Vauxhall Motors - The Path To Power

@Pauker & @Lynchy, thanks guys, means a lot

Season 2021/2022: August-December Update

Hey guys, this is the first of my half-season updates. So this is how the situation was before the season began:

Finished 11th in the Barclays Premier League

Won Capital One Cup final

Qualified for the Europa League

Upgraded every facility and staff team

Signed many good youth prospects to fill up our youth squad

Going in to this season, we were looking to finish in the top half of the league and play reasonably well in the cup competitions. I did have a slight concern that our attack was looking a little flat, with just Callum Walker being the only stand-out player going forward. Now to see whether that affected us badly at all.

Barclays Premier League

Our start to the season was very inconsistent, with a lot of mixed results. By the end of October, we had only recorded five league goals and that was very alarming. I did hold a team meeting which seemed to inspire our players, especially Gary Gardner and Callum Walker, and we began to pick up points left, right and center. In November and December we played nine games, winning seven, drawing one and losing to Manchester United at Old Trafford. Scoring fourteen goals is a lot better than what we had previously accomplished. I suppose the most important thing is that we picked up a lot of wins, despite our lack of goalscoring ability. All these wins left us in....


6th place! We are in an incredible position and we are only three points away from third placed Man City. However, I won't be aiming for a Champions League finish. We are only halfway through the season and if past experiences have taught me anything, it is to take nothing for granted. All I will be focusing on is getting as many points as we can and if we finish in a Champions League spot, that is fantastic. All I wanted is to finish in the top half of the table, and we are doing a fantastic job of that so far.

Europa League

So as you can see, we dismantled Slovan Liberec in the playoffs, putting us through to the group stages. We remained unbeaten in the group stages, winning three and drawing three, leaving us with twelve points. European football is a completely new experience for everybody at the club so to stay unbeaten is a fantastic achievement for us.


We topped the group, with Anji finishing in 2nd with just one point less than us. Metalist and Genk were a long way off from us, and I am pleased that we got through our group. Hopefully we can keep marching on and accomplishing greater feats in the latter stages of the competition.

Capital One Cup

We went through the first round after a comfortable 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday, thanks to a stunning performance from brace-scorer Shane Long. We then hosted Arsenal in the next round, whom we had embarrassed at Wembley in this competition last year. They claimed their revenge with a 2-0 victory over us, and we were knocked out of the cup. I'm not too disappointed to have been knocked out as we still have other competitions to compete in, and I am happy about that.

Player Discussion

Goalkeepers: I have been rotating Edward D'Auria and Simon Moore a lot in order for both to gain first team football. They have been performing very well when called upon, and that can be seen by our impressive defensive record. I am very pleased with both of them and I couldn't ask for a better set of goalkeepers.

Defenders: Emiliano Cervantes has been our defensive star, as expected, and has performed brilliantly in every single game he has played in. The new signings are all playing very well, including teenage right back Massimiliano Manzella, who has done well when given first team chances.

Midfielders: Our central midfield has been fantastic and very solid. We have some of the best passers in the league, and that is evident in our midfield. In attacking midfield and out wide, Callum Walker has been the star of the show. The England star is one of the most skillful and most entertaining players in the league and he has lit up our play. The other wingers and attacking midfielders have done a good job so far and I am pleased.

Strikers: This is where we have a problem. Euan Smith hasn't been as prolific as in previous seasons, but he seems to have found his lethal edge towards the end of the year. I am slightly worried that as our three strikers are all in their prime, they won't be able to accustom to our new, up-and-coming players. For this reason, I will be looking to sign a striker in January and the board has been generous enough to give me £12.5M to spend, because of our great start to the season. Hopefully we can find a striker who can be prolific for us for years to come.

Star Player: Our best player of the season so far has been, without a doubt, Gary Gardner. Since signing for us last January, Gary has been a fantastic player for us and his performances are only getting better and better. He has scored quite a few long range free kicks which has delighted me and his passing has been unbelievable. Our success so far this season is all thanks to him. He has been a terrific number eight for us and will hopefully continue to shine in a Vauxhall shirt.

Gary Gardner's Stats:
Appearances: 28
Goals: 7
Assists: 1
MotM Awards: 3

Yellow Cards: 2
Red Cards:0

Pass Completion Ratio: 82%
Tackles per Game: 6.48
Fouls Committed: 26
Fouls Against: 53

Average Rating: 7.37

---

So that's the first of my half-season updates. Please tell me if you want me to add something in to a section, as it will only take me a minute or two for screenshots or writing, etc. Also, if you want a screenshot of a player, a team, a competition, etc, please ask me. I am now in 2022 so a lot has changed since the beginning of the game and finding out more about what has happened in a particular area will benefit me as much as it will for you. Thanks to everybody for the fantastic support, you guys are the best! More updates to come as soon as possible!

Vauxhall? 6th in the premier league! Neverrrrrrrr

2013-07-12 11:57#119520 Rablador : Vauxhall? 6th in the premier league! Neverrrrrrrr

I'm quite shocked about it too

Season 2021/2022: January Transfer Window

Despite a very impressive first half to the season, we looked weak in attack and we needed to bring in more attacking options who would also fit our philosophy. First of all, we did loan out three players:

Iain Rae has joined FC Inter Turku (Finland) on loan until June

Nico Yennaris has joined FC Inter Turku (Finland) on loan until June

Gordon Russell has joined FC Inter Turku (Finland) on loan until October

We did sign two players, an experienced player and a world class prospect. The combined fee was £13.5M, which is a reasonably high fee for two players. The players signed were 29 yr old English winger Tom Ince (£2.5M) from Newcastle United and promising 17 yr old French striker Abdelmoumene Medaci (£11M) from PSG.

Tom Ince - AMR/L

Fee: £2.5M
Signed From: Newcastle United (ENG)
Squad Role: Key Player

The former Liverpool youth was expected to become a player of the same caliber as his father, but failed to break in to the Liverpool first team. He made the move to Blackpool where he became a key part of their side, before making the switch to Schalke in 2014. Two years later, he made the switch back to English football as Tottenham purchased Ince for a staggering £24.5M. He then moved to Newcastle but failed to settle to life in Newcastle and requested a transfer. After some haggling, we managed to sign him for a bargain £2.5M. Ince is exactly the type of winger which we were looking for. He has great experience for top teams, which will help our younger players. He is a brilliant technician, is a wonderful dribbler and is very, very creative. He will be a great asset for us and will certainly help us create more chances, which is what we need.

Value for money:

Abdelmoumene Medaci - ST

Fee: £11M
Signed From: Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Squad Status: Rotation (Future Key Player)

One of the most promising strikers in the world, the seventeen year old was a product of the PSG academy and has quickly made a big name for himself, with three goals in three appearances for the reserve squad. Many clubs had high interest in the youngster, hence the huge fee paid for Medaci. He is already a very good shooter, and his first touch is fantastic. He is already very pacey, which is a big bonus. I reckon he could become a world class striker and one for the history books. Another youth player to add to our long-term project and he will undoubtedly become a brilliant player for us.

Value for money:

Both look great and a low price for Ince!Medaci will be worth the money, Im sure

Tom Ince might be key. £2.5 million what a bargain. That other bloke looks quality and with that price he should be.

DIBS ON 1000TH POST.

@Pauker, I hope they both do well
@The Special one, how much is it worth to you?

Season 2021/2022: January-May Update

Hey guys, here is the second half of the 2021/2022 season. Our first half was very impressive as we found ourselves in 6th place in the league and qualified from our Europa League group. We were knocked out of the Capital One Cup by Arsenal, but that didn't concern us too much. We did have attacking problems, however, but we dealt with that by signing explosive English winger Tom Ince and young French striker Abdelmoumene Medaci for a combined fee of £13M. Hopefully they would turn out to be a big hit. I guess there is just one way to find out!

Barclays Premier League

We started 2022 very brightly with three back-to-back wins in the league before drawing three back-to-back games and then losing to Man City. We did recover from this and had a very good spell of results in March, April and May. We finished the season unbeaten in the last nine games, winning six and drawing three. We did fantastic in the second half of the season, with a record of 11-6-2 in 19 games. We also vastly improved our goalscoring record this half, scoring a total of 29 goals, including three goals against the soon-to-be champions Manchester United in a very surprising 3-0 victory against them at the end of April. I am delighted with how we played as we chased our Europa League ambitions. What did these results do the league table?


Somehow, we finished fourth in the league! I am in complete and utter shock at this, but delighted of course. By January I was hoping that we would stay around 6th place and battle for a Europa League spot, but we've done more than that, we've qualified for the Champions League! It was tight though, as we finished just one point above Arsenal. I suppose the key to our success was our impressive defensive record, with just champions Manchester United beating us on that part. Our goalscoring form hasn't been wonderful, but that will improve as we develop in the future. I'm delighted that after just one season, we have transformed from being a mid-table club to becoming a Champions League club. This is fantastic for us. A little reward for the work I've done was winning the Manager of the Year award, which I am delighted with.

Europa League

After qualifying top of our group, we then faced French giants Stade Rennais. We lost the first leg away from home, but new signing Tom Ince inspired us to a huge home win to send Rennais flying out of the competition and book us a place against Everton in the next round. After a hard-fought win at home, we recorded a comfortable win at Goodison Park to move on to the next round. Our next opponent was Chelsea in the quarter finals. We won 2-0 in the first leg at home and managed to only lose 1-0 away to give us a spot in the semi finals. Reborn Italian giants Torino was our opponent, and a very worthy opponent indeed. They secured a win in Italy before holding us to a draw at our place to knock us out. I am delighted with how far we made it in this competition this season. I was only expecting us to qualify from our group, but we reached the semi finals of a major European club competition. A great season for us in Europe, hopefully we can do this well in future European campaigns.

FA Cup

We started our FA Cup campaign with a 4-0 win over Ebbsfleet, with Shane Long and new boy Abdelmoumene Medaci both scoring a brace. We then visited Aston Villa and in a very competitive game, Abdelmoumene Medaci scored an injury time winner to send us through to the next round. Next up was Swansea at home, whom we dispatched 2-1 with an excellent performance from Gary Gardner. Next up was Arsenal at home in the quarter finals. Our cup rivals managed to beat us 1-0 and send us out of the competition. I'm a little upset that we were knocked out of another cup competition by Arsenal, but we did beat them to the ultimate prize: Champions League football.

Capital One Cup

Arsenal knocked us out in the fourth round, as you guys already know from the first half update.

Player Discussion

Goalkeepers: Edward D'Auria has really come in to his own in recent months and is starting to live up to his potential. He has produced some stunning saves and fantastic performances and has helped us keep many clean sheets over the season. He is a top goalkeeper and will only get better.

Defenders: As per usual, Emiliano Cervantes has been our shining star in defence. I am amazed with how consistent he has been, one of the most consistent defenders, and one of the best, in the world. You will be hard-pressed to find a more naturally gifted center back than Cervantes, who is so fast, a brilliant marker, a fantastic tackler, and a huge threat in the air. Other defenders who have performed well are George Gilhaney and Dominic Karim, who have really shown their worth to us this season. Our defence really is the second best in the league, and is the youngest in the league.

Midfielders: Our midfield trio has been in fantastic form all season. Their passing and their ability to create an attacking move has been fantastic, and almost unmatchable in this league. The addition of Tom Ince to our squad adds even more flair and creativity to our squad, aswell as another goalscoring talent. Our midfield now looks lethal with the ball, all we need is another hard-tackling midfielder in our squad to help us dominate opponents. I may need another top quality winger to boost our attacking options even further.

Strikers: After a poor first half to the season, Euan Smith has come out of his shell and finished the season with 19 goals in all competitions. It may not have been his most prolific season ever, but you do have to remember that for a player who we picked up while struggling to avoid relegation from the NPower League Two, to become a double-figure goalscorer in the world's toughest league competition is an achievement to be proud of. Abdelmoumene Medaci did well in the FA Cup, scoring three goals. We might not have a Champions League quality striker until Medaci develops more, but we have a strong squad behind the strikers and we will continue to improve in every aspect of our game.

Star Player: We have had some fantastic performers this season, such as Emiliano Cervantes and Gary Gardner, but there is one player who has brought us from the dead to glory. A man of many talents, England's trickiest winger, it is the young winger who I signed all those season ago when he was just a seventeen year old MLS reject and we were just promoted to the NPower League One. His name is Callum Walker. When you speak of players who can create something out of nothing in the blink of an eye, Callum Walker's name comes to mind. His dribbling and his explosiveness has been exactly what we needed and he scored and created the goals which got us to where we are. He has been a hero for Vauxhall and by far, the most exciting player in our team and in the league. There is no doubt that he will become an all-time Premier League great if he keeps doing what he does. Our best player this season by far, and our hero in some epic games.

Callum Walker's Stats
Appearances: 60
Goals: 13
Assists: 19
MotM Awards: 3

Yellow Cards: 7
Red Cards: 0

Pass Completion Ratio: 79%
Tackles per Game: 4.08
Fouls Committed: 58
Fouls Against: 85

Average Rating: 7.22

---

So that is the second part to the 2021/2022 season, and what a second half too! I do have two things coming up for summer 2022 which you should know about. The World Cup in Qatar is coming up, and I have taken over a country's national team for that competition. I will be doing comprehensive updates for the World Cup, which I hope you will all enjoy. After that, I will do a post on Vauxhall's best team over the ten season that I have been in charge, my first significant time landmark as a manager. These first ten seasons have been fun and enjoyable, and I hope the next few decades will be just as fun!

Woah, congrats on getting Champions League football next season! Can't believe Welbeck is still at United!

A great season wow! Simply incredible achievements for Vauxhall! Champions League football is going to bring in so much more money now you'll be able to strengthen even more

@Rablador, I can't believe Welbeck still starts for Man Utd
@k1rups, thanks pal Hopefully the financial benefits will be enough for us to build a new stadium

World Cup 2022: South Africa Profile

South Africa is currently ranked 27th in the FIFA Rankings. Ever since hosting the World Cup in 2010, South Africa has gone from strength-to-strength in the African Cup of Nations and have competed in the last World Cup (2018). Here is a run-down of how each tournament went:

African Cup of Nations

2013: Quarter Finalists

2015: 3rd in Group Stages

2017: Fourth Place (lost 3rd place play-off)

2019: Quarter Finalists

2021: Runners-up

World Cup

2014: N/A

2018: Last Sixteen

Preparation

We played three warm-up games against Russia, England and Slovenia. We won against Russia, lost to England and drew against Slovenia. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Ayanda Bennett is our striker, as he scored all five of our goals in the three games. We do have some holes in our team, which you will now see.

The Squad

Here I will show you a brief glimpse of the quality of our squad for the World Cup, and who our star players are.

No. Name - Position - Age - CA/PA

Goalkeepers

13. Itumeleng Khune - GK - 34 - 74/74
1. Ronwen Williams - GK - 30 - 73/73
22. Darren Keet - GK - 32 - 70/70

Defenders

12. Michael Morton - DR - 33 - 68/68
23. Keeno Shellar - DR - 30 - 64/64
15. Siyanda Xulu - DC - 30 - 81/81
6. Matsilele Kekana - DC - 20 - 70/72
17. Isaac Mmbooi - DC - 26 - 68/69
5. Grant Kekana - DC - 28 - 67/67
3. Tebatso Zimba - DL - 28 - 67/67
20. Kgosi Ntlhe - DL - 28 - 61/61

Midfielders

2. Kamohelo Mokotjo - DM - 31 - 80/80
7. Andile Jali - DM - 31 - 78/78
4. Jacob Sithole - DM - 22 - 70/73
8. Percy Nxumalo - MC - 22 - 72/83
21. Tumelo Mopedi - MC - 28 - 66/68
14. May Mahlangu - MC - 33 - 63/63
19. Sifiso Myeni - AML - 34 - 66/66
16. George Lebese - AML - 33 - 65/65

Strikers

9. Ayanda Bennett - ST - 24 - 92/95
11. Thabang Lebese - ST - 23 - 79/79
18. Sedite Themeli - ST - 27 - 71/72
10. Bongani Vilakazi - ST - 27 - 68/75

As you can see, we have some huge holes in our team. Apart from Xulu, our defence is rubbish, and we lack capable wingers. Central midfield will be our strong point, with Mokotjo and Jali running things there. Ayanda Bennett is rated highly for a reason, he is amazing. Hopefully he can fire us to success.

Ayanda Bennett

What more can be said about this striker other than "wow"? There are not many players who deserve to be spoken of in the same sentence as Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Ronaldinho, etc., but Bennett is one of them. He is lighting fast, extremely strong, his movements is top class, he's composed, his shooting is spectacular, he's extremely skillful, his ball control is electrifying and his set-pieces are excellent. If there was ever a "perfect striker", Ayanda Bennett would be that striker. I'm hoping that he can lead our line to success with his obvious talent.

Tactics

This will be my probably line-up for the first game. I will be using the same system as I do for Vauxhall Motors, The Brendan Rodgers System. I am also the proud author of this system, which is available to download, or just to view details of, here: The Brendan Rodgers System. It has proved to be a very good tactic for me, and produces some very attractive and exciting football. It is of the "tiki-taka" style but it also has a lot of high pressure on the rare occasion that we don't have the ball. International football tends to be based on a slower build up play, so a high pressure tactic would counter that and put our opponents under some serious pressure. Example of success from high-pressure football can be seen in Jack Charlton's Ireland era, where he brought Ireland to the quarter finals of the World Cup in 1990. I am hoping that we can have similar success in our World Cup campaign.

The Groups

Our Group

We are in a group with Costa Rica, Slovakia and Italy. Italy and Slovakia are the two favourites to qualify, and we are expected to finish third. I am hoping that we can start well with a win over Costa Rica, and then we will battle it out against Italy and Slovakia in hope of qualifying. It will be a difficult challenge for us, but one I am looking forward to. Hopefully we can do well in the World Cup.

Ayanda Bennett.....................Wow.
Looks like a pretty easy group, Italy should be tough but Costa Rica and Slovenia Slovakia should be a walk in the park!

Siyanda Xulu! He's going to be a great player for you Good luck with South Africa!