[FM14] Go Forward!

[afailed10]

Hello everyone, i started a new save as unemployed with sunday league reputation. Overall i plan to get from the very bottom and play as realistic as possible with no editors, no downloaded tactics, no playerlists and no reloadings. Let's see how it pans out

The Manager

Pedro Kireenko, 26 year old, was born in Porto in 1987 to a Portuguese mother and a Russian Father. Since very early like most local kids he was into football. At 8 years old he joined Porto youth team and would stand out as very technical flamboyant striker. He was also strong and brave but his lack of confidence hindered his game performances. With the comming of age his confidence also improved and was much more confortable playing for big crouds, until he was 17th and got an arrow in the knee (knee cap injury actually) which took him out of the game for some time. With this he put priorities into thought and followed the studies and gave up on football.

However the following years were of sorrow as he never felt happy again. His natural habitat was in a football field, fighting with tough defenders. The **** smell of the dressing room. The fans shouting and swearing. The euphoria of scoring a winning goal. There was nothing like that for Pedro, but those times were gone. Now he was a student, he stopped exercising and picked up smoking. He couldn't go back to football there were just no way even though every night before sleep, the feeling of the ball on the boots came to haunt him.

During his final years of University, he picked up some time to start managing local kids, he got the coach diploma and this way he kept in touch with his past. After a great debut season with a u17s team he decided to take one year off from studies to coach abroad. After a couple months he finally got an interview. It came from the land of Vikings!

BK FORWARD

BK Forward are a football team from Örebro, Sweden. They play in Division 1 Norra. Their first season in this league, the third tier of Swedish football, was in 1987. The club plays in a small multipurpose stadium called Trängens IP with 3000 maximum capacity. The club is affiliated to the Örebro Läns Fotbollförbund.

Media Prediction: 4th

The 1-year contract was signed, 1.3k a month to take BK Forward to top half finish. A wage budget of 27.5k\m and 2,900euro as transfer budget.

Hired in the middle of the pre-season, Pedro Kireenko will now have little time to set his ideas and at the same time rebuild the squad morale after losing 2 of the last 3 friendly matches.

The squad is above average in the division but lacks a severe depth especially in the back, so two fullbacks were bought in and also an experienced defensive mid, Prince Ekong!

As main players there's the experienced nigerian left wingback Oluwaseyi Abolaji and of course the playmaker Robert Walker, from whom great things are expected this season.

[afailed10]

6 games in and so far good results. Opted for a 4-1-4-1 as i lack good strikers but have good wings and midfield. My CBs are very slow so my d-line sits dip. Took control after the last defeat in pre-season.

Prefered Formation:

Pretty straightforward so far! the team is in high spirits thanks to some solid defensive displays and especially Robin Ingvarsson latest form bagging 8 goal assists in 6 games!

Sirius will for sure be the deadliest opposition this year, they have been very good and will proove hard to beat. Lets see if i keep this run of form and hopefully away from serious injuries.

[afailed10]

Kireenko's first award!

With that a new record of 7 straight wins was set in the Swedish First Division North! (too bad the team dropped off on the second half scoring only 1 of the 7 goals..)

[afailed10]

June Review

FDN - BK Forward 7 - 0 Vasalund

Great performance from all the team, too bad we only scored one on the second half.

FDN - BK Forward 3 - 0 Sirius

Very tough game against 2nd placed Sirius. They confirmed their strength and the game was very even until Ingvarsson breaks the deadlock at the 25th minute with a great run from the midfield! Got a men sent off just before halftime when it was 2-0 so i managed the game in the half time and got a pen on the 57min.

FDN - Västerås SK 0 - 5 BK Forward

Not an easy match but an early goal gave us some confidence and they also went down to 10 men.

FDN - Nyköping 0 - 1 BK Forward

Very frustrating game to watch. They played very defensively with 2 def mids so the game was all about my team trying to break through that defence. On the 92min my CB does a faul in the box and gets sent off. To my relief they miss the penalty and i quietly say, get in...

FDN - Valsta Syrianska 0 - 2 BK Forward

Tough game against the 3rd in the league. Deserved win although some complacency is setting in...

3 goals conceded in all season so far, defence is doing a great job.

[afailed10]

July Review

FDN - BK Forward 3 - 1 Ûmea

Heavy rain, lots of fauls but my team's physical strength came on top, their late goal was unnecessary though.

FDN - AFC United 0 - 2 BK Forward

Very solid display. My keeper had no troubles at all against this very defensive home side. Matias Bulun scores twice and shows how it's done.

FDN - Frej 1 - 3 BK Forward

Extremely negative side Frej making 24 fouls with an over lenient Referee. Only 3 yellows for them when they only cared about destroying.

FDN - BK Forward 4 - 1 Eskilstuna City

No story game, scored at minute 2 and kept pressing.

SC - BK Forward 2 - 0 Valsta Syrianska

First round of Swedish Cup! My boys did not faulter and got a convincing win. Could have been easier though! hit the woodwork a handful of times.

FDN - BK Forward 2 - 2 Dalkurd

Frustrating. They score from a ghost penalty in the 88th minute but i can't say it wasn't deserved. My team was below this season standards and Robert Walker was totally off. He also got injured for 6 weeks what also increases the number of injured players to 6...

This was also a debut for my only transfer in summer transfers so far Rtawi Mekkonen. Had a poor first half, got injured and subbed in the break. Needs time. Overall my team's form is dropping but i give them a break afterall they are still unbeaten midway of the season and this draw happened right after our cup game, with little to no rest (3days).

Struggling with injuries, no left wingers available, negative finances and form dropping... difficult times ahead for BK Forward. Let's see if they can keep the confortable advantage.

[swallow1050]

Doing really great there! Even with abit of drop in form you should be fine to win the title!! Goodluck!

[withnail316]

Absolutely flying!

[afailed10]

Thanks guys here's an update:

First Season Review

Had terrible problems with injuries but overall my team started to perform worse, can't find many reasons for that they simply stopped going high so much and i saw too often my F9 holding the ball alone and attempting long shorts. The defence also became a bit shaky and complacent but the first half was brilliant which can explain why my players took a bit too easy. Matias Bulun was my best goalscorer but fractured his foot and went out for 6months until the new season begins. Just in time Robert Walker came back from an also serious injury but still bagged some important goals.

Arguably my best player this season was Robin Ingvarsson, the right winger, although not as influent as in first half of the season still kept consistent assists, 17 only in the league.

Now with a budget of 25k for transfers and 35k for wages, hopefully i can bring one or two improvements on the starting 11 but i wouldn't count much on that. It will be a very difficult season ahead, in the First Division Elite (tier 2 of Sweden) but with hardwork and some luck, we can cause surprise. Many players will leave as their contracts are ending so is most of the staff team. Hopefully i can cover that within the budget. Too bad the best midfield and the starting keeper are going back to their teams and i can't seem to get their loaning again. Too bad Sebastian Ring, you little baldy, good luck on your career though, maybe we meet again...

Final standings. Glad Sirius made it to the playoffs, they were the most difficult team to play against. Overall it was enjoyable, now let's sit back in our cozy warm houses during the winter break and prepare for a great season!

[afailed10]

Contract renewed finally had 5 weeks left on previous one. Somehow they expect promotion, maybe it's because the new season didn't start? hopefully yes as i can't see my team battling against the likes of Hammarby and Kalmar... We also made it to the Swedish Cup group stages but somehow it will only start in March just after the winter break. We got drawn against Varbergs, Orebro and the reigning champions Malmo...

[noikeee]

Things certainly are going forward!

(I suspect this joke will get old very quickly throughout this thread, so just wanted to get it out early )

[Nobby_McDonald]

Looking very easy.

[afailed10]

Haha ye but now things will get serious let's see what this team can do now as underdogs. In the comparison reports it's rated as one of the worst teams in most technical attributes which is a case of concern i can't do much about transfers really. I guess a midtable position will be the best i can hope for.

[afailed10]

Pre-Season Review

-Expectations-

-Transfers-

Good prospect to jump already to the first team. Let's see if he can take it.

He impressed me when we faced his team so i went for him to hopefully take the striker or ML role. Scored 4 goals in his debut friendly.

Here are the friendlies. Good results especially against Orebro a first division team. But tactics are only halfway fluid and the official games start in 3 days against Orebro away (Swedish cup groupstage). And then Malmo...

So far the board rejected all my requests to expand the coache number and to improve the pitch, stubborn kvnts

[afailed10]

Hello gentleman, here comes an update of the second season. I have been a bit busy with works this weekend so i skimmed it pretty quickly and not much time to do constant updates so instead i will give the full season one.

First half of the season was good despite being eliminated in the Swedish cup groupstage against two premier division sides. One draw and a very unlucky defeat (10 men and ghost penalty again) but it was pretty obvious the gulf in player abilities. They scored each chance they had. In the league it wasn't easy. The team did well but it was a struggle to get clear wins, none of my players did especially well except the new signing Ricardo Gray. The new Keeper was still getting used with a new defence and all. But we kept ourselves fighting for the top places with our consistent tidy defence. It wasn't as straightforward as previous season for sure, almost every game i had to make changes during halftime to fix injuries or fixing the defensive line, etc.

The second half of the season was much better. I found the team much more confident and we always had solution to the pack of injuries that plagued us every week. I had to use my u19s squad every game and i was very happy with their response, i could finally see Forward playing like last season with fast attacking football. Moreover, by the end of the season, the new youth intake brought a couple surprises. A handful of 5star regens, two of team jumped straight into the first team!!

This is a midfielder who has everything to develop into a good Premier Division player. He did well in the first team, next year will start!

Now, this kid is a proper star... since the moment he was into the game i brought him into the first team and guess what? 3 games and 4 goals, what a machine and what maturity. He played perfectly on the false 9 role providing safe passing to the midfielders and always on a motivated mentality. He is my new best striker and our very own wonderkid. Will work on him especially and will for sure feature my starting eleven next season.

Season 2 final standings

Great season overall. turning Professional within a couple months! Also got a new contract for one more year but i hope to stay on Forward for many years. I plan to get this team to the top with their own made players as much as possible. Hopefully i can improve the facilities soon but i can't expect much budget yet with an average of 650 attendance which is very low. If i had hopes i could reach a top half finish this season, honestly a midtable one for the next would be amazing but i don't hold high hopes this time. Yes i can't deny my objective was to get promoted but right now i want to establish the team in the Premier Division and work on our club. Improve everything so we can fight on equal grounds with the topflights. The gulf between Forward and most teams in the premier division is too high and no tactics or management can make up for that. Maybe we can do a shocker and finish in the middle but well there's no way we will win in a consistant base enough to reach top places.

Anyway, great season, enjoyed a lot. Most players will leave and it's time to do an overhaul to the players and the staff team. Signing new players won't be a priority, i plan to work with what we have. Will report back after pre-season! Cheers

[deltablue]

Wow, really been moving Forward indeed

[afailed10]

Thanks! It's all their work, da boys have been great

Good news, finances are stable and i successfully upgraded some stuff.

Youth Facilities, Training Facilities and a shinny green pitch did i say Christmas came earlier in Sweden?

Fully revamped staff team now on Professional contracts as well as most players! A big improvement from 1star training, now hopefully i will see some player improvement!

Lots of new faces here. But i believe i still need a solid CB to keep my defense tight as i am conceding lots of goals in the friendlies. Also, a new alternative tactic is being worked on (finally). After 2 seasons of the 4-1-4-1 deep we will now look to have an alternative to play 2 center forwards and a more attacking setup for when needed! Stay tuned.

[afailed10]

Solid start of the season and my first time winning Swedish Cup group stage! now we will face Angelholm on the quarterfinals, the only team not in the Premier Division, still they went through their group and will prove very difficult to beat. We were outstanding finishing 1st in a group with only premier league teams. Especially out against Mjallby who are title contenders we were lethal on the counter

[Nobby_McDonald]

Looking very easy.

[afailed10]

Post Mid-season Update

Right after the new patch i started playing much better and it seems i don't need anymore to play so defensive. Usually in the first half of the season, i would struggle in the beginning of the game so i tweaked the mentality to either normal or counter and somehow that would make us dominate the match. Now i start strong and i seldom need to adjust. Not sure if it is the patch but most likely yes, my average possession went to the 60s and we are playing a much better free flowing passing game with pleasing movement off the ball... Elfsborg have been really good too as well as GIF Sundsvall (promoted from 2nd division just like us) but we built a few points advantage over the last few games.

It was really unfortunate that we got knocked off the Swedish Cup on the semis but well the team was not as good as now and it wasn't our day even though it was a very close match.

With 8 games left it is almost sure we will keep the first 2 places which is very good. This league surprised me a lot, every team can win even though there is a difference in player ability between the top and lower teams but not as much as in most leagues. Hence GIF and Forward are doing a shocker Our counter has been deadly and finally we are showing very nice displays as of late putting a smile on the fans face, as the chairman told me.

Tounkara has proved to be a very good signing even though he lacks stamina to do the 90 minutes. Still he adapted perfectly to the false 9 role and bagged 17 goals in the league so far

Also amazing performance as usual from Ingvarsson, who is the leads the assist ranking in the league as he did in previous seasons! Since the time i took control in Forward he has been in the starting eleven and is now a club fav personnel. Just turned 29 hopefully he will keep the great level for a few more seasons and become a club icon!

Alex Tillman

Only one good intake this season, this guy, a right winger, the future replacement of Ingvarsson and will get him to be a tutor even though this kid already has 15 determination and is of a professional personality.

He also started with 3ppms just noticed now, i thought regens had no ppms but well i guess he will be ready soon

[afailed10]

Ok this is very nice, just lost the following 2 games, 2-1 out against GIF which was deserved i must say and now i lose 3-0 to F***** Gefle! they had 34% possession and went there a couple times, my team is wasting and suddenly shooting from everywhere at random. They become uninterested and i would love to know why. I Didn't touch anything in tactics nor i did anything, morale was perfect. Why do we win easily out against Malmo and the likes and then get trashed at home by the weakest teams? i have already lost points with the worst team in the league. No matter if i played low or high d-line we just couldn't get in the box with danger, simply appalling stuff.

Next is Malmo then Elfsborg, then top teams and top teams again. Elfsborg are already 1st with 1 more point, can't believe we will let the title go after a 9 point advantage but can't say it's not deserved, Elfsborg simply won't falter right now.

[afailed10]

1-1 against Malmo, next is Elfsborg away, they have 3 more points now, having smashed Mjallby away for 3 nil. Impressive they are, i will surely play on the counter.

[afailed10]

They were better, but we had 3 shots hitting the post... lucky later equalizer but we will take it and keep on dreaming...

[swallow1050]

I find its a combination of players getting cocky and the weak teams playing on the counter making them very hard to break down.

[afailed10]

Mjallby 2 - 1 Forward

Simply unbelievable. After a perfect season the team become clueless with any reasons to do so. But still, like in the last game we had no luck at all, maybe to make up for some we had in the early season? anyway i wish i could punch the players ingame. Mjallby did 2 shots all game, 0 ccc's. I watch in comprehensive highlights and it was just us hammering with 18 shots and 3 cccs. Just plain unfair, it's AI's work letting us go this far only to take it out just before we give the bite. Seriously.

[afailed10]

I find its a combination of players getting cocky and the weak teams playing on the counter making them very hard to break down.

I believe this year's edition is more focused on tactics and other micro-managing things rather than player quality that's why we see so much good teams fighting to stay up.

[swallow1050]

I think to be fair you've done pretty well to come 2nd considering you started in 1DN and have had back to back promotions

[afailed10]

Game over Elfsborg beat Aik 1-0 and became the Swedish Premier league Champions. They had 2 shots on target, 0 ccc's against the visitors AIK and also less possession, still the Gods were with Elves today and overall they were the best team of the season. BK Forward newly promoted were the surprise of the season but in the end the lack of experience hindered what looked to be certain. However a 2nd place is still highly respectable and for sure they will one of the teams to watch next season.

[afailed10]

I think to be fair you've done pretty well to come 2nd considering you started in 1DN and have had back to back promotions

Cheers mate, gutted with how things went in the end though, this league always felt very erratic to me and anything could happen.

Final Standings - 3rd Season

- 2nd in the Swedish Premier league

- semi-finals of Swedish cup

Next season :

-Will look for a solid keeper and buy a few other players to the starting eleven, especially for the defense as it was our main weakness this season. Hopefully i will get a decent budget but i can't see ourselves signing wonder players from overseas so next season will probably be very tight again as it will be very difficult to sign real star players.

Best Players of the year

-Ingvarsson - kept consistent and with 11 assists in 26 league games, 4 goals and 6MoM.

-Tounkara - 24 games 21 goals, 6 assists, 6 MoM. Too bad he ran out of form in the later stages.

-Andreas Ostling - 28 games, 11 goals, 4 assists and 3 MoM. Very tidy little midfielder, very young too, gave him a new long term contract.

-Mariano Crona - 16 games (most as sub in the 80mins) 1 goal. Bit disappointed but he didn't have much chances. Still only 17 and developed very well this year. Also received a new long term contract.

[b101]

Unlucky to come so close, but you are definitely moving...

...up

[deltablue]

You'll be champions in no time.

[afailed10]

Update

Been off this save for a long time but felt like resuming it as it was by far the most enjoying save i have had it on FM14. I noticed i moved over a season from the last update here so i will keep things brief.

So on my 4th season, after grabbing the 2nd place in the league behind Elfsborg i managed to get the Allsvenskan title! Kept upgrading the facilities and bought just a few experienced players.

I'd single out players as Viktor Elm and Oscar Wendt as swedish legends and a big achievement for our club. Also Mark Knaller went to become instrumental in this season as he reveleaded to be the best goalkeeper in the swedish premier league.

I would single out the amazing performance (even surprised me) in the europa league, eliminating teams such as Dinamo Kyiev and Spartak Moscow or Hoffenheim. We passed through the group stage on the 1st place! I will show you the rest next.

Final league standings.

5th Season review

Had to sell Knaller and Demir. The offers were too goo to turn down and their positions weren't critical to renew the title challenge.

As you can see we made it to the Europa League final after breaking through teams such as Tottenham and Napoli. Still it was a disappointment to lose like that to Atletico. Maybe if we had Knaller still on the team we could have avoided those goals but who knows? Champions League is next.

Remember this fella? He was one of my firsts regens and became a favourite immediatly. After tutoring and regular first team football he developed into the star player at the age of 18. He is my fav FM14 player and will do my best to keep him with me forever (no homo :3) very soon we should have his first cap on the national team. Hopefully i will keep on our side and resist top teams harassment.

Here some other very talented individuals:

So far we are only into 6 games in the league with 5w and 1d. Champions league didn't start yet but we are excited to debut.

See you soon

ps: how do i post the results as code instead of these huge images?

[afailed10]

3 goal comeback from 1-2 to 4-2 against the best swedish team (after us ofc)! Amazed with the display (i changed a bit the tactics since i returned to this save)