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[FM11]Deltablue Rising II: Delta's Darlings.


deltablue

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Nations (all leagues unless specified): Austria, Belgium. Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Rep, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy (Except C2), Holland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden (except 2nd Div), Switzerland, Turkey (except 2nd Div), Ukraine, Serbia.

With technical difficulties plaguing my time on FM 12, I decided to have another go on FM11, already fully patched when I reinstalled it. The game will be similar to my other one, starting at a small club with Sunday League rep, this time in the Slovenian Second Division, however there will be a few minor differences.

Firstly without there being a desperate CL quest, I’ll be rather more patient, not looking to change clubs as much, with a ‘stay until convinced otherwise’ attitude, as well as waiting for actual offers this time, not simply resigning when I was linked to somewhere I liked and apply, which I must admit I did last time.

I can more freely resign at the end of a season, though probably won’t, and will try and avoid mid-season resignations.

I won’t be in the same nation twice in a row, or be at arch-rivals of previous clubs (though that’ll be a common sense thing applied to ones I know about or experience rather than a blanket rule, having to keep looking up rivals to avoid it).

I’ll be trying to win as many different things as possible, though winning a title and resigning afterwards doesn’t become me so it’s not a true ‘title collecting’ challenge, though nations with unwon titles will have priority once I start grabbing a few.

Oh yes, and to give myself an extra test, I can’t sign anyone over the age of 20 (it wasn’t easy deciding the exact age), though that’ll apply to when I make the offer, so I don’t have to keep checking dates, especially when approaching players with 6 months to go on their contracts. However I can keep existing players for as long as I like. At a lot of clubs, it’s the young players that happen to flood my player search, so I’m used to getting a lot of young players in, making this a logical extension of my fondness for grabbing potential when I see a lot of it around.

My MTK side was a good example of my putting together a promising young side, when I had the chance and it really working out, with a few similar examples in my FM experiences which I want to recreate, though when I’ve been already in the thick of it, like Dortmund more senior players kept the youngsters on the sidelines or out the door a lot more, so it’s not always been pursued, well now it will.

Norway’s going to be a massive problem for one thing ever since players stopped being considered ‘homegrown’ on generation, and having been there a lot on 10 and 11 I know that a limit of 11 non-homegrown players has ironically always been a bit of a block with giving youth a chance, might avoid there but we’ll see.

Oh and the title? ‘Delta’s Darlings’ was the name a friend applied to my AIK side on FM10 as I had one of my occasional ‘grab a load of talented youngsters over a couple of years’ phases, plus quite a few good players from the youth setup, giving me an almost entirely teen squad.

Hope you guys enjoy this one.

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[font=monospace] 
2010-11, Krsko, Second League, 9th. Left in May.
2012, Hogaborg, Div 1 South, 14th, left in July.
2013, Frigg, Div 2 Group 1, 8th.
2014, Frigg, Div 2, Group 1, 5th.
2015, Frigg, Div 2, Group 1, 6th.
2016, Frigg, Div 2, Group 1, 4th, left at end of contract.
2017-18, Sportist Svoge, B Group, 4th, promoted.
2018-19, Sportist Svoge, A Group, 9th.
2019-20, Sportist Svoge, A Group, 8th.
2020-21, Sportist Svoge, A Group, 7th.
2021-22, Sportist Svoge, A Group, 5th.
2022-23, Sportist Svoge, A Group. 7th, resigned at end of season.
2023, BATE Borisov, Highest League, 10th, arrived 5 games left.
2024, BATE Borisov, Highest League, 9th.
2025, BATE Borisov, Highest League, 2nd. Cup winners!
2026, BATE Borisov, Highest League, 4th.
2027, BATE Borisov, Highest League, 2nd, resigned at end of season.
2028-29, Coventry City, Championship, 19th, Sacked in Dec.
2029-30, Ferrol, Second Div B, 13th, arrived in Feb.
2030-31, Ferrol, Second Div B, 15th, sacked in Jan.
2030-31, Brighton, League 1, 3rd, lost in playoff final, arrived in Jan.
2031-32, Brighton, League 1, 10th, sacked in March.
2033-34, Michalovce, First Division, 6th, Cup finalists.
2034-35, Michalovce, First Division, 4th, Cup winners.
2035-36, Michalovce, First Division, 2nd, Cup finalists.
2036-37, Michalovce, First Division, 1st, Champions!
2037-38, Michalovce, First Division, 3rd, Cup winners.
2038-39, Milan, Serie A, 7th.
2039-40, Milan, Serie A, 7th.
2040-41, Milan, Serie A, 5th.
2041-42, Milan, Serie A, 4th.
2042-43, Milan, Serie A, 2nd. CL and cup winners!
2043-44, Milan, Serie A, 2nd, ESC and CWC winners.
2044-45, Milan, Serie A, 1st, Domestic Double!
2045-46, Milan, Serie A, 1st, Quadruple!
2046-47, Milan, Serie A, 1st, Quintuple!
2047-48, Milan, Serie A, 1st, CWC winners.
2048-49, Milan, Serie A, 1st, Quadruple!
2049-50, Milan, Serie A, 1st, CL, CWC and ESC winners!
2050-51, Milan, Serie A, 1st, Domestic Double!
2052-53, Dunfermline, Div 3, 10th, bottom!
2053-54, Dunfermline, Div 3, 1st.
2054-55, Dunfermline, Div 2, 2nd, promoted!
2055-56, Dunfermline, Div 1, 5th.
2056-57, Dunfermline, Div 1, 4th, Challenge Cup and Scottish Cup winners!
2057-58, Dunfermline, Div 1, 6th.
2058-59, Betis, Division 1, 20th, sacked in March.
2059-60, AEK Athens, Superleague, 3rd, cup winners.
2060-61, AEK Athens, Supereague, 3rd.
2061-62, Milan, Serie A, 3rd.
2062-63, Milan, Serie A, 1st.
2063-64, Milan, Serie A, 1st, Domestic Treble!
2064-65, Milan, Serie A, 1st, League and CL double!
2065-66, Milan, Serie A, 2nd, CWC winners.
2066-67, Milan, Serie A, 1st, 4 out of 4!
2067-68, Milan, Serie A, 1st, domestic double!
2068-69, Milan, Serie A, 1st, domestic treble!
2069-70, Milan, Serie A, 1st, 4 out of 4!
2070-71, Dusseldorf, Second Division, 14th, left in Oct.
2070-71, Charlton, League 1, 18th, arrived in Nov.
2071-72, Charlton, League 1, 1st, promoted!
2072-73, Charlton, Championship, 13th.

Internationals
Ghana
Feb 2031- Feb 2039
ACN 2033 - Final
ACN 2035 - Final
ACN 2037 - Quarters
World Cup 2038 - Quarters
ACN 2039 - Winners.

Spain
Oct 2043- June 2046
Euro 2044 - 2nd Round
WC 2046 - 2nd Round.

Greece
Oct 2061-June 2064
Euro 64 - 1st round.

England
July 2064- July 2068
Confed 65 -3rd.
WC 2066 -Quarters
EC 2068 - Quarters

Trophy Cabinet
BATE
Belarusian Cup: 1 (2025)
Belarusian Super cup: 1 (2026)

Michalovce
Slovakian Cup: 2 (2035. 2038)
Slovakian Super Cup: 2 (2035, 2037)
Slovakian Title: 1 (2037)

Milan
Italian cup: 10 (2043, 2045, 2046, 2049, 2051, 2064, 2067, 2068, 2069, 2070)
Champions League: 8 (2043, 2046, 2047, 2049, 2050, 2065, 2067, 2070)
European Super Cup: 4 (2043, 2046, 2049, 2065)
CWC:6 (2043, 2046, 2047, 2049, 2050, 2065)
Serie A: 14 (2045, 2046, 2047, 2048, 2049, 2050, 2051, 2063, 2064, 2065, 2067, 2068, 2069, 2070)
Super Cup: 10 (2045, 2046, 2048, 2050, 2063, 2064, 2065, 2066, 2068. 2069)

Dunfermline
Division 3: 1 (2054)
Challenge Cup: 1 (2056)
Scottish Cup: 1 (2057)

AEK Athens
Greek cup: 1 (2060)

Charlton
League 1: 1 (2072)

Ghana
ACN: 1 (2039)
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Nice opening post :thup:

Poor Norway, I've always had a love affair with the Danish side: FC Kobenhavn, for no entire reason but for some reason I've never managed in Denmark. So it would be nice to see you go there at some point, maybe even with Kobenhavn? :D

I know, but only having 11 non-homegrown players allowed, and having to wait 3 years for players to qualify just isn't conductive to building a young side while while having a good side to use while you're waiting. Still, might have a go at the challenge.

Good luck in Slovenia,also liking the challenge of not signing anyone who is over 20.
Good luck mate, I'm sure this will be awesome. I like the under 20 idea.
Good luck!

Definitely excited to be getting started given it's been ready to go for a while, it's fair to say I'm pretty short on options at the start.

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Summer 2010

The first order of business is to introduce you to the club, Krsko. Semi-pro predicted 8th out of 10, almost 90 years old with a 2,500 capacity stadium, and 200k in the bank, with 50k transfers budget and 2.5kpw wage budget (with adjusted expectations from ‘avoid relegation’ to ‘mid-table), with almost 1.7kpw being used, with basic or fairly basic facilities across the board, and with Serbian archrivals for some reason. They also had a completely empty trophy cabinet, and a record high position of 3rd in the 2nd league in 2007. I must admit I was very happy to be back at a small place. The interesting thing with big club and small club management is that sometimes it’s like Summer and Winter, in that when you’ve been experiencing one for a while you often wish for the other.

The available player pool wasn’t exactly extensive, with the relevant filters in place (financial as well as age) it came up to just over 200. The squad looked fairly good, so I could focus on just getting a few quality youngsters in first, and the plus side of such a low level is that even with fairly poor facilities, it’s easy to find a few young players who are up to scratch in the youth setup, and indeed from the start I saw one that looked decent among a few I promoted, which was just as well as in the end there was just 1 player out there I really fancied, plus another I got in only because I’d done something really stupid, that occasionally happens when I arrive at a club, and done a lot of releasing the poorer players assuming that with a big squad I’d still be left with players for every position, instead I found myself with only one player who could play either right or left back, and needed another, whoops.

The young star:

Bublica

The new signing I intended to make:

Znidaric

Talented young chap already in the senior squad and much sought-after:

Silvsek

Transfers

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Of course the trouble with having a young side (which we do, even with a lack of signings), is you never know how it'll go...

Aug 2010

Krsko 0-2 Interblock (2L)

We started with a tough test at home to Interblock, the title favourites, led by a wily old manager. For the most part the game had all the signs of a dull 0-0 draw with limited chances for either side, however as we tired, they got a couple of goals right at the end to get the expected win.

Mura 05 2-2 Krsko (2L)

We attacked from the off at Mura 05, and while we slowed down after a while, and they were starting to put on the pressure, we broke through and a young forward, Petric, gave us the lead. At the very beginning of the second half, they made the first attack, but having taken the ball off them we pushed up and Petric got his 2nd. However the defence was a worry, especially with the lack of spare full backs, and Mura got a double to level it, as while we pushed hard enough in the end to warrant a winner, we couldn’t get it.

Krsko 0-0 Smartno (2L)

We hoped to win at home to Smartno, the only side with either a 100% or 0% record, thankfully the latter. However the first half was slow going and in fact the closest chances were theirs. In the second half we were able to attack more but not that consistently, while at their end, they misses a stoppage time penalty, so we both could be disappointed to settle for 0-0.

Sencur 1-0 Krsko (2L)

At Sencur, we had a bit of a harsh result, as we had the better of an otherwise dull first half, yet lost what momentum we had early in the second half and they took the lead. Late on we managed to get some attacking spirit up, but a missed penalty summed up our luck.

League Table

Sept 2010

Krsko 0-1 Adria (SlC)

We played non-league Adria in the cup, and in front of a bumper crowd of 82, we failed miserably. At the start it was just a case of us failing to get going, but then they did instead, soon taking the lead. They only attacked in patches, but we didn’t really at all, not helped by injuries to Bubilca and Znidaric, my 2 new young hopefuls, as well as Petric (the only player who’s done much so far for us) already being out, and they deserved a couple more as we were completely outplayed in our own home.

Dob 2-0 Krsko (2L)

After that little was expected from a trip to table-topping Dob. They had already taken the lead, having been better, by the time they had a player sent off early on, and the best we managed for the rest of the half was making sure they weren’t pushing so hard. We had a goal disallowed at the beginning of the second half, which was the cue for a few more chances, but we didn’t get anywhere, while they wrapped things up with a second goal.

Krsko 0-3 Drava (2L)

Promotion-chasing Drava came to ours and gave us a bit of a schooling. They scored 2 goals in the first 7 minutes, and thankfully paused there, knowing we’d be able to do the square root of sod all, occasionally giving us some chances to face, and got a 3rd in the final few minutes just for kicks.

Bela Krajina 4-1 Krsko (2L)

A trip to minor rivals Bela Krajina was considered a mission impossible, which was promising. We actually has a number of chances early on, as we actually played football for a bit, but they took control early enough, and consistent enough for the rest of the first half, that when they took the lead at the beginning of the second half, it was no surprise at all, though the fact that they were 3 goals up about 15 minutes later was a bit steep. Croat forward Marinsek finally gave us a goal, far too late, and they soon got a 4th goal afterwards to mock us.

Krsko 1-0 Aluminij (2L)

The first half at home to 3rd placed Aluminij was nervy, as they had the occasional chance which we managed to keep at bay. The second half was a nice surprise when a chap named Salkic gave us the lead, and while we didn’t have many more chances, they were quiet so we were technically superior by definition. They had a minor late push but we held out to get a win at last!

League Table

Oct/Nov 2010

Dravinja 0-1 Krsko (2L)

We went to Dravinja, the one side below us. I hold my hands up that we were rather lucky, as they were easily better in the first half, we were very poor, they had a goal disallowed, but Salkic gave us the lead before half-time. We were better in the second half, so it was only as we approached the end that we got a bit of squeaky bum time that we survived, though at the cost of both full backs, and I really mean, both full backs I had in the entire squad, one for 6-7 months.

Interblock 2-0 Krsko (2L)

In the spirit of things I promoted a full back (I didn’t have the other) from the youth team for the trip to Interblock, where it’s fair to say we weren’t fancied anyway. They had a goal disallowed in the 6th minute, and oddly they didn’t seem as eager to keep having a go after that as I feared they would. We at least managed to keep the game fairly even, with some chances of our own, though only benefited by their lack of effort, and in the middle of the second half they finally realized that no, they still weren’t ahead, and rectified that with a couple of quick goals.

Krsko 1-1 Mura 05 (2L)

Mura 05 were just above us, and I reckoned that we had a chance to get something when we played them at home. I appeared to be right as we has as good a sustained period of good play as we’d had all season, topped off with Marinsek giving us the lead. They equalized just afterwards, and for most of the rest of the game, we both pushed, perhaps we did slightly more, but they particularly came close late on, and in some ways we were both lucky and unlucky with the 1-1 result, Velicevic in goal needing to put in a very good shift.

Smartno 1-4 Krsko (2L)

We were bright again early on at Smartno, and just as it looked like we were running out of attacking steam before half-time, Marinsek’s chip put us ahead, with a Slivsek free-kick extending the lead on the stroke of the whistle. I knew they’d come back hard in the second half, and so they did, getting a goal back, looking dangerous for getting an equalizer, but Marinsek’s second extended the lead before that happened. They went down to 10 men for the last 20 minutes, which didn’t make things much easier for us, but Bublica’s first goal for the club gave us a 4th. When you’re doing poorly like we have been all season, its these results that you hold out hope for, and it took us out of the drop zone for the first time in weeks, 2 points ahead of Mura 05.

Krsko 2-3 Sencur (2L)

More good early play, and the return of a proper back 4, didn’t help us at home to Sencur, as they took a comfortable 2-0 lead in the first half. I encouraged the side to still emerge from their shells anyway, and some encouraging chances led to a goal from Salkec, however a) that was in the 83rd minute, and b) they’d just got a 3rd goal. However another Salkec shot led to an own goal, and a final score of 3-2 suggested we could have got something against the 2nd places side on another day.

Krsko 1-2 Dob (2L)

Just about reaching the half-way point in the season (as we play each other 3 times), we were back to uninspiring at home to Dob. The players clearly didn’t agree with our favourites tag any more than I did, and after going in to half-time a goal behind, we didn’t even manage to do anything for a while in the second half, at least until they got a second goal. That seemed to wake us up more, with Marinsek getting a goal for us, but aside from one near the end, no further chances were forthcoming, let alone goals.

Drava 1-1 Krsko (2L)

Going to Drava, 6 points clear at the top, was going to be painful, but their behaviour was most odd. They had an intense early burst, with a goal disallowed, but acted as if it had been give, retreating into their shell, which wouldn’t have made sense even if it had stood. That gave us the chance to push forward, and Znidaric gave us the lead. They provoked a bit of a response, and while we could have had another, a Drava equalizer, which soon came, was much more likely, and they kept going. If it didn’t mean that we dropped into the relegation zone for the 2 ½ month winter break, I’d have been a lot more pleased with that result.

League Table

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Tough start but you are only there on goal difference.
Had a rough start to the league campaign, but Im sure you can pull yourself out of it.
Looks to be slowly turning around for you, good luck.

I think so too. Really enjoying being back on FM11, seems to be quite a bit faster and smoother (I didn't like there being a bit of a pause, length dependig on how many players involved, whenever I selected players to be scouted or removed them from the shortlist), even more so with the relatively short season, was amazed I got over halfway through the games in an evening. FM12 has some good new stuff but never quite liked it as much, even without the technical demons.

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In fairness there's no huge difference between the match engines, and I can't think of any features on FM12 that I absolutely couldn't live without. I just like to play the latest version, however can certainly relate to those playing an older version.

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Ooof, thats a rough start. Still, it looks like a couple of key signings could definitely see you into safety!

An excellent suggestion sir, with just 2 minor drawbacks. 1) There's hardly anyone out there to sign, and 2) Out of those there are, there's no one good enough.

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Not the best of starts, but at least you've got some points on the board and aren't cut adrift from the pack above.

Good luck with this, will be interested to see how it all pans out, and if you can stick to your self-enforced transfer policy :thup:

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Mar 2011

Krsko 4-2 Bela Krajica (2L)

Bela Krajica was a very tough home game to return on, and a confirmed with for Mura increased the pressure on us even further. They took an early lead, and that seemed to be that, but though they were undeniably superior, we still had some fight, and Marinsek (who was technically out of contract, and not wanting to sign another) equalizing, but they retook a deserved lead before half-time. In the second half to tried to put up a fight, but didn’t get anywhere until Bublica decided to shine, setting Petric up twice to give us the lead, and Marinsek got a 4th at the end to wrap up a great win.

Aluminij 3-0 Krsko (2L)

With Sportno 6 points ahead, and Dravinja 7 adrift, it looked like Mura and ourselves were battling for survival with 11 games left.We went behind again, after about 20 minutes, and Aluminij, but away from our own fans, the resistance wasn’t forthcoming and they got a second with little trouble. In the 50th minute, defender Lulic came on to cover for an injury and almost immediately got an own goal. After that we at least improved to ‘average’ but needn’t have bothered by this point, ad it was a relief that Mura lost theirs.

Krsko 0-3 Dravinja (2L)

We were slow to take advantage of the opportunity afforded by a home game with Dravinja, Bublica being my first player off on international duty, not helping much, but they didn’t as they snatched the lead just before half-time. That broke us, as what had previously been an even but dull game became comfortable for them as 2 second half goals finished us off, and they sat back afterwards as they knew it, closing to 3 points of us, and we were lucky that Mura blew a win to only get 1 point ahead, as the season hit the 2/3 mark.

League Table

Apr/May 2011

Interblock 3-0 Krsko (2L)

We went behind after just a minute at Interblock, and they got another un the 8th minute. They kept raiding, with no chance of a response, though only got a 3rd pretty late on, having gone down to 10 men, but it was still a pretty bad hammering nonetheless. What was worse was that we were now 4 points behind Mura.

Krsko 2-1 Mura 05 (2L)

It was they who we played next, at home, a pretty critical game where a defeat meant it would be halfway to game-over and even a draw would be of limited use. We were as weak as ever to start, and they took the lead, that seeming to be that. Snidaric equalized, but the game didn’t really come to life until the second half, with both teams scenting the opportunity. It looked like neither would get it, but Bublica gave us a winner in the last minute.

Smartno 5-3 Krsko (2L)

We roared out of the blocks at Smartno, and after 4 minutes, Marinsek and Bublica had put us 2-0 up. However that still left them most of the match to come back, and 20 minutes later, they’d pushed hard enough to be level. Knowing we were exposing ourselves to their attacks, in the second half we tried to match them, shot for shot, and left winger Jakolic gave us the lead early on. That silenced their fans, but sadly not the players as they equalized soon after. As much as we pushed, they took the lead, and despite going down to 10, then 9 men, our limited efforts came to nothing and they finished us off with a 5th. Plus Mura came from behind to win in their game. How quickly fortune turns.

Krsko 2-0 Sencur (2L)

The clock was ticking for both me and the club, and what we didn’t want was to play Sencur next, who had overtaken a fading Drava to be clear league leaders, sadly we didn’t have a choice in the matter. The first half consisted of a number of close shaves for us, but in the second we actually had a period of control early on. That was never going to last nor did it, and it was back to surviving. With 15 minutes left, a Sencur corner lead to a defensive mess for an own goal, and having broken through us, they got a second a few minutes later.

Krsko 2-1 Dravinja (2L)

Even Dravinja took a comfortable early lead at our place. They went down to 10 men just before half-time, which gave us the opportunity to have a good go in the second half. It didn’t seem to come to anything, but Petric grabbed a late equalizer, and there was still time for winger Pilipovic to give us a winner, though we remained 4 points adrift of safety.

Aluminij 1-0 Krsko (2L)

Mura were winning when we went to Aluminij, meaning we were in a sort of last chance saloon. We managed to match them with chances in the first half, but that attacking intent, which was never that great anyway, soon faded, and late in the game they struck a killer goal. We weren’t mathematically down, but we were as good as so it was time to go.

League Table

This was an example of a load of youth (and an unfamiliar bunch at that) not paying off, though more often than not it does in my experience. A very bad early run (which took us 1/3 of a short league season) followed by inconsistency which meant that in some games we put up a good fight, but not in enough of them and wasn’t enough. After waiting weeks to start at Krsko, I only lasted just over a day. Better fortunes would come, but there was a question over when.

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Good luck with your new career. Interesting choice of club and going for youth only.
Terrible April/May, you are going to have pull of something more than impressive to stay up.
A shame to see your FM12 career come to an end, but I look forward to seeing how this save pans out :thup:
Tricky few months, hope you stay up.
Hopefully you can turn this around, will be reading!

I resigned with relegation near-confirmed after the last match in the report, so that's rather unlikely, still in a pretty long wait for a new club, though only just passed summer and in the 'vacancy-light' part of the year. This can work, I know it can, while I've never exclusively gone for young players before, I've had a few sides (like MTK in the last thread) that were mostly built around them, just fortunes tend to be more mixed, it'll be all the sweeter when that happens, and make big clubs less boring.

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Well, it took until December to get an offer and I decided to take it, knowing I couldn't be choosy. Might as well give you the info now, though it'll also be the beginning of my next update.

Hogaborg

I knew I wasn’t likely to be able to get much, and I was proved right. Rep was still theoretically ‘national’, but I knew that at least on FM11, that didn’t mean so much compared to your record, and I was still described as ‘virtually unknown’. For a new club I got Hogaborg, newly promoted into the Swedish First Division South (the lowest level I was running in that nation), predicted to finish bottom, no staff or history, a smattering of players taking up just a small amount of a 6.5kpw wage budget, 30k in the bank, a 2,500 capacity stadium with 500 seating but with a full pre-season and season ahead of us, it was worth a shot, and if it didn’t end in a failure, it would do me a lot of good, and facility wise they were ‘adequate’ (which I think beats basic) with ‘above average’ youth recruitment, so if I do manage to survive (bit of a large ‘if’ though it is) there might be something here.

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Well, you can't say I haven't made my mark early on...

Winter 2011/12

I knew I wasn’t likely to be able to get much, and I was proved right. Rep was still theoretically ‘national’, but I knew that at least on FM11, that didn’t mean so much compared to your record, and I was still described as ‘virtually unknown’. For a new club I got Hogaborg, from Helsingborg, newly promoted into the Swedish First Division South (the lowest level I was running in that nation), predicted to finish bottom, no staff or history, a smattering of players taking up just a small amount of a 6.5kpw wage budget, 30k in the bank, a 2,500 capacity stadium with 500 seating but with a full pre-season and season ahead of us, it was worth a shot, and if it didn’t end in a failure, it would do me a lot of good, and facility wise they were ‘adequate’ (which I think beats basic) with ‘above average’ youth recruitment, so if I do manage to survive (bit of a large ‘if’ though it is) there might be something here.

The first order business was hiring some staff, then I looked at the players. The small squad contained a complete mix of ability players, but as I thought, there were 4 5 star prospects in the youth team. As things turned out, in complete contrast to Slovenia I had rather a lot of potential signings, many of them excellent, well either that or the squad was genuinely that bad. Either way, I was like a grown manager in a player shop with a lot of budget adjusting leaving me with 5kpw wage budget and over 66k for transfers. With so many of these potentially excellent signings just a few thousand max, there was plenty of scope to basically build a near-entire squad that for now should be a very strong one, and that should help us survive comfortably in the short term, and a good base to try and build on in the longer term.

No doubt the words ‘potential squad gelling issues’ are about to be winging their way into the thread. All I can say is that it worked spectacularly the last time I did this, in Belarus, though that was at an underachieving club instead of newly promoted relegation favourites. What happened then was that arriving before the mid-season window, I did a similar ‘whole squad’ investment, a lot of that in young players, things clicked to move up the table after a couple of months, stormed to promotion the next season, and became instant strong starters (though always declined too early to be challengers) each year with only a handful of new signings supplementing that squad that kept a good core from that initial investment during that time. Not that things will be that meteoric, just saying that as far as the theory is concerned, I know what I’m doing, I’m still after survival as what’s on my mind as a goal. There as a bit of a cost, in order to get a full squad of that standard I had to suspend my rule that balance overrules budget, though not going into the red that much, and the numerous ‘Hogaborg fans delight at X bargain buy’ messages suggested that it was definitely very well spent. Here's a selection...

Bennet

Ogbu

Putsi

Puustinen

Savolainen

Smolander

Stojadinovic

von Walter

Transfers

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New club looks like it could become a long term club, as long as you can get the team to gel you should easily stay in the division, looking forward to seeing you progress with this club :)

Wrong link on league table, well, wrong name on the link haha.

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New club looks like it could become a long term club, as long as you can get the team to gel you should easily stay in the division, looking forward to seeing you progress with this club :)

Wrong link on league table, well, wrong name on the link haha.

Ah yes, I've forgotten to past the link before but never to change the link word, fixed now.

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Mar/Apr 2012

Vimmerby 2-3 Hogaborg (SwC)

We had our debut at Vimmerby in the cup, we pushed them from the start but were still rusty, especially in defence, and they snatched the lead. Our efforts were rewarded in the second half with an equalizer from the Georgian Shkirtladze, but we couldn’t get a winner before the end of normal time, a right back injury reduced us to 10 fit men early in the second half, but before half-time, Afzelius and defender Maehre put is 3-1 up. The Norwegian scored an own goal to pull it back for them, and we had a late red card but still went through.

Hogaborg 0-1 Vastra Frolunda (SwC)

In the next round we were at home to Vastra Frolunda who were in our division, though looking stronger. We exchanged good chances in the first half, though they took the lead early in the second half, we pushed a little but they had the upper hand and deserved their 1-0 win, still we would have had a shot at something another day, and against a superior side in the same division, insofar as we could make any limited judgements, it could be worse.

Kristiansand 2-1 Hogaborg (D1S)

The first league game was a very tough one at Kristiansand. They took the lead almost instantly, and kept pushing. We had a brief pressure spell late in the first half, and after half-time, von Walter equalized, but they resumed pushing, and deserved to retake the lead long before they actually did, though another late bright spot meant we could have snatched something anyway despite being strongly outplayed.

Hogaborg 0-2 Oddevold (D1S)

We started brightly in the first home game against Oddevold but they suddenly hit us with a goal, and we gradually faded, being toothless after half-time as they pushed and got a deserved second, with any prospects of a decent showing falling away badly.

May 2012

Husqvarna 3-0 Hogaborg (D1S)

At Husqvarna, top of the league with 8 goals scored and none conceded in the first 2 games, we matched them for the first half an hour, just about having the better of a lot of exchanges, however as usual, them taking the lead took the wind out of our sails. They extended the lead in the first minute of the second half comfortably strode to a 3-0 win.

Hogaborg 2-2 Vastra Frolunda (D1S)

We pushed to fix our point-less situation at home to Vastra Frolunda. Late on in a first-half of being on top, von Walter gave us the lead, but that was the cue for them to really turn the heat up, especially in the second half. On a rare break, Lahtinen gave us a second goal, while Vastra Frolunda had a goal disallowed, but as they kept coming close, they eventually got on back, and I couldn’t begrudge them an equalizer shortly afterwards, as useful as the win would be, and it was good to have a point.

Falkenberg 1-3 Hogaborg (D1S)

We went behind immediately at Falkenberg, though Ogbu soon equalized, and we had some good chances. They restored the advantage after the break however, and there was only going to be one outcome, which they sealed with a 3rd.

Hogaborg 0-3 Sylvia (D1S)

The home game with Sylvia was our first against a side down here with us, and we completely turned off. We were poor in a first half where they took the lead easily, then got even worse as they got a second before half-time, and amazingly they only got one more in the second half.

LB07 2-1 Hogaborg (D1S)

Things were never going to go our way at LB07 from when they took the lead from a controversial penalty in the 3rd minute, followed by Ogbu having a goal disallowed. To be fair, again we were very poor, but still equalized in the second half through Puustinen and if it wasn’t for the disasterous showing, we would have got something from what was just a 2-1 defeat, and that summed up the season so far as we’d deserved a few more points.

There was a league table for May but it seems to have gone elsewhere.

June 2012

Hogaborg 1-3 Skovde (D1S)

Read what I said about Sylvia, this was much the same with the exception of a late Ogbu goal.

Hogaborg 0-5 Ytterby (D1S)

The big defeat that had been threatened finally came at home to Ytterby. The game was quiet early on, but after we got a defensive injury the gates opened. That they were 2-0 up at the break wasn’t unusual this season, but this time they kept on and notched up 5 goals in the end.

Norrby 2-0 Hogaborg (D1S)

The best thing that could be said for the first half at Norrby, was that it was dull, and even then we were poor enough for it to be one sided, just that they had no clue where the target was. They found a clue in the second half and scored, which actually started a bright spell for us, but the only other goal was their late second.

Hogaborg 1-2 Lund (D1S)

The only side just as bad as us, Lund got their first win at the same time, before we played them at home. They scored after a few minutes, and it seemed to be half over. They got another by half-time, but we improved in the second half, with young forward Bennet (injured up til now) getting a goal back, and we could have got a point, but as we didn’t we were now 6 points adrift at the bottom, and 10 from safety.

Sleipner 4-1 Hogaborg (D1S)

There seemed almost no point going to Sleipner, and indeed they easily went 2-0 up. Ogbu actually gave us one back, but in the second half everything fell in again and a 4-1 victory came easily to them.

Hogaborg 1-3 Rosengard (D1S)

Rosengard was the last game of a miserable first half of the season. They got a 2-0 lead, which by now had become the least remarkable thing in the whole universe. Ogbu got yet another goal back before the break, and actually we had an equalizer disallowed in the second half, so there was still hope, but as expected that was as good as it got and they got a 3rd. So ended my time in Sweden, as I resigned afterwards.

League Table

I didn’t want to get into the habit of leaving places before near-certain relegation but there’s being in relegation trouble, and then there’s only getting 1 point from an entire half of the season, and under the current circumstances I see it as sacking myself, as the board were still 'satisfied' so weren't going to do it. Having been able to do too little in Slovenia, things swung completely in the other direction, increasing the gamble, though not making this outcome an inevitability. It looks like the game is treating it’s re-installation as a cue to give me the same ‘torrid time on the first save’ thing that it did the first time, and to a lesser extend FM10, which I mentioned but was averted in FM12. Either that or I’ve been possessed by Iacovone, or the guy mentioned on his thread last year with the ‘global relegation tour’. things will click somewhere, but it looks like I’m in for quite a wait.

The plus side was that I got a couple of offers almost immediately, but from newly-promoted-into-playable-league sides, so without the desperation, I feel I can wait for 'stronger but underachiving' sides to see if that gets me anywhere.

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