Vauxhall Motors Story: End Of Season Number 4

Hello folks, it’s time for the decisive stage of my fourth season in charge of Vauxhall Motors FC in Football Manager 2011! We were top of the League One table at the end of March, six points clear of Brentford and seven points clear of Preston, so we needed four wins out of six games to secure the title. We also had an exciting Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final ahead of us, a chance to add some silverware to our almost empty trophy cabinet. Welcome to the nervy part of the season, let’s see how it went…

Vauxhall vs Hereford (League 1)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 2,385

Starting line up: James Dunn — Ken Harris, Derrick Williams,  Sashi Chalwe, Lucky Sibiya — Darren King, Nathan Rooney, Peter Leven, Jacob Walcott — Darryl Duffy, Omar Koroma

Team Talk: You can win today!

Hereford were in 14th place before the game so I was expecting to grab the three points and get one step closer to the title. However, considering that our next game was the JPT final, I decided to rest some players for the important match at Wembley. I was expecting a win nonetheless but we got off to a bad start: Omar Koroma wasted a huge chance right away and then Hereford took the lead on five minutes. We got back on track just five minutes later when Darryl Duffy rounded off a team move but something was wrong: Hereford‘s second shot on target went in and they were leading 2-1 at half time.

Half time score: 1-2

Half time team talk: Where’s the passion, lads?

Half time substitutions: Alex Billington for Harris, Matthew Ball for Leven, Keith Higgs for King

The fans were not happy and neither was I, things had to change. In fact, the lads were looking a lot more lively after the break and we got back on level terms on 53 minutes when substitute Keith Higgs fired a nice shot from the edge of the area and the ball went in off the frame of the goal. We started chasing the winning goal and we had plenty of chances to get it before the final whistle. Unfortunately the finishing was nothing short of disastrous, we dropped two points! However, our rivals had slipped up as well, Brentford lost and Preston were held to a draw so we were seven points clear of both sides.

Full time team talk: Not good enough!

Man of the match: Keith Higgs

Flop of the match: Ken Harris

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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Vauxhall vs Brighton (Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final)

Venue: Wembley

Attendance: 44,522

Starting line up: Martin Hansen — Jacob Hronec, Sashi Chalwe, Mervin Simon, Alex Billington — Carlos Bogado, Mark Brown, Graham Howson, Jason Banton — Mark Cullen, Ibrahima M’Bow

Team Talk: For the fans!

We had to forget that slip-up and give our best at Wembley in front of an awesome crowd of over 40 thousand people. I fielded the best eleven I had except right back Ken Harris who had picked up a slight injury during the Hereford game. We had a mixed history against Brighton, we beat them 3-1 in October but they defeated us 2-1 in February so I was expecting a close game. My players appeared to be fully focused and we enjoyed a great spell of domination during then opening 45 minutes. We created a pair of clear cut chances and a few decent ones as well but the finishing let us down again. The first half ended goalless but the team’s performance was pretty good.

Half time score: 0-0

Half time team talk: For the fans!

Half time substitutions: Keith Higgs for Banton

I took off Jason Banton at half time because he got booked just before the break and I didn’t want to risk a sending off but I also was a bit disappointed by his performance. Brighton came out from the dressing room with a different attitude too, they were more incisive and Martin Hansen had to pull off a great diving save to deny them four minutes into the second half. Then the game turned a bit rough, there were lots of fouls in midfield and it seemed that it was going to be a less spectacular second half. We could have taken the lead on 65 minutes, Mark Cullen tried a shot from a tight angle but the ball rattled the post before bouncing out of danger. I decided to make the last two substitutions after that miss, we needed fresh legs in midfield: Jacob Walcott for Bogado and Matthew Ball for Howson. A minute after the two changes Brighton had another very good chance but Hansen made another great save to keep the score level. The game was becoming more and more tense and our opponents seemed to be a bit better on the pitch. In fact, they wasted a big chance in the 89th minute! We could have punished them three minutes into stoppage time, Cullen was clean through and he tried to lob the goalkeeper from the edge of the area… The shot was good, the keeper was beaten, but the ball landed on top of the crossbar! So close!

Extra time

Before the final 30 minutes of extra time I reminded my players of our special fans that have traveled to Wembley all the way from Ellesmere Port, more than 200 miles, we had to make them proud! Most of the players were tired but we had to forget about fatigue and give it our best shot! The Brighton players appeared to be even more tired though, we were pushing forward and broke the deadlock three minutes into extra time, Jacob Walcott passed it for Ibrahima M’Bow and the young striker powered it in from just inside the area! Get in! We were still dominating the game, Brighton were unable to cope with our attacks and five minutes later M’Bow was brought down inside the penalty area! The referee pointed to the spot and substitute Jacob Walcott banged it in, 2-0! Brighton played their last card, they switched to a 4-2-4 setup and I chose to change the strategy to «counter». We managed to keep things quiet, the trophy was heading our way but Jacob Walcott had one more goal to score: he volleyed in a Mark Cullen cross to end the game in style!

Full time team talk: Congratulations!

Man of the match: Jacob Walcott

Flop of the match: Jason Banton

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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I was very happy to bring the trophy home… The players were happy, the fans were happy, the board was happy…

We had to end the celebrations early though, we still had a promotion to secure. We had to get three wins out of the last five league games, it doesn’t sound too difficult on paper but it can get quite tough on the pitch.

Vauxhall vs Darlington (League 1)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 2,365

Starting line up: Martin Hansen — Jacob Hronec, Sashi Chalwe, Mervin Simon, Alex Billington — Carlos Bogado, Mark Brown, Graham Howson, Jason Banton — Dale Hills, Ibrahima M’Bow

Team Talk: You can win today!

Darlington were 15th before the game and I was hoping to secure the three points. We enjoyed nearly total domination during the first half but we only scored one goal, Ibrahima M’Bow found the target again from a Dale Hills through ball.

Half time score: 1-0

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Matthew Ball for Brown, Jacob Walcott for Banton

We were safely in control, Darlington were not seeing much of the ball. The game was completely closed six minutes from time when Mervin Simon headed home his 10th goal of the season but our joy was ruined by a harsh sending off, Alex Billington received his marching orders after a rather normal-looking foul. Anyway, we grabbed the three points and kept the seven point cushion on Brentford. Preston were held to a draw so they were nine points behind us after that game.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Mervin Simon

Flop of the match: Keith Higgs

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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We needed two more wins but we were facing back to back away games next, I was fearing a tense finale. Go to the next page to see how it went.

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

Oldham vs Vauxhall (League 1)

Venue: Boundary Park

Attendance: 3,042

Starting line up: Martin Hansen — Jacob Hronec, Sashi Chalwe, Mervin Simon, Lucky Sibiya — Carlos Bogado, Mark Brown, Graham Howson, Jason Banton — Mark Cullen, Ibrahima M’Bow

Team Talk: You can win today!

Oldham were in 17th place before the game, not worried about relegation so they were only playing for pride. My lads were determined to kill the game off as soon as possible and it went well: we took a two-goal lead inside the opening nine minutes thanks to Jason Banton (10th goal of the season) and Mark Cullen. We relaxed a bit too quickly though, Oldham pulled one back on 16 minutes and then fired in the second eight minutes later by taking advantage of a big error from Mervin Simon. My players bounced back and reacted immediately, a quick exchange between Cullen and Ibrahima M’Bow gave the young striker the opportunity to score again and he didn’t miss.

Half time score: 2-3

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Matthew Ball for Brown, James Campbell for Sibiya

The second half was a lot more quiet on our end, we were dominating the game and finally managed to kill it off on a nicely flowing counter attack that was converted by central midfielder Graham Howson. Better news were awaiting after the match, Brentford lost their game so promotion was secured! Preston moved up into second place, nine points behind us, so we only needed one more point to secure the title!

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Graham Howson

Flop of the match: Lucky Sibiya

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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Barnsley vs Vauxhall (League 1)

Venue: Oakwell

Attendance: 6,038

Starting line up: Martin Hansen — Ken Harris, Sashi Chalwe, Daniel Pappoe, Alex Billington — Jacob Hronec, Mark Brown, Graham Howson, Jason Banton — Mark Cullen, Ibrahima M’Bow

Team Talk: You can win today!

I was expecting a difficult game at Barnsley despite their poor position in the table. They were in 21st place but I was expecting them to play with great determination since this game was decisive for their survival chances. In fact, they opened the scoring just four minutes into the game and it was a nice goal too! Mark Cullen pegged them back on 17 minutes by taking advantage of some rather funny defending but we were unable to convert our domination into a half-time lead. Even worse, Barnsley took the lead thanks to a stoppage time corner kick header!

Half time score: 2-1

Half time team talk: Sympathise.

Half time substitutions: none

Things got back on track immediately after the re-start, Mark Brown fired in a superb shot from 20 yards out int the top corner. Then we added three more goals, a corner kick double for Sashi Chalwe either side of a Cullen goal, but Barnsley were not giving up and they clawed one back 13 minutes from time. That was all they could do though, Mark Cullen wrapped up a top performance with his hat-trick goal five minutes from time and we won the title in style!

Full time team talk: Good result!

Man of the match: Mark Cullen

Flop of the match: Jacob Hronec

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

Time to celebrate again, our third title in four seasons and our fourth consecutive promotion!

The last two games of the season didn’t matter anymore, we lost the last one but Jason Banton scored a beautiful goal against Doncaster, you can watch it in the February Goal Of The Month Competition.

Here’s the final league table, Preston finished second and Brentford got promoted after the playoff. We scored 109 goals, not too shabby :)

The thing that worries me is that our best two players of the season are loanees, that isn’t a good sign for the future. Graham Howson was by far our best player but we’ll get into more details about him later. Mark Cullen did a good job upfront, he bagged 28 goals and made 15 assists, while veteran Darryl Duffy added 19 goals and 14 assists. My top three centre backs also did very well and so did our best prospect, left back Grant Baddeley. He is still targeted by some top Premier League clubs and I’ll surely be facing a tough challenge in keeping him at Rivacre Park come July. Young strikers Ibrahima M’Bow and Dale Hills didn’t do as well as I would have expected but they have shown good signs of progress during the last few months so they could well be ready to deliver next season. However, I think that the current squad is not good enough for the Championship so I will be looking to replace at least half of the current players.

And now about Graham Howson, the regen central midfielder from Manchester United. The most important thing to say is that we wouldn’t have been anywhere near the top of the table without him, his contribution to the cause was simply outstanding: 50 appearances, 16 goals, 33 assists, 7 man of the match awards and an average rating of 7.57! I will surely be trying to secure a loan deal for him next season, I will even walk all the way to Old Trafford and beg if necessary!

As I said, the squad will need heavy strengthening. I might need money to bring in new players but the club’s financial situation is not good at all. I’m expecting a pretty disappointing pre-season to be honest…

The club’s facilities also require heavy spending, I requested improvements to the board countless times but they can’t do much without money. I guess next season will be all about survival…

Anyway, I shouldn’t worry before I really have to. We grabbed the title and that’s the most important thing, a great achievement for our small club and a proud moment for the fans. Thanks a lot for your support and for reading the updates throughout the season, I appreciate it. Please don’t forget to vote for February’s Goal Of The Month and I also invite you to check out our brand new «baby-websites»: the Social Network, the Community website and the Video website. You could also have a look at the forum, there are a few very promising stories unfolding there!