FM16: The Frozen Throne

[abulezz]

Good luck in Malmo!

[Rikulec]

Good luck in Malmo!

Thanks mate.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Not a bad move at all, hopefully they aren't in the same mess as Gotenborg

[dllu]

Does Malmö have the kind of money they have in 2016 IRL (they are by far the richest club in Sweden), or have they squandered it all in the meantime?

[deltablue]

They're dominating Sweden in my save.

[Rikulec]

Not a bad move at all, hopefully they aren't in the same mess as Gotenborg

It would be hard to find another such badly run club!

Does Malmö have the kind of money they have in 2016 IRL (they are by far the richest club in Sweden), or have they squandered it all in the meantime?

They're dominating Sweden in my save.

The money is stable, but I wouldn't say we could be the richest club in the country. Shouldn't plummet down anytime soon though, which is nice.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - August 2030 - Malmö FF

Allsvenskan





So far, so good.

I was happy to see that Malmö possess a squad perfectly suited for a 4-4-2, so without hesitation I employed the tactic that won me titles in Finland and Norway. The high-flying Kalmar side was obviously going to be a good test for us. And we passed it really well. Both teams started the game with quite offensive approaches and there were good situations on both sides on the pitch. Scoring first really seemed to be key there. And we did it - in the 35th minute a wonderful through ball from inside our own half played by our experienced midfielder Eric Smith reached the Bosnian striker Hrvoje Abramovic who carried it into the box and slotted it past the hosts' goalkeeper, which had me let out a huge sigh of relief. This definitely won't be as bad as Göteborg was. The goal seemed to boost our players' confident and it was all but smooth sailing until the end. In the 64th minute Smith delivered his second assist of the game and a loanee Dutch striker Michael Clement finished off a nice passing move. I was more than glad to grab a comfortable win in my first game in charge.

Youth Intake



One decent player is better than none, right?

Marcus Englund

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - September 2030 - Malmö FF

Allsvenskan





If only Hammarby didn't have these bloody games in hand...

Remembering how easy the mess that my previous club was managed to deal with Akropolis, I shamelessly expected to easily tear them apart. The early minutes looked like we were going to do exactly that, but our finishing was horrendous at times. To make things more nervous, the hosts had a quick lone striker up front and sometimes they managed to set him running free on goal with hopeful hoofballs. Luckily our goalkeeper Gökhan Taşkın dealt with that perfectly. Finally in the 83rd minute yet another of our attacks ended up in the back of the net. Left back Anton Maikkula received a wonderful pass after making an overlapping run and immediately put the ball into the box for substitute striker Tim Andersson to head it home from close range. With very little trouble we carried the result until the final whistle.

We only had three days of rest before a tough trip to Helsingborg. The first half was extremely even with both teams having their chances to get in front, but after some good performances by the goalkeepers it ended goalless. After the break we seemed to get off to a better start and that found confirmation in the 56th minute. Michael Clement received the ball on the left wing, dribbled to the byline and put in a cross for Hrvoje Abramovic to put us in front with a header that went in off the crossbar. Our strike partnership produced another goal nine minutes later - Clement's through ball sent Abramovic free on goal and the Bosnian didn't waste the opportunity. The goals really cut the hosts' wings and from then on we calmly controlled the flow of the game, strolling towards victory.

Our slight fixture congestion ended with my first home game in charge of the new club. AIK were deep in crisis, but they were not to be underestimated. We did the job though - the visitors didn't even manage a shot on target. It was our Swedish right winger Joakim Wikström who gave us three points with a quickfire double in the first half. In the 26th minute he received a good square pass from Andersson and finished the move with a well placed left footed effort and just three minutes later he tapped the ball in from close range after a wonderful drilled cross by a loanee French left back Constant Denis. Smooth sailing.

We ended the month with the big one - beating Hammarby at home would have made our slim chances of snatching the title a little bit more believable. And we couldn't have got off to a better start - as soon as six minutes in a good through ball from Eric Smith was finished by a powerful strike by Tim Andersson. After getting in front we continued to push on and for a while it looked like we could absolutely smash the visitors, but our finishing let us down and after about twenty minutes of the game Hammarby finally found their feet to recover from that shock. It's not like they looked particularly dangerous though - in fact, they only took five shots over the course of the whole match. But they didn't even need a shot to equalise. In the 49th minute our German midfielder Marco Fuß - making his debut on that day - attempted to clear the ball away after a cross, but ended up hitting Juan Rey. The ball bounced off the Spaniard and ended up in the back of the net. To make things worse, in the 67th minute our centre back Mihajlo Andric decided to call it a day and get himself sent off for a two-footer. We tightened up and allowed nothing from the visitors from then on, but at the same time we struggled to produce anything up front. A draw seems like the most justified result at the end of the day. Not that it satisfies us though.

Transfers

Marco Fuß - he was offered to us by his agent and... well, I simply couldn't resist. He'll definitely come in handy though given that our first choice central midfield pair are both in their thirties.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Shame you couldn't nick the win against Hammarby but a good start even so

[Rikulec]

Shame you couldn't nick the win against Hammarby but a good start even so

We were close, but not close enough. Next season could be really interesting though.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - October 2030 - Malmö FF

Allsvenskan





Our unbeaten run comes to an end.

We started the game against Örebro SK quite well and after a couple of long range attempts we got in front through Alsény Sylla in the 9th minute. Hrvoje Abramovic's shot hit the post after a nice passing move, but the Guinean winger was exactly where he was needed in the box to pounce on the rebound. We kept our foot on the gas after that goal and kept creating danger mostly through wing play, but once again we were extremely ineffective in front of goal. Örebro also created a couple of chances, but overall I didn't really fear for our lead at any point during the game. Any shadow of doubt disappeared in the 91st minute. Eric Smith sent a wonderful through ball into the box and Abramovic found the net with a powerful left footed effort. The visitors' offside appeals found no response and we got ourselves another comfortable victory.

It never ends up well when you face a side you've once managed, does it? Ironically enough, this was the best performance by IFK Göteborg I've seen this season. For the first time since I took over at Malmö, we were by far the worse team on the pitch. They dominated and we barely had a chance to punch back at all. After numerous chances they finally scored in the 30th minute. A cross came in from the right wing to the edge of the box, Karim El Orfi headed it goalwards and Walter Hansen netted it from close range, giving Gökhan Taşkın no chance. And five minutes after the break the Algerian winger got a goal for himself with a wonderful tight angle effort which went in just inside the near post. We were actually lucky that the final scoreline only read 2:0. I didn't expect that.

I was curious to see how the team would react, hosting a struggling Öster side. And this time it was us who wiped the floor with the opposition. The only reason why we scored only once is the unbelievable inability to get a shot on target from seemingly easy positions that our strikers showed in that game. We could have easily got six or seven goals that evening. The only one that actually happened came in the 57th minute and even that involved a one on one situation wasted by Michael Clement. Luckily the deflection fell to the feet of Abramovic who was simply obliged to score. What satisfied me the most was that we didn't allow the opposition to take a single shot at all, on target or not. Great thing to accomplish, even though we lost any mathematical chance of winning the title as Hammarby picked up a win in their game as well.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - November 2030 - Malmö FF

Allsvenskan





We couldn't be arsed I guess. Can't really blame the players.

The first half was a case of neither team really caring for defence and both sides' strikers making an absolute mess of delivering the final product. Especially our frontmen demonstrated some amazing skills of completely missing the target. The breakthrough came in the 56th minute. Michael Clement created a bit of space for himself on the left wing and delivered a cross to Hrvoje Abramovic who simply couldn't have wasted such an opportunity. After that goal we seemed to grab control of the situation and looked dead on to add more goals at some point, but... not on that day I guess. Instead we commited an inexplicable case of a 6 vs. 2 defensive situation turning into a 1 vs. 2, which eventually ended with Daniele Rocca equalising with an easy header in the 77th minute. Even after that we had a couple of chances to grab a winner, but our strikers kept blasting the ball into the sky instead for some reason. Maybe they were paid by Östersunds? The draw allowed our opponents to overtake Kalmar in the table and snatch a European place on the final day...

[Dexter_Morgan]

Not a bad start to your time there, least you have Europe to look forward to next season, plus time to bring in a few faces to challenge

[Rikulec]

Not a bad start to your time there, least you have Europe to look forward to next season, plus time to bring in a few faces to challenge

I really couldn't have asked for a better start. The team is really good already (as you'll see in the end of season update shortly), it needs a few homegrown players though as we find it really tough to meet the squad requirements.

[Jason the Yank]

Good start. I take it the finances are much better.

[dllu]

You should be a shoe-in next season!

[Rikulec]

Good start. I take it the finances are much better.

Let's put it that way, we're probably not selling our training facilities anytime soon.

You should be a shoe-in next season!

Thanks, hopefully the players will keep up their good form.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - Season Review - 2030 - Malmö FF

Allsvenskan

Results (red line marks my arrival)

Competition Performance: 2nd

Let's be honest, we were never going to catch Hammarby. When I joined the club, they had a one point advantage and three games in hand. We managed to reduce the gap to five points at the end of the season, which is nice. The real fight starts next year though.

Svenska Cupen

Competition Performance: Quarter Final

The previous boss received a proper beating in the Quarter Final of the 2029/30 edition of the cup before securing a passage to the next year's Group Stage.

UEFA Champions League

Competition Performance: Second Qualifying Round

Oh, and what do we have here? I have to admit I'm not particularly sad about that early exit!

Squad

A lot of quality in what seems to be a squad well capable of winning the title. No major changes required here, but we need some homegrown players.

Transfers (red lines mark my arrival) - Finances

I only made two deals during my reign at the club, bringing in Fuß on a free and selling Kowalski for £100K after he was brought in on a free in January.

We're not exactly swimming in money, in fact, we don't really have any. We're nowhere near the mess Göteborg was in though and with some European money we should be able to boost the balance considerably.

Player of the Season

1st - Eric Smith - the heart and the brain of the team. He was by far the best performer in the nine games we played since my arrival, he also has loads of experience which should come in handy during our upcoming campaign. Hopefully he still has another good season or two in him.

2nd - Hrvoje Abramovic - the most prolific striker in our ranks and the one that produced the smallest number of horrendous misses out of all the strikers we have. With the right setup he should be able to bang the goals in.

3rd - Gökhan Taşkın - poor attributes, good performances. Only four goals conceded and six clean sheets are both great results, but I'm not sure whether he can keep this level up over the course of the whole season. Credit to him for what he did this year though.

Next Season

With the squad at my disposal, I'd say not winning the title would be a major disappointment next season.

[glennuk]

Good luck for next season.

A few astute signings and you could walk the league.

[Rikulec]

Good luck for next season.

A few astute signings and you could walk the league.

Thanks. The quality is definitely in there already, I just have to make sure everything clicks in.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - Season Preview - 2031 - Malmö FF

Board Expectations:

Allsvenskan: Win the league

Svenska Cupen: Not important

My Expectations:

Allsvenskan: The aim is the title. Nothing less will be satisfying.

Svenska Cupen: I'd like to win that as well.

Budgets:

Transfer: £352,859

Wage: £49,642 (currently spending £42,685)

Balance: -£1,660,754

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - Pre-Season - 2031 - Malmö FF

Friendlies



These don't look too good, but they're just friendlies and all.

Transfers



It was more about increasing the depth than the quality of the starting eleven.

Adam Andersson - we simply needed a backup right back. Andersson isn't a great player, but he'll do the job when needed. He's also a homegrown player, which is quite an asset these days.

Thanasis Doumas - despite Gökhan Taşkın's efforts last season, I decided to go out and splash some cash on a quality goalkeeper. Hopefully he'll save us some points.

Nicola Crisafulli - the young Italian comes in on loan to increase the depth of the squad, but with these attributes I can see him getting more than a couple of chances to shine.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - March 2031 - Malmö FF

Svenska Cupen





Job done, move on.

Our first game of the 2031 season was the away trip to Häcken. To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from the opposition. I simply set off with our usual 4-4-2 and waited. That didn't work out too well though. A series of defensive mistakes in the 15th minute led to Benjamin Käthner humiliating our right back Alaasane Mansaly before slotting the ball in the top far corner. It took us a while to recover and the hosts had a couple of chances to extend their lead during that period, but Doumas did his job properly between the sticks, allowing nothing in. Finally seconds before the break a nice passing move ended with Alsény Sylla setting up Hrvoje Abramovic for an easy close range tap-in. The winning goal came in the 54th minute. Again we constructed the attack very well with a series of passes and Sylla got a goal for himself, cutting inside from the right wing just in time to pick up a through ball from Tim Andersson. After that goal Häcken visibly lost their touch and we ended up securing the result with relatively little trouble.

Next up, AFC United, a side newly promoted to the Allsvenskan. And the game turned out to be the Alsény Sylla show once again. In the 16th minute the Guinean picked out Nicola Crisafulli with a conscious through pass and the young striker applied a classy finishing touch from a tight angle with a beautiful placed effort. The other striker, Abramovic, waited eight more minutes for his chance and it was a chance he didn't waste. Sylla put in the ball from the right wing for the Bosnian to head it home from close range. As time passed, we continued to push on and barely allowed the visitors to leave their own half, but it wasn't until the 52nd minute when we made it 3:0. Constant Denis played a deep cross from the left and Sylla got a goal for his own with a truly wonderful countering header which went in off the far post, leaving their goalkeeper stunned. A smashing performance from the whole team.

The Falkenberg game was just going to be a formality, or at least I hoped so. The scoring started in the 9th minute. Joakim Wikström played a square ball in from the right and a wantaway striker Jan Lindgren calmly slotted it in the empty net. The happy scorer picked up an assist just three minutes later, setting up Abramovic for a very similar finish. In the 19th minute we made it 3:0. Lindgren played a long pass towards Abramovic, a defender managed to reach the ball with a diving header, but he ended up knocking it past his own goalkeeper and allowing our Bosnian striker to score the easiest goal of his life. And seven minutes later we slipped - following a hoofball from inside the hosts' own half, Stefan Unkuri surprised everyone with a perfectly placed drilled shot from some 25 yards out. Despite having much more possession we didn't really create loads of opportunities after that, but we managed to extend our lead once more just before the final whistle. Lindgren picked up his second assist of the evening with a good through ball and Sylla grabbed his third goal of the competition with a calm finish.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - April 2031 - Malmö FF

Allsvenskan





We had a stutter, but we seem to be finding our rhythm.

The officials didn't go easy on us as we started the season with a tough game away at our fellow title contenders, Djurgården. The opening minutes looked quite shaky on both ends of the pitch as neither team managed to build a convincing advantage over the other. It was a tough midfield battle in the first half, but we managed to snatch a goal. In the 28th minute a cross came in from the right, Hrvoje Abramovic went for it and put in a sliding challenge, pushing the ball over the line. We didn't hold onto the lead long enough though - fifteen minutes after the break a long ball was launched over our defenders' heads, Roger Gjerde took ages to turn around and start tracking back and got overtaken by Balder Kristiansen who won a duel with Thanasis Doumas to give the hosts an equaliser. The winning goal came in the 77th minute and it was a classic cross finished off by Gaute Olsen's header. Not the best way to start your campaign, was it?

Four days later we hosted Halmstad and it was... well, quite a rollercoaster ride. There were no early signs of trouble as the first half was our unchallenged domination, proven by a Tim Andersson goal in the 31st minute. And after the break weird stuff started to happen. In the 55th minute we conceded the most bizarre goal I've seen on this game so far. Mihajlo Andric beat his opponent to the ball and controlled it inside our penalty area, but for some reason Doumas came out of his line... and tackled his defender to allow Chris Castro to slot the ball in the abandoned net. What the actual ****. Nine minutes later I held my head in my hands - our two-metre-tall, extremely strong centre back Pape Diallo got muscled off the ball by Juan Luis González, who promptly went around Doumas and gave the visitors a lead. And then Anton Maikkula and Nicola Crisafulli came onto the pitch. In the 67th minute a cross by Mirza Dizdarevic - who got moved to the right wing following the substitutions - landed on the head of Abramovic, who made it all square again. In the 76th minute a wonderful deep cross from Maikkula found Crisafulli and it was 3:2. How often do you see a player below 1,70m score with a header? Well, that's what happened. And just two minutes later we finished the opposition off with another goal from Abramovic, Maikkula with the assist again. It took quite a thriller, but we got our first league win.

Next up, Helsingborg. The opening ten minutes looked like we were going to beat the living crap out of them. We created wonderful opportunities with ease, but then struggled massively to convert them. After that initial period which saw us fail to get in front, the hosts started to slowly recover and even the game out. As the time passed, it looked like we were going to blow our chance. But then the 80th minute came. Constant Denis got his shot saved by the goalkeeper, but the ball landed straight at the feet of Crisafulli who had no trouble putting it in the empty net. Better late than never, eh?

We all know the curse of missed penalties, right? We quickly grabbed control over the events on the pitch, but when Eric Smith smashed a spot kick straight at the Degerfors goalkeeper in the 34th minute, I was fully convinced we were somehow going to lose that game. Luckily this time we had Crisafulli to bail us out of this rather uncomfortable situation. Smith redeemed himself in the 47th minute with a wonderful long pass straight to the Italian's feet and our loanee striker applied a very classy finish from just inside the penalty box. There could really be something special about that kid, I should probably keep an eye on him after his loan period expires. It was also Crisafulli who scored the second goal of the game in the 68th minute, smashing the ball in from close range after a cross from the left by Maikkula. A rather easy and satisfying win at the end of the day.

We rounded off the month by hosting a newly-promoted AFC United side, whom we've already beaten in the cup earlier this season. And it was pretty much smooth sailing from the very beginning of the game. In the 13rd minute Anton Salétros opened the scoreline with a perfectly executed penalty. Nine minutes later Alaasane Mansaly - our right back forced to play on the right wing on that day - rebounded his own shot from a tight angle to make it 2:0. The fans had to wait until after the break for another goal, and that was a rather unusual scenario - in the 53rd minute United's defender Zlatko Jeremic put the ball in his own net after a cross from the left by Constant Denis... and exactly the same thing happened just five minutes later. Not a very fortunate quickfire double for the poor guy. Our potential wonderkid Crisafulli was brought onto the pitch after an hour of football and left his mark on the game by making it 5:0 in the 70th minute. The stoppage time was quite eventful as well - first Thomas Svensson gave the visitors a consolation goal in the 91st minute and just sixty seconds later Crisafulli grabbed his second and final goal of the match. Funnily enough, both his goals were headers. Seems like our players can deliver crosses with pinpoint accuracy.

Svenska Cupen



A scraped win against lower league opposition preceeded an absolute battering of our fierce rivals.

The squad that hosted Jönköpings Södra, a third tier team, may not have been our strongest outfit, but it still contained a couple of first choice players and should have beaten the opposition rather easily. Instead, they delivered what can only be described as our most boring performance of the month. We simply looked like we couldn't be arsed playing the match. Mirza Dizdarevic declared this quite openly, getting himself an early bath in the 58th minute to make things even more nervous for me. Finally in the 78th minute we grabbed a rather lucky goal when a failed clearance by one of the visitors' defenders hit Roger Gjerde straight in the face before ending up in the net. And eleven minutes later a good pass from Tim Andersson was converted into a goal by Crisafulli. Not the most confident of wins, but still it gave us the Semi Final passage.

AIK were quite a mystery for me, with their new manager and a rather poor start they made in the league. I knew they were not to be underestimated, but nothing could have prepared us for what happened. Shortly after the whistle the home fans held their heads in disbelief after Alsény Sylla missed an absolute open-net sitter from like five yards out. AIK took advantage of that immediately and in the 8th minute a goal by Andreas Pedersen put the visitors in front. It took us exactly twenty five minutes to respond, but what a response it was - a beautifully organized passing move ended with a cross from the right and a wonderful, powerful headed goal from Anton Salétros. And then the Hrvoje Abramovic show began. The Bosnian made it 2:1 in the 43rd minute, Marco Fuß with the assist. Just before the break Abramovic got his second goal, this time it was Sylla who delivered the final pass. And in the 49th minute the hat-trick was completed - for some reason the AIK goalkeeper failed to catch a ball that was flying very slowly and going to cross the line for a goal kick, and ended up deflecting it straight towards our blood-thirsty striker. Onyekachi Chukwudi fought back to make it 4:2 in the 56th minute, but three more goals from us followed - both our centre backs, Roger Gjerde and Mihajlo Andric, scored from corners in the 68th and 76th minute respectively and just a minute later Alsény Sylla also got a goal for himself with a wonderful left-footed finish. Andreas Pedersen got the visitors another goal in the 80th minute, but obviously they weren't going to catch us. We simply wiped the floor with them.

[Rikulec]

A rather insignificant league game has become slightly more significant.

[Darius1998]

Nice start to the season by Goteborg.

[Rikulec]

Nice start to the season by Goteborg.

And it's not getting any better I'm afraid.

[tastaiwan]

Took a while to catch up, but cool career. That's a lot of debt though...

[Rikulec]

Took a while to catch up, but cool career. That's a lot of debt though...

The situation at Malmö isn't one tenth as bad as in Göteborg, trust me.

May update coming up later today.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - May 2031 - Malmö FF

Allsvenskan





Eight points out of five games is simply not good enough.

We started the month with a home game against Häcken. The early minutes were as good as it gets and in the 4th minute Hrvoje Abramovic put us in front, taking advantage of a poor clearance by one of the visitors' defenders that bounced off the other and set up the Bosnian for an easy finish. Neither team played particularly well after that and there weren't many opportunities on either end of the pitch, but the set pieces turned out to be our undoing. In the 28th minute a seemingly soft header from Alex Huusko following an outswinging corner somehow found its way past Doumas and into the net. And it was the Finnish defender who buried us just before the final whistle, this time after a deep free kick and poor communication in our defensive ranks. That hurt.

An opportunity to recover came up four days later when we travelled to AIK. At the very beginning our loanee left back Constant Denis proved his rather unusual ability by forcing an opponent to score an own goal, this time it was a centre back Terencé Mabidé. In the 19th minute a sliding challenge by Alsény Sylla rolled to the feet of Abramovic who smashed the ball just under the crossbar from close range to double our lead. Later it was even more show from Denis as he assisted Nicola Crisafulli twice, first in the 38th and then in the 76th minute. The only response from the hosts was a goal from Andreas Pedersen two minutes later. I'm starting to grow quite fond of AIK - in the last two games we put eleven goals past them. Why can't we play them every week?

Next up, Örebro SK. Following the AIK game just three days earlier I couldn't field the strongest of our squads, but still the players I sent to battle should have done much better. The opening minutes were rather dire and boring, but in the 19th minute we managed to break away and Alaasane Mansaly found a bit of space on the right side on the penalty area to take two shots, first of which was saved by the goalkeeper, who was yet helpless with the rebound. After grabbing the lead we also took control of the game, but that wasn't enough to hold onto the result. In the 43rd minute a series of horrendous defensive mistakes and awful positioning allowed Michael Kaminski to cut inside from the left wing and beat Doumas with a powerful strike towards the far post. Despite a few chances to get in front again in the second half, we couldn't recover from that. We really shouldn't be dropping points like this.

The next game was a must-win. We had a week of rest and we were hosting a much weaker opponent. And it showed - we opened the scoreline after 12 minutes when Anton Salétros played a wonderful through pass which gave Abramovic an easy chance to grab a goal. We doubled our lead straight away, Tim Andersson with a conscious square ball and Mirza Dizdarevic with a rather lucky finish that involved a deflection. Andersson also got one goal for himself in the 64th minute, finishing a perfect cross from the left by Anton Maikkula. Of course keeping a clean sheet would be too nice and in the 80th minute a weak shot from a tight angle by Kimmo Priha was somehow let in by Doumas. To make things worse, three minutes later our Norwegian centre back Roger Gjerde got himself sent off for a second yellow card. Still, a win is a win, can't really complain about that.

The fans must have expected fireworks when the league leaders Åtvidaberg came to our place just three days after the cup final we participated in. What they received instead was a classic, extremely boring 0:0. We didn't even get a shot on target. It was even bigger a disappointment when we found out that a win would have put us top of the league after ten games. Oh well, there's still a lot of time and a lot of points to play for, I guess.

Svenska Cupen



We did it, and what a game it was!

For us, the seven-goal thriller started in the best possible way - a wonderful through ball from Hrvoje Abramovic found Nicola Crisafulli who put us in front with exactly 38 seconds on the clock. Despite our advantage we let the opponents break away and score the equaliser fourteen minutes later, Jan Fure on the scoresheet. Their celebrations didn't last long though - in the 17th minute Alsény Sylla played a nice one-two with Crisafulli and gave us the lead again with a perfectly placed near-post effort. Then the similar story occured again - we were the better team, but in the 35th minute we let it slip. Mihajlo Andric commited an unforgivable mistake by letting off an underhit backpass and allowing Alexandr Goncharik to make it 2:2. Then nothing happened for a large portion of the game, but when one of the teams finally broke through, it was Hammarby. A quickly played free kick surprised our defenders and Ludvik Wahlberg put in a precise finishing touch in the 72nd minute. For a moment it seemed like a disaster to me, but just six minutes later Crisafulli made things level once again, again it was Sylla who set up the move. Our chances looked even better from the 86th minute onwards as the opposition defender Andrej Brkic got sent off for a two-footer. They tightened up their defence and managed to hold on until the extra time, but in the 114th minute Sylla handed us the cup with a close range strike following a wonderful cross from Maikkula. Hammarby simply had no resources to get back into the game after such a blow, there was no stopping us. We have our first trophy under my helm.

[Rikulec]

This never gets boring.

[dllu]

Well, right now you're at 2 points per game. Last season that average was enough for second place, so it shouldn't take too much improvement to challenge for the top spot.

Also congrats on the cup win. One more trophy ticked off the list!

[Rikulec]

Well, right now you're at 2 points per game. Last season that average was enough for second place, so it shouldn't take too much improvement to challenge for the top spot.

Also congrats on the cup win. One more trophy ticked off the list!

2 points per game is probably not going to be enough. We need to improve and we need to improve soon.

Thanks, yeah, it's always nice to win stuff.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - June 2031 - Malmö FF

Allsvenskan





Just one game this month... yeah.

The events on the pitch in the Norrköping game slip beyond any logic really. We got off to a horrible start and in the 4th minute Florian Wilhelm scored the first goal for the hosting side. After half an hour of their advantage and us struggling to put together anything decent they made it 2:0 through Ismael Serrano. Everything makes sense up until this point, doesn't it? Well, what happened between the 82nd and 84th minute was my wildest ride on any Football Manager, ever. This incredible chain of events started with Tim Andersson giving us a glimmer of hope by finding the ball at his feet after some chaos following a corner kick and slotting it home to reduce the hosts' advantage. Immediately after the kick off Marco Fuß decided to get stuck in and try to break down their move, but ended up commiting a foul and getting sent off for his second yellow card. Norrköping took the free kick near the halfway line, exchanged a few passes, attempting to get closer to our goal, but Roger Gjerde interrupted their action by clearing the ball away. Oh, wait. The referee called a foul from the other central defender, Andreas Jacobsson, who was like twenty yards away. And he bloody sent him off for a professional foul. At this point I was already holding my head in disbelief. But what happened next? Of course Kristoffer Snekvik made it 3:1 with a wonderful strike straight from the free kick. After that incredible chain of events we were simply helpless and in the 87th minute Wilhelm got his second goal of the game to seal the scoreline.

[Jason the Yank]

1 points from 2 games after the cup. That's one hell of a hangover.

[Rikulec]

1 points from 2 games after the cup. That's one hell of a hangover.

Yeah, and the break didn't really help much...

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - July 2031 - Malmö FF

Allsvenskan





I guess this is crisis already. The table includes one August result, sorry about that.

I'll be honest with you. We were more than lucky to scrape a win at Östersunds. Our first choice goalkeeper Doumas picked up a groin injury during the break, so Gökhan Taşkın had to jump in between the sticks. And he did a wonderful job - despite only picking up a 6.9 rating I'd say he was our best player on the pitch. The hosts were easily the better team, but somehow it was us who grabbed the only goal of the game. In the 39th minute Alsény Sylla pulled off a wonderful individual run on the right wing, eventually reaching the byline after skinning past two defenders. Finally he put in a powerful cross aimed at the far post. It was intercepted by Jesper Jacobsen, but the clearance attempt ended up straight in the upper 90. Östersunds looked very dangerous in their pursuit of the equaliser, but a great performance by Gökhan Taşkın and our back four secured the win and a clean sheet for us.

I might have been a bit naive in expecting an easy win in the home game against IFK Göteborg. The horrible demise of this club made me underestimate them. And their striker Birkir Petúrsson punished me for that as soon as nine minutes into the game, applying a close range finish to a decent passing move. And the following minutes turned out to be almost as dull as it gets. I was shocked to see our shots stat - we reached double figures, but none of these efforts was good enough to be shown in a highlight. How bad they must have been, I can only imagine. But the 79th minute brought a fantastic flash of form from nearly the whole team. A wonderfully constructed action allowed our substitute right back Adam Andersson to put in a pinpoint cross from the wing and Hrvoje Abramovic banged it in with a perfectly aimed, powerful header. What a goal. The last event worth describing though was the red card that our new centre back Konrad Grabowski picked up in the 87th minute. What the hell is wrong with my team?

I feared the Hammarby game. I feared they would come to our place and expose all our weaknesses while giving us a proper beating. As you can see, this is exactly what happened. The start of this massacre was horrendous - in the 5th minute they played a deep free kick into the box. The cross was overhit and Doumas collected the ball, but then he let it slip out of his hands and Andrej Brkic took the opportunity to put the visitors in front. We seemed to recover from that relatively quickly and shake off the pressure, but seconds before the break the Hammarby players constructed an attacking move around our completely uninterested defenders to set up Ludvig Wahlberg for an easy close range finish. And we didn't see the third goal coming either - Jon Fure came up out of the blue after a corner and got between our players to deal us the final blow. That was probably my worst performance since I joined Malmö. Simply awful.

And finally Djurgården. One look at the table is enough to realise how difficult it was going to be. It was also the first league game where I experimented with tactics, transforming a basic 4-1-4-1 into a I'm-not-really-sure what with Mirza Dizdarevic on the left wing pushed higher to the inside forward role. And somehow it worked... for some thirty minutes. Luckily we managed to grab two goals inside that period. In the 10th minute Dizdarevic played a wonderful through ball to Abramovic and the Bosnian applied a very calm, precise finish. And in the 27th minute our striker doubled his goal tally after a nice cross from Adam Andersson on the right side. Our celebrations were spoiled six minutes later when Mersim Shabani brought the visitors back to life. Djurgården finally pushed hard after this one and after some heroic defensive performances we finally let them equalise in the 68th minute when Balder Kristiansen let off a truly amazing header from just inside the penalty area. I have to admit, at this point I lost any hope, but suddenly in the 81st minute a very hopeful individual move from Abramovic won us a penalty, which was calmly converted by Nicola Crisafulli.

Europa League



We eased past my old friends ÍBV before narrowly losing to Metalurh in Ukraine. We could still overturn that in the second leg though.

We took quite a while to finally get started in the first leg in Iceland, but when we did, we did it in style. Our new winger, who's not prepared to be named yet, put in a fantastically aimed cross from the right wing and Hrvoje Abramovic put us in front with a powerful half-volley. ÍBV looked quite tight in defence throughout the game, but another wonderful ball from the wing, this time from Anton Maikkula, couldn't be intercepted by anyone but Tim Andersson on the far post. An easy goal for the Swede. Fifteen minutes later he wonderfully set up Crisafulli with a one-two passing move and the Italian finished it with a perfectly placed effort towards the far post. Of course ending the game with a clean sheet would be too good for us - a slip of concentration in our defensive ranks allowed Ongjen Milosevic to grab a consolation goal for the hosts. Not that it mattered much anyway, but still...

The return leg was the first test of the tactical blob I mentioned while describing the Djurgården game. The positives? We won and we got 60% possession, which is always nice. The negatives? Apart from the goalscoring situations, we looked toothless up front. In the 22nd minute our new right winger put in a drilled cross, a shot by Abramovic was saved by the ÍBV goalkeeper, but then it deflected off their defender Marian Jacko and rolled past the line. The second and final goal of the confrontation came from Dizdarevic, who applied the finishing touch to a good through ball by Marco Fuß. The second half was a horror showing from both sides, I feel genuinely sorry for the fans who were forced to watch 45 minutes of absolutely nothing.

I knew Metalurh were going to be a tough opponent, but I wasn't prepared for what happened in the opening minutes. We started off way too defensively and, as a result, pretty much invited the Ukrainians into our defensive zone. They took advantage of that and created something like four or five great chances inside the first quarter an hour, converting two of them. Brazilians Émerson and Soares put their names on the scoresheet. After that I made some tactical tweaks and we finally started to look like a proper football team, slowly but gradually getting more and more of the ball and eventually shifting the play onto the hosts' own half. Just before the break Eric Smith restored some hope in our fans' hearts with a wonderful header after a corner taken by Dizdarevic. And in the dying minutes of the game we had two wonderful opportunities to equalise, but neither Abramovic nor Crisafulli managed to beat the Metalurh goalkeeper from close range. There's definitely some hope for the home leg though, the result isn't a disaster.

Transfers

Konrad Grabowski - the young Polish defender boosts the ranks and replaces Pape Diallo, who's leaving the club, bringing us £30K in return.

Martin Lindström - £230K went towards bringing this guy from Sirius. He looked good... until I noticed I won't be able to play him until the next season. When a month goes bad, it really goes bad.

Djibril Traoré - well hello there. When I saw an opportunity to bring him in for a mere £100K, I didn't hesitate. This also allowed me to sell Alsény Sylla for £650K.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - August 2031 - Malmö FF

Allsvenskan





Uh-oh...

After some deliberation I decided to transform the asymmetrical formation I've been using in the past couple of games into a normal 4-1-4-1. For the large chunk of the Halmstad game it seemed to be working like a charm. We only needed five minutes to grab the opening goal. After some chaos following a corner the ball landed at the feet of Nicola Crisafulli who placed it just under the crossbar with a powerful strike from just inside the penalty box. We went on to build our advantage and generally control the game, but time was passing and the exhaustion from playing games every three or four days started to get to us. But what I believe to have really killed us in the game was lack of quality on the bench. After making three substitutions we pretty much gave everything away. And it was a substitute who sealed the scoreline - in the 80th minute Mihajlo Andric failed to clear the ball away after a deep free kick and ended up putting it in his own net. Balls.

Next up, AFC United. I expected a relatively easy game there, so I decided to give a couple of second choice players a chance to shine. That didn't pay off though - the hosts surprised us by getting into the game really well and in the first thirty minutes we were lucky not to go down. It was mostly Thanasis Doumas who ensured nothing bad would happen to us, he put in a couple of wonderful saves. After that period we finally found our feet in the game and in the 50th minute we broke the deadlock through Hrvoje Abramovic's goal. The celebrations didn't last long though - twelve minutes later we gave the ball away really stupidly in the middle of the park, the hosts launched a quick counter attack and Joel Olofsson equalised with an easy close range shot. We had our chances to score again, but were painfully ineffective in finishing. Another two points stupidly dropped.

Three days later came the Degerfors game and we simply had to recover if we were to prolong our title dreams. The first half was all but domination from us and in the 43rd minute we finally got the opening goal. Djibril Traoré played the ball in from a corner, the initial header from Roger Gjerde was denied by the crossbar, but the rebound was flawless. Things weren't going to turn out all that beautiful though. Just after the break a horrible slip of concentration from our defenders allowed Hans Petter Øverland to equalise from close range. We didn't give up though and in the 66th minute another corner resulted in Gjerde heading the ball down for Abramovic to smash it home. But even that wasn't enough to clinch the win for us. In the 74th minute a lucky break from the visitors ended up with Felix Seegert making it 2:2, taking advantage of poor marking by both Gjerde and Anton Maikkula. Are we really that bad?

Yes, we are, and Häcken proved that. The scoreline is really flattering for us - we were absolutely battered. Our goalkeeper and defenders were doing their absolute best for almost an hour, but finally in the 58th minute they gave in as Constant Koné received a pass on the edge of the six yard box with his back to goal and managed to turn and shoot way out of Doumas's reach. The shot stat really serves at the perfect summary of the match as we didn't record a single attempt on target. What a horrendous performance by our front men.

Svenska Cupen



A comfortable win clinches our participation in the Group Stage next year.

Oh boy, it was so nice to comfortably win a game for a change. Of course, Falkenberg are a third tier side, but still. We opened the scoreline as soon as four minutes in. Mihajlo Andric nodded the ball on after a good corner taken by Traoré and Konrad Grabowski got his first ever goal from the club, possibly also the easiest goal of his career. That wasn't all the Polish defender had to show on that day - in the 26th minute he put in a nice cross from the left wing and Eric Smith shocked everyone in the stands by doubling our lead with a fantastic overhead kick. And in the 44th minute it was all over - Joakim Wikström squared the ball across the edge of the six yard box and Mirza Dizdarevic got it past the goal line with a sliding challenge, denying the winger the assist. The second half was pretty much smooth sailing with us not pushing the tempo - we had other things on our minds really.

Europa League



We managed to turn the Metalurh tie around, but Zenit were simply too strong.

Not much really happened in the first half of the second leg of the Metalurh game. We had a slight advantage, but there was nothing that would get the fans off their seats. We needed to change stuff - in the 61st minute Andreas Jacobsson came in off the bench, replacing Eric Smith in the attacking midfielder spot. And it was exactly him who got us the lead just four minutes later. Djibril Traoré received the ball on the right side of the penalty box and played it right where the young Swede was waiting to tap it in past the helpless goalkeeper. That goal alone would have secured us the place in the final qualifying round, but we weren't going to stop there. In the 72nd minute Traoré found Jacobsson once again with another perfect cross that pretty much obliged the substitute to double his goal tally. The final goal came in the 83rd minute. Mirza Dizdarevic played a nice through ball after cutting inside from the left and Nicola Crisafulli calmly slotted it past the goalkeeper in a one on one situation. So, it turns out that these guys can play football after all.

Zenit were obviously going to be a whole different story though. At first I wanted to surprise them by hitting them with everything we got right from the start, but to do that, we'd need to get at least some of the ball in the first place. And that simply wasn't going to happen. Our situation was made even worse after half an hour when Traoré picked up his second yellow card, ambitiously attempting to win the ball near the halfway line and launch a 2 vs. 1 counter attack. That didn't work though and our task suddenly became even more difficult. In that case we couldn't really do much more than simply hold the opposition off. It's not even like Zenit had a lot of goalscoring chances, they simply concentrated on circulating the ball. The stronghold finally fell in the 71st minute when a perfect drilled cross from the left found Paco Miguélez completely unmarked in the middle of the box. Still, I'd say it was a relatively respectable defeat.

The return leg wasn't half as interesting though. The visitors calmly controlled the events on the pitch, barely allowing us on their own half. We did have that one lucky break in the 60th minute and Joakim Wikström was presented with a wonderful chance, but his shot was denied by the post. Maybe if he got that on target...

Youth Intake



Nothing interesting at all.

Emir Durakovic

Sadmir Eliasson

[Rikulec]

Oh dear. 2:0 for Sweden then.

The board summoned me straight after the Zenit game, demanding explanations. I simply wasn't going having that - yes, we did crash out, but it really was a respectable performance against a far superior side. And let's be honest, with the way things went in the league I wasn't probably going to last very long in the job. What next? Ideally I'd like to join a smaller club and build it up over time, similarly to what I did at Odd. I have to admit though that Sweden has been my toughest nut to crack so far.

[Rikulec]

The first offer came up just three days after the sacking. It took some hesitation, but I finally decided to turn it down.

[Rikulec]

Normally I'd go for it, but with the squad they have I'd struggle massively with meeting the homegrown players requirements without completely rebuilding the team in the winter. And of course the board would probably expect instant results. I'm not making the same mistake for the third time.

[Rikulec]

Not yet.

[Rikulec]

Three national jobs came up on the same day, 23rd November.

I have to say one of them really appeals to me and would actually make sense for Elvar Björgvinsson to accept...

[Jason the Yank]

Iceland for the pay packet?

[Rikulec]

Iceland for the pay packet?

Among other reasons, yeah.

[sherwinriga]

Well, that wouldn't help on the Swedish league. It would be the best to go back to the lowest league in Sweden and manage it. I hope that you find better and your potential NT coaching career.

[Rikulec]

Well, that wouldn't help on the Swedish league. It would be the best to go back to the lowest league in Sweden and manage it. I hope that you find better and your potential NT coaching career.

After failing in the league twice I think I need some kind of a breath of fresh air to rebuild myself. Going to the lowest Swedish league wouldn't probably be a very realistic move for my manager. I guess I'll be coming back to club management stronger if I accept the Iceland's offer.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - New Job - Iceland



Here we go then. My first venture into international management. When your home country comes calling, you just can't say no. I have to say I'm quite excited for this one!



We're not going to play any competitive games until the World Cup 2034 qualifiers begin I guess, so there's quite a lot of time for me to assess the squad possibilities.

[Rikulec]

So, it turns out I was wrong about our schedule. We're in the Division D, which is the lowest division in the Nations League. Having looked through the squads, I'd say we should be beating Belarus and especially Luxembourg, but Ireland is going to be extremely tricky and they are clearly going to be the favourites to win the group.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - September 2032 - Iceland

Nations League





No surprises in my first two games in charge then.

My managerial reign started with the toughest game of the Nations League campaign away in Ireland. To make things worse, we were missing the undeniable star of the team, a guy you might recognize - Björn Blöndal - due to injury. As for the match itself, I decided to line up with an orthodox 4-4-2. But after the opening minutes it was already visible that the opposition was simply going to be too strong for us. To be honest, if it wasn't for abysmal finishing by a Wigan striker Robert Hayes, we'd probably get properly battered. Our goalkeeper Eggert Björgvinsson really did his best between the sticks and kept us in the game for a long time, but in the 65th minute he finally gave in as Tony Reilly headed the ball in after a well placed corner. And just four minutes later the scoreline was sealed - a great cross came in from the right and Adam Brady banged the ball into an empty net. Not the best debut for me, but I didn't really expect anything else facing a far superior side.

Four days later we came up against Luxembourg at the Laugardsvöllur. A couple of players made their debuts on that day, most notably Eiríkur Ari Geirsson, a 17-year-old striker playing for Liverpool. What is he actually doing there, I have no idea, but still I decided to give him a chance. And he really intended to pay off - incredibly active and dangerous from the start, in the 36th minute he got his first ever international goal, rebounding his own shot that was saved by the visitors' goalkeeper. The second half was more of us rather easily controlling the game and creating chances from time to time. In the 75th minute a substitute right winger Arnar Már Daviðsson aimed a cross at the near post and Birkir Petúrsson (remember IFK Göteborg?) made it 2:0 with an easy shot. It was also Petúrsson who sealed the final scoreline six minutes later, rebounding his own shot similarly to the way Geirsson did it. Job done, move on.