Hello folks and welcome back to Ellesmere Port, a town that is now featured on the European football map thanks to the wonderful Motormen! We qualified for the Europa League in somewhat surprising and lucky circumstances and after a very busy summer it was time for another Premier League season, the second one in the club’s history. I guess you are all curious to see how my new signings adapted to life in England and you might also want to know whether we managed to qualify for the group stages of the Europa League. Don’t worry, you’ll find the answers if you read on :)
Vauxhall vs Manchester City (Premier League)
Venue: Rivacre Park
Attendance: 10,140
Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis – Kaka, Louis Laing, Mervin Simon, Grant Baddeley – Stephan El Shaarawy, Mark Brown, Graham Howson, Andrew Surman – Zé Carlos, Pavol Vesely
Team Talk: You can win today!
It wasn’t the easiest of opening games, I’ll tell you that! Manchester City are the defending Champions League holders and as if that wasn’t enough I had to do without four of my best players as they were away at the Olympic Games! Those four are Julian Bazzi, Javier Godoy, Leandro Velasco and Parana, all of them proud to represent their nations in the biggest international sporting event. However, we played a pretty good first half and even managed to create two good chances but we were denied by an amazing Joe Hart on both occasions. The Citizens had nothing to show in open play but they were still threatening on set pieces, they came close to breaking the deadlock twice from corner kicks.
Half time score: 0-0
Half time team talk: You can win today!
Half time substitutions: Shyamdew Weibolt for Brown, Ibrahima MBow for Surman
I was really hoping to clinch a win after that good first half but those hopes lasted for just four minutes after the break, a clumsy tackle from Mervin Simon left the door wide open and we were punished without mercy. The game changed, we were no longer able to create dangerous opportunities and Manchester City wrapped things up with another two goals, a superb volley and a corner kick header. The score was quite harsh but that’s how you win games, you have to take your chances…
Full time team talk: Sympathise.
Man of the match: Louis Laing
Flop of the match: Kaka
Match Stats
Video Highlights
Click here to watch the highlights.
Rosenborg vs Vauxhall (Europa League 4th Qual Rnd Leg 1)
Venue: Lerkendal
Attendance: 18,359
Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis – Julian Marino, Louis Laing, Mervin Simon, Grant Baddeley – Stephan El Shaarawy, Mark Brown, Shyamdew Weibolt, Andrew Surman – Parana, Pavol Vesely
Team Talk: You can win today!
This was a very important game for us, the last step towards the Europa League group stage. I always prefer having the first leg away in such ties because my teams are all about scoring goals and you all know that it’s a good advantage to score away if you want a quiet second leg. Unfortunately three of the four players were still at the Olympics and we also received some bad news from the physio, Graham Howson picked up a knock in training and was going to be out for 3 weeks. Bad luck continued after the opening whistle, Rosenborg took the lead after just 50 seconds! That didn’t affect my lads too much though, the team was playing pretty well and we leveled the match on 14 minutes when Parana played a good through pass for Pavol Vesely and the young Slovakian striker found the bottom corner of the net. We continued to dominate but luck was definitely not on our side, Rosenborg scored a second goal right out of nowhere just before the half time break, it was their second shot on target…
Half time score: 2-1
Half time team talk: Pleased.
Half time substitutions: Marcelo for El Shaarawy, Elias Kost for Weibolt, Connor Wickham for Vesely
I was proud of the lads despite the result so I opted for a positive half time team talk, I was sure that we would get the result because we were far better than our opponents. In fact, we made it all square after just four minutes as substitute Marcelo pushed in a good cross from Andrew Surman. We continued to press forward and things got better three minutes before the hour mark as one of Rosenborg‘s defenders got sent off for a professional foul on Parana. The Brazilian striker deserved to get on the score sheet himself and he did that in style on 67 minutes as he powered home after skipping past a defender. We could have scored a few more but the game ended with a rather harsh red card for right back Julian Marino. We were certain of making it to the group stage considering the result though and also the much weaker than expected Rosenborg team.
Full time team talk: Well done!
Man of the match: Parana
Flop of the match: Stephan El Shaarawy
Match Stats
Video Highlights
Click here to watch the highlights.
The next game saw us losing 4-2 at Liverpool but that was a rather difficult game for us and not because of the opponents. My Argentine trio was on a plane back from the Olympics in Brazil while the other lads were tired after the trip to Norway. We put up a good fight at Anfield Road but eventually crumbled in the second half as fatigue kicked in. The second leg against Rosenborg was a mere formality, we put no less than seven goals past them with Pavol Vesely bagging four of them and Parana netting a double. The last match of the month brought us the first Premier League win of the season, newly-promoted Southampton were unable to cope with my Brazilian duo in attack as Zé Carlos netted a hat-trick and Parana chipped in with another brace.
The Europa League groups were drawn, we were seeded second so we were handed a decent group with Slavia Sofia as the weakest side and the likes of Koln and Olympiakos as our rivals for the first two spots.
Starting today I will introduce a new section in my posts, the top five players in our team at the end of each month. At the end of August Parana was clearly in the lead with nine goals and six assists to his name, Graham Howson was second and Leandro Velasco was third despite not playing too many games for us due to the Olympics. The most pleasant surprise is Pavol Vesely, the Slovakian striker that returned to the first team after spending the last half of the previous season on loan. He was a killer in the Europa League and he is now the first in line to replace Parana and Zé Carlos.
September had a few tough ones in store for us, first an away game at Sunderland before an easy Europa League group stage debut against Bulgarian side Slavia Sofia. Then we had a double encounter with Wolves before wrapping up the month with a tough clash against Koln in Germany.
Do those fixtures look interesting? I guess they do so please move on to the next page to see what happened in September!
Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Great start to your season and especially in Europe. If I was to be critical I would be thinking about defensive discipline but great start and keep up the fantastic posts!
Thanks Omer. I think that our defense will improve once all the players will be available, I never had the best four defenders available until now.
Hey Johnny
You had a great two months there, and hopefully you can keep it up. You are doing really well in the Europa League, great wins against Koln and Rosenberg. Why did you change your format a little bit like against Liverpool and other games?
P.S. Can’t wait for the surprise!
Hi Vaibhav and thanks for the comment. I changed the format because I noticed that some readers tend to get bored by the game-by-game approach and it’s quite time-consuming as well. So I decided to keep the detailed approach only for the most important two or three games of each month.
Overall a good start Johnny, particulalry in Europe and I like the new format. Your strikers are incredible, and with the amount of goals they score your defence doesn’t have to be that good and you’ll still be successful. The league form will pick up I’m sure, and I still think you’ll get into the top 4. Good luck!
P.S I’m intrigued by the surprise, looking forward to it :)
Thanks Laxeyman, I think that we will improve in defense as well once the injured and suspended players return to full fitness.
Hey Johnny, great post and beautifully written as always. Btw I like the new players of the month so please keep that feature going. After clicking on every players name its astounding how good your squad is. Its come so far from the depths of English football and you must be proud. The Brazilian strikeforce has potential to be the best out there within a few years. Great work.
ps I wonder what that surprise could be? lol :) All I’ll say is its a big one…we’re talking Christmas day big!!! ;)
Thanks Darren, I like the top five feature myself so I’ll definitely keep it going. And thanks for adding further expectations on the surprise :)
Wow, talk about a great start in Europe (and that match against Koln was a magical piece of work)! It’s shame about all the injuries, but your squad is playing far better than mine ever did when we endured a similar crisis. Your Vauxhall squad will be seriously scary once everyone is healthy. How are you holding up in the domestic table?
P.S. – Surprise? Awesome!
Thanks mate. I didn’t check the table, I rarely do that before the end of October. Fact is that we have 2 wins, one draw and 2 defeats in the league, not too good but not too bad either.
The new format is excellent Johnny, well done.
Good two months, Ze Carlos and Parana are banging in the goals for you! Looking forward to your nest update and the ”big surprise” :-)
Thanks Sears, I can reveal that the “surprise” will be going online later today :)
Great start in Europe, I’m glad that the Motormen are doing so well.
That Nikao guy looks worrying though.
I also noticed that you haven’t put up the league table, so could you do that on your next post please??
Good luck to Vauxhall and you!
Thanks Erick. I didn’t put up the league table because it’s not quite relevant after only five games, I didn’t even look at the table. It will surely be there in the next post though.
It’s magical, it’s brilliant, it’s Johnny Karp and his Vauxhall Motormen! Parana and Ze Carlos are going to take some stopping. A glorious win away to Koln and you are also putting in strong performances across the board. I’m so excited I can hardly contain myself. I need a cup of tea….
Thanks for your enthusiasm Kevin, things look OK for now but I’m sure that we can grab some better results in the league.
Hi Johnny,
You guys always keep us guessing but we will be in for a real surprise? :) The motorman is doing well in Europe and you have the potential to progress far. Liverpool and Man City have not make things easy for you in the league. Unlucky to miss so many players due to international commitments, injuries and sent-offs. You should be fine if you have all your players back. I am looking for a top four finish. Good luck.
It will be a real surprise Lye and a nice one, trust me :) A top four finish would be great but I’m not sure that we can get it at the moment, it’s too early for me to say.
Hey Johnny,
Your strikers are brilliant! It is amazing to see Vauxhall do so well, until your story I’d never heard of them!
Darren said you would kill him if he told me what it is, I can’t wait until it is released! It’s going to be brilliant and I can’t believe you are actually doing it, it is really great what you are doing, thank you very much :D
Thanks Alex, I will try to make the whole world know the Motormen :)
Looking forward to the surprise, after this little teaser it had better be worth it :P
Your team doesn’t lack goals Johnny, having your best back four back should help with keeping things tighter at the back, what is your league position now?
As for Nikao, I think you might want to just let him sub into your first team and get some minutes that way instead of forcing himself to play a full reserves match (he’s not the next Fabio Aurelio by any chance is he? :D)
Good luck against Olympiakos, you have a decent run of fixtures after the 2nd match against Olympiakos
It’s worth it, at least we think it is :) I don’t know the league position, I don’t check the table after just five games because it’s irrelevant. The game away in Greece will be quite important, I hope to get at least a draw there.
Going along really well at the moment, and you have a great start in Europe aswell.
The surprise sounds interesting!
Anyways good luck on the remainder of the season.
:)
Thanks Ana, just a few hours left before revealing the surprise :)
You’ve finished your pages? I’m going to bed in a couple of hours, try and reveal it ASAP, I want to know the full extent of it!
Patience is a virtue, my friend… :)
Wow,you are amazing,never see people like you,bring the unknown club to be the world beaters :)
actually i need some advice:
1.I just get promotion with Midlesbrough,what tactic should i use,so i don’t get relegated?
2.Should i expand my Stadium?
sorry if that is too much
ps:what is the surprise,like new layout,or something big?
Thanks Timmy. I don’t know about what tactical changes you should make because I don’t know your players. However, if you have a good tactic stick to it for a while and see how it works. About the stadium, Boro’s stadium is quite decent from what I remember and you should only expand it if you sell out the current capacity on a regular basis. Can’t tell you more about the surprise, stay tuned to find out :)
Hi Johnny,great months there!!!!!!!!! Great 3-6 win!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks Hils, I enjoyed that 3-6 as well!
Good start to the season Johnny, Ze Carlos seems to be doing well and Parana seems unstoppable. I think you could get top 4 this season. Good Luck!
Thanks Sayam, I hope that your prediction will prove to be right.