Vauxhall vs Sheffield United (Championship)
Venue: Rivacre Park
Attendance: 3,000 (capacity crowd)
Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Ken Harris, Sashi Chalwe, Mervin Simon, Mariusz Pawelec — Alex Chamberlain, Mark Brown, Suso, Jason Banton — Andrés, Ibrahima MBow
Team Talk: You can win today!
Sheffield United were in 10th place before the game but they were still considered to be promotion contenders, it was expected to be a tough match. In fact, the first half was quite balanced, both teams were looking quite strong. It ended goalless though and there were no clear chances during the opening 45 minutes.
Half time score: 0-0
Half time team talk: You can win today!
Half time substitutions: Grant Baddeley for Pawelec, Keith Higgs for Banton
I was hoping to see more from my lads especially in attack but our game plan received a big blow just two minutes after the re-start, Sheffield United hit us on a counter attack and took the lead. There was no reaction from my lads, our attacks were lacking creativity. We did play a bit better during the final 20 minutes but that was not nearly good enough, the visitors defended very well and grabbed the three points.
Full time team talk: Disappointing!
Man of the match: Dean Bouzanis
Flop of the match: Grant Baddeley
Match Stats
Video Highlights
Click here to watch the match highlights.
Vauxhall vs Millwall (Championship)
Venue: Rivacre Park
Attendance: 3,000 (capacity crowd)
Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Ken Harris, Sashi Chalwe, Mervin Simon, Mariusz Pawelec — Alex Chamberlain, Mark Brown, Suso, Jason Banton — Lenny Nangis, Andrés
Team Talk: You can win today!
This was the last game of the month and we were meeting 10th placed Millwall, the team that had beaten us 2-0 in the opening day of the season. The opening 10 minutes of the game were quite entertaining as both teams managed to hit the woodwork but it was Millwall who took the lead after that when left back Mariusz Pawelec put through our own net. Fortunately centre back Mervin Simon repaired his teammate’s error just four minutes later by heading home from a corner kick but the first half ended all square, it was quite a tough game.
Half time score: 1-1
Half time team talk: You can win today!
Half time substitutions: Connor Newton for Chamberlain, Keith Higgs for Banton, Ibrahima MBow for Nangis
Our game improved after the break, probably because of the three substitutions, and we took the lead on 52 minutes after another corner kick: this time Mervin Simon headed on and Andrés nodded home at the far post. That effort was canceled out 20 minutes later though and it was from a corner kick again, Millwall‘s player was totally unmarked and easily bagged the equalizer. We could have restored the lead just two minutes later but MBow missed an unbelievable chance as he hit the post from just six yards! It was a corner kick that did justice and it was centre back Simon who did it again nine minutes from time. Millwall changed the tactical set up to 4-2-4 in an attempt to claim a share of the spoils but their strategy backfired as we hit them on a counter attack through substitute Connor Newton.
Full time team talk: Well done!
Man of the match: Mervin Simon
Flop of the match: Lenny Nangis
Match Stats
Video Highlights
Click here to watch the match highlights.
So, we started with a well-deserved defeat at Old Trafford but then bounced back well and grabbed four league wins out of five games. Maybe we would have deserved a draw against Sheffield United although we played quite poorly on that occasion.
The good news is that we made another step forward in the league table, we are in second place now and if the season would end today we would be promoted to the Premiership! It’s too early to celebrate though, the league table still is quite tight and we will have to keep up the pace if we want to finish second. A playoff place looks like a realistic target now, we hold a 10-point advantage on 7th placed Scunthorpe and we should be able to hold on to that.
Let’s have a look at the player stats now, I’ve put them into two categories: the good and the bad. It was quite a surprise to see who is leading the good at the halfway point of the season: veteran centre back Sashi Chalwe! He probably had the best months of his career this season, he was a rock in defense but also managed to score three goals and make three assists! Unfortunately his contract is expiring next July and he doesn’t want to extend it, I would have liked to keep him at the club until the end of his playing career as he is a good role-model for the youngsters. Andrés and Ibrahima MBow did pretty well upfront, they scored 28 goals and made 16 assists between them.
And now let’s see the bad… Some of them might still need some more time to adapt, like Carlos Santos, but others will surely be leaving the club in January: Jacob Hronec and Mariusz Pawelec.
As you can notice from the previous two screen shots no less than 16 of our players are currently wanted by other clubs. I hope that the board won’t sell any of them without my consent but I’m always prepared for that. Striker Ibrahima MBow seems to be the most exciting transfer target in our squad, he’s wanted by some huge clubs like Barcelona, Arsenal or AC Milan just to name a few! Some of you might remember that I bought him for 90K from Senegalese club Jeanne D’Arc in 2013, he’s made a lot of progress since then…
It seems like we’ll have a relaxed schedule in January, just four games to play! Those might become five if we beat fellow Championship side Southampton in the FA Cup, I surely hope that we will. Two of the league games will be quite tough, those against promotion contenders Leicester and Stoke.
That’s how it was folks, I hope that this update was worth waiting for. Thanks a lot for reading and don’t forget to enter the March Goal Of The Month Competition!
Excessive
2 марта, 2011 at 15:44
Looking good mate! Very strong in the league for a newly promoted club and I’ve got no doubts that you can push for a season in the premier league next year on current form.
Unlucky against united, hard to go to OT at the best of times but you gave it a decent shot.
Shame about M’Bow though, I’m having the same trouble. Value goes down in the last year of contract so I would offload him sooner rather than later. I’m sure you will be able to find adequate backup at a fraction of the price!
Good luck, I’ll be following.
Johnny Karp
2 марта, 2011 at 20:04
Thanks Jake, we will get our revenge on Man United sooner or later! M’Bow is not in the last year of contract though, Chalwe is. I won’t be selling M’Bow cheap, I think I will be asking at least 3 million for him, maybe even more.
mark
2 марта, 2011 at 21:01
no, get at least 5-10 million for him because i really want to see you spend your money wisely and make the motorsmen to be a formidable team
love your blog always even though i don comment that much
p.s: try to get at least 15 million perhaps???
Johnny Karp
2 марта, 2011 at 21:12
Thanks a lot for the comment Mark and for reading the blog, much appreciated. I guess you are right, I’ll start the bidding at 15 million if the offers will come in and then see where the auction goes from there. I’m afraid that the board might accept lower bids than that and there would be nothing left for me to do then.
mark
2 марта, 2011 at 21:14
also try incentives such as goals scored in 10 matches or maybe international appearance so the cash can keep flowing to the gate of your motormens.
Johnny Karp
3 марта, 2011 at 11:41
Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll try to get the best possible deal.
Laxeyman
2 марта, 2011 at 16:35
Another good month Johnny, up into second and I’m sure you’ll stay up there. M’Bow looks like he’ll be difficult to keep hold of, hopefully you can keep him, but if you can’t I’m sure you’ll get a good price for him. Good luck!
Johnny Karp
2 марта, 2011 at 20:05
Thanks Laxeyman, maybe selling M’Bow would give more space to Dale Hills and Paul Harris to develop so it won’t be a tragedy if the money is good.
Darren Smith
2 марта, 2011 at 19:24
Hey Johnny, that was an extremely impressive run of form!! I hope you hold onto M’Bow but if not be sure to hold em’ to ransom…there is a lot of high profile clubs interested and that just shows what a talent you’ve unearthed and raised.
This season could beat all prior to it I reckon. Promotion is looking good and that would just be incredible.
Johnny Karp
2 марта, 2011 at 20:07
Hi Darren, now that you have said it I guess I realized it too: promotion would be incredible! I got caught up in the game and forgot all about where we came from just a few seasons ago. I guess M’Bow should realize that we’re on the fast track towards glory so he might want to stick around :)
Josh Allen
3 марта, 2011 at 01:58
Hi Johnny,
I’ve been reading your blog for a while, and you have done really well. I hope you are able to keep your players, they have really performed well, and you are probably heading for promotion.
Josh
P.S visit my new blog
http://everythingthatisfm.blogspot.com/
Johnny Karp
3 марта, 2011 at 11:43
Thanks Josh, I’ll be keeping an eye on your blog. If you want it to be added to our community page please let me know, terms and conditions here: https://footballmanagerstory.com/community/?page_id=2
workoutdude
3 марта, 2011 at 02:28
Hi Johnny,
Excellent progress. With your star striker, and January window looming, I think some bids will be flying in.
Raising to $15M won’t scare the big guys off. It would be interesting to see how much they do bid. Are you able to show that in your next posting, as an added feature to the games that you provide detail on?
TQ
Regards
Workoutdude
Johnny Karp
3 марта, 2011 at 11:44
Thanks mate, I will surely add the transfer news in the next post if there will be any moves in our out of the squad.
Lye
3 марта, 2011 at 11:19
Hi Johnny,
Very good month you have here. Another strong second half performance will surely see you lead your team to Old Trafford next season. You look good for the promotion. A bid from a high profile club will see your star striker leaving. But i don’t see any bad effects on your team even M’Bow leaves as i know you will find a better player to replace him. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
3 марта, 2011 at 11:45
Thanks Lye, I just hope that M’Bow won’t be sold cheap by the board. I agree that we can replace him although I’d be sad to see him leave.
Kevin
3 марта, 2011 at 14:01
Hi Johnny
Your team really showed strength of character after the 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford wining four out of the next five games. You’ve really brought this team a long way and hopefully you can keep the side intact until the season ends unless of course you get some really good offers in the January window. As usual you are bring us all another superb story with a team achieving way beyond all expectations!
Johnny Karp
4 марта, 2011 at 06:25
Hey Kevin, thanks for the compliment. I have to say that I’m proud of the team, I was expecting a tough time after that defeat at Old Trafford.
Ana Garcia
3 марта, 2011 at 15:15
Great month Johnny as always!! :)
Quick question in your team talks do you ever praise individual players? And do you ever use ‘have faith’ or ‘expect a performance’ or any of the others?
Its nice to see Chalwe doing well for you! He was fantastic on my Real Union game and I was pretty sad when he retired!
Good luck on the remainder of your season!!
Johnny Karp
4 марта, 2011 at 06:28
Thanks Ana. I rarely use individual talks, I want the team to act as a team so I don’t like to single out individuals or give them special treatment. The individual approach does have some benefits sometimes though. Chalwe might not be with us next season, he doesn’t want to extend his contract and there already are several clubs interested in getting him for free come July. He did very well for us though, great player!
hils
3 марта, 2011 at 15:38
Hi Johnny,great month there!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully you will keep the form going!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck!!!!!
Johnny Karp
4 марта, 2011 at 06:28
Thanks Hils!
Vaibhav C.
3 марта, 2011 at 17:05
Hey Johnny,
Great month there! I was hoping you could pull of an upset at Old Trafford, but it wasn’t to be, but at least you tried your best. Who scored for United? It would be weird if Howson scored! If you could have win against Sheffield United, that would have been a great month.
Johnny Karp
4 марта, 2011 at 06:29
Thanks mate. Howson didn’t play for United, he was in the reserves team. About the goal scorers, you can see them in the match stats screen shot, can’t you? Anyway, a striker named Marilungo bagged a brace and Daren Fletcher scored as well.
Sayam Khan
3 марта, 2011 at 17:42
Hey Johnny, great set of results! Well done! Ibrahima Mbow is one hell of a player, would be a great striker in the PL me thinks. Dont sell him!
Johnny Karp
4 марта, 2011 at 06:30
Hey Sayam, thanks for your input. I would surely prefer to keep M’Bow, that’s certain.
Sears
3 марта, 2011 at 19:49
Wonderful run, shame about M’Bow, he looks a great prospect.
Johnny Karp
4 марта, 2011 at 06:31
Thanks Sears. We didn’t lose M’Bow just yet, I’ll do my best to keep him at the club.