Well the competitive schedule has begun and everything is going well, but it has been marred by many injuries. Firstly I will run you through my first three games:
Oldham 3 - 0 Cheltenham
The line-up for my first league game of the season was:
This game went very well for me, it was the best possible start I could of hoped for. With 12 shots we showed our attacking dominance. Centre-back Hazell opened the scoring with a header in the 26th minute. The lead was doubled by Alessandra in the 54th and the third was finished well by Hughes 7 minutes later. The pair continued the trend of pre-season by both scoring. The defence impressed me and we kept a clean sheet. Hazell won the Man Of the Match award due to a combination of his stirling work in defence alongside Greegan and also his goal. Fleming did well keeping a clean sheet, and they had 8 shots. With 97% of tackles being won it is clear the defence played well. Along with Hazell and the strikers, the player who impressed was Kevin Maher who did a good job in central midfield. The big problem was injuries though. Before the season began I had Wolfenden injured and new signing Sastre injured also, with Kabba and Lee just recovering from long lay-offs. Then in the first game of the season captain Greegan had to be taken off on the 81st minute and before that winger Taylor, who had only come on at half time, had to go off on the 59th with a thigh strain. So it was a good and a bad day.
Oldham 2 - 0 Accrington Stanley
This fixture saw nearly a completly changed side take part. As this is the League Cup and we are playing opposition of a lower league I thought we would be able to take the risk of playing back-up players to preserve fitness. Of course this was fine as many of my second choice players are good player and we ran out easy winners. The first goal was scored in the 14th minute by a new foward I have signed as a backup called Ariel Lopez. We were comfortable therein and Alessandra sealed the victory in the 81st minute. Sam Sodje and Lewis Alessandra were the key players, Fleming had no trouble in goal. After the game Lewis Alessandra was ruled out with an injury. We have reached the 2nd round of the League Cup and will play Newcastle away, I think that may be more than tricky!
Stockport 0 - 1 Oldham
Local derby, best result considering situation. By that I mean the amount of injuries and tired players after the two games in the week, this was made clear by the fact I had to play ageing right mid Andy Liddell as a striker. We scored what turned out to be the decisive goal in the 23rd minute through Hughes, in a game of poor performances. Once again injuries hit as Fernandes and Babayaro both had to go off injured in the first half. Nobody played particularly well for either side, and Maher got MOM as the best of a bad lot. The centre-backs Zambernardi and Hazell did well. What was pleasing is that on a bad day when we played poor and had a very thin squad we still got the result.
So, the first three games have taken place and as you can see the theme has been injuries and I am worried as the injury list piles up that this may affect results, especially if I can't field a strong side. Im hoping that this is the injuries at their peak and things will only get better ! Fitness on FM is considered to be the 95% mark, that is match fit. After my game against Stockport here is how my squads fitness looks:
Note: For any picture I add to my blog, if you click on them they will enlarge to full screen size, that should help as it is very difficult to see from look at the smaller version of the picture.
As you can see the issue of fitness is worrying me, I don't know if this is unique to my squad or it is the 9.0.3 database which I have heard has heralded the return of a few of the issues from the unpatched game. All my discusscion of injuries however, has over-shadowed the success, three wins from three, looking good.
The next three games are looking a bit more tough and they are a league game against Crewe (H), Newcastle in the League Cup (A) and finally MK Dons (A). After those games we begin September and so next time you hear from me will be my results along with details on my transfer dealings, of which I have eluded to but not detailed. The club has sold 3,500 season tickets for the season.
I would like to hear from people who are reading, their views on my progress. Tips or advice could be handy or just some noise of approval. Thanks for your time. Report back soon.
Oldham 3 - 0 Cheltenham
The line-up for my first league game of the season was:
This game went very well for me, it was the best possible start I could of hoped for. With 12 shots we showed our attacking dominance. Centre-back Hazell opened the scoring with a header in the 26th minute. The lead was doubled by Alessandra in the 54th and the third was finished well by Hughes 7 minutes later. The pair continued the trend of pre-season by both scoring. The defence impressed me and we kept a clean sheet. Hazell won the Man Of the Match award due to a combination of his stirling work in defence alongside Greegan and also his goal. Fleming did well keeping a clean sheet, and they had 8 shots. With 97% of tackles being won it is clear the defence played well. Along with Hazell and the strikers, the player who impressed was Kevin Maher who did a good job in central midfield. The big problem was injuries though. Before the season began I had Wolfenden injured and new signing Sastre injured also, with Kabba and Lee just recovering from long lay-offs. Then in the first game of the season captain Greegan had to be taken off on the 81st minute and before that winger Taylor, who had only come on at half time, had to go off on the 59th with a thigh strain. So it was a good and a bad day.
Oldham 2 - 0 Accrington Stanley
This fixture saw nearly a completly changed side take part. As this is the League Cup and we are playing opposition of a lower league I thought we would be able to take the risk of playing back-up players to preserve fitness. Of course this was fine as many of my second choice players are good player and we ran out easy winners. The first goal was scored in the 14th minute by a new foward I have signed as a backup called Ariel Lopez. We were comfortable therein and Alessandra sealed the victory in the 81st minute. Sam Sodje and Lewis Alessandra were the key players, Fleming had no trouble in goal. After the game Lewis Alessandra was ruled out with an injury. We have reached the 2nd round of the League Cup and will play Newcastle away, I think that may be more than tricky!
Stockport 0 - 1 Oldham
Local derby, best result considering situation. By that I mean the amount of injuries and tired players after the two games in the week, this was made clear by the fact I had to play ageing right mid Andy Liddell as a striker. We scored what turned out to be the decisive goal in the 23rd minute through Hughes, in a game of poor performances. Once again injuries hit as Fernandes and Babayaro both had to go off injured in the first half. Nobody played particularly well for either side, and Maher got MOM as the best of a bad lot. The centre-backs Zambernardi and Hazell did well. What was pleasing is that on a bad day when we played poor and had a very thin squad we still got the result.
So, the first three games have taken place and as you can see the theme has been injuries and I am worried as the injury list piles up that this may affect results, especially if I can't field a strong side. Im hoping that this is the injuries at their peak and things will only get better ! Fitness on FM is considered to be the 95% mark, that is match fit. After my game against Stockport here is how my squads fitness looks:
Note: For any picture I add to my blog, if you click on them they will enlarge to full screen size, that should help as it is very difficult to see from look at the smaller version of the picture.
As you can see the issue of fitness is worrying me, I don't know if this is unique to my squad or it is the 9.0.3 database which I have heard has heralded the return of a few of the issues from the unpatched game. All my discusscion of injuries however, has over-shadowed the success, three wins from three, looking good.
The next three games are looking a bit more tough and they are a league game against Crewe (H), Newcastle in the League Cup (A) and finally MK Dons (A). After those games we begin September and so next time you hear from me will be my results along with details on my transfer dealings, of which I have eluded to but not detailed. The club has sold 3,500 season tickets for the season.
I would like to hear from people who are reading, their views on my progress. Tips or advice could be handy or just some noise of approval. Thanks for your time. Report back soon.
Good start and thorough description. I think a play-off place could be yours.
ReplyDeleteThanks mate, play-offs is the ultimate aim. I hope the fitness doesn't mess things up ! I'll try my best.
ReplyDelete