Vauxhall FM 2011 Story: October 2014

Hello dear friends and welcome back to Ellesmere Port for another episode of the Vauxhall Motors FC Football Manager 2011 story! The first two months of our Championship season went pretty well, we were fourth at the end of September and also managed to put together a pretty good Carling Cup run after knocking out Premiership sides Newcastle and Fulham. Let’s see how things continued in October.

Southampton vs Vauxhall (Championship)

Venue: St. Mary’s Stadium

Attendance: 20,930

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Ken Harris, Sashi Chalwe, Mervin Simon, James Campbell — Alex Chamberlain, Mark Brown, Graham Howson, Jason Banton — Lenny Nangis, Andrés

Team Talk: You can win today!

Southampton were in 7th place before the game, a tough opponent to face away from home. The prospects seemed even bleaker after just three minutes as the home side took the lead but fortunately we pegged them back 90 seconds later when Lenny Nangis capped a great run with a perfect finish. Things were looking up but we suffered another setback on 15 minutes when striker Andrés made a horrendous two-footed tackle that got him a thoroughly deserved red card. We had some more defending to do after that sending off but Nangis was in great shape, his speed was too much to handle for the Southampton defense and he gave us the lead before the half hour mark after receiving a good through pass from Mark Brown. Our defenders were doing a pretty good job as well, we kept the opponents at bay until half time.

Half time score: 1-2

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Keith Higgs for Chamberlain

The team continued to play with good confidence after the break, we were controlling the game despite the numerical disadvantage and even doubled the lead on 57 minutes when a good pass from substitute Keith Higgs gave Nangis the opportunity to complete a hat-trick and the French striker didn’t miss it. The defense kept doing a good job, we restricted Southampton to shots from distance and walked away with the valuable three points.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Lenny Nangis

Flop of the match: Andrés

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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Vauxhall vs Huddersfield (Championship)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 3,000 (capacity crowd)

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Ken Harris, Sashi Chalwe, Mervin Simon, Grant Baddeley — Carlos Chavez, Mark Brown, Graham Howson, Jason Banton — Lenny Nangis, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: You can win today!

Huddersfield were 11th before the match so I was hoping to confirm the good away result with a solid performance at home. In fact, the team started the game very well, we were enjoying a great spell of domination but wasted no less than four clear cut chances inside the opening 15 minutes! Then the game turned into a real nightmare, Huddersfield scored twice in four minutes and our confidence was broken into tiny little pieces. The team was unable to react before half time and I could understand them, it was very frustrating.

Half time score: 0-2

Half time team talk: I want to see more from you!

Half time substitutions: James Campbell for Baddeley, Daniel Toribio for Brown

We picked up the pace again after the break but another two big chances went to waste before the hour mark. I sent in Keith Higgs for Chavez on 61 minutes and the winger repaid my confidence with a nice goal from 20 yards just a few minutes later. We pulled one back but we were totally out of luck as M’Bow hit the post and then missed another big chance before the final whistle. It was a painful result and things got even worse as Jason Banton got injured and was going to be out for a whole month.

Full time team talk: Disappointing!

Man of the match: Keith Higgs

Flop of the match: Ibrahima MBow

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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Scunthorpe vs Vauxhall (Championship)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 6,928

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Ken Harris, Bryan Purdrue, Mervin Simon, James Campbell — Alex Chamberlain, Mark Brown, Graham Howson, Keith Higgs — Lenny Nangis, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: You can win today!

The players’ confidence was at an all time low after the frustrating match against Huddersfield as we were traveling to meet 10th placed Scunthorpe. There surely was some bad luck involved as well: Keith Higgs hit the crossbar two minutes into the game and then Ibrahima MBow missed the empty net! Scunthorpe punished us on a counter attack and then made it 2-0 before the break courtesy of some rather unconvincing defending from my team.

Half time score: 2-0

Half time team talk: I want to see more from you!

Half time substitutions: Carlos Santos for Purdrue, Suso for Howson, Dale Hills for Nangis

The atrocious defending continued after the break and Scunthorpe bagged another two goals inside the opening four minutes. I was expecting much worse at that point but my lads woke up and took control of the game to avoid a total disaster. Ibrahima MBow managed to score the consolation goal but things were looking bad, very bad!

Full time team talk: Disappointing!

Man of the match: Ibrahima MBow

Flop of the match: Ken Harris

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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Vauxhall vs Burnley (Championship)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 3,000 (capacity crowd)

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Jacob Hronec, Sashi Chalwe, Mervin Simon, Mariusz Pawelec — Carlos Chavez, Graham Howson, Suso, Daniel Toribio — Lenny Nangis, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: Pressure is off!

It was the worst possible time to meet the league leaders, wasn’t it? Burnley were top of the table after winning their last three games and they were firm favorites to grab another win at Rivacre Park. I chose to tell the players that there was no pressure, I just wanted them to play football and enjoy it! The game started with a setback as left back Mariusz Pawelec had to leave the field after just four minutes due to an injury, Grant Baddeley was sent in to replace him. But then the approach paid off in full: we dominated the game and Ibrahima M’Bow managed to bag a brace to redeem himself for all the chances that he had missed in the previous games. The first goal was the result of a nice team move and the second was created by Spanish midfielder Suso who played a very good assist. I was very happy at the end of the first half, not only because we scored twice but because Burnley had just one shot at goal during the first 45 minutes!

Half time score: 2-0

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: none

I was afraid that Burnley might react after the break but they just couldn’t and we bagged another two goals to make sure of the three points. First Lenny Nangis scored from the edge of the area (Suso was credited with the assist again) and then centre back Mervin Simon headed home a corner kick cross. We could have scored a few more but the four-goal margin was more than enough. Unfortunately Nangis also got injured and was going to be out for two weeks while Pawelec was sidelined for seven weeks.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Suso

Flop of the match: none

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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Norwich vs Vauxhall (Carling Cup 4th rnd)

Venue: Carrow Road

Attendance: 23,177

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Ken Harris, Sashi Chalwe, Mervin Simon, James Campbell — Alex Chamberlain, Mark Brown, Graham Howson, Keith Higgs — Andrés, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: You can win today!

The last game of the month and also the most important as it was our chance to advance to the Carling Cup quarter finals! Norwich were the favorites to win the game though but I was looking forward to see Andrés in action again as he was returning from a three-match ban following that stupid red card against Southampton. The game started with Norwich trying to push forward but we stood firm and punished them on a counter attack nine minutes into the match, Keith Higgs crossed it in low and Graham Howson fired it first time straight into the back of the net! The crowd witnessed a fierce game after that goal, both sides were playing attacking football but the two goalies did very well to keep the score intact until half time.

Half time score: 0-1

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Suso for Brown

The second half was a lot more quiet for our defense, we took control of the game and could easily have scored a few more goals. We were denied by the woodwork no less than three times but it ended well, we won and booked our passage to the quarter finals!

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Graham Howson

Flop of the match: Mervin Simon

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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It was another month of mixed results, we pulled off a great result at Southampton but then the frustrating defeat against Huddersfield was quite a shock for the team. Fortunately we recovered just in time by beating leaders Burnley and we did that in style!

We managed to keep our fourth place after this month but the table is still quite tight as we are just nine points above the relegation zone. A bad run could see us dropping down the table real fast so we have to keep working hard and getting the three points as often as possible. The interesting thing is that we haven’t recorded any draws until now!

Striker Lenny Nangis received the Player of the Month award, I guess he deserved it after scoring four goals this month. His speed seems to be making a big difference and I hope that he will get back in shape quickly after recovering from the injury.

Next month will really test my team, we’ll play seven games and quite a few of those will be as tough as they come: at home with Bristol City, Middlesbrough and Norwich and away at Leeds and Hull.

That’s about it for now, another month of contradictory results. We seem to have the power to beat even the best teams in the league but we can also get beaten quite heavily by weaker teams. I guess that just makes me even more curious to see what will happen next month :) Thanks a lot for reading and don’t forget to vote in the Goal Of The Month Competition, there’s only one week left to express your view!