Out to The ****
The tension was getting to me. Only a few hours until kick off in the biggest game of my life. All I could do was set the right team out and motivate the lads enough to go and do the job; then, it was all up to them.
We've got our strongest team out today. For sure. Everyone is fit and raring to go and the only real first team player sitting out is James Tomkins, but that's because Spence has been in the form of his life.
The scene is set. The Emirates. Arsenal vs St. George FC for a place in the League Cup Semi Final and one step closer to a real piece of silverware. I knew they'd underestimate us, but the team they'd put out was definately beatable.
We started the match well with crosses flying in from Henderson and Cleverley, but we were soon overloaded by the pure talent of Arsenal. It was their reserves, mainly, but Andrey Arshavin, Cesc Fabregas and more were still in show, and they were ridiculously good to watch.
As I said to the lads, all we need to do is be defensively solid and not concede, particularly in the first half. And they did the job well. 45 minutes in and it was 0-0, with neither team getting many chances.
I sent the team out, encouraged, and they put in yet another solid shift for 45 minutes. The final score after 90 minutes was 0-0. I was delighted with that, but I had a bad feeling.
Extra time seeped on and eventually the long, hard 120 minutes came to an end. We were at the Emirates, and we were taking these penalties for a place in the League Cup Semi Final.
Some of Arsenal's best had gone off, and that gave us a huge advantage. Diego Godin was the first to step up for them, and Alex Smithies, reknowned for his penalty stopping, saved it. Then Captain Fantastic Mr. Rodwell slotted his penalty to make it 0-1 to us.
Emmanuel Eboue and Ryan Bertrand scored their penaltiies to make it 1-2 after the second round of penalties. Then Carlos Vela stepped up and made it 2-2, and Alex Nimely-Tchuimeni made it 2-3. We were in a great postion. Or were we?
Rhys Murphy then stepped up for Arsenal. It was a crucial penalty. He faked left, once, twice! Alex Smithies went the right way, but was he going to get there?
YES! Alex Smithies gets to the penalty and puts Jordan "****" Spence (so called after falling on his behind in training) in a position to win it for us. He stepped up cooly and slotted the penalty, top right hand corner. We were through.
The win against The Gunners still hadn't sunk in, and a large part of winning that one was down to ex-Arsenal Assistant Manager, Joss Bennett. He had given me in-depth analysis of each player and the style, tactics and team that Wenger was likely to use. It worked a treat.
The rest of the month flew by in a blur as we went undefeated for the month and the only match we dropped points was a tired XI drawing against a tricky Crystal Palace side.
Nile Ranger had really hit a good patch of form and he claimed by Player of the Month Award for December. It was the later part of the month that really saw Nile excel and he went on to get five goals in the month.
OH and well done for a very simple victory vs Rabotniki tonight Ed (Y). This story is getting more and more popular, so well done mate!