A Long Term Challenge

Agreed with Walter, need to focus on getting promoted but the JPT would be nice to have as well.

I think that you're both right. It is important for us to retain our position and continue to bring higher amounts of money into the club. If we reach the semi final stage then I will take it seriously!

I have a feeling that my expectations of this club are somewhat too high as I am quite frustrated with the fact that we did not come away with a perfect month. The month got off to the perfect start with a scintillating match against Oldham Athletic which was one of the best matches I have watched so far in my time with Rotherham United; the next two matches were tense affairs but we deserved the wins in both. What then happened against Notts County and Colchester United is totally unacceptable. These are two teams that I expect my players to be taking apart with our passing game and with our finishing from the inform Obika, who rightly deserved to be the player of the month. The players are shattered and it is only October, which justifies my opinion on our participation in the cup competitions. In my opinion, if the match against Scunthorpe had been won by either side within 90 minutes, then we would have beaten by Notts County and Colchester.

The team did brilliantly against Coventry who didn’t stand a chance after Obika got himself on the score sheet. The month then ended terribly with our first loss in a very long time, which I am hoping doesn’t disrupt the good feeling we have around the club but instead we get straight back to winning ways. Sometimes I do have to stop and think that we have only just come up to League One so for us to be in second place (2 points behind) and with a game in hand, is a brilliant effort so early in the season. My aim is always going to be to retain our position for another season in League One and then build on from there. However, the start of the season is looking positive so my ambitions may just have to increase...I guess it depends on what effect the loss against Wycombe has on the side.

Player of the Month – Jonathan Obika

Surprisingly, you lost against Wycombe, who aren't doing so well in the league :/.. Get that top spot, to really secure your way into the Championship. Best of lucks James

2013-10-05 15:55#136854 Pauker : Surprisingly, you lost against Wycombe, who aren't doing so well in the league :/.. Get that top spot, to really secure your way into the Championship. Best of lucks James

I couldn't have been more annoyed about it...at the time. I really hope it doesn't mean we go on a winless streak as that would kiss any promotion possibilities away!

I mentioned in my last update that I was worried that the loss against Wycombe would have a damaging impact on the club’s morale and we would slump into a steep decline. I have also made it very clear that I do not care about the domestic cup competitions this season with our retention of our league status being the only priority. However, a first round tie against Burton Albion of League Two could not have come at a better time for us. A convincing win would surely help ensure that the team didn’t slump to a winless streak but instead get back to winning ways.

This is exactly what we did with Craig Morgan, our rock solid centre back, somehow helping himself to a brace which just sent us on our way. Both goals came from a corner which has shown the extra work put into attacking set pieces had paid off. With us going in three nil up at half time just signalled the end of any chances that Burton had and surprise surprise it had to be Obika on the score sheet. He just seems to be in the form of his life at the moment with 10 goals in 16 games and has managed to get back to playing well alongside Alex Revell who has returned from injury. You can see that the players are much happier when Revell is on the pitch and he takes up the target man role.

Obika helped himself to another goal from yet another corner and despite a consolation goal for Burton, the game was already well and truly over. The players were absolutely delighted with the result which showed the morale maybe had been affected after that last month had finished. I still do not care too much about how far we get in the FA Cup with the only aim being is to get a Premier League club to our stadium in third round...if we make it that far!

Very nice to beat Burton, as Craig Morgan impressed, scoring a brace and getting the MoTM award! Fancy a long run in the F.A. Cup?

Hey, just read your whole story. I am not really a fan of starting unemployed, but maybe I will try it in FM 14 seeing this story. And I am new here ,so would someone help me? I am planning to buy a Windows 8 tab ,so any idea which one I should buy so that I can play FM on it? My current laptop can easily handle it, but I really want something more portable..

Thanks!

I have been reading since I last commented, don't think I haven't;) I think this season you can get promotion and maybe if you get to the championship you should do what I call 'stabilising' yourself so have one season to get used to life in championship and then really go for it! That way you'll be good enough for the prem;) loving it James!!

2013-10-06 12:54#137018 AaronHJFT96 : I have been reading since I last commented, don't think I haven't;) I think this season you can get promotion and maybe if you get to the championship you should do what I call 'stabilising' yourself so have one season to get used to life in championship and then really go for it! That way you'll be good enough for the prem;) loving it James!!

I am glad you have still been following. I have managed to write some more updates so wil try to get them posted. The aim is still to retain our position this season so anything more is just a bouns!

2013-10-06 12:13#137010 kazza121 : Hey, just read your whole story. I am not really a fan of starting unemployed, but maybe I will try it in FM 14 seeing this story. And I am new here ,so would someone help me? I am planning to buy a Windows 8 tab ,so any idea which one I should buy so that I can play FM on it? My current laptop can easily handle it, but I really want something more portable..

Thanks!

I think a different thread in a different forum, not manager stories, would be a better place to ask your question.

2013-10-05 21:04#136920 Pauker : Very nice to beat Burton, as Craig Morgan impressed, scoring a brace and getting the MoTM award! Fancy a long run in the F.A. Cup?

I don't fancy a long cup run no. I just want a big Prem club to come to our stadium in the third round...if we get that far.

2013-10-06 13:30#137024
I don't fancy a long cup run no. I just want a big Prem club to come to our stadium in the third round...if we get that far.

How about facing LFC again ??

2013-10-06 15:15#137039 kazza121 :

2013-10-06 13:30#137024
I don't fancy a long cup run no. I just want a big Prem club to come to our stadium in the third round...if we get that far.

How about facing LFC again ??

It would be nice to face a different Prem club but I am not going to be too picky. I just think it would bring in a decent amount of money just for one game.

Now that month has made me feel a lot happier about how things are going! Last month was a testing one, which had me thinking that we were going to slowly drop down the league after we didn’t get all the points we should have done. Everything just went to plan, with a great number of players finally stepping up to the mark and starting to show their true potential. John Bostock, who I signed from Spurs, was bitching that he wasn’t being given game time and I quickly told him the reason he wasn’t getting game time as he was playing so badly. However, I gave him a chance in this month and he showed me up by putting in some great performances. Hopefully he and others will continue to put in these kind of performances as we cannot continue to rely on Revell and Obika for the remainder of the season. One injury to them two and we could definitely find ourselves dropping down the league.

The month definitely got tougher as it progressed with us coming up against Carlisle and Peterborough who are two other teams in the promotion chase. We were fortunate to come away with two points as we played poorly, however, we showed that we were not pushovers and instead good do well against the sides who should get promoted come the end of the season. We have fortunately made the most of our game in hand over Peterborough which has helped us get back to the place that is rightfully ours; 1st place. This month is probably one of the toughest we will experience in terms of the number of matches played and I am looking forward to an easier month in December against “easier” opposition.


I have decided to include the FA Cup result against Worcester City in this post in order to save time. It was a convincing win that allowed me to rest key players while giving some of the under 18 side a run out. The win, despite it being against a lower league side, showed that we have great depth in the squad and have quality players who can come in and put in a good performance. I am still not concerning myself much with this competition but I will be hoping for a big club to come to the New York Stadium which will bring in some much needed money as the club’s finances are far from secure.

Player of the Month – Craig Morgan