We left the journey in August after a mediocre start to the season. I may sound a tad harsh if you were to look back at our fixtures but that is a sign of the level we are reaching.
Today we will cover September, October and November as we head towards the ever difficult festive period.
Lets get underway.
September 2026
Match 5 - Bournemouth (H) 6-0
Well, well, well what a performance we have here. Absolute domination as we hit Bournemouth for 6 at the Mad Stad. Braces from Jack Clarke and Bigongiari alongside goals from Almada and Contento sealed this emphatic victory.
Match 6 - QPR (A) 6-1
BACK TO BACK 6'S
I said at the start of this season that I was please with our attacking threat last season but we just needed to firm ourselves up at the back and these last two games have shown the massive strides we have taken.
Goals from Jack Clarke, Guendouzi, Ortega and an Almeda hattrick sealed the win.
EFL Cup Third Round - Shrewsbury (A) 1-0
Another lower league opposition in the competition, so guess what? I made changes. Again we struggled to break them down and only after making key subs did we look like winning the game.
Jack Clarke digging us out of a hole in the 81st minute.
From now on this competition will be one of my main focuses.
Match 7 - Wolves (A) 1-1
The changes made for the EFL Cup in the previous clearly disrupted our momentum from the last few games.
We went behind early and our cause wasn't helped by Harwood-Bellis, who was sent off for two yellow cards. We dragged ourselves back into the game before half time through Almada.
We sat back in the second half to play for the draw, but were alwasy a threat on the counter attack and I thought we had won it when Bigongiari scored in the 82nd minute only to have the goal ruled out.
Hell of a start to the month with those two victories and progressing in the cup. Disappointing performance against Wolves but with 10 men for over an hour a draw is a good result.
Almada was rewarded with his fine form with the September Player of the Month.
October
Match 8 - Burnley (H) 3-2
The worst possible start to October as we concede in the 1st minute. Jack Clarke restores parity before we fall behind again before half time.
We came alive in the second half and goals from Almada (Pen) and Contento sealed the victory.
Match 9 - Southampton (H) 3-0
A perfect performance from the lads as we dominated from first to last whistle. It took a while for us to get on the scoreboard but once we did the flood gates opened.
Bigongiari got us away before Contento made it two. A collectors goal as Tulelli grabbed his first for the club as he smashed home from 2-0 yards out.
Match 10 - Leicester (A) 3-2
A fantastic first half performance sealed the victory as Clarke got us off to a flyer in the 2nd minute. Bigongiari then grabbed two before half time leaving us 3-1 up.
The second half was a non event until the 94th minute when Leicester scored again to make it a nervy ending before holding on for the 3 points.
EFL Cup Fourth Round - Stoke (A) 2-0
No changes for this round as a place in the Quarter Final beacons. It took until the second half to assert our dominance as Contento and Vassi scored in the 65th and 90th minute to send us through.
The Draw
Another favourable draw especially looking at the result recently against Bournemouth.
Match 11 - Everton (A) 1-1
The last game in October and just like the last game in September it was a 1-1 draw.
Both goals were early in the first half as Contento scored in the 12th minute before Everton equalised in shortly after.
Another great set of results as we go 8 unbeaten in the league. This is exactly the sort of form I was looking for.
November
A short month to finish but a difficult one as we face Man City, Spurs and Chelsea.
Match 12 - Man City (A) 2-3
The run comes to an end against a fantastic Man City team but we pushed them the whole way.
We went behind early and I thought we were going to have one of those days against the big teams. However we rallied fantastically and actually lead at half time through goals from Bigongiari and Contento.
Sadly we couldn't hold on and two second half goals sealed our first defeat in 9 games.
Match 13 - Tottenham (H) 2-1
In what can only be described as a smash and grab we saw Spurs off to win 2-1 after scoring twice in the last 10 minutes.
Almada grabbed the 1st and Cabellero got the winner in the 86th minute. Huge 3 points.
Match 14 - Chelsea (H) 2-1
Now, the last game was remarkable enough but to repeat it a week later against a team like Chelsea.
We actually went behind late too, in the 78th minute. Chelsea were looking good for the 3 points until Almada grabbed 2 goals in 4 minutes and seal the unlikeliest of victories.
The loss to Man City was long forgotten after the other two games. We really got amongst the goals again too and I'm delighted with the season so far.
The Table
Well, well, well what do we have here. 14 games in and we are right up there amongst the big boys.
Hell of a start to the season. Lets keep this going!
See you all next time
Cheers
Panda
If you have enjoyed this episode and want to fully catch up with our Journey so far you can start way back at the beginning here -
We also recently had our turn in a joint save with other FM creators called "The Far East Express. Please check out our three episodes with the link below. One hell of a journey going on in that save.
We also have an fascinating International save going as we attempt to take Jamaica to Gold Cup and World Cup glory after acquiring some new recruits who have been ignored repeatedly by England
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