Hello folks and welcome back to the Vauxhall Motors Football Manager 2011 Story! I know, it’s been a while since my last post but I found it a bit difficult to play the game again after winning the World Cup :) It was simply amazing and most of that was thanks to you who cheered for my Argentina during last week’s live broadcast of the World Cup final, I had a great time and your being there meant a lot to me. Since we’re speaking about that final and the very first live-text broadcast of a Football Manager game, I think I owe you a picture that failed to upload during the live session…
That’s right, behold «the battlefield»! :) My desk was fairly crowded I guess and I admit that my fingers were a bit sore at the end of it all but it was worth it :)
OK, enough about the World Cup and Argentina, the last thing I’m going to say is that I resigned right after the World Cup final, I had reached my goal of winning both Copa America and World Cup and I didn’t want to hold on to that job. But I did hold on to the Vauxhall Motors job, I can’t explain exactly why because I have already won everything… I guess I just want to play at least one more season. Or more, who knows? I just know that I still have the desire to manage the Motormen, when that desire will fade I will resign.
Until then, let’s start the new season! I admit that I was a bit disappointed to see the transfer budget that I was offered, just 21 million pounds for a title promise… However, I didn’t need too many players anyway so I didn’t argue with the board.
The bookmakers didn’t favour us this time either, I guess they are really keen on losing money. Or maybe bookmaking will turn into charity in the 2020’s :)
The transfer window was quiet enough but we still managed to get in 33.5 million pounds from sales and loan fees. The most important departure is that of Phil Jones, an awesome centre back by any means but I felt that a younger replacement was needed. Arsenal paid 10 million for him, I guess that is OK considering he’s 31 years old. Two other first team players left the team but that is just temporary, I decided to loan out Iain McManus and Anderson to give them more first team football and maybe make them competitive enough to fight for a place in my squad next season.
The image below must be my smallest «transfers in» screen shot ever :) I brought in just three players, two of them for the first team and one for the under 18s (you guessed right, that 500 pounds buy is for the under 18s :) )
Now let me introduce the two new faces. Keimo Landre is a promising French centre back and he is the one I chose to replace Phil Jones. He might not be as good as Jones yet but I think he will become even better given his already good attributes and high work rate and determination. I hope that he will slot right into my first eleven in the second part of the season. Moreover, the 12.5 million fee was not too much at all in my view.
Last but not least, a freebie! Eduardo Gonzalez Rodriguez has been on my watch list for years and when I saw that he didn’t want to extend his contract with Valencia I jumped at the opportunity. He is a very skilful striker and still fairly young, I think that he will blossom under my guidance and alongside legendary names like Zé Carlos and Parana. He will have a tough time catching the first eleven though so I am still thinking about loaning him out for a few months, we’ll see…
Here is my full 24-man squad for the season, I also have plenty of decent youngsters in the reserves to handle an eventual injury crisis so I am quite optimistic ;)
The summer friendlies went fairly well, we scored 3 plus goals in each game courtesy of the Bulldozer tactic and also created loads and loads of chances in each game (at least 7 in each game except the one against Juventus).
That’s where I usually wrap up my posts but I have a surprise for you: I decided to accept another international job! I wasn’t too keen on that to be honest but since the African Cup is going to take place in 2023 I thought that it might be a good opportunity to aim for another piece of silverware. The Senegal job was available and the FA handed it to me. I was hoping for a better squad though, Senegal have only one world class player (well-known striker Khouma Babacar) and just a few decent players to support him…
Moreover, the qualification for the final tournament is anything but secured, we will have to beat Gabon to get there (the top team in the group qualifies while the second placed has to go through another round). I will try my luck, I’ve got nothing to lose anyway :)
No more surprises now, that’s the end of the post. Thanks a lot for reading it my friends, your support has always been nothing short of fantastic. Take care and leave a comment, suggestion or question if you feel like it :)
George Dobson
10 сентября, 2011 at 16:23
Good signings I think your win the league is their vauxhull players you can pick for senegal
Johnny Karp
10 сентября, 2011 at 17:06
Thanks George. I don’t have any Senegalese players at Vauxhall and I don’t think I will soon, they are not good enough (except Khouma Babacar).
Sears
10 сентября, 2011 at 17:05
I thought the mug was a FMS Patriots mug, and not a Craiova mug :D
Really quiet pre season, which is very surprising by your standards. Pretty sure that you’ll claim a clean sweep again, good luck ;)
Johnny Karp
10 сентября, 2011 at 17:08
Yeah, I guess we can call it a FMS Patriots mug now that Craiova doesn’t exist any more… I tried to keep the spending under control this time, I want the club to have money to spend on facilities (hopefully). Thanks for the good luck wish ;)
Sibo373
10 сентября, 2011 at 17:07
Nice signings mate. Good luck with the coming season and of course, with Senegal! :D :D
Johnny Karp
10 сентября, 2011 at 17:09
Thanks Sibo, I think I’ll need a whole lot of luck with Senegal :)
Excessive
10 сентября, 2011 at 17:09
Loving the mutil-coloured keyboard mate ;)
Very quiet, but at least you managed to replace Phil Jones who you did well to sell for £10M at 31! Best of luck with Senegal too.. They are always at least semi-finalists on my saves so they have good pedigree. Babacar will smash them in for you im sure!
Johnny Karp
10 сентября, 2011 at 17:12
Haha, that keyboard is a special design for a professional video editing application, I used to do a lot of that a couple of years ago. Thanks for the info about Senegal, that makes me a bit more optimistic :)
Laxeyman
10 сентября, 2011 at 17:10
Very quiet Johnny, but when you’ve got such a good team then I guess it doesn’t need much strengthening :) Landre looks like an excellent DC, a good replacement for Jones, and Rodriguez is a good player too. Senegal will be an interesting challenge, good luck!
Johnny Karp
10 сентября, 2011 at 17:12
Thanks Laxeyman, you are right about the squad: it was already strong enough so spending too much wouldn’t have made such a big difference.
Darren Smith
10 сентября, 2011 at 18:12
Love the control centre Johnny. :)
I think you were very sensible in the transfer window…I bet there’s a lot of players that take your fancy but there’s no point overloading the squad. Pre-season was a real success and I look forward to following your progress in Africa.
Johnny Karp
10 сентября, 2011 at 20:15
Haha, thanks :) I’m quite curious to see how the African adventure will go.
riggsy
10 сентября, 2011 at 18:19
It must be hard to keep playing when you have won so much and you already have a squad that is better than any other team on the game, so I suppose you didn’t really need to spend that much this summer unless a deal was to good to turn down. You have still done well in the transfer maker though, bringing in a healthy 33.5 million, and Landre looks to be a great signing! Good luck mate, and I’m sure you will have another great season! :)
Johnny Karp
10 сентября, 2011 at 20:15
Thanks mate, I guess I want to keep playing because I really like to watch this team on the pitch ;)
Daniel
10 сентября, 2011 at 21:55
Not sure if you knew this johnny but the next podcast for FM12 has been released today
Johnny Karp
11 сентября, 2011 at 09:57
I know, I have already listened to the whole thing.
Sayam Khan
10 сентября, 2011 at 22:01
Jones’ replacement looks very defensively but needs improvement on his pace. Excellent signing for that price though!
Johnny Karp
11 сентября, 2011 at 09:57
I agree, his speed needs some improvements but I think he will become a great defender.
Martin - F.M.J.S
10 сентября, 2011 at 22:15
Hi Johnny
Nice replacement for Phil Jones, and it was the right time to let him go mate. Also look forward to how you get on with Senegal, it should be interesting. Good Luck mate.
Johnny Karp
11 сентября, 2011 at 09:57
Thanks Martin.
Kevin
10 сентября, 2011 at 22:25
Hi Johnny
Love the coffee mug and that fancy keyboard you have :) Once again there were too many people crowding to get a laptop special so I failed once more..boo!
Amnyway, I have to agree I never seen you bring in so few players before… that’s amazing. Rodriguez is a very impressive looking youngster and should do well in your set up. Good luck for the new season and with Senegal too!!
Johnny Karp
11 сентября, 2011 at 09:58
Hey Kevin, sorry to hear that you missed out on the laptop again, maybe you should use different approach tactics :P As for the game, I hope it will be an entertaining season.
Lye Kuek Hin
11 сентября, 2011 at 03:36
Hi Johnny,
You have a very strong squad so the few players you brought in have the next few years in mind. I thought that was a clever move. The team has been playing years for now and the cohesiveness is there with only few additions. They have been winning and the mentality is already there. Good luck for the new season ahead.
Johnny Karp
11 сентября, 2011 at 09:59
Thanks Lye, I agree that the years that the players have spent together here really add some strength to the team.
Nicholas Phipps
11 сентября, 2011 at 10:32
Not many signings but your squad is already ridiculously strong so you probably didn’t need any :). Good luck with Senegal :)
Johnny Karp
11 сентября, 2011 at 17:09
I will need another centre back to replace Wilson at the end of the season but apart from that we’re pretty well covered. Thanks for the good luck wish ;)
vaibhavc
11 сентября, 2011 at 19:03
Hey Johnny
Not too many signings there, but you have a great squad, so there is no point in buying too many players. Senegal looks like a good challenge. I didn’t know that you resigned from Argentina after winning the World Cup .
Johnny Karp
12 сентября, 2011 at 06:23
Hey Vaibhav, there was no point in continuing with Argentina but I hope I’ll be able to get the African Cup with Senegal and then maybe look for another international challenge.
workoutdude
16 сентября, 2011 at 05:08
Hi Johnny,
Can you please show the value of vauxhall motormen at the ends of each of your seasons to see your progress in terms of the value of the club and also where you are on the list of tob clubs in terms of value.
Apart from playing your reserves or under 19s in their respective reserves and your leagues, how else do you get your many talented players to keep improving. In my save for Zagreb in season 5 I have 2-3 plyers for each position and my issue is that I only have under 19 league in Croatia, so I organize a friendly where I play my 18-19 year olds to get better. I find that if I leave them in the under 19 league they don’t improve as much as if I play them with the senior team players in a friendlies…..
Good luck for the new season
(I’ve been away for a while working on my business…managed to sneak in a few moments here and there to play a game or two….)
BR
Workoutdude out
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2011 at 07:02
I did show the value and some financial details when I felt they were interesting but I will try to show those on a regular basis from now on. I think you are right about the youth players, they can learn much more from playing with the seniors.