Vauxhall Motors FC Story: December 2014

Hello folks, it’s finally time to read the latest episode of my Vauxhall Motors Football Manager 2011 story! I am sorry that I had to keep you waiting so long but I have been away on a field trip and that made writing and publishing almost impossible. Anyway, back to the story: we were proudly sitting in third place in the Championship at the end of November and we were also preparing for a historic Carling Cup quarter final clash with Premier League title holders Manchester United. That was going to be our first match in December, a nice trip to Old Trafford…

Manchester United vs Vauxhall (Carling Cup quarter final)

Venue: Old Trafford

Attendance: 64,437

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Jacob Hronec, Bryan Purdrue, Mervin Simon, James Campbell — Alex Chamberlain, Mark Brown, Suso, Jason Banton — Lenny Nangis, Andrés

Team Talk: You can win today!

It’s safe to say that Manchester United were the best team in England at the time of the game, they were the Premier League defending champions but also the current leaders in the top flight. We had nothing to lose though so I was hoping to see a brave performance from my lads. The game itself looked a lot different than I would have hoped, Manchester United were way better than us. We survived the pressure for half an hour but the Red Devils took the lead with a great goal and then could have scored at least a couple more before half time. It was quite clear that they were in a whole different league, there was no chance in the world to turn this game around.

Half time score: 1-0

Half time team talk: Pressure is off!

Half time substitutions: Grant Baddeley for Campbell, Daniel Toribio for Suso, Graeme Owens for Banton

We had our one and only chance to score moments after the re-start but the goalkeeper denied it and then the giants killed off the contest by scoring twice in  just three minutes. It was all over but at that point I was hoping to keep the score line decent. Fortunately the players regained some composure and we managed to escape with a three-goal deficit. This game showed how much we have to improve before reaching the peak of English football, there’s a lot of work still to be done…

Full time team talk: Sympathise.

Man of the match: Mervin Simon

Flop of the match: Grant Baddeley

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the match highlights.

Vauxhall vs Portsmouth (Championship)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 3,000 (capacity crowd)

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Ken Harris, Sashi Chalwe, Mervin Simon, Grant Baddeley — Carlos Chavez, Connor Newton, Suso, Jason Banton — Dale Hills, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: You can win today!

Back to the league, Portsmouth were in 9th place before the game so I was expecting a tough match after the lesson that we were taught at Old Trafford. Several players were tired after being chased around for 90 minutes by the Red Devils, striker Andrés was suspended, so I had to make some changes in the starting eleven. Luckily we managed to take the lead after just four minutes, centre back Sashi Chalwe broke the deadlock with a perfectly taken free kick from 20 yards out. Pompey reacted promptly though and they deservedly netted the equalizer on 27 minutes. That was a wake-up call for my lads, they regained control of the game and Mervin Simon put us ahead again with a corner kick header. We doubled the lead on the stroke of half time as Ibrahima MBow was tripped inside the penalty area and then stepped up to convert the spot kick.

Half time score: 3-1

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Bryan Purdrue for Simon, Daniel Toribio for Banton, Paul Harris for Hills

Unfortunately Portsmouth got back into the game just 27 seconds after the break when some poor defending allowed them to cut the deficit back to one goal. I was expecting the worst at that point but my team returned to the usual commanding style of play and eventually restored the two-goal lead when substitute centre back Bryan Purdrue scored his first ever goal for the club. The game was quite entertaining but I was relieved to have grabbed the three points after the onslaught at Old Trafford.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Sashi Chalwe

Flop of the match: Daniel Toribio

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the match highlights.

Vauxhall vs Sheffield Wednesday (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, Suso, Jason Banton — Andrés, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: You can win today!

We had a good chance of continuing the winning streak as we had another home game coming up against 21st placed Sheffield Wednesday. We started on the right foot and took the lead after 13 minutes when a Mervin Simon corner kick header bounced off the crossbar and into the path of left winger Jason Banton who headed home. We could have scored a few more before the break, the game was totally under our control but the rather poor finishing kept our lead at just one goal.

Half time score: 1-0

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: none

The domination continued after the break and we finally managed to extend the lead two minutes before the hour mark when right winger Carlos Chavez headed home a Jason Banton cross. Ibrahima MBow added his name to the score sheet six minutes later and it was all over, the three points were ours. We could have added one more goal just before the final whistle but Andrés totally screwed up on a penalty kick as he blazed it over the bar.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Jason Banton

Flop of the match: Andrés

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the match highlights.

Crystal Palace vs Vauxhall (Championship)

Venue: Selhurst Park

Attendance: 14,267

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

Team Talk: You can win today!

Our first away game of the month was against another relegation candidate, Crystal Palace were down in 20th place before the match. It didn’t start too well for us though, the home side showed great determination right away and goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis made three important saves inside the opening 10 minutes! Things got back on track after that, we took control of the game and M’Bow wasted a big chance before Jason Banton finally broke the deadlock by rounding off a flowing team move. Then we got lucky a minute before the break when a shot from Andrés deflected off a defender and went it but things got even better as our Spanish striker powered one in during stoppage time after a great counter attack move.

Half time score: 0-3

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Daniel Toribio for Brown, Keith Higgs for Banton

We were safe and dry after the first half so we took the foot off the gas after the break. We kept the home side at bay easily but there was an unfortunate event that ruined our joy, right winger Carlos Chavez got injured and was going to be out for two months.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Sashi Chalwe

Flop of the match: Keith Higgs

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the match highlights.

We had two more games to play before the end of the month, please go to the next page to see how those went.

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

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!