Vauxhall August 2011: the Blue Square Premier debut

Hello folks, the time has finally come for my Motormen to test their strength against the Blue Square Premier sides. Welcome back to another episode of the story, you surely remember that we brought in a few players during pre-season and I was particularly curious to see how my new strikers would cope with the opposition. But before going through the first matches I would like to let you know about something that happened after our last friendly game, the impressive 5-0 victory over Championship side Derby County.

Their manager, a certain Kevin Blackwell, made a shocking statement after the game saying that my team could do a lot better! That statement left me speechless: «if we can do better than you surely can’t do any worse», that’s what I would have answered but unfortunately that option was not available in the game. Anyway, this shocking statement added another reason behind a decision that I have taken: I won’t attend press conferences and generally I won’t speak to the media at all. My talking will be done exclusively through my players on the pitch!

Now let’s move on to football: our first game was at home against Cheltenham, a team that was predicted to finish 7th. We had a pretty good start to the game, we were pushing for the opening goal but unfortunately we missed two good opportunities and our opponents found the back of the net the very first time they came forward. They hit the post shortly after the goal but we managed to get in the equalizer before half time when Danny Uchechi‘s shot bounced off the post into the path of Pablo Navas and the Spaniard scored on his debut. The second half was equally entertaining, both teams hit the woodwork again but Cheltenham clinched it thanks to a great injury time goal, I wouldn’t have expected that striker to score from such an angle… We started the season with a home defeat, that wasn’t a good sign but the team played a good game and the result could have been a lot different if we would have displayed better finishing.

We had another home game coming up and the visitors were promotion contenders Crawley, predicted to finish 4th. The visitors took the lead just three minutes into the game with a spectacular 25 yard drive and our fans were already starting to think about relegation. The team was not affected by the nightmare start though and we leveled the game on 15 minutes when Danny Uchechi converted a penalty kick after Pietro Palladino had been brought down inside the area. We continued to play pretty well and the reward came on the stroke of half time when centre back Oliver Nicholas headed in an Uchechi free kick cross. Shortly after the break Omar Koroma fired in his first goal of the season and then settled the game during injury time when he received a good pass from Shane Williams.

Our first away game of the season saw us playing against another promotion contender, the title favourites Luton. I was quite curious to see my lads in action against what appeared to be the best team in the league. We could have enjoyed a flying start but Danny Uchechi hit the crossbar just 25 seconds into the game and then the match cooled off and there were no clear chances until half time. Luton dominated the first half but we managed to break the deadlock four minutes into the second half when Uchechi headed in a corner kick cross at the near post. Then we took control of the game, kept possession very well and even missed a good chance to double the lead. It was a solid display from my lads and that surely gave me great hopes for the future.

We had another away game coming up and this time we were going to meet relegation candidates Braintree, predicted to finish 21st. They started the game well though and took the lead on 12 minutes thanks to a magnificent goal, it’s worth watching :) We were not playing very well but managed to level things three minutes before the half hour mark when Oguzhan Ozyakup fired in a great free kick shot. Striker Michael Ricketts could have put us in the lead but he missed a huge chance before the interval. We were chasing the winning goal but disaster struck in our penalty area on 52 minutes, the referee saw something that I really didn’t notice and pointed to the spot. We were one goal down again and missed another two great chances before defender Oliver Nicholas pushed a corner kick cross in with a sliding finish. The hosts could have won the game during the final minutes when they had two great chances that were gifted to them by some incredible blunders from my defenders. Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

Back at Rivacre Park for the next game, promotion contenders Grimsby were coming in town. They were predicted to finish third but they really didn’t show too much of their potential in the first half: it was pretty boring but it was saved by a sensational goal from Omar Koroma, a great long range drive. Our opponents were showing more after the break but goalkeeper Adam Street pulled off a string of good saves to keep us in the lead. Then Shane Williams stepped into the spotlight and he scored a great first goal of the season. Grimsby were still trying to get back into the game but a quick breakaway sealed the win, Koroma squared it for Danny Uchechi and the striker made no mistake. The game ended with another fine goal from us, Williams burst into the area and set up Koroma‘s second goal of the game.

The last game of the month was away at in-form Cambridge, they were top of the table before that match. They were dominating the game and we did well to hold out until Chris Pendleton‘s dismissal on 37 minutes, he got two yellows in just three minutes… We were unable to cope with our opponents, they scored twice but could have added a lot more on the scoreboard in a game that they dominated from start to finish. The red card can’t be an excuse for the poor performance, we were brushed aside by what appeared to be a much better opponent.

We are in 9th place after six games but that’s not really relevant. We conceded a bit too many goals despite some good performances from goalkeeper Adam Street and that was my main concern.

I made another three free transfers during this month, let me introduce the new faces:

First I felt that I needed another good centre back and after evaluating a few targets I decided to bring in Spanish defender Sergio Sanchez, a player that was released by West Ham. He is quick enough to play in my high defensive line and I also like his determination and work rate.

You already know that I was looking for a new right winger and in the end I brought in two of them, a young prospect and a player that should make it into the first eleven right away. The young prospect is 18-year old William Mellors-Blair, a quick winger that appears to have good potential.

The other right winger was recommended by Vinners, thanks mate! :) His name is Albert Owusu-Ansah and he’s a versatile and skillful midfielder, not very quick but he could be a great asset because of his technical skills.

Three players left the club, including long-time favourite Ryan Carolan (he doesn’t seem to be as good as he was in FM 10)

Our most impressive player this month was Omar Koroma, he bagged two doubles in four games and I expect even better things from him in the future.

We had mixed results and performances this month, the players are still working to adapt to my playing style, but the great thing is that we didn’t have any bad injuries until now. I don’t know where we’ll end up this season but I hope to see more consistency from the team in the following months. Thanks a lot for reading, I hope you have enjoyed the update and the video highlights. By the way, do you like the highlights better with the «TV view» camera or with the «zoomed vertical scrolling» camera that I have used for this post?