throughout the game.

There was more silverware on the table in the next game, the UEFA Super Cup clash with Tottenham, they won the Europa League last season. My boys played very well again, with strikers Aquino and Nicao in fabulous shape. We could have won it by a bigger margin but we were not cool enough upfront. Anyway, another trophy, I don’t know how many we have so far Daniel Aquino got injured, he will be out for around a month… That’s a shame because he was in very good form.

The UEFA Champions League groups were drawn after the Super Cup game. Although we were seeded 1st we were handed quite a tough group, with Roma, Galatasaray and Romanian side Steaua.

Before the first Champions League game of the new season we had another tough Premier League match, at home with Liverpool. We played a great game but my strikers were not able to convert their chances. Fortunately we had centre back Cristian Suarez in great shape again in the opposition box, he scored another double from corner kicks!

The first Champions League game was at home with Roma. We always played well against them and it happened again, we controlled the game and my strikers finally scored again!

After the good performance against Roma I expected another great game away at Everton. What I saw in the first half was absolutely unbelievable, Everton dominated the game and we had to thank our keeper for the narrow 1-0 margin at the break. I sent in Nicao at half time and made it clear for my players that I wouldn’t accept such a performance from them. Things looked better in the second half but we just couldn’t score, we missed quite a few good chances. Nicao had a great time in the last ten minutes though, he was on fire! He scored three goals in ten minutes, another moment of magic from the Brazilian!

Next up, the Carling Cup 3rd round derby with local rivals Newcastle. I’m pleased to say that we didn’t give them any chance to walk away from Croft Park in one piece, we were all over them right from the first minute and won the game quite comfortably.

The last domestic game of the month was at home with Tottenham, a team that showed good form in the last games. The match was fairly even, we dominated but didn’t create anything special upfront. Luck was on our side again though, centre back Antonio Sebastiani scored a late goal in his debut game for the Spartans!

We had 5 wins out of 5 games in the Premier League, with only one goal conceded. It’s a good start but I feel that the team will play even better in the next months.

The last game of the month was away in Romania, in the Champions League group. We had to face Steaua, a solid team but certainly no match for my Spartans. We won the game comfortably and we didn’t spend too much energy in doing that either. We only need another couple of wins to qualify for the next round and maybe try to win the Champions League again…

We’ll have a tough start in October, with two away games at Arsenal and Chelsea. Then we’ll have to travel to Istanbul to face Galatasaray, we can’t afford to lose that game!

That’s about it for now, it’s great to be back! I’d like to ask you, in preparation for the new game that I will start in FM 2010, which team would you want me to manage in the new game? Eddie said that I should try with Chester again, Lye wants me to take a sleeping giant like Nottingham Forest back to the top. Any other suggestions?

P.S.: Btw, good luck with your blog Lye, I’ll be keeping an eye on it!

© www.footballmanagerstory.com

We started off with an entertaining home game against Liverpool, my boys had fun out there and Nicao produced another wonderful display.

It was just a rehearsal for the Real Madrid game though… We won the first leg convincingly at Croft Park, 4-1, and their best midfielder, Lassana Diarra, was suspended for the second leg. We had a huge chance to get through to the final so I decided to protect my centre back, Tiberiu Radulescu, as he was only one yellow card away from suspension.

The game started perfectly for us, Tomas Necid produced a penalty kick and Damien Grange converted it, he never missed from the penalty spot in the two seasons he played for the Spartans. Juan Manuel Mata was sent off a few minutes later, he made a horrendous tackle. We scored again in the 18th minute and it was all clear, we couldn’t lose it anymore. That’s why I decided not to pull back, there was great entertainment at Santiago Bernabeu. I admired Real Madrid‘s determination to fight on even though the game was lost for them, that’s how a big team should behave. We were through to the final, you can’t imagine the joy I felt…

We were going to meet Olympique Lyonnais in the final at Nuevo Mestalla in Valencia. They had a very good team, with Benzema and Pjanic as their stars but also with a great keeper, Hugo Lloris. They knocked out great teams on their way to the final, I expected a very tough game.

Until then we had the last three league games to play. I rotated my squad carefully in those three games in order to have all my important players healthy for the final two games, the FA Cup final and the Champions League final. We played pretty well even though we lost at Aston Villa, my young backup players were showing signs of getting used to the pressure of first team football.

Here’s how the final Premier League table looked like, with considerable daylight back to the other title contenders Twenty points above Arsenal, who would have thought about such a thing…

Now let’s get back to the more serious business, the FA Cup final was around the corner, we were going to meet Tottenham at Wembley Stadium. We always had difficult games against them and I didn’t expect this one to be different. We played very well though, I ordered my players to mark their two strikers tightly, Acquafresca and Sukuta-Pasu, they possess great pace and skills. We scored a beautiful early goal, Suarez made a great interception, Chapple played a nice direct pass and Nicao finished it off with a perfect strike. In the second half I decided to send in Daniel Aquino, he slowly recovered from his terrible injury, and he produced a breathtaking display! Pay attention at his second goal, absolutely magnificent!

We won it! Another trophy in the bag, just what we needed before the Champions League final battle! Tottenham had a happy ending to their season though, they won the Europa League after they defeated AC Milan on penalties!

And now, the biggest game of them all, the Champions League final! Lyon were missing an important player, Karim Benzema was injured. They still had great players in the starting eleven though, a great goalkeeper and a very strong midfield. On the other had I had all my important players in good health, so I was quite optimistic before the game.

The first half was fairly even, Lyon missed a couple of chances but I have the feeling that we could have taken the lead before the break. Anyway, it was an entertaining first half with some great attacking plays. Have a look!

At half time I decided to send in Mickey Wordsworth to replace Axel Witsel and I got lucky again, Wordsworth played a perfect pass for Nicao and the Brazilian passed into the net! We controlled the second half and never allowed Lyon to create too much danger…

The Blyth Spartans won the Champions League! How does that sound?

I’m also going to reveal a funny aspect… When Nicao banged that one in I found myself shouting “goal, goal, get in!” My girlfriend wasn’t aware of the fact that I was playing the Champions League final, so she rushed into the room looking pretty scared

With these great results I was announced that I made it into the England Hall of Fame!

I was already a legend for the club, I guess they love me

With all the prize money the club was in a pretty healthy financial position, 65 million euro in the bank at the end of the season!

So, what’s next? Well, I might need a day or two to chill out Then I’ll try to think about a strategy for the next season, some of the players might want to leave the club to seek new challenges, so I guess I’ll let some of them go and look for better replacements. I can’t think about transfers right now though, I’m too friggin happy!

© www.footballmanagerstory.com

The first game of the month was at home with Sunderland in the Premier League and I chose to send in only backup players, I wanted all my first team regulars to be in top condition before the Champions League game with Barcelona. The game was quite boring as a result of that choice, Sunderland defended well and grabbed a good draw for them.

Next up, mighty Barcelona… Their best player, Lionel Messi, was injured but they still had tremendous strength in their team. Their two French wingers, Ribery and Obertan, were the main threats to our defense.

We played well in the first half and with a bit of luck on our side we were leading 2-0 at the break! Their defensive midfielder, Ignacio Camacho, deflected two ball right into his own net! After the break Nicao tricked Pique and scored with a placed shot, thing were looking good! Unfortunately we couldn’t withstand the pressure in the last 20 minutes and we conceded a goal that gave Barca a great deal of hope for the second leg.

I prepared a mix of first team guys and backup players for the next league game so we came home with a win from Reading, but nobody cared about it, we were set for the second leg of the Barcelona clash.

Messi was back in good health, we had to be careful with him…

… but my players just couldn’t stop him in the first half. Barcelona were looking like extra terrestrials, they were leading 3-0 at the break at things were looking gloomy for us. I tried to motivate my players at half time and they reacted well, they played a superb second half but could only convert one chance. It was enough to get to extra time though and Barcelona‘s players were looking a bit tired. My lads produced a delightful performance in extra time, scored three incredible goals to give us a qualification that seemed lost at half time!

I didn’t want to get Real Madrid in the semi final but luck wasn’t on my side…

Next up, the FA Cup semi final game against Sunderland at Wembley Stadium. My boys were determined to get to the final but Sunderland defended extremely well, their goal was to try to keep a clean sheet and maybe strike on a counter attack. The game went down to the penalty shootout lottery and fortunately my lads kept cool and won the game… I expected an easier game to be honest. Anyway, we were going to meet Tottenham in the FA Cup final, they defeated Arsenal 2-1 in the other semi final.

We had two more Premier League games before the clash with Real Madrid and I decided not to fight for keeping the unbeaten record anymore. I send in only backup and reserve players in the two games, I didn’t want to risk any injuries to the 11 players that I wanted to use against Real Madrid. Our unbeaten run was stopped, Crystal Palace and Manchester United took advantage of the circumstances.

Finally, the last game of the month, the home battle with Real Madrid in the Champions League. We played against them in the group stage too, we clinched a 2-1 win at home back then. All their important players were available for this game while I had only one player missing, left back Andres Lara was suspended after picking up a yellow card at Barcelona.

My players did a lot better this time, the first half was absolutely perfect. With Nicao in fabulous shape we went 4-0 up in the 77th minute. Unfortunately we got a bit carried away and gave Real Madrid a good chance after a quick counter attack and they clawed one back… We’ll have a good lead to defend at Santiago Bernabeu and a great chance to get to the final!

We’ll have a tough last month of the season ahead of us with the FA Cup final and hopefully the Champions League final on the 21st of May

I’ll be doing my best to protect my important players in the league games, I’d be happy to lose all four of them and win the two cups!

© www.footballmanagerstory.com

The first game of the month was a tricky one, at home with 6th placed Everton. We won the last game against them 2-1 away from home in October but Everton were showing pretty good form. We played pretty well in the first half and we were unlucky to be 1-0 down at the break. Young striker Pablo produced a penalty kick in the second half and right back Damien Grange confidently converted it. Then centre back Tiberiu Radulescu banged in his 15th goal of the season to give us an important win.

Next up, a difficult FA Cup clash with Liverpool. After the Carling Cup success I wanted to go as far as possible in the FA Cup and we took advantage of Liverpool‘s poor form. Pablo gave us the lead with a magnificent solo effort and it was all easy after that… We were through to the semi finals, the trophy was getting close.

But there was still a long way to go and we also had the Champions League on our mind. We defeated Roma 1-0 at Olimpico but I warned my players not to get complacent, these Italian teams are strong and vicious, they can punish you quite severely if you don’t give your best on the pitch. They understood the message and played very well in the first half, our centre backs dominated the game in the air and scored two goals before the break. Roma dominated the second half but we kept cool and didn’t allow them to create anything special. Through to the quarter finals, I was pleased with that achievement

We couldn’t hope for any “easy” opponents at this point but I hoped we wouldn’t get Barcelona or Real Madrid. We got Barcelona… The first leg will be played at Croft Park, so that’s a slight disadvantage for us, but I’m confident that we will make Barca sweat

Back to the Premier League, we had an easier game ahead of us, away at last placed Birmingham, the weakest team in the league. We didn’t play too well but my right back, Damien Grange, had a fabulous afternoon. First he whipped in a free kick from 25 yards out, then he converted a penalty kick and finally completed his hat-trick with a free kick shot from 20 yards out!

Our next two Premier League games, against Blackburn and Chelsea, were postponed due to international call-ups, so we had only one more game to play, at home with Tottenham. I still had 5 first team players away on international duty but we played pretty well even without them. We dominated the game but we were unlucky to concede a late corner kick goal…

But one point was enough, Manchester City got a draw too so we were the champions! The second title in a row, with 8 games to spare!

We didn’t have much time to celebrate though, we still had the FA Cup and Champions League games to worry about. The good thing is that I will be able to rest my important players before the big Champions League and FA Cup games, that’s a big advantage. I also hope that my backup players will be able to keep our unbeaten league record but that’s not very important at this point.

Barcelona, here we come! Messi will have to deal with my Spartans, it won’t be easy for him

© www.footballmanagerstory.com

The first game of February was away at 16th placed Wolves, a team that we humiliated in September at Croft Park, it ended 5-0 then. This time we were lucky to score an early goal, Kalouda sent in a tricky cross and a defender deflected it past his own keeper. Wolves were prepared to defend, so their game plan was blown to pieces. We put another three goals past them and earned an easy win.

Next up, a home game against local rivals Newcastle. They were in 8th place but we defeated them 1-0 at St. James’ Park in October. My lads played a perfect first half, we were 3-0 up at the break. We allowed Newcastle to create a bit too much in the second half but the win was already in our bag.

We had a difficult challenge coming up, Manchester City in the FA Cup. We had to use the home ground advantage but the game was even and boring in the first half. The second half wasn’t much better, it seemed that we were heading towards a goalless draw but Manchester City‘s defenders lost their concentration… First a tricky back pass put their keeper in difficulty and he deflected the ball into his own net! A few minutes later another error allowed Nicao to double our lead and it was over!

The Citizens had the perfect chance to get revenge a few days later, we had the Premier League game coming up. They were in 2nd place, 18 points behind us, so it was their last chance to get back into the title fight. They looked determined to fight in the first half and Hamsik gave them the lead with a superb volley from 20 yards out. We were not playing very well, I admit I was a bit desperate… So I threw in young striker Pablo to replace an unconvincing Tomas Necid… It was like a dream, three crosses, three headers from Pablo and three goals!

With this win we had one hand on the title, maybe one hand and three fingers…

With the Premier League title almost in our bag we had to focus on the other competitions, we had a tricky away leg coming up at AS Roma. We won at Olimpico last season in the Europa League quarter final and I hoped that we could do that again. In fact, we played very well and didn’t give Roma any chance of winning the game. Nicao scored a very important goal, so I was pretty confident that we could hold on to that lead in the second leg.

There wasn’t any better way to end the month than with a final, the Carling Cup final against Middlesbrough at Wembley Stadium. We were the favorites for the trophy and we outplayed our opponents in the first half. We should have been at least 3-0 up at the break but it wasn’t to be, Middlesbrough took advantage of a defensive blunder and got back into the match. They looked more lively in the second half and I was afraid that we would be the victims of a comeback… Centre back Tiberiu Radulescu showed his aerial skills again though, he ended the game with a powerful header! More silverware for the club, the fans were quite happy!

March looks pretty promising, we’ll have two nice tough ones in the FA Cup and in the Champions League…

I also hope that we would keep up the good form in the Premier League, we might even win the title at the end of March!

© www.footballmanagerstory.com