Here we go again my friends, welcome to a fresh episode of the Vauxhall Motors Football Manager 2011 story! We have finally won the Carling Cup and the Champions League last season and that means we have won just about any trophy we could have won, except the Club World Cup. I want the team to keep on winning though so I wouldn’t say no to winning the Premier League title again and maybe the Champions League too.
Before moving to the pre-season action I have another important award to present, Parana won the UEFA Golden Boot of the Year! That is a fantastic achievement for the 22-year old Brazilian striker, he has made wonderful progress since joining the Motormen and starting this season he will also be the team captain.
Meanwhile the takeover rumours continued, one of the interested buyers also hinted at appointing a new manager… The deal didn’t go through so I’m still the manager here and the chairman is still hanging in…
The board were aiming at an Europa League qualification at the start of the season, I considered that goal to be way below our standard so I told them that we would win the title again. It wasn’t a question of money, I had more than I needed for transfers, it was just a matter of pride…
However, the bookies still didn’t learn their lesson and they were offering high odds for us winning the title. I hope to see them losing a lot of money again ;)
Here we go then, the wheeling and dealing… First I’d like to show you the sales, we have made quite a lot of money again: 91 million pounds! As you can see some faithful servants left the club: Mervin Simon, Radek Vecera, Julian Marino, Marat Bykov, Jack Butland, Hans Larsson and Ibrahima MBow. I admit that selling these players was not easy, they have been an important part in the club’s road to success, but I felt that seeing them rotting on the bench was a bad way to show my respect for them. The fans were not too happy about some of these sales but I guess they will forget all about these club legends after watching the new heroes in action.
Which brings us to the «players in» section… The transfer budget was at around 77 million pounds at that point and that was after buying the first two players that you see in this list. I thought about spending almost the whole sum on two amazing established Brazilian players, the deals were already signed for 35 million apiece and we were just waiting for the work permits to come through. That’s when I changed my mind, I cancelled both deals and decided to spend less and promote players from the reserves instead. That led to a total spending of 60 million pounds on 6 players and that means that I haven’t even touched the transfer budget that the board kindly gave me.
Now let’s see the signings… First there is right back Rafael, you all know him from Manchester United. Julian Marino wanted to leave and I wanted that too because of a personal reason. You see, he is Argentinian but he always rejected my call-ups because he holds Spanish citizenship as well and he hopes to play for Spain one day. I didn’t like that one bit so I sold him and brought in Rafael instead, not a young player but still reliable and, most important, classified as home-grown.
I sold two centre backs so I definitely needed at least a new one. The player that I chose is Phil Jones, a defender that I admire a lot so I didn’t mind the 22.5 million pounds price tag too much. I think that he will have a great partnership with Danny Wilson at the heart of our defence.
On the left flank of the defence I needed a replacement for Hans Larsson, I sold him for 15 million and luckily I found a better and younger replacement for the exact same amount: 19-year old Spaniard Guillermo Pascual. This lad seems to have a bright future ahead of him even though he can’t seem to jump…
The last signing for the first team is a Brazilian midfielder named Anderson, he prefers to play as a central attacking midfielder but I believe that he has all the qualities to become a decent left winger too.
I have also bought two youngsters for the reserves and centre back Adrian Gurrutxaga is definitely the most exciting prospect, I paid no less than 7.5 million for him but I believe that he will become a world class defender in a couple of years.
The friendly games went fairly well overall, not too many injuries and good results in most games. The player that impressed me the most was Leandro Velasco, he seems to be reaching a whole new level on the pitch and he has shown some of that in the game against Bayern. He scored three goals but how he scored them impressed me, just have a look at one of the goals and tell me what you think: click here to open the video
Now let me introduce the whole 25-man squad, there are some players that were promoted from the reserves and I guess you’re all curious to see who they are:
Goalkeepers
Luis Guilherme, Cristiano (promoted from the reserves)
Right backs
Gary Warner, Rafael
Left backs
Pierre Touya, Guillermo Pascual
Centre backs
Danny Wilson, Phil Jones, Javier Godoy, Gerhard Heinrich (promoted from the reserves)
Right wingers
Leandro Velasco, Moustapha Gueye, Abdallah Yaisien
Left wingers
Tiago, Walid Mechergui, Anderson
Central midfielders
Marcos Fernandez, Indio, Robert Ackermann, Da Silva, Graham Howson
Strikers
Parana, Zé Carlos, Lucas Cuello, Iain McManus (promoted from the reserves)
So, everything seems nice and warm, the squad is good and young, no bad injuries so far, everything ready for a new season… Well, not quite! I overlooked a very important thing: the Olympic Games! As you can see from the screen shot below no less than 10 of my first team players were called up to their national teams for the Olympics, including injured Indio. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, all my four strikers will be away for almost the entire month of August!
I still have some youngsters in the reserves and I will have no choice, I’ll have to send them in to meet the likes of Man City, Tottenham and Aston Villa! Fortunately the Olympic Games will end on August 22nd so I should have my squad back for the UEFA Super Cup match against Roma…
I expect a difficult start to the season, we might even lose all three games due to the Olympics but that’s only a short term problem as we should recover once our players return to the club. Thanks a lot for reading this update folks, I’m looking forward to your comments or requests.
Darren Smith
28 июля, 2011 at 12:09
Great signings there Johnny, Jones and Wilson will be unstoppable at the back with Rafeal. I think you have an excellent squad and its great to see some reserves make the step up, I do this with at least two players every year and the players already seem settled from day one. Looks like a tough start without your key strikers/or any at all :) but I reckon you’ll do OK.
Johnny Karp
28 июля, 2011 at 18:45
Thanks Darren, I’m quite pleased with the squad but it will be tough to get by without 10 first team players during those first three games.
Ollie
28 июля, 2011 at 13:03
Hey johnny
Some great signings there , jones hasnt developed that much. In my game he has above 16 in all physical attributes
Johnny Karp
28 июля, 2011 at 18:46
Thanks Ollie. Every player develops differently in each game, for instance a long term injury can affect a player’s progress among other things. Jones is good enough though.
Lye
28 июля, 2011 at 13:09
Hi Johnny,
An all English central defence. Phil Jones and Danny Wilson are two players whom i like in FM. Quite a number of talented players left but that shouldn’t strengthen your opposition as most were sold to overseas except Jack Butland and Mervin Simon. Those young players look exciting. Sometimes we just overlook those international. It will be a difficult start but you have no problems in catching up when your key players are back. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
28 июля, 2011 at 18:47
Hey Lye. Well, Wilson is Scottish so I don’t have an all-English defence but they both speak more or less the same language :)
Sayam Khan
28 июля, 2011 at 15:05
Hi Johnny,
Excellent business once again. Phil Jones is an excellent signing and will make your defence much better. An English centre back partnership! The good old days! You have added quality to your first team and two of them are homegrown also. I like it! Unlucky with the olympic games, rotten luck i guess.
Feel sorry for Mervin Simon and Mbow, however they did need to move on if they were to further their careers.
Good Luck!
Johnny Karp
28 июля, 2011 at 18:48
Hey Sayam and thanks. I wasn’t unlucky with the Olympics, I was just careless as I didn’t take that into account but we should be fine after the end of that competition.
joelance
28 июля, 2011 at 22:40
Your board are really unambitious, or maybe they think you’re just lucky. I know you’ll prove them wrong. Good signings there. Danny Wilson wasn’t so exceptional for me. I guess I didnt treat him like a star. Funny as i sold him to Man City where he’s partnering Phill Jones.
I hope they perform better for you than they’re doing for Man City.
Johnny Karp
29 июля, 2011 at 09:08
I agree about the board but that might have something to do with the fact that the chairman is still looking to sell the club so he might not care too much anymore. I don’t think that Wilson is a star, Parana and Ze Carlos are, but I hope that he will continue to do a great job at the back.
Kevin
29 июля, 2011 at 09:27
Hi Johnny
Even at 30, Rafael is still a great signing as is Phil Jones so you have a really strong defensive unit. Excellent wheeling and dealing all around so great job and good luck for the season ahead. Great pre season results by the way.
Johnny Karp
29 июля, 2011 at 10:17
Thanks Kevin, Phil Jones should be a good partner for Wilson while Rafael will probably be more of a backup and a mentor for Gary Warner.
FM Blogger
29 июля, 2011 at 17:04
Hi Johnny,
This is the first time I actually write you, although I have been following your Vauxhall story since day one. You made some excellent signings and I think that you will once again win the EPL easily. Rafael has pretty good stats and I am sure that he will help you a lot. After the season ends you might as well try to sell him to get some money. Phil Jones looks good as well, it is nice to buy some home ground players. McManous looks really promishing, if he manages to improve his finishing he will become a top class striker and Heinrich is also very good and at a good age. Good Luck!
fmblogging.blogspot.com
Johnny Karp
29 июля, 2011 at 17:27
Thanks for the comment mate, I agree with your thoughts about those players.
Sears
29 июля, 2011 at 21:56
Nice transfers Johnny , Phil Jones is probably one of the best CB’s in the game ( after a few yrs , mind ) I really like the guy from Bilbao !! :-) Anyhow, good luck pal !
Johnny Karp
30 июля, 2011 at 10:15
Thanks Sears, I have high hopes for the young Basque centre back ;)
Laxeyman
31 июля, 2011 at 11:56
Hi Johnny, firstly well done for last season, you did fantastically well, and with the new signings (who all look excellent) I’m sure you’ll continue your European domination. The Olympics are a nuisance, but hopefully they won’t affect you too much, and as always, good luck!
Johnny Karp
31 июля, 2011 at 12:06
Thanks a lot Laxeyman, I hope we’ll get past the «Olympic trouble» ;)
vaibhavc
31 июля, 2011 at 17:33
Nice signings Johnny but mist of them went to the Olympics! Hope you get past the problem.
Johnny Karp
1 августа, 2011 at 11:01
Thanks mate, I hope we will…