Hello folks and welcome back to the Vauxhall Motors Football Manager 2011 story! After the most quiet transfer window in my career I was ready to face a new season with the Motormen and I can say that I felt no pressure at all to succeed as we have already won everything that was up for grabs. I just wanted to have fun and I guess I did experience quite a few moments of entertainment in the first half of the season.
Community Shield
The first match of the season was the Community Shield and we faced Tottenham, our bitter Premier League rivals from last season. The game was as easy as it gets although I was expecting more from the Spurs: we took a three-goal lead in less than 20 minutes of play and then just contained the opponents to clinch the win. It’s true that the Spurs tried to fight back, mostly in the second half, but Da Silva ended their hopes by scoring the fourth goal 10 minutes after the interval. (Click here to watch the match highlights.)
I was totally unaware of our unbeaten run before that game but I was pleased to find out after lifting the trophy that we were unbeaten in 42 games!
UEFA Super Cup
The second available silverware of the season was the UEFA Super Cup and we had to play Chelsea again as they won the Europa League for the second time in a row. The game turned out to be fairly easy, mostly thanks to World Cup hero Lucas Cuello who gave us a two-goal lead before half time. Chelsea tried to fight back after the break but Zé Carlos punished them and it was all over, our trophy cabinet just got even more crowded :) (Click here to watch the match highlights.)
Carling Cup
Our League Cup path was easy enough, we met only Championship teams until the semi final and we cruised past them even though some reserves and backups got some playing time in those games. We will meet Aston Villa in the semi final and I think we have a very good chance of going to Wembley again.
Champions League Group Stage
We were quite lucky with the Champions League draw as well since we entered a group with Shakhtar, Olympiakos and some Danish team whose name I can’t pronounce. We grabbed six wins out of six with fair ease, except the two games against Shakhtar, and we’ll face Russian side Rubin Kazan in the first knockout round. If you look at the screen shot below you’ll notice an unknown goal scorer: Miranda. You’ll know more about him later, all I will tell you know is that he is a very tall centre back that I decided to promote from the reserves team.
Club World Championship
The intercontinental competition proved to be another easy one for my team, we battered Japanese side Kashima Antlers in the semi final before putting five goals past Los Angeles Galaxy in the final to claim the Club World Championship yet again. It was too easy though, I didn’t even celebrate :)
FA Cup
The FA Cup started a bit early for us this season as we faced Chelsea on New Year’s Eve. It was a frustrating match as we found ourselves one man down after just 17 minutes due to a red card but the lads fought on to record a high-scoring draw. I hope we will get our revenge in the replay.
Premier League August – October 2022
And now, finally, the Premier League results! The season started with a very frustrating away draw at Tottenham, we had no less that 8 clear cut chances in that game but weren’t able to score more than a goal. Things got better after that match as we went on to record five straight wins but that streak ended in the first game of October when Liverpool held us to a 1-1 draw. We had an excuse though as we had to play with 10 men for 79 minutes as Gary Warner was sent off just 11 minutes into the game. Our autumn ended with three consecutive wins and we were top of the table at that point and our unbeaten run was still on.
Premier League November – December 2022
November was perfect, we grabbed five wins out of five, but we recorded another setback in the second game of December as Blackburn held out for a 2-2 draw. We squandered 7 clear cut chances that day but we shouldn’t have conceded twice in the first place, it was a rather poor performance. Our unbeaten run was still standing though, it went up to 72 games and then… it ended… Arsenal beat us 3-2 at home on Boxing Day and there were no excuses for that result: we had a two-goal lead and things seemed to be heading our way but probably the lads got a bit complacent and Arsenal punished us severely. We ended the year with a good win against the Spurs but I felt a bit bad about losing that unbeaten streak…
The title race is still wide open at this point, we are in command but we can’t afford any slip-ups in the coming months.
These were the Vauxhall results in the first half of the season but the post is not over yet, head over to the next page for some interesting statistics, awards and news about my progress with Senegal.
Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Excessive
September 17, 2011 at 14:14
Well done Jonny, the Vauxhall team are bulldozing their way through yet another season! Little unlucky with the Arsenal result, but lapses like that happen in football.
Good luck with Senegal though! Babacar is one hell of a striker and im sure that he will guide the way through the group stages and maybe even to the trophy.. With two of the four teams from group B out, you will stand more of a chance!
Johnny Karp
September 17, 2011 at 17:18
Thanks Jake. You are right about Babacar, he can single-handedly push us through to the quarter finals but then we’ll need more to advance. You’re right about group B as well, I secretly hope that Ivory Coast will not reach the quarter finals :)
Kevin
September 17, 2011 at 14:33
Great job Johnny. That’s unfortunate against Arsenal but otherwise you are steaming ahead with an incredible goal talley half way through the season. You’ve gotten off to a godd start with Sengal so all the best for the finals. Should be exciting!
Johnny Karp
September 17, 2011 at 17:19
Thanks Kevin, I am surely looking forward to the African Nations Cup ;)
Darren Smith
September 17, 2011 at 15:52
Well done mate, brilliant form and you’re doing it in style. I honestly can’t think of how anyone can stop Vauxhall completing another clean sweep. It would certainly take some bad luck.
I hope Senegal can win the African Nations Cup as that would be a great trophy to add to your CV…if anyone can do it you can.
Johnny Karp
September 17, 2011 at 17:20
Thanks Darren, I hope we will perform another clean sweep but I’m not that keen on that. About the African Cup, I think that Babacar will have a far bigger importance than me.
George Dobson
September 17, 2011 at 16:29
well done great results Babacar is amazing miranda sems to be playing well to lets hope he becomes a amazing player
Johnny Karp
September 17, 2011 at 17:20
Thanks mate, I agree that Babacar is amazing while Miranda could become a good defender, maybe not an amazing one but a good one.
Sears
September 17, 2011 at 16:38
Great start to the campaign Johnny! Your new tactic is quite remarkable, creates so many chances … Anyhow, keep up the good work :)
Johnny Karp
September 17, 2011 at 17:21
Thanks Sears. We didn’t create as many chances in each game but the tactic does produce some fun on a regular basis :)
vaibhavc
September 17, 2011 at 18:02
Hey Johnny
You have only lost one game since the campaign has started. I actually thought you didn’t lose a single game when I started to read the post. You are doing well with Senegal, keep up the good work!
Johnny Karp
September 18, 2011 at 11:39
Hey Vaibhav, I guess we were pretty close to ending the year unbeaten…
riggsy
September 17, 2011 at 18:39
Great work Johnny your team has performed exceptionally well in all competitions and I’m sure you will do well with Senegal too! Good luck for the rest of the season mate :)
Johnny Karp
September 18, 2011 at 11:39
Thanks Riggsy!
Laxeyman
September 17, 2011 at 18:54
Brilliant as ever, you’ve built an incredible team from almost nothing, well done! Ze Carlos, Parana et al are just brilliant and I’d be surprised if you don’t win the lot. Good luck!
Johnny Karp
September 18, 2011 at 11:40
Thanks Laxeyman, I do have brilliant players indeed :)
Lye Kuek Hin
September 18, 2011 at 12:42
Hi Johnny,
All is going well mate. There is no doubt it’s going to be another successful season. Too bad about the unbeaten run but i guess it has to happen sometimes. 11 nominees, the world’s best players are in Vauxhall and i will be very surprised if a Vauxhall player didn’t get the award.
Good luck on the African Nations Cup. Love to see you win above the expectations.
Johnny Karp
September 18, 2011 at 13:31
Hey Lye, it was a good season so far and I think that a good African tournament could make it one to remember.
Martin - F.M.J.S
September 18, 2011 at 16:04
Hi Johnny
Its a very good start to the season mate, Some positive results. Good Luck with the rest of the season.
Also good luck with the African Nations Cup too, i look forward to seeing how you get on.
Johnny Karp
September 18, 2011 at 19:01
Thanks mate, I’m looking forward to the African Cup of Nations as I never played this tournament in FM 2012 until now.
Johnny Karp
September 18, 2011 at 19:01
Thanks mate, I’m looking forward to the African Cup of Nations as I never played this tournament in FM 2011 until now.