Vauxhall Motors Story: December 2016 and January 2017

Hello friends and thanks for coming back to read another episode of the Vauxhall Motors Football Manager 2011 story! As you might remember we were in 6th place in the Premier League table at the end of November 2016, with one or two games in hand on most of the other teams but without one of our best players as Parana picked up a nasty injury that was going to keep him sidelined for around four months. This post will take you through what happened in December 2016 and January 2017, it might be quite long but I hope you will enjoy it.

December started with three easier matches but we didn’t manage to get three straight wins unfortunately. First we demolished Slavia Sofia in the Europa League, that was quite easy even with mostly backup players on the pitch. Ibrahima MBow netted a hat-trick and centre back Louis Laing helped himself to a double, it was a pleasing match to watch. We’ll go into more details about the Europa League later, all I’m going to say right now is that we still needed a good result in the last group match to qualify. Then we managed to extend our winning streak in the league to six consecutive games as we beat Millwall 2-1 in a game that we dominated. We should have scored quite a few more there but the three points were safe after scoring the first goal. I was expecting another win against Ipswich but that didn’t happen, a combination of bad luck (Ipswich had just 1 shot on target) and wasteful finishing resulted in a disappointing draw.

Now let’s get on to the tough matches, there were plenty in store for us in a very busy December. First we were meeting 3rd placed Aston Villa away from home, a very difficult match considering that Aston Villa had just lost the top spot a few days earlier (we were in 5th place before that game, 3 points behind them).

Aston Villa vs Vauxhall (Premier League)

Venue: Villa Park

Attendance: 38,000

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Kaka, Julian Bazzi, Mervin Simon, Ray Davis — Leandro Velasco, Mark Brown, Graham Howson, Andrew Surman — Zé Carlos, Pavol Vesely

Team Talk: You can win today!

We enjoyed a pretty good start to the match, we were dominating but it was Aston Villa who had the first clear chance. Fortunately Dean Bouzanis handled that well and then we managed to create a good opportunity of our own, Pavol Vesely was clean through on goal but his powerful finish went inches wide. The first half ended goalless but I was pleased with the display.

Half time score: 0-0

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Javier Godoy vs Davis, Marcelo for Velasco, Andrew Driver for Surman

The second half started in the best possible way for us, we had the kick-off and never lost the ball until we scored! It was a fine move actually, Graham Howson played a neat back heel touch for Vesely and the striker’s shot went in with the help of an unfortunate deflection from one of the Aston Villa defenders. The home side started pressing forward after the goal and we were unable to do more than defend until the 80th minute. We managed to hang in there with a bit of luck and then regained composure during the last 10 minutes, we kept possession very well during the final moments and grabbed the very important three points!

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Mervin Simon

Flop of the match: Marcelo

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

Let’s return to the Europa League now. Koln beat Olympiakos in the last game and that made the situation quite complicated. We only needed a draw against Koln to qualify but the top spot seemed off limits for us as Olympiakos were meeting Slavia Sofia at home in the last game and everybody was expecting them to get the three points.

We had beaten Koln 6-3 in a spectacular away game but I was expecting a difficult game at home since the German side was having the likes of Lukas Podolski and Freddy Adu upfront.

Vauxhall vs Koln (Europa League Group I)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 8,368

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Julian Marino, Louis Laing, Mervin Simon, Javier Godoy — Leandro Velasco, Radek Vecera, Graham Howson, Andrew Surman — Pavol Vesely, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: For the fans!

We started the game well again, we appeared to be in control but I wasn’t looking for a goalless draw, I always want to score goals. Pavol Vesely came close on the half hour mark but his good finish came back off the post, that was the biggest chance in a rather quiet opening half.

Half time score: 0-0

Half time team talk: For the fans!

Half time substitutions: Shyamdew Weibolt for Vecera, Andrew Driver for Surman

We kept on pushing forward and the reward finally came three minutes before the hour mark when Vesely played in a good ball for substitute Andrew Driver and the left winger fired a low drive past the German goalkeeper. It was his first goal of the season and I was very happy for him since he had just recovered from a severe injury. Koln reacted immediately and they created a good chance moments later but Dean Bouzanis kept us ahead with a good save. That was all they had to show though, we resumed our spell of dominance after that scare and finally managed to make it 2-0 five minutes from time courtesy of a rather fortuitous corner kick goal from Mervin Simon.

Full time team talk: Pleased to have qualified.

Man of the match: Mervin Simon

Flop of the match: Andrew Surman

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

We were through to the next round but we also finished top of the group! Olympiakos recorded a shocking 3-3 draw against Slavia Sofia in the last game so they dropped into second spot!

Time for the draw then and I guess we were not too fortunate: we will meet Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv in the first knockout round. They had finished third in their Champions League group but behind Sevilla and Manchester City, they have a very good team.

If we get past the Ukrainians we will meet either Paris Saint Germain or Rubin Kazan, not easy at all. Anyway, back to the league as we had two cracking matches coming up against Arsenal and Chelsea.

Vauxhall vs Arsenal (Premier League)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 10,266 (sold out)

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Julian Marino, Julian Bazzi, Mervin Simon, Grant Baddeley — Leandro Velasco, Radek Vecera, Mark Brown, Andrew Surman — Zé Carlos, Pavol Vesely

Team Talk: You can win today!

Arsenal were just behind us in the league table before this game, we were 4th and they were 5th! The Gunners looked like the better team in the first half, much better than us to be honest. They had a good chance early on and then finally scored a well-deserved goal after a fine move on the half hour mark. I was hoping for a reaction from my lads but there was none, we were lucky to be just 1-0 down at the break.

Half time score: 0-1

Half time team talk: I want to see more from you!

Half time substitutions: Stephan El Shaarawy for Velasco, Shyamdew Weibolt for Vecera, Andrew Driver for Surman

The team looked a bit better after the interval, we started to show some good things in attack and we were finally rewarded on 73 minutes when Mervin Simon pushed in a corner kick header from his mate Julian Bazzi. The final minutes were quite thrilling, both sides were trying hard to score the fatal blow. We could have snatched the three points in the very last minute, substitute Shyamdew Weibolt tried his luck from the edge of the area but the ball hit the underside of the crossbar, bounced back off the ground, then hit the crossbar again before being cleared out of danger… We could have won it with a bit more luck but I was satisfied with the draw. I wasn’t so happy after the game though and that was due to yet another injury. As you can see from the match report screen shot Zé Carlos was taken off during injury time and his problems were quite serious: he was going to be out between two and three months! I don’t know what I did to deserve this but my best two strikers were out (Parana had another three months on the sidelines), not the best of things that can happen during a season…

Full time team talk: Pleased.

Man of the match: Julian Bazzi

Flop of the match: Pavol Vesely

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

Vauxhall vs Chelsea (Premier League)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 10,266 (sold out)

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Julian Marino, Louis Laing, Julian Bazzi, Javier Godoy — Leandro Velasco, Radek Vecera, Graham Howson, Andrew Surman — Connor Wickham, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: You can win today!

Chelsea were in 2nd place before the game, I was looking forward to a tough match. I wasn’t expecting too many goals but I had reasons to celebrate after just eight minutes: the lads started the game with good determination and we were rewarded when a powerful cross (or shot) from Leandro Velasco deflected off Andrew Surman‘s back before beating the goalkeeper! We continued to dominate the game, Chelsea were not looking too well out there. That was until the 23rd minute when we gave the ball away much too easily and the Blues punished us on a swift counter attack. We continued to play very well though and we deservedly got back in front two minutes before the break when Ibrahima MBow delivered a fierce left footed shot from inside the penalty area. I was already making plans for the second half but Chelsea turned them upside down as they pegged us back instantly with a goal on the stroke of half time…

Half time score: 2-2

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Ray Davis for Marino, Mervin Simon for Bazzi, Shyamdew Weibolt for Vecera

I was forced to replace three players at half time due to fatigue but I was still hoping to get a good result. Those hopes were badly shattered after just five minutes though, centre back Louis Laing was receiving medical care on the sideline and Chelsea took full advantage of the temporary numerical advantage… My lads didn’t give up though and the remainder of the game was extremely entertaining as we were pushing forward and Chelsea were trying to hit on counter attacks. I was hoping for an equaliser and that finally came on 69 minutes when Shyamdew Weibolt found Graham Howson with a superb long pass and my favourite midfielder made no mistake from inside the penalty area. We were back on level terms and the game seemed to be heading toward a draw as the minutes of play were running out. There were just two minutes of injury time, not too many in general but one too many on that occasion as Marek Hamsik gave Chelsea the three points with a sensational last-gasp shot. It was quite frustrating to lose like that but I have to admit that Chelsea‘s players seemed to be from a whole different class during certain moments.

Full time team talk: Good effort!

Man of the match: Andrew Surman

Flop of the match: Javier Godoy

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

Our fans didn’t have a very merry Christmas after that defeat but we brought the smiles back on their faces on Boxing Day as we fought back from 1-0 down and beat Fulham thanks to an assist and a goal from Ibrahima MBow before an injury time goal from Stephan El Shaarawy. The medical report after the game was quite disturbing again though: Julian Marino out for 2 weeks, Graham Howson out for three weeks…

We had two more games to play before the end of the year, away at Manchester City and at home with Liverpool. More about those in the next page where you will also find out what happened in January, both in terms of results and… transfers!

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

Welcome to the second page! :) Manchester City were the Champions League holders and definite title challengers as they were in 2nd place before the game. I didn’t want to put pressure on the lads especially since most of them were tired after playing against Fulham just two days earlier.

Manchester City vs Vauxhall (Premier League)

Venue: The City of Manchester Stadium

Attendance: 46,858

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Javier Godoy, Louis Laing, Mervin Simon, Ray Davis — Leandro Velasco, Radek Vecera, Shyamdew Weibolt, Andrew Driver — Connor Wickham, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: Pressure is off!

Manchester City had played a game on Boxing Day too but their squad was so much better, they can afford to field two different and equally strong elevens! In fact, we were totally outplayed especially during the opening half hour. There were no clear chances though but we were quite lucky since the Citizens hit the woodwork no less than three times!

Half time score: 0-0

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Stephan El Shaarawy for Velasco, Mark Brown for Vecera

The second half started to look a bit different, we were playing much better and the game was no longer under Man City‘s domination. We were not creating too much in attack though but we got lucky on 69 minutes when Ibrahima MBow was brought down inside the box and the referee pointed to the spot! It was our big chance and M’Bow didn’t miss it, he coolly converted the penalty kick and we were suddenly hoping to get all three points! The home side started pressing forward with fury after the goal but we stood firm for a while even though we received some additional help from the crossbar again. My lads were getting quite tired though and I think that it’s not a coincidence that two fresh substitutes decided the game… We got beaten again in injury time, the final whistle was just 10 seconds away when the ball hit the back of the net. It was a deserved victory for Manchester City though, they were the better team on the day.

Full time team talk: Good effort!

Man of the match: Dean Bouzanis

Flop of the match: Mark Brown

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

Vauxhall vs Liverpool (Premier League)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 10,266 (sold out)

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Javier Godoy, Julian Bazzi, Mervin Simon, Grant Baddeley — Leandro Velasco, Radek Vecera, Mark Brown, Andrew Surman — Pavol Vesely, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: You can win today!

Finally, the last game of the year! The two defeats against Chelsea and Man City saw us dropping in 6th place, just above Liverpool who were 7th. It was a very important game for the league table and thankfully we got off to a flying start as a low cross from Mark Brown was fumbled across the line by Reina after just two minutes! The Spanish goalie made amends though as he pulled off a good couple of saved on Pavol Vesely before he half hour mark. Vesely finally beat him from close range to make it 2-0 and Liverpool finally reacted before half time but their only clear chance was handled well by Dean Bouzanis.

Half time score: 2-0

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Stephan El Shaarawy for Velasco, Elias Kost for Vecera, Connor Wickham for M’Bow

The second half was simply delightful! First Mark Brown made it 3-0 a minute before the hour mark with a good free kick shot from the edge of the area and then provided the assist for Pavol Vesely‘s second goal of the game. We added insult to injury two minutes from time when substitute Elias Kost did very well to set up Andrew Surman who finished the move with one of his typical powerful shots. It was an unexpected result to be honest but I was delighted to send the fans home very happy on New Year’s Eve.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Pavol Vesely

Flop of the match: Ibrahima MBow

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

The league table was kind to us at the end of the year, we were up in 5th place and on course to reach our season goal which is European qualification.

The player stats at the halfway point of the season show that Parana and Zé Carlos are huge losses for the team, their injuries surely affected our chances but we did well to grab quite a few points without them. The most pleasing thing is that our centre backs seem to be doing very well, Mervin Simon scored no less than seven goals while Louis Laing and Julian Bazzi also played very well. Parana was still our best scorer at the end of December despite being out for two months already but Pavol Vesely and Ibrahima MBow did a good job to replace him and the other Brazilian. Since we’re speaking about strikers I have to say that Connor Wickham continued to be a disappointment. It’s true that his numbers show 6 goals in 9 games but most of those goals were scored against weaker opponents in the Europa League and Carling Cup. His league record is not so good, 1 goal in 7 games this season and 2 goals in 19 appearances last season, surely not good enough. Graham Howson is our best assist man again, he provided 12 of them and I hope he will stay fit until the end of the campaign. As you can notice from the screen shot one player was going to leave the club on January first: backup fullback Kaka. I didn’t want to sell him but his contract was running out in July and although he wanted to extend it he wasn’t granted a new work permit. I had to cash in and I managed to get 2.1 million for him from Brazilian club Vasco. I needed to find a replacement and I asked the board for some more transfer money and they gave me 5 million pounds, not bad. I managed to bring in two new players but you will find out more about that later.

We dominated the Young Player of the Month awards again, Leandro Velasco won the award with Julian Bazzi and Mark Brown just behind him. Velasco is already a transfer target for the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester United, no offers were tabled yet but reports claim that these clubs would be willing to pay 22.5 million for him! I’ve set an asking price of 40 million but I might raise that a bit :)

January’s schedule seemed to be quite relaxed, we were going to meet teams from the lower half of the Premier League table and League Two side Luton in the FA Cup.

The first game went pretty well, Ibrahima MBow bagged a brace against Southampton and I’m pleased to report that left back Nikao has finally played a full 45 minutes for the club after recovering from the countless injuries. We had another two clients for the physio though: Leandro Velasco out for 3 weeks and Andrew Driver out for 2 weeks… The FA Cup match against Luton was all easy, we put four goals past them and didn’t pick up any injuries in the process. Then we had a setback at home against Sunderland, we drew 1-1 but we should really have won the game as we dominated from start to finish. It was frustrating but the players took all that fury into the next game and demolished Birmingham away, Ibrahima MBow bagged no less than four goals! The first one was a beauty, I watched it again and so can you! (click here to open the video)

The victory against Luton added another game to our schedule, we were going to meet Aston Villa in the 4th round of the FA Cup (more about that game later).

It’s time for the transfers now! My main target was a new backup full back and I am pleased to say that I found a good one for a reasonable price. He is a Belgian but I signed him from Turkish club Kayserispor for 1.5 million pounds, less than what I received for Kaka and this guy seems to be better than the Brazilian. He is not very quick but he has great anticipation and also seems to be a «workaholic» :)

I still had some money left and I started looking for a striker while trying to sell Connor Wickham. There wasn’t much interest for the English striker I must say but I finally managed to get 3.4 million pounds from Championship side Middlesbrough. I had two players lined up to replace him, both from Brazil, but I have to say that the best of the two was snapped up by a richer club. I had to settle for the backup target but I guess he’s a good player. The only thing that concerns me is that he seems to be quite selfish and also not a fan of hard work. However, he has great technical skills and he is still very young. Oh, and I paid for him the exact same amount that I got for Wickham, 3.4 million to Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro. The Brazilian gets less than half the wage that Wickham was getting so I saved quite a bit of money on this move.

The two new players were going to be on the bench for the FA Cup match against Aston Villa, let’s see how that one went.

Aston Villa vs Vauxhall (FA Cup 4th Rnd)

Venue: Villa Park

Attendance: 33,477

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Julian Marino, Julian Bazzi, Mervin Simon, Javier Godoy — Leandro Velasco, Radek Vecera, Graham Howson, Andrew Surman — Pavol Vesely, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: You can win today!

We got off to a good start despite playing away and the reward came earlier than expected: Leandro Velasco nodded home a good cross from Andrew Surman after just seven minutes. We continued to play well until the half hour mark and Ibrahima MBow had a good chance to double our lead on a counter attack but he was denied by the goalkeeper. Aston Villa dominated the last 15 minutes before the break but they only managed to create one good chance and Dean Bouzanis handled it well.

Half time score: 0-1

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Kwabena Quartey for Marino, Mark Brown for Howson

Aston Villa continued to push forward after the interval but our defense was playing very well and there was no real danger for our goalie. The game was getting quite boring and substitute Kwabena Quartey did something to make it more lively a minute before the hour mark, he sent in a good deep cross which Andrew Surman nodded home for his 10th goal of the season. There was no reaction from Aston Villa, we held firm until two minutes from time when the home side managed to pull one back. There was no nervy finale though, my lads kept possession well and we were through to the next round.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Andrew Surman

Flop of the match: Graham Howson

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

We remain in 5th place at the end of January but we have a game in hand on some of the teams around us. I guess we can be almost sure of finishing inside the top seven at this point but I can’t help thinking about the injuries… Where would we have been with Parana and Zé Carlos on the pitch? Could we have challenged for the title? We’ll never know… However, we have the best attack in the league at this point with 57 goals scored.

The top five at the end of January sees Ibrahima MBow climbing up into fifth place, he did a great job after Zé Carlos‘ injury and I think that the two Brazilians will have some problems to get back into the starting eleven if Ibrahima keeps playing like this.

In fact, Ibrahima MBow was elected Premier League Player of the Month! He totally deserved the award as he scored no less than 6 goals in 3 league appearances in January!

As for the young players award, Pavol Vesely grabbed it this time with Radek Vecera in second place.

Before wrapping up I have another piece of good news from the transfer market, a good player that will be joining us on a free transfer in July. His name is Luis Guilherme and he is a Brazilian goalkeeper that most of you already know. Dean Bouzanis did a good job until now but Luis seems to be better than him, I’ll think about Bouzanis‘ future in July as we already have a good backup goalie in Jack Butland.

February will start with two easier games but then we will embark on a very tough streak with Tottenham and Chelsea in the league either side of the double clash with Dynamo Kyiv in the Europa League. Then we will meet the Spurs again the the FA Cup (the draw could have been much nicer than that I guess) before meeting Manchester United at Rivacre Park.

That’s all for now folks, thanks a lot for reading. Our second Premier League season is going pretty well so far but it could have been much better without all those injuries. Anyway, we are in 5th place and also through to the Europa League knockout stage, I can’t complain. Thanks again and remember that you can always leave any suggestions/questions/rants/requests in the comments below :) Oh, and don’t forget to submit your wonderful goals in the Goal of the Month Competition!