withnail316 Posted March 28, 2017 Author Share Posted March 28, 2017 2 minutes ago, BoxToBox said: He's definitely an upgrade, better in most of the key areas. How's your depth at striker, could you keep them both? Not really, as I have these three - ...and I don't like to have more than four 'first team' strikers, so it's one or the other, sadly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 Hmm, I'd probably go with the new guy then, if I could sell Masek for notably more than his value. His utility as a battering ran is even covered by Markkula and Onuh. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted March 28, 2017 Author Share Posted March 28, 2017 5 minutes ago, BoxToBox said: Hmm, I'd probably go with the new guy then, if I could sell Masek for notably more than his value. His utility as a battering ran is even covered by Markkula and Onuh. Considering I signed him for €650,000, I'd be delighted if I get his value price, tbh! I have just made an offer for the Argentine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted March 28, 2017 Author Share Posted March 28, 2017 Fee agreed for exactly €11m for the Argentine, and an offer for Masek at just over his value (€17m.) Now just got to hope both deals can be agreed. Cheers for your input, @BoxToBox! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 Excellent! Glad to help! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted March 28, 2017 Author Share Posted March 28, 2017 Deals done... The €17.5m I paid Frankfurt for Aleksandar Hauk clearly burned a hole in their pocket, as they've given me €17m back to get Masek. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deisler26 Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 He's more suited to a DLF role IMO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted March 28, 2017 Author Share Posted March 28, 2017 49 minutes ago, Deisler26 said: He's more suited to a DLF role IMO. My system doesn't really get the best out of a DLF, my wingers stay wide and get loads of crosses in, so I like my strikers to play as advanced as possible. I suspect he'll start as an AF, but we shall see when the season starts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted March 29, 2017 Author Share Posted March 29, 2017 FC Utrecht Season preview 2024/25 Media expectation: 1stBoard expectation: win the title Transfer budget (remaining): €47.25m Wage budget: €750,000p/w (€215,000p/w under budget) Here we are then, nearly a the start of another campaign, with very similar expectations to last year. In European terms were expected to get through the group stage, but the board expect us to win everything else. They have spent around €10m expanding the stadium to full capacity and upgrading our training facilities, and they've also invested a little more in both youth coaching and youth recruitment, so they're certainly backing me. However, the financial situation at the club is simply ridiculous. We started the summer with an insane amount of money, and despite me breaking our transfer record twice, we actually have even more money than the day we won the Champions League. We've been pretty busy in the market then, and with the best part of two months to go before the window shuts, I may not be done just yet. I shall start with the players to leave the club. The first out the door was left winger Daniel Mirco. We signed him on a free from Melbourne Victory in 2020, and he had four excellent seasons with us. However, I had promised Remco de Laat he would get more game time this season, which meant Mirco's time was up. I was able to make an outrageous profit on the Australian though, who moved to AC Milan for a club-record €20m. Thom Haye was another important first teamer shown the door, he joined Rennes in France for €11m, but I would have kept him around had Ruud van den Dungen spoke up about a "fresh challenge" a mere week earlier. Despite my frustration, van den Dungen got his wish, joining Racing in Spain for €10.75m. Full back Nick van der Pol joined Austria Wien for €4.9m, and Jack Gaughan went back to England to join boyhood heroes Blackpool for €2.6m. The last big deal (so far at least) wasn't a popular one with the fans at all - but Jiri Masek leaves with my best wishes. He joins Frankfurt for €17m, while fellow striker Junior returns back to Brazil to join Atletico Mineiro on loan, who will pay €200,000 a month for the pleasure. We've also loaned out five exciting youngsters to fellow Eredivise clubs, most notably Agustin Rudler and Jose Alexandre to Vitesse and Heerenveen respectively. In case you aren't keeping count, that's over €65m brought into the club this window. Preposterous. In terms of players in, so far we have spent around €36m, although I'm pretty sure I'll end up spending some more if the right opportunity presents itself. The fans were elated with the Aleksandar Hauk deal for a club-record €17.5m from Frankfurt, and I'm convinced they'll come around to Nicolas Saldana replacing Masek for €11m. Also arriving for a decent fee was Ecuadorian midfielder Fausto Arcos for €7.5m from Hajduk Split, while Danny Bernhardt arrived on a Bosman. I also brought defender Marco Pillola back to the club on loan from Juventus, which will allow Bernhardt a season to develop with our reserve and youth teams, while we also picked up Croatian youngster Ivicia Hamidovic for €625,000 from RNK Split. On with some friendlies, although not many as the squad is pretty worn out from international football this summer - indeed, some of the players won't get any kind of break at all... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Arcos looks a brilliant deal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted March 29, 2017 Author Share Posted March 29, 2017 8 hours ago, BoxToBox said: Arcos looks a brilliant deal. He does look useful. Nearly missed out on him too as he had been talking to Club America for a couple of days when we put in an offer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted March 29, 2017 Author Share Posted March 29, 2017 It's amazing how quickly I can go from "only one club could tempt me to move" to thinking about quitting. I'll sleep on it so I don't rush into anything, but I'm pondering moving on somewhere that doesn't have such an insane amount of money in the bank. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deisler26 Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 7 hours ago, withnail316 said: It's amazing how quickly I can go from "only one club could tempt me to move" to thinking about quitting. I'll sleep on it so I don't rush into anything, but I'm pondering moving on somewhere that doesn't have such an insane amount of money in the bank. Never a bad thing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted March 30, 2017 Author Share Posted March 30, 2017 Still not come to a decision, so I shall plod along. I have seen though that the veteran manager of Örebro is contemplating retirement at the end of the season. If he does go and the job comes up, I would be very tempted to return "home", especially as the squad needs a complete overhaul... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjoe Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 28 minutes ago, withnail316 said: Still not come to a decision, so I shall plod along. I have seen though that the veteran manager of Örebro is contemplating retirement at the end of the season. If he does go and the job comes up, I would be very tempted to return "home", especially as the squad needs a complete overhaul... This could be interesting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted March 30, 2017 Author Share Posted March 30, 2017 August Not the strongest start to the new season, although we are still unbeaten and we have picked up a couple of extra trophies. I'm still leaning towards walking away from Utrecht, though. We have a strong squad and a good group of youngsters, the stadium is about to be fully expanded, we have top youth and training facilities, and yet there's still €82m in the bank! I think my work here is done.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted March 30, 2017 Author Share Posted March 30, 2017 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 End of an era. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted March 30, 2017 Author Share Posted March 30, 2017 27 minutes ago, BoxToBox said: End of an era. It's an excellent job for somebody. Now for a couple of months on the beach and we'll see what happens... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 I've a strange sense of de ja vu. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted March 31, 2017 Author Share Posted March 31, 2017 1 hour ago, Keano16 said: I've a strange sense of de ja vu. Yeah, about that... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted March 31, 2017 Author Share Posted March 31, 2017 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted March 31, 2017 Author Share Posted March 31, 2017 Örebro SK Well at least I don't need to write a detailed club report here, eh? A few eyebrows have been raised at my return to Sweden, but it just feels like the right move for me. I'll have to return to hunting for bargains again, rather than spending tens of millions on individual players. The club have done OK in my absence, winning three league titles since I left in 2018, but there has been no silverware at all in the last couple of years. We do have Europa League football to look forward to, albeit we'll have three qualifying rounds to get through. The club still plays its football at the rented Behrn Arena, although that has now been expanded to an 18,000 capacity, with 12,150 seats. Attendances have certainly risen since I left, up from an average of 11,600 when I left to 17,391 this season in the league, which is the third highest in the division. The stadium is now expanded to its full capacity, but long term my aim is for the club to be able to afford to build a new ground. The squad here looks pretty decent, but what the report doesn't say is that the best players here are in on loan, with their contract expiring in a couple of weeks. I've got lots of work ahead of me if I'm to build the kind of squad that can compete, but I have four months before the league campaign gets under way. Better get cracking, then... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Must say I'm a bit baffled by your moves here. Not feeling Utrecht, move to Denmark, not feeling Denmark, roll back in time to Utrecht, win everything with Utrecht, not feeling Utrecht, move to Sweden... which is kind of almost the same as Denmark? Eh? I guess going back to an old club is different and special though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted March 31, 2017 Author Share Posted March 31, 2017 4 minutes ago, noikeee said: Must say I'm a bit baffled by your moves here. Not feeling Utrecht, move to Denmark, not feeling Denmark, roll back in time to Utrecht, win everything with Utrecht, not feeling Utrecht, move to Sweden... which is kind of almost the same as Denmark? Eh? I guess going back to an old club is different and special though. I agree it could look baffling! My problem in Denmark was I expected a struggle, yet it never happened. I became disillusioned after winning things too quickly, and so I went back to Utrecht as a 'reset' point I guess. When I left the second time I had so much money I didn't know what to do with it. My squad was terrific, we had top facilities, an enormous stadium etc etc. My options were to move on to a 'big' league, which would also mean having big money, or going back to a smaller league and having to build again. I was offered jobs from big Norwegian clubs while I was on holiday (Rosenborg and Vålerenga) but when I got the notification that I could go back 'home' the temptation was too great. Definitely a step back, but a double Champions League winning manager returning to his home town club with the intention of winning more European silverware with them? I think there's merit in that... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Makes sense to me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Fairytale stuff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted April 1, 2017 Author Share Posted April 1, 2017 Örebro SK It is a little too early for me to write my full season preview (it's still in the early weeks of January, and we don't play any competitive football until the second week of March) but I've had such a busy few weeks in the transfer market that I thought I would write an initial update now. The board offered a very reasonable budget of €4m for me to spend this season, which is probably a little too much considering there is only €5m in the bank, but it has certainly given me the opportunity to rebuild the squad. I've spent around €3m so far, and brought around €800,000 back into the club with sales. The managers who replaced me seemed to be less concerned about signing homegrown players than I had been in my first spell, so I will need to address that over time. (Just to remind you, I need to have nine homegrown players in the match day squad for every league game, and so I need to think about my recruitment carefully.) The big shortages in quality upon my arrival were in goal and up front. Both positions were filled with loaned Argentines last season, but both returned to their parent clubs within a few days of my arrival. One of my first signings was BK Häcken's Swedish U21 international goalkeeper Jonathan Olsson for €300,000, who will fight for the number 1 jersey with Sebastian Nidergassel, who comes in for €150,000 from Austria Wien. Both look to be good keepers, and I suspect I'll have difficulty keeping them both happy, but it's a decent problem to have. I've signed three strikers this window too, although I expect I'll only be using one at a time. Two arrive for fees, with Finn Cosimo Lentini costing €220,000 from Viking in Norway, and Dutchman Nayif Varol arriving for €85,000 from FC Twente. However, the fans are most excited about the return of Belarussian international Vladimir Nevinskiy. I had signed him in my first spell as an 18 year old for €500,000, although I left before I could integrate him into the team. He scored 100 goals in 176 games before leaving for Anderlecht for €1.4m 18 months ago. However, that move didn't work out, and inexplicably he was available for free. He also became homegrown in his first spell, which potentially solves a big problem for us. I'm planning on using a variation of 4-3-2-1 this season, and as I haven't found a great deal of quality in homegrown number 10s, I'll probably be using a defensive midfielder instead. I've signed two who can occupy that role: Boris Pejic comes in for €300,000 from RNK Split, and my biggest transfer fee of the window so far, €800,000, was spent on Daniel Mouras from champions Göteborg. Other defensive cover arrived in the shape of Icelandic right back Magnus Guðnason, who had a buy-out clause of €170,000 in his Lyn contract, Thomas Begstrand arrived for €250,000 from Vålerenga, and Giorgio Fanelli arrived on a two-year loan from Fiorentina. In more advanced roles, I've also made a few additions. Winger Jakob Mustapha arrived for €300,000, attacking midfielder Johan Gustafsson came in for €350,000, and youngster Jari Henriksson was a snip at €75,000. As for players out, only two are especially noteworthy. Serbian full back Drago Peric joins RKC for €675,000, and average defender Carl Franzen joins Elfsborg for €90,000. With three months to go before the window shuts, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm still fairly active in the window in the coming weeks, but I'm convinced we're now a stronger side than when I took over. I certainly expect us to be in the mix at the top end of the table this year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjoe Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 Woo! Good to have you back in Sweden! Will be fun to see you build them up once again. Sound transfers it seems. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted April 2, 2017 Author Share Posted April 2, 2017 17 hours ago, Benjoe said: Woo! Good to have you back in Sweden! Will be fun to see you build them up once again. Sound transfers it seems. Cheers, I think we've done some good business. Now just looking forward to getting some time to play in - hopefully tonight! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted April 2, 2017 Author Share Posted April 2, 2017 Örebro SK Season preview - 2025 Media expectation: 2nd (of 16) Board expectation: challenge for the title Transfer budget (remaining): €1.8m Wage budget: €90,000p/w (€20,000p/w under budget) Just about ready to get underway in my first season back in Sweden, and it's been a very busy winter so far as you can see above. Short-term I'm anticipating a little bit of financial strife this season as I have used instalments to pay for almost every transfer fee in this window, and as March starts, we only have around €1m in the bank. Not ideal, but I would expect to see some more movement in the transfer market when August arrives, which I hope should solve any issues, while there is also the chance for us to make a bit of money thanks to our involvement in the Europa League. It does mean though that I won't be asking for the club to increase our youth coaching this year - as much as it pains me. I have made three more additions to the squad, spending another €650,000 in the process, and so I'm now really quite happy with the playing squad for this year. Most of that money was spent on midfielder Rasmus Lindgren, who cost us €500,000 from Kalmar FF. We've also signed 18 year old Icelandic defender Hafliði Gunnarsson for €150,000 from Ranheim, who I'm immediately looking to loan out, while Argentine Oscar La Paglia joins on loan from Lanus for the year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted April 2, 2017 Author Share Posted April 2, 2017 One more thing, here are our best youth prospects... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 Bloody hell, that's a lot of players. I reckon you're probably having it slightly easier now that you're a Champions League winning manager, it might be Orebro but players are queueing to come play for you! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted April 3, 2017 Author Share Posted April 3, 2017 1 hour ago, noikeee said: Bloody hell, that's a lot of players. I reckon you're probably having it slightly easier now that you're a Champions League winning manager, it might be Orebro but players are queueing to come play for you! It is a lot, but it was definitely needed. It helps that I came in in mid November, so I have had lots of time to make signings and get players bedded in, rather than making a heap of signings in a few weeks, so hopefully we can hit the ground running. You may be right about my rep helping, but I'm making most of my signings either from fellow Swedish clubs (and we have a great reputation domestically) or from small leagues, so I reckon it will only be a minor boost. Hope it helps long term though... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted April 3, 2017 Author Share Posted April 3, 2017 15 hours ago, withnail316 said: Örebro SK Season preview - 2025 Media expectation: 2nd (of 16) Board expectation: challenge for the title Transfer budget (remaining): €1.8m Wage budget: €90,000p/w (€20,000p/w under budget) Just about ready to get underway in my first season back in Sweden, and it's been a very busy winter so far as you can see above. Short-term I'm anticipating a little bit of financial strife this season as I have used instalments to pay for almost every transfer fee in this window, and as March starts, we only have around €1m in the bank. Not ideal, but I would expect to see some more movement in the transfer market when August arrives, which I hope should solve any issues, while there is also the chance for us to make a bit of money thanks to our involvement in the Europa League. It does mean though that I won't be asking for the club to increase our youth coaching this year - as much as it pains me. I have made three more additions to the squad, spending another €650,000 in the process, and so I'm now really quite happy with the playing squad for this year. Most of that money was spent on midfielder Rasmus Lindgren, who cost us €500,000 from Kalmar FF. We've also signed 18 year old Icelandic defender Hafliði Gunnarsson for €150,000 from Ranheim, who I'm immediately looking to loan out, while Argentine Oscar La Paglia joins on loan from Lanus for the year. Two days before the league season starts, Oscar La Paglia has had to go back to his parent club. A knock in training has him sidelined for six months... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted April 3, 2017 Author Share Posted April 3, 2017 March And we're underway! The month has been OK for us, with the first two cup games enough to secure our place in the quarter final, and although we lost the third game quite heavily, it was a very experimental starting XI. I'm really pleased with the comfortable win in the first league game in front of a near-capacity crowd, but the injury to La Paglia has left us a bit short in the heart of defence. Hopefully my confidence in our youngsters isn't misplaced. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted April 3, 2017 Author Share Posted April 3, 2017 The new signings keep coming: Arrives on a free after being released by DC United, and immediately becomes our best defender. His age means he can become homegrown, too. Perfect. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted April 4, 2017 Author Share Posted April 4, 2017 April A really busy April has taught me a few lessons about the squad. I'm positive we have a pretty decent first XI, but while I have the depth to cope with two or three injuries, I can't just rotate 10 players ahead of a huge game and expect to get the result anyway, which is how I ideally like to build my teams. Still, most of our second string did well to make the semi final of the cup, and although we lost on penalties, the board aren't bothered about the competition either way. Six games to come in May, before we hit June and the month-long mid-season break. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 Good start to your Swedish return. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deisler26 Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 Welcome back to Sweden, indeed! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted April 4, 2017 Author Share Posted April 4, 2017 10 hours ago, deltablue said: Good start to your Swedish return. 8 hours ago, Deisler26 said: Welcome back to Sweden, indeed! Cheers, no complaints from me! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted April 4, 2017 Author Share Posted April 4, 2017 Very puzzled. The Dutch striker Nayif Varol, who I signed from FC Twente for €85,000 this winter has just kicked off about a lack of playing time. He's been a bit rubbish, but I guessed he was struggling in a new environment, so I've been careful with how often he has played. Well that wasn't good enough for Nayif, he demanded a transfer, so I stuck him on the market for his buy-out clause of €3m, and a 50% sell on, thinking "nobody will pay that for a striker who is badly out form and only just arrived in Sweden." Well.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted April 4, 2017 Author Share Posted April 4, 2017 Another addition on a free, this time after release by Hansa Rostock: However, for some reason he isn't due to become a homegrown player, despite him being under the age of 19. Frustrating, but still a quality addition. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted April 5, 2017 Author Share Posted April 5, 2017 May As we hit the June break, things are looking excellent for us in the league. Unlike my first spell, we're a pretty defensive side primarily, although we've picked up a few thumping wins with this system. The sale of Nayif Verol, although it is for a club-record fee, leaves us a little light up top, and as I only have two recognised first team strikers (with a couple of youngsters to back them up) I won't be changing system to play two up front any time soon. However, I'm not planning on spending much of that €3m on transfers. Instead, I shall have a look through the released lists over the June break and see if I can find one or two to bring in on a free to bolster the squad ready for the start of our European games in July. I might just ask the board to spend a little on our facilities, too. Other news I'm not very good at keeping people up to date with what is happening around Europe in my threads, but we have a set break for the summer when all the other leagues shut down, so I'm going to try and improve on that in future. FC Utrecht secured another Eredivisie title, and they were a penalty shoot-out away from a domestic double, but Excelsior lifted the Cup. They had a very disappointing European campaign though, finishing 3rd in their CL group, and losing to Liverpool in the round of 32 of the EL. Manchester City beat Barcelona in the Champions League final to win it for a second time, and Ajax beat Porto in the EL final. Closer to home, there was a shock in the Swedish Cup final, as Helsingborg lost to Örgryte of the second tier after extra time. And remember the American striker Alan Ramirez I tried to sign for Utrecht? He signed for Bayern for €38.5m, and won the European Golden Boot in his first season. Also, since this save began we've had three World Cups. Germany won it in 2014, and England have won the next two. The next one is next summer, and will be held in Mexico. England have also won a European Championship, in 2016, with Spain and Belgium winning the next two. Brazil (2) Uruguay and Argentina have won the Copas. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Already looking in control of the domestic scene, impressive! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 This is looking pretty easy... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted April 5, 2017 Author Share Posted April 5, 2017 14 minutes ago, noikeee said: This is looking pretty easy... The league isn't in a great place admittedly, but I've come back to the club with European trophies the end target. That won't be easy at all, especially as I have to build my squad with homegrown players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted April 6, 2017 Author Share Posted April 6, 2017 I love my scouts, another Bosman signing: However, like Max Buttner before him, he won't become homegrown despite being the right age. Not really sure why... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted April 6, 2017 Author Share Posted April 6, 2017 The league's reputation has taken a battering over the last few years: It'll be a big job lifting that up to something more respectable Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 3 hours ago, withnail316 said: However, like Max Buttner before him, he won't become homegrown despite being the right age. Not really sure why... Is it because he'd turn 22 in the middle of your season? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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