Following relegation from the Premier League at the end of the 2010–11 season, Barry Ferguson and Lee Bowyer left the club, giving Fahey the chance to establish himself in his preferred central position. After recovering from hernia surgery early in the 2011–12 season, he partnered Jonathan Spector in a solid midfield supporting two attacking wide players. Later in the season, he played a defensive support role alongside the more attacking Jordon Mutch, and manager Chris Hughton suggested he was "enjoying playing in that central role and he's enjoying the development he's had there all season". When he suffered a groin problem that caused him to miss the last few weeks of the season, Hughton called it "a real blow for us ... because he's a player that has been in really good form". He scored four goals during the season, including "a venomous left-foot drive from 20 yards" at Barnsley and a goal he "couldn't have hit ... any sweeter first time, or with any more power" at home to Crystal Palace that earned him the club's Goal of the Season award.