On the day of the MK Dons match, I had to get the players fired up. They were clearly underachieving-and I had to get that through to them. I had seen them in training, and had seen dvd footage of previous matches. They were clearly in the wrong half of the table-for what reason, I did not know. It was strange. Saying that, there had been times when I had seen some of the biggest clubs in football being in strange positions due to strangely subpar performances. It happens in football for whatever reason. So I made it clear to them in no uncertain terms they had to play better-and they could play better. They were more than able.
It was also a good response from the players. The team talk had motivated them, and the performance vindicated my point about their abilities. Now we had to ensure that this new found belief remained throughout the remainder of the season. If we lost games, so be it. As long as they tried and lost, it wouldn't be as bad as losing and moping about it. If they did that, they were not only at the wrong club, but also the wrong job.
This was a strange game. We were thoroughly outplayed, they controlled the entire match from kickoff, sprayed the ball left right and centre-and yet we won the game with only one shot on target. It was no surprise they outplayed us-they had some excellent players, who basically shouldn't be in this division. But I was still delighted with the win. It was a typical underdog performance.
The day after this match, we had 2 new additions to the squad. I had managed to bring in firstly, 21 year old attacking midfielder/striker Tom Lawrence on loan from Dunfermline Athletic, until the end of the season. We badly needed a backup attacking midfielder, and he had bags of potential, along with pace. We just had to get him match fit first then he'd be ready to go.
And along with Tom, we also annouced the arrival of Ryan Tunnicliffe from Stoke City:
We badly needed depth at right back and central midfield. Another benefit was his adaptability if I had to chance formation shape at the drop of a hat-he could slide right in to either position with minimum of fuss. His high work rate and determination would also be of great benefit. I had seen him play at Stoke City-whenever their reserves or first team went a goal down, his work rate went through the roof. His effort was tremondously high. And their arrival came just in time as we had some tough games coming up.
This was a very entertaining match, with plenty of goals to boot. Proper end to end stuff, and Brentford put up a real fight, not giving up until the final whistle. Again, possession was pretty even, with some really good finishing from both sets of players. And it helped maintain our gradual, but slow, climb up the table.
We were now 17th, and only 8 points of 6th placed Hartlepool United.............................
Carlisle United 2 MK Dons 1
A very hardworking performance from the players saw us come out on top, with plenty of possession and shots on target. Though at times the accuracy could have been a little better at times. But the important thing was it was a win, and that's all that mattered to me.
It was also a good response from the players. The team talk had motivated them, and the performance vindicated my point about their abilities. Now we had to ensure that this new found belief remained throughout the remainder of the season. If we lost games, so be it. As long as they tried and lost, it wouldn't be as bad as losing and moping about it. If they did that, they were not only at the wrong club, but also the wrong job.
Oxoford United 3 Carlisle United 2
We were 3-0 down by the 46th minute, and it was a dire performance by that point. We didn't score until the 87th minute, and it was obvious by then the game was lost. But at least they did try to salvage something right up until the very last kick of the match. Even though we lost, stat wise it was fairly even. But still it was disappointing to lose. At least it was entertaining for the neutral! But also importantly, we weren't out of the race of the playoffs so it wasn't an absolute disaster.
This was a strange game. We were thoroughly outplayed, they controlled the entire match from kickoff, sprayed the ball left right and centre-and yet we won the game with only one shot on target. It was no surprise they outplayed us-they had some excellent players, who basically shouldn't be in this division. But I was still delighted with the win. It was a typical underdog performance.
The day after this match, we had 2 new additions to the squad. I had managed to bring in firstly, 21 year old attacking midfielder/striker Tom Lawrence on loan from Dunfermline Athletic, until the end of the season. We badly needed a backup attacking midfielder, and he had bags of potential, along with pace. We just had to get him match fit first then he'd be ready to go.
And along with Tom, we also annouced the arrival of Ryan Tunnicliffe from Stoke City:
We badly needed depth at right back and central midfield. Another benefit was his adaptability if I had to chance formation shape at the drop of a hat-he could slide right in to either position with minimum of fuss. His high work rate and determination would also be of great benefit. I had seen him play at Stoke City-whenever their reserves or first team went a goal down, his work rate went through the roof. His effort was tremondously high. And their arrival came just in time as we had some tough games coming up.
Carlisle United 2 Bournemouth 1
Not the best of games. It was very scrappy, particularly in midfield, neither side creating much in goalscoring opportunities. But there was plenty of workrate which was encouraging, and plenty of determination in getting the win.
This was a very entertaining match, with plenty of goals to boot. Proper end to end stuff, and Brentford put up a real fight, not giving up until the final whistle. Again, possession was pretty even, with some really good finishing from both sets of players. And it helped maintain our gradual, but slow, climb up the table.
We were now 17th, and only 8 points of 6th placed Hartlepool United.............................
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lol. Carlise a good club tho...massive in terms of detachment area, bit like Norwich. Think there getting a new ground irl too, not sure if its happened on your game. Had Paddy Madden from them once, came through there youth team, was an absoloute beast scores for fun. I think if you establish yourself here, you could end up getting a job at a Forrest/Derby/Leeds someone like that. Be a cool way to go as you have become a bit of a mangerial *****. haha. Good luck