[FM2012]You WILL win everything with kids

[PJHoutman88]

My name is Petter Lundgren, I am a football coach from Sweden. I was born in Stockholm, on the 12th of August 1978, to a Swedish father, Johan, and a half-Swedish, half-Dutch mother, Dana. My father, a former footballer with Hammarby, raised me to love football, and I grew up watching a blooming Swedish generation of footballers. I was 13 when the European Championships were hosted in my country, with us reaching the semi-finals. I was there, at Råsunda, when Germany beat us 3 - 2 in a fantastic atmosphere. The seeds of a football addiction were forever planted in my head. Two years later, Sweden finished third at the world cup, with such players as Tomas Brolin, Henrik Larsson and Thomas Ravelli.

As I became an adult, I combined a Dutch language study with football coaching programs as well as playing for the Gröndals IK (my local team) reserves. In 2000, when I turned 22, I went for an internship at SC Heerenveen, in the Netherlands. With my excellent grasp of languages, and the already large Scandinavian contingent of players there, I was hired for a year to help new players settle in the country and to help them learn Dutch. It was there that I met Foppe de Haan, a great manager in his own right, responsible for helping a provincial club become a Dutch sub-top side.

Now, it's 2011. I've worked at SC Heerenveen for many years. During my first year, I performed my duties well, but I wasn't truly happy. I saw so much football played around me, that I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to be involved. And so, when my year was almost up, I applied for a job as the under 15's manager. My Dutch, by now, was indistinguishable from that of a native speaker, and the coaching credentials were all there. All the players I worked with liked me, mr. De Haan liked me - I got the job.

I also interned, occasionally, with mr. De Haan, who unfortunately left the club in 2004. His successor, Gert-Jan Verbeek, and myself didn't really get along well, so I stayed away from the first team after that. But, regardless, I did my job at the under 15's well, and in 2007, I was promoted to the Under 17's squad.

I wouldn't call myself the light of the footballing world, but I did what I was asked to do, and I did it well. Heerenveen's youth teams consistently played above their level. Then came a great re-organisation; Trond Sollied, a Norwegian manager, became head of the club. He wasn't so keen on spending too much money on the youth team, and as I was on a decent wage my contract would not be renewed. And so, I left the club in 2009, with good credentials, some spare cash but no job. Annoyingly - Sollied left the club a month later.

[PJHoutman88]

When I came back to Sweden from my Dutch adventure, I applied for every managing job in the lower leagues, convinced that, although none in Sweden knew about me, my resume would be enough to get me into at least a small club, and getting me started at ground level. This was not to be the case. Any club at an acceptable level refused me in favour of managers who had already managed a club.

I didn't want to start in the eighth tier, because I knew I would never get away from that level of club - I'd work for no wage or a measly one, and I'd have to focus my attention on working a proper job. If I were to make my living as a football manager, I'd need to start at the very least in the second division (4th tier) if I were to make a living out of it.

After about four months of this, I met Astrid, a local girl, two years older than me. She wasn't your typical Swedish bombshell, but she was a good-looking brunette, with a working brain and no interest in football - just as I liked it. We hit it off well, but if we were to live together, I'd really need a job. So, I threw away my ambitions of becoming a manager, content to just work at a club for the time being. After three weeks, there was my big break. It was the 19th of November, 2010.

IF Brommapojkarna, a team from Stockholm, had been relegated from the Allsvenskan (first tier), and the manager, Kim Bergstrand, was sacked. U19's manager Ola Larsson became the new manager and so there was a vacancy - I jumped on the opportunity and applied.

Four days later, I had my first interview with one of the club's representatives. They hadn't heard of me, but they had phoned Heerenveen and Foppe de Haan, and they had been impressed by what they had heard. So, after two more meetings, one of them with Ola Larsson, I was appointed as the new U19's manager for IF Brommapojkarna.

Brommapojkarna was starting the 2011 season in the Swedish Superettan (second tier), with an unexperienced manager, but a decent squad and a great youth team. My target was easy enough - to prepare the top talents for the first team. Of course, getting the youth promoted to the U19's top tier would be an added bonus.

[tenthreeleader]

Welcome to FMS, and I'll look forward to seeing an FM12 story.

[PJHoutman88]

14th March 2011

The first days at a new job are always difficult. You meet a lot of new people, all with names you know you wont remember the next time you see them. But, as with all jobs, you just have to get used to your environment and get to work. I did just that.

So, on my first day, I went with Ola Larsson to meet the youth squad. Before we entered the squad room where they had gathered, he took me to one side and said: "This is a very talented group, but that does not mean they're your boss - you're theirs. Don't forget that."

Where most people would expect me to walk through the door to observe a group of youthful blonde Vikings, nothing of the sort was through. This group was a truly mixed bunch. African refugees, Turkish immigrants, latino's, the multicultural society was actively present here. Of course, there were thoroughbred Swedes as well, making this a sight to behold.

The first ones to catch my eye where a trio standing at the back, towering over the rest of the group. The three central defenders, Ola said. The tallest of them was slim, but you could see that he was used to getting in a battle over the ball, and winning. His long curly back hair betrayed that he wasn't fully Swedish. Markus Minari was half-Italian, as his surname suggested. At only 16, he looked set to have a future in the game based purely on his physique, regardless of his actual footballing ability. With him stood his colleagues, Sebastian and Jacob, who seemed athletic but sluggish.

Ola started pointing players out to me, working his way through the positions as he went.

All the way to the left were the two goalkeepers, keeping to themselves, as goalies so often do. Ruben Åhman was the tallest of the two, but I immediately noticed his rival - Teodor Norhagen. He had a determined look about him, eager to meet me, eager to learn, eager to start training. He was slightly shorter than Åhman, but he was two years younger and at 15, would have plenty of time to develop.

It seemed the two right-backs also huddled together. They stood right infront of their central counterparts. Edwin Ekholm, the right-back, had already trained with the first team and was likely to feature for them in pre-season. The other one, Magnus Olsson, was the oldest player in the team. He was, therefore, captain when he played, but with Ekholm's development, his appearance were not as common as they once were.

The midfield players were scattered around the group, the African players standing together. Yanko Marrah (MC) and Mohamed Bah (winger) hailed from Sierra Leone, while Serge Martinsson Ngouali was born in Stockholm, but his father was born in the Central African Republic. He had already been called up to the Sweden U21's match vs Italy on the 24th of March, so it seemed he had a lot of eyes on him. Edward Owusu was a versatile central player, who could play in defence and midfield. He wasn't massive, but he was strong and looked menacing.

Then there were Simon Långh, who was currently injured but made it to the meeting anyway, and Christian Sanchez Arroyo, two central midfielders. Arroyo tried to start a conversation, but decided it was better to let me move on to the others.

On the wings, we had Jesper Björkfall, who, Ola said, had recently had some injury problems, but was quick when he was fit. It seemed Ola was more interested in talking about the few qualities Jesper had than what he lacked...

Finally, Ola Larsson pointed out the strikers. Rodi Hassan, nicknamed the Turk, came to the meeting where a Beşiktaş top. Isak Nyhlen and Viktor Söderstrom were together, looking rather nervous. Finally, Ola came to Anton Sandberg Magnusson. His brother Gustav, two years older, played in the first team. Like Edwin Ekholm, he too was likely to be feature in the first team during pre-season.

Ola also told me that one player was currently receiving treatment for an injury and hadn't been able to get to the meeting. His name was Martin Falkeborn, and he was a central defender.

One thing I noticed was the there wasn't a left-back. Larsson told me there had been one, Hampus Jonsson, but that he had been brought to the first team permanently - so I would need to talk to Ola later about bringing in a new left-back if I wanted one.