[FM21] A right Royal mess. Scandinavian Journeyman save starting in Faroe Islands. Very biased towards Youth Development. Possibly 100% #YouthOnly

[Jimbokav1971]

There might be a slight twist here..... 

My old club AC Oulu have appointed Tom Kuusisto as Manager. He is a very good appointment because he was the Manager at our Finnish rivals HJK and you might remember that he had taken them to the Semi-Finals of the Euro Conference where they were drawn to play Bayer Leverkusen. 

Well they beat Leverkusen before Kuusisto left and manager-less HJK will now face Leicester in the Euro Conference Final. 

I wonder could I take the job, manage them in the Final and then immediately resign again? 

If their Manager can join AC Oulu, surely I can join HJK? 

Kuusisto has gone into AC Oulu and straight away dumped HJK out of the Finnish Cup. It leaves me with 2 league games and 1 European Final to play and then I will be resigning again. 

I have no idea what the squad is like, but I would hazard a guess that they will be stronger than HJK. 

We won our 2 league games under my tenure, but I'm afraid I couldn't inspire the lads to a European win. 

I'm unemployed again.  I know it was a bit cheeky to do this, but I just couldn't resist the chance at a European trophy. 

Available jobs. The one that jumps out at me here is Djurgårdens IF. The Manager hasn't been sacked yet, but they have only won twice in 12 games and I know they have good facilities. 

[Jimbokav1971]

40 minutes ago, rrozek93 said:

Are you aiming for top divisions ? or are looking to drop down to 2nd or 3rd to build the club from ground up? 

 

It honestly depends on the club. I'm not sure at the moment. 

[turnip]

I think the shortest I've ever been at a club is 7 days, back in FM08. You must have been close to that!

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, turnip said:

I think the shortest I've ever been at a club is 7 days, back in FM08. You must have been close to that!

I'm not completely sure how long I was there exactly, but it was between 7 and 9 days. (I think we will call that 8 days). 

Jun 2051. 

Available jobs. The job that is catching my eye is Halmstads BK of the Swedish 2nd tier, but just off the bottom of the screen is Swedish top tier side Djurgårdens IF. 

I think I'm leaning towards Halmstads BK because it gives me more time to develop the club rather than managing a big club again immediately. 

Halmstads BK are looking for a finish in the Playoffs, but I'm not sure how realistic that is. 

Actually, although they are in 8th, they are only 6 points off 1st. The other thing to consider is that Jimbo Jr might be capable of playing in the Superettan, but he definitely isn't good enough to play in the Allsvenskan.

Like I sad, the facilities are decent. 

[DaneBramage]

2 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I know it was a bit cheeky to do this, but I just couldn't resist the chance at a European trophy. 

Ha, definitely worth a cheeky punt. Would have made the old manager look like a dope for jumping ship.

48 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

but just off the bottom of the screen is Swedish top tier side Djurgårdens IF. 

This gets my vote. Teddy Sheringham's old club, and I have one of their shirts from the mid-2000s somewhere. 

[Jimbokav1971]

 

I arrive and am immediately shown the Youth Intake preview. That's a pretty auspicious start. 

CA. There are 2x 4.0 CA players at the club. 

PA. There are 4x 5.0 PA players at the club. 

Assets. 

Nationalities. Brilliantly, we have only Scandinavians at the club with 0 exceptions. 

Finances. We have £9.3M in the bank and a transfer budget of £10.5M

Starting League table. We're 7th and we need to finish in the top 3 so we have 5 points to make up. 

[Jimbokav1971]

4 minutes ago, DaneBramage said:

Ha, definitely worth a cheeky punt. Would have made the old manager look like a dope for jumping ship.

This gets my vote. Teddy Sheringham's old club, and I have one of their shirts from the mid-2000s somewhere. 

I was up for Djurgårdens IF, but opted for the lower league option in the end. 

[Sonic Youth]

Well that developed in an interesting fashion! Cup and European adventures in a short spell (don’t think I’ve ever done that) and now in Sweden.

Isn’t Halmstads where Kim Kallstram started his career and he was available for cheap in 01/02 (or was that 99/00?)

[Jimbokav1971]

9 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Well that developed in an interesting fashion! Cup and European adventures in a short spell (don’t think I’ve ever done that) and now in Sweden.

Isn’t Halmstads where Kim Kallstram started his career and he was available for cheap in 01/02 (or was that 99/00?)

Wiki says that Kallstrom started at BK Häcken before moving onto Djurgårdens IF and then he finished his career at Djurgårdens IF. 

Fredrik Ljungberg on the other hand came from here and Roy Hodgson's 1st managerial job was here too. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul 2051. 

Superettan. We've started pretty well with 3 wins from 3, 11 goals scored and 0 conceded. We're up to 4th and 1 point behind 3rd and 3 points 1st. 

Transfers. 

(39g) Nath O'Kav (ENG) was obviously my 1st signing and despite me forgetting to set him as set-piece taker, he still managed to get the MOM on his debut against Jönköpings. I really can't explain why he performs at such levels. My tactic must just suit the full backs and the left-sided one over the right. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2051. 

Superettan. We're 8-0-0 at the new club and are up to 2nd in the league, just 1 point behind Mjällby AIF. There are 7 league games remaining, (which will take us up to 30 league games), and I think that's the end of the season if we finish in the top 2. 

Svenska Cuppen.

Transfers. 

Adrian Sollien (NOR) was signed by the DoF and I just let him do it as we are short both up front and on the right and he can cover both.

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2051. 

Superettan. We're no longer unbeaten here, but on the other hand we are now top of the table as the other clubs seem to be faltering. 

Youth Intake. There are 17 players in this intake because (51b) Carl-Johan Ramberg came through via Norrby IF who must be an affiliate of ours...... except they aren't..... which means that he must have been poached by us before my arrival. 

[Sonic Youth]

3 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Wiki says that Kallstrom started at BK Häcken before moving onto Djurgårdens IF and then he finished his career at Djurgårdens IF. 

Fredrik Ljungberg on the other hand came from here and Roy Hodgson's 1st managerial job was here too. 

So after my nostalgia dive, I found the player I used to get from Halmstad: Stefan Selakovic, though he never really performed as stellar as others recommended him. I preferred Mikael Dorsin who ironically played with Djurgarden. Both 01/02.

[Jimbokav1971]

20 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

So after my nostalgia dive, I found the player I used to get from Halmstad: Stefan Selakovic, though he never really performed as stellar as others recommended him. I preferred Mikael Dorsin who ironically played with Djurgarden. Both 01/02.

Stefan Selakovic is on the ICON list here, (although I have never heard of him), but Mikael Dorsin is nowhere to be seen. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2051. 

Superettan. We've secured a place in the Playoffs at least, but I am hoping for auto-promotion if we miss out on the title. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2051. 

Superettan. We won our game and while it was enough to secure promotion, it wasn't enough to win us the title. 

Form since I took over. 12 wins and 2 draws from 15 games is pretty decent, but we still fell 1 point short of the title. 

Final Superettan Table. 

Squad by appearances. 

Transfers.

Finances. 

Facilities. 

Tracker. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2051. 

Staff. I'm trying to rebuild the squad ready for our 1st season back in the top tier Allsvenskan, but the scouting reports were coming through really slowly and I couldn't work out what the problem was..... until I remembered that I have recently moved clubs and not looked at the staff yet....... That's right. Just 1 scout and loads of other staff missing too. 

On the plus side, we can scout the whole World now, (which shouldn't make too much difference to us as I have a self-imposed rule where I can only sign Scandinavian players in this save. 

Reputation. It says that we are still in the Superettan, (2nd tier), but that's only because we haven't ticked over to the next season yet. We all look much of a muchness with the exception of the mighty Goteborg who sit atop the pile. 

6,472 Goteborg. 
6,333 Norrköping.
5,137 Halmstads BK.

Pay rises. OMG. I absolutely hate this page!  

Finances. We had a transfer kitty of £10.5M, but only about £7.5M in the bank and I don't like that. I don't plan on sending us into the red and I would also prefer to improve our own Facilities. I don't mind spending some money, but I'm not going to go big at this stage. All we have to do is avoid relegation this season. 

Facilities. I think we upgraded both Youth and Training Facilities last season, (which are relatively expensive), so I have opted for the cheaper options this time. 

Transfers. 

As we are going to be playing at a higher level this season, I thought it was sensible to strength out backline 1st. Abdullahi 5'11" and Väisänen (FIN) 6'4" will provide some depth in that area and Nicolai Juel (DEN), (in on loan), looks like being our starting right back at the moment. I haven't been too frivolous with our transfer kitty yet, but if our scouts can find some decent youngsters then I might splash some cash. The real problem at the moment is that I don't know if we're going to be good enough to avoid relegation, but expect that I need to sign at least 2 new strikers if we are going to have any chance of being competitive. No signings imminent though. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apologies for being absent for a while. Just wasn't feeling the save after the move to Sweden. I think I'm back in the groove now though so expect regular updates.

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan, Feb & Mar 2052. 

Overall. It almost feels like a new save after a little break and I must admit that despite being promoted last season, I did so with someone else's squad, so I don't really know the squad at all and that's a bit of a barrier to the relaxed way that I like to play. I need to get to know the squad and quickly. 

Svenska Cupen. I'm not really sure about the importance of this competition, but in my head I am under-valuing it because despite the fact that it's the main Swedish Cup, it looks like the Icelandic League Cup because of the league style format. 

At the very least this looks like progress, but I'm not completely sure that it is. 

Transfers. When I started again it was clear that I had to make the squad my own before anything else and in order to do that I had to bring in new players. The only problem with that is that I was really struggling to bring in players of the required quality. I really thought that better players would be available in Sweden, but maybe we need to boost our reputation some more before than happens. 

Stahre might only be 17 yo, but I really like the look of him. He's still pretty raw, but I think there is a good player in there waiting to be developed. 

Mikkola (NOR) is a playmaker and that's exactly what we needed. £1M is more than I wanted to pay but I think it will prove money well spent. 

Ahmetovic (BIH) is all about his 5.0 PA. It's not worth showing you what he looks like now because he's rubbish, but I'm hoping that £500k for an 18 year old might seem like better value in the future than it does right now. 

Borgar Haukvik (NOR) was a bargain at £250k. I'm hoping that we will be able to sell him after 1 season for a tidy profit. 

Pål Chaudhry (NOR) was signed mainly as cover for Jimbo Jr who seems to be collecting injuries more regularly and who I don't think is up to this level of football. My thinking is that I will still start Jimbo Jr, but I'm hoping that the Ass Man will drag him off at HT and possibly replace him with Pål. 

Filip Nilsson was signed on the basis of a 5.0 PA scout report and a bargain basement price. The only problem is that he is already 25 years old and is never going to reach his potential, which of course is now not 5.0. Big mistake. I won't bother to show him to you because it's just not worth it. 

Gustafsson 6'3" was signed because we were short up front, but we subsequently signed better players so he went out on loan. I still think he has something to offer though. 

Huhtamäki (FIN) is a player that I really liked. He had 5.0 PA when I signed him and everything looked great. It was only after he joined that his PA dropped to 4.5 and I noticed his "plays with back to goal" PPM. I still like the look of him, but he's not a DLP and this PPM is really a problem. I need to try and work out what I'm going to do with him. 

(49l) Juha-Pekka Lindberg * obviously came through the Academy at AC Oulu and I'm thinking that he might be a big signing. He's already valued at £150k more than we bought for him for and I expect that if I can get him scoring then it will rise considerably more. The key is to get him scoring of course. 

Emil Ståhl was purchased by Malmo 12 months ago for £1M more than we paid for him so I'm pretty sure that we've got a bargain. 

Vlad Gobeljic (BIH) was signed because our 1st choice GK is a Faroese International and I have loaned out our 2nd choice GK, safe in the knowledge that our 3rd choice GK (51a) Kabangu (COD) would enjoy the opportunity of stepping up. Unfortunately (51a) Kabangu (COD) has already been called up for SWE U19's and I think it's likely that he might also be away on International duty. As a result I needed someone to come in for when the others are on International duty. 

Magnus Lööf came in to provide some more depth on the right flank. 

[Jimbokav1971]

(30g) Nath O'Kav (ENG). End of Season 13. Jan 2052. 

On intake day. 

End of Season 1. Just the 2 appearances at the end of the 1st part-season. 

End of Season 2. He was our 1st choice left back all season and I even let him take penalties, (well penalty singular). He scored his 1st goal and was also capped by ENG U20's. That sounds really impressive, but obviously ENG isn't an active league so it's a less impressive accomplishment than it might have been. He's also learned the "gets forward wherever possible PPM" which I think is vital for my full-backs. 

End of Season 3. A much better season this year from Jr, who collected his 1st 2 MOM awards and was also names in the Veikkausliiga team of the month on 2 occasions. 

End of Season 4. His actual performances on the pitch were better this season, but he missed 5 from 9 penalties in all competitions, (which is awful), and many of these cost us points in close games. His season was disrupted by the Euro U19 Championships, (as he played in all games as England somehow ran out winners!!!)  suspensions and  

End of Season 5. 

End of Season 6. You might notice that Jr only played 17(1) of 27 league games and he also only played 3 of 9 Cup games. He was injured for a month in Feb, (which explains missed Cup games), and the reason he missed the other league games was because he played in 12 European games, (so wouldn't have played in the league games either side). I have a choice as to whether I play him in European or league games, (he can't play both), and for the last 2 seasons I chose to play him in Europe over the league. It should also be mentioned that he collected 11 yellows and 1 red card this season, (his 1st career red).

End of Season 7. Jr started the season really well and had scored 1 goal and created 6 assists after only 16 games. Unfortunately that was his season over and he was unable to add to his tally. 

End of Season 8. Jr made 30(2) appearances, and was pretty decent if you ignore the 2 games we played Euro League qualifying. He was 100% from the spot, (but only took 1 surprisingly), and only created 1 assist, (which is also surprising). His CA and PA are both 2.0 and I think he's starting to really impact negatively on performances. He's not great going forward, (I often compare him to the opposite full-back when watching highlights), but it's defensively where he seems to most be a liability. I'm going to persist with playing him though, however he will play more European and Cup games and less league games as we chase our 1st title. I'm thinking of a few tweaks to try and encourage some more penalties this season. It should be mentioned that our 1st choice GK (42c) Tomi Lehtinen 5'11" scored 2 penalties this season, (when Jr wasn't on the pitch), but that's still a very low penalty count. @Derekawill notice that his Det has popped back to 10 and so he has moved from Low Self Belief back to Balanced. I think that's all that can be done for him but you never know. 

End of Season 9. I forgot to do this last season in the aftermath of Jr winning the Player of the Year award and my excitement and the analysis that followed. 

End of Season 10. Nowhere near as good as last season, but I think that was largely down to injuries that kept him out and stopped him performing consistently at peak fitness. 

End of Season 11. A really good season for Jr that saw him score 6 goals and create a whopping 16 assists from full-back. Despite the fact that he is significantly the worst player in the squad, we seem to play better when he is in the side. (Which is mad). I think giving him the set-piece duties frees up other players to do things that he isn't as good at, (such as 1 of 2 who defend), or actually putting the ball in the net.

End of Season 12. It was a decent season for Jr, but way down on last season. he scored 8 goals, but only 5 of 12 penalties, (missing 7). On the plus side, he scored 3 goals from open play this season which is a record for him in a season. His assist count was also significantly down on last season's 16. 

End of Season 13. Jr had a poor season last year and I'm not sure that he has what it takes to play in a successful team at this level. I've not given up on him yet, but he needs to produce this year. 

Injuries. 

Milestones.

All Time progress.

Career stats. 

League games played. 219(7)
Cup games played. 62(1)
Continental games played. 58(1)
Total games played. 334(7)
Goals scored. 42
Assists created. 68
Yellow cards. 75
Red cards. 1

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2052. 

The squad selection for the 1st league game of the season highlighted a problem that I hadn't previously considered. We need 9 of the 18 in the match squad to be HG at a Swedish club and I had forgotten about this and was 4 players short for my 1st squad selection. I've bought too many non Swedish players and I can't select them all at the same time. Our 1st choice GK is Faroese, Jr is English/Finnish, we've got 2 Norwegian centre-backs and a Danish right back. That's 5 of 9 FGN produced players and I've only looked at starting defenders and GK. I can muddle through this season I think, but I really need to flog some of these foreigners and replace them with some Swedes.

Allsvenskan. We Were astonishingly top of the table after 4 games and I was starting to think that it was ridiculous, but 2 losses in the last 2 games sobered me up a little and things are more realistic now. I should add that we have had 4 red cards in the 6 games this month, so the fact that we still performed reasonably is even more significant.

[Jtomsett11]

1 minute ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Apr 2052. 

The squad selection for the 1st league game of the season highlighted a problem that I hadn't previously considered. We need 9 of the 18 in the match squad to be HG at a Swedish club and I had forgotten about this and was 4 players short for my 1st squad selection. I've bought too many non Swedish players and I can't select them all at the same time. Our 1st choice GK is Faroese, Jr is English/Finnish, we've got 2 Norwegian centre-backs and a Danish right back. That's 5 of 9 FGN produced players and I've only looked at starting defenders and GK. I can muddle through this season I think, but I really need to flog some of these foreigners and replace them with some Swedes.

Allsvenskan. We Were astonishingly top of the table after 4 games and I was starting to think that it was ridiculous, but 2 losses in the last 2 games sobered me up a little and things are more realistic now. I should add that we have had 4 red cards in the 6 games this month, so the fact that we still performed reasonably is even more significant.

I was thinking as I read through your signings that you would have an issue with squad regulations! I had the same thing at Karlstad and never really managed it very well. The problem is a lot of the cheaper and better options are non swedes and I was always tempted late on in a transfer window. 

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2052.

Allsvenskan. We put an end to a run of 5 losses in a row and we're now comfortably mid-table, but I don't think a European spot is completely out of the question yet. 

[Jimbokav1971]

39 minutes ago, Jaketomsett said:

I was thinking as I read through your signings that you would have an issue with squad regulations! I had the same thing at Karlstad and never really managed it very well. The problem is a lot of the cheaper and better options are non swedes and I was always tempted late on in a transfer window. 

It's been a little while since I played last season, and I think I just forgot. 

It could have been a costly error, but I think we've got enough Swedes to cope and I will have to look at altering things next season. I think I got a bit lucky to be honest. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jun & Jul 2052. 

Allsvenskan. Are we finally starting to find a bit of form, (at least at home), or will our form continue to fluctuate. 

Right winger Jón Páll Bieltvedt (ISL) scored 4 goals this month, (including a hat-trick against Östersunds). His job is to create goals for others though and he's lacking in that area having only created 2 assists in 7 games this season. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2052. 

Allsvenskan. For the last 3 games of the month I have done away with the IR button and have instead played the games in full on extended detail. I have worked hard on opposite instructions in the wide areas and it seems to have paid dividends. 

Svenska Cupen.

Transfers. 

Love Bergström * was a player that I really liked, but £5M + 25% + a friendly was enough to get the deal done. In a stronger side I think he would be more effective, but he actually wasn't playing that well for us. 

The highest fee this club has ever received during the course of the save is £3.9M in 2049, so you can understand why £5M was hard to turn down.

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2052.

Allsvenskan. After 2 losses I opted to revert to the IR button, and my Ass Man rewarded my faith in him with a 2-0 win. 

Youth Intake day. Decent in terms of Nationalities, but lacking a little in terms of actual quality. 

[Sonic Youth]

Seasons going ok, neither here nor there. Consolidated.

That Youth Intake has a lot of unambitious personalities in it. Oliver and the Moran look interesting as well personality wise.

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2052. 

Allsvenskan. Our form has been inconsistent, but I can't complain because we are comfortably clear of relegation and certainly looking upwards rather than downwards. On the plus side, I feel engaged with the save again and know the squad much better than I did at the beginning of the season. 

Discipline. We're up to our old tricks from my Welsh save in FM20. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Sonic Youth said:

Seasons going ok, neither here nor there. Consolidated.

That Youth Intake has a lot of unambitious personalities in it. Oliver and the Moran look interesting as well personality wise.

Yeah. Very middle of the road but I should be happy with that. 

I wasn't impressed with the youth intake but my plan was initially just to get engaged with the save again, (done), and now it's just to blast through a couple of seasons and develop the club from within. I've made some signings that I hope we should be able to develop and from there we will just see how it goes. We need more though to start challenging for Europe and domestic titles. 

[profii]

I've just started a save in Iceland's first division so read through and subscribed to the thread. Was a bit worried about some of the youth intake posts in the Iceland feedback thread but it's manageable. 

 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

End of Season Summary. Nov 2052. 

Allsvenskan. In the rules it doesn't show how many European places we get here in Sweden, and when I look at historic league tables it also doesn't show that so at this stage I'm unsure as to how many teams play in Europe. The colouring suggests that there are 4 teams playing in Europe, and I think 3 of them also play in the Royal League, but again I'm not positive and need to check. 

Finances. We might have £6M in the bank, but when your transfer budget is bigger than your bank balance it suggests that all is not well with the finances at the club. The only reason we have £6M in the bank is because we generated £5M by the sale of teenager Love Bergström * to Ajax. I don't usually like selling youngsters, but I just think it had to be done because we need to re-invest the money in the squad and bring in a number of young players and hopefully sell them on in a few years. 

Facilities. We've lost a single level in both the Youth and Training Facilities, but earlier in the season we upgraded both the Youth Recruitment and Junior Coaching, (which puts 3 levels on each), so we are still making progress even if this was a blow. We only have £6M in the bank and I'm a little reluctant to spend cash on Youth and Training Facilities, (even though I really want to). I really need to get us into Europe and then use that money to boost the facilities. 

Squad by Appearances. Our GK played in all 34 competitive games this season, and you will see that Jimbo Jr played 27 of 34 games after hardly featuring at all last season. Unfortunately he didn't perform brilliantly though and is obviously holding us back a little though. He's my son though so I am obviously blind to his limitations and he will continue to be given preferential treatment for the time-being at least. 

It would seem that scoring goals was a problem as our top goal-scorer, (from 34 games remember), was (49l) Juha-Pekka Lindberg * with 12, but he only played 24 games so a record of a goal every 2nd game isn't appalling, (but it's also not good). Jimbo Jr was on penalties, but our GK scored the only 2 penalties we were awarded when Jimbo Jr wasn't on the pitch. 

Transfers. Interestingly, although we brought in £5.25M in player sales, we also spent the same amount on bringing new players in ourselves. 3 more arrived this month as I attempted to redress the balance of the squad which has been desperately short of Swedes after my early season deals. 

My plan is to start introducing Lassagård 6'5" * occasionally next season. He was scouted as a 5.0 PA player but only showing at 4.0 now, (but even 4.0 will be ok I think). We really need to make the most of developing our own players because at the moment we just can't afford to pay what other Swedish clubs are asking for the finished product. 

I know he's not Swedish. I know I know I know, but I promise you I tried and in the end just had to go back to AC Oulu for 1 of my old players (43a) Teppo (FIN) *. The only problem is that although I managed to persuade Ajax to give us £6.5M for him 7 years ago, he's never been exactly prolific. I need to try and change that. 

Joel Niklasson * was nicked and we had to pay compensation for him. The scout report suggested a 5.0 PA, but that's now been down-graded to 3.5  While Jimbo Jr is currently our 1st choice left back, he's 29 now and I need to start planning for the future. Joel Niklasson * was meant to be it, but now I'm not so sure. 

Tracker. As I completed the tracker I wondered about the nature of the save and for the 1st time since arriving here considered the possibility about leaving here and moving to another, (bigger), Swedish club. I think I would prefer to try and improve them and win things here, but I absolutely will NOT be joining IFK Göteborg, and probably wouldn't want to join IF Elfsborg or Malmö FF either. I might be tempted if Djurgårdens IF came calling though. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, profii said:

I've just started a save in Iceland's first division so read through and subscribed to the thread. Was a bit worried about some of the youth intake posts in the Iceland feedback thread but it's manageable. 

I had a great time in Iceland so no complaints from me. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Swedish Allsvenskan European qualification places. Nov 2052. 

As mentioned previously, it doesn't tell me about European places in the rules..... oh yes it does. I'm sure that wasn't there when I looked earlier. 

This suggests top 4 play in Europe, but obviously that's reliant on 1 of the top 3 also winning the domestic Cup. 

That fits in with the colour coding on the league table, even if it doesn't show the abbreviation next to each club to indicate which competition they have qualified for. 

If I have a quick check of the European Qualification places table then this confirms that it's 1x Champions Path 1st Qualifying Round for the Champions League, and 3x 2nd Qualifying Round for the Euro Conference. 

Denmark are up in 6th, Norway are up to 10th, and Finland, (who you might remember we dragged up as high as 10th I think), are back down in 23rd, (just ahead of us). Sweden are wallowing in 24th. We should be able to change that relatively quickly once we get into Europe though. 

If we are looking for Swedish success in Europe during the save, then BK Häcken beat IFK Göteborg in an all Swedish Euro Conference Final in 2044/45 that finished a drab 0-0 and was decided on penalties, but there are no other Swedish Finalists. 

You might have guessed by my focus on this that I am aiming for a top 4 finish next season, but I'm just not sure how realistic it is. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2052. 

Transfers. My scouts are working their socks off now and we seem to be getting somewhere finally. 5

It was clear that we needed more Swedes and that's exactly what we've got with the signing of Johan Svensson. The only real problem with him is that he is seemingly a striker who isn't very good at scoring goals, having only scored 17 league goals in 100 league games. I'm pretty sure that I can do something with him though and the plan is to get him scoring and then sell him to someone else for more than we paid for him, (which was a very modest £400k. One unforeseen issue related to this transfer though is that I had to pay him quite a high wage to bring him in, (£7,500 per week), and while I was happy to pay him this money, (I'm going to be moving him on if this works), I hadn't realised I had inherited a player with a club highest earner clause.  Unfortunately that meant that I have actually added a 2nd player on high wages without intending to at all. I've tried to sell the other player, Mannsverk (NOR) SELL, but of course nobody wants to sign him now because his wage demands are too high. 

EE as he shall now be known, is just getting over pulled knee ligaments and I was worried that the deal was going to get boshed at the last minute. He got through though and as well as giving us a pacey option up front, he is also a legitimate option on the left flank. He's Swedish and that's also important at this stage. The fact that we paid £375k and he's immediately worth £525k hints at this being a good deal, but he needs to play well. 

Youth Player poached. Now this isn't as annoying as it might be, simply because his PA is only rated 4.5 silver stars, (so effectively 4.5 out of 20). That being said. I don't really know what level 4.5 silver stars is yet. 

Falkenbergs finished this season 12th in the league, 4 positions below us. We are a newly promoted club though, so I expect their reputation is still higher than ours. 

5,891 Falkenbergs FF
5,224 Halmstads BK

Yeah, reputation is the problem here. We need to get in Europe on the hurry-up to stop this happening. 

Squad depth. I need to have a proper look and decide who is being kept and who needs to be loaned out or sold. 

GK. Odd Mikkelsen (FRO) is obviously 1st choice and then we have 2 decent youngsters who I need to develop. Everyone else can either be sold, loaned or released. 

DL. Looking at this makes me question how I am still playing Jimbo Jr. He's absolutely rubbish and maybe I should consider dropping him? The fact that he's also not Swedish is another bone of contention. I signed Pål Chaudhry (NOR) so he could sit on the bench and cover the whole left hand side, but of course I can't fit him in the squad most of the time because he's Norwegian. I think I'm going to have to sell/loan him out. I'm thinking about starting Haukvik (NOR) 6'2" at left back next season, (he played centre-half this season), if I drop Jr. The truth is that we actually haven't got a proper left back because I wanted to play Jimbo Jr so didn't need one. He's so rubbish though.....

DR. We played a non-Swede at right back who was in on loan and I'm determined not to use anymore loanees. We actually don't have an obvious choice at right back because the better players here are all centre-backs. I think I'm going to start Ole Kalvhagen (NOR) at right back this season, with a view to generating interest in him and selling him on. I'm really going to try and cull the non-Swedes in the squad. His back-up will be Emil Ståhl 6'4" who although he's Swedish, is very much a centre-half. 

DC. I'm looking for 4 players ay centre-back to start off with and I want them to be CA based rather than PA based this season. Ahmetovic (BIH) * 6'2" is a centre-half rather than a left back, but maybe I should squeeze him in at left back just to give him game-time because of his 5.0 PA? He's also Swedish as well as Bosnian by the way. If I did that it would allow me to release Haukvik (NOR) 6'2" back to a centre-half role. 

Haukvik (NOR) 6'2", Abdullahi 5'11" & Emil Ståhl 6'4" make 3, with Marcus Sandqvist 6'2" probably making it 4. 

MC. I'm looking for 2 playmakers and 2 more industrious players to play alongside them. Mikkola (NOR) was 1st choice playmaker last season but wasn't great. He is either going to perform this season or be sold. Almström * was out on loan last season after being signed on a free and I think I'm going to throw him in as 2nd choice. (2nd choice last season was a loanee). Johan Svensson was signed as a striker, but I think he can do a job in the middle of the pitch. Mannsverk (NOR) SELL is the player with the highest earner clause, so I really want to play him to generate some interest and then get rid. 

ML. We look like we have lots of options here, but many of them are not actually left wingers. Philip Finsen (DEN) is the player that jumps out at me. Signed for £1.2M before I arrived, I initially considered him more as a striker. His athletic ability means that he is suited to the left flank though. EE could support him and Kris Wahlund is an option too. It's not the strongest area of our squad but that's ok I think. It's not awful.

MR. 1st choice last season was Jón Páll Bieltvedt (ISL), and I think he will be again this season. Tomas Gustafsson. SELL was about to leave on a free, but I managed to get him to re-sign and now valued at £1M+ I'm looking to cash in on him. I will keep playing him to drum up interest I think. Magnus Lööf is probably our 3rd option here. 

SC. Up front I'm looking for 4 options to start with and will happily accept decent bids for any of them. (43a) Teppo (FIN) * and (49l) Juha-Pekka Lindberg * are the 2 players I brought in from AC Oulu. EE is Mr Versatile who can also play on the left flank and Heikkilä. (FIN) SELL is a player I'm looking to flog for about £1M so he will also play until I can get rid.  With EE covering the left hand side, a 4th striker would be Huhtamäki. (FIN) SELL, who I'm also looking to off-load. 

Sorry to bother you with all that, but I really needed to sort out who and what I had. 

[Thebaker]

you should consider Hammarby for your next job as they are the biggest swedish club and are usually always sacking managers if they finish outside the top 3 so its only a matter of time before it comes up again.

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Thebaker said:

you should consider Hammarby for your next job as they are the biggest swedish club and are usually always sacking managers if they finish outside the top 3 so its only a matter of time before it comes up again.

You have to remember that I'm in 2052. What is the case in real life isn't always the case now. 

Since 2027 they have only finished in the top 4 on 1 occasion, (and didn't qualify for Europe), and have only played in Europe 5 times over the whole course of this save. Whatever they are now, they are a shadow of their former selves. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan, Feb & Mar 2053.

Svenska Cupen. We got out of the Group stage, but Helsingborgs saw us off in the Quarter-Final. 

Transfers. £1.5M is a decent start to the season at least as far as finances are concerned. We have just over £5M in the bank now and a transfer kitty of £4M.

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2053. 

Allsvenskan. I must have missed the message, but while last season we had 4 European spots, the coloured lines seem to suggest that we have 6 this season, (but the qualification places still show as 4). I guess we will find out later in the season. 

Records. (49l) Juha-Pekka Lindberg * was ok last season, but has already been much better this season. He's not Swedish though and if I can keep him scoring goals and then flog him for a tidy profit then that's the plan. We signed him for £500k and he's already worth £1.5M. If he keeps scoring goals like this then who knows what we will get for him at the end of the season.

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2053. 

Allsvenskan. IF Elfsborg are still unbeaten and BK Häcken have the best goal difference in the league, but we're hanging in there in 3rd. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jun 2053. 

Allsvenskan. The least impressive 100% month I've ever recorded. 

Interestingly, the shaded area at the top of the table has now dropped from 6 clubs to 4 clubs. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul 2053. 

Allsvenskan. Almost a more impressive 100% month, but I will settle of a more impressive unbeaten month. IF Elfsborg have a game in hand but I don't really care because I'm just delighted with how things are going. After complaining last season that we didn't score enough goals and being determined to do something about it, we've scored the most goals in the league and have the best goal difference too, (as well as being top of the league). Injuries have been a slight issue with the self-enforced reduced squad size, but when we struggle I just select someone from the Reserves or U19's to sit on the bench, and invariably they are not used anyway because we have such versatile players available ahead of them. 

We've only just gone past the half-way stage so there is still plenty of time left. 

Job Offer. Falkenbergs FF are 5th and we're 2nd, (1 point off 1st). I think I'll pass actually. 

[Thebaker]

10 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

You have to remember that I'm in 2052. What is the case in real life isn't always the case now. 

 

Since 2027 they have only finished in the top 4 on 1 occasion, (and didn't qualify for Europe), and have only played in Europe 5 times over the whole course of this save. Whatever they are now, they are a shadow of their former selves. 

 

By biggest i meant biggest ground and the most well supported, they haven't won a lot IRL recently hence the sackings!

Things might have changed a lot in 30 years but they would still surely be amongst the biggest as some of the other teams in the top flight have barely a quarter of the number of fans.

For euro spots its always a season behind the coefficients which is very confusing so 4 spots would be next season (from the euro season ending in may) and 4 (or 6) from the euro season ending last may for this season.

Edited February 25, 2021 by Thebaker

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Thebaker said:

By biggest i meant biggest ground and the most well supported, they haven't won a lot IRL recently hence the sackings!

Things might have changed a lot in 30 years but they would still surely be amongst the biggest as some of the other teams in the top flight have barely a quarter of the number of fans.

For euro spots its always a season behind the coefficients which is very confusing so 4 spots would be next season (from the euro season ending in may) and 4 (or 6) from the euro season ending last may for this season.

Because the save has been going on for so long now, the landscape has changed completely. 

While Hammarby had the highest average attendances in the game from the start of the save until 2031, they haven't topped the attendance tables since then and their numbers over that period, (about 27.5k), have been completely obliterated this year. 

I think the problem with Hammarby is that in real life their 32,000 stadium was only built in 2013 and only has a capacity of 32,000. 

Djurgårdens IF also have a 32k stadium, (it's actually the same stadium), but you will notice that the team with the highest avg attendance in the game is Djurgårdens IF with almost 28k in 2032. This is down to Djurgårdens IF out-performing Hammarby IF in the game. 

Our capacity is only 15,500, (I hadn't looked until now), and the stadium was built in 2022. 

IF Elfsborg have a 57,941 stadium built in 2051
AIK have a 53,000 stadium built in 2012
IFK Göteborg have a 46,573 stadium built in 2039
Malmö FF have a 42,500 stadium built in 2047
Hammarby IF have a 32,000 stadium built in 2013
Djurgårdens IF have a 32,000 stadium built in 2013
IFK Norrköping FK have a 29,856 stadium built in 2045
BK Häcken have a 27,545 stadium built in 2030
IF Sylvia have a 20,885 stadium built in 1932 and then rebuilt in 2009
Dalkurd FF have a 16,000 capacity stadium built in 2017
We have a 15,500 capacity stadium built in 2022
Falkenbergs FF have a 14,758 stadium built in 2046
Kalmar FF have a 14,701 stadium built in 2011
Mjällby AIF have a 14,416 stadium built in 2047
Jönköpings Södra IF have a 12,767 stadium built in 2049
Dalkurd FF have a 10,000 capacity stadium built in 1909 and rebuilt in 2020.

So partly Hammarby IF have been restricted by not building a bigger stadium, but the reason they haven't built a bigger stadium is because they haven't been successful and haven't generated the funds for the new build stadium.

The other clubs around them have largely been able to generate funds for a new stadium based on success, (qualifying for Europe regularly), and even Djurgårdens IF who share the same stadium have managed to have more fans watch them. That's in complete contradiction to the real life trend as shown here. 

Although Hammarby IF haven't been relegated over the course of the save, they also haven't finished higher than 4th and have only qualified for Europe, (via the Cup) on a few occasions.

 
 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2053.

Allsvenkan. We're in great form and even though we're not keeping clean sheets, we're winning with a bit to spare. Our GK Odd Mikkelsen (FRO) has chipped in with 4 goals this month, (3 penalties and a direct free-kick), to being him to 6 goals for the season. We're now 6 points clear at the top of the table but we have a game in hand on BK Häcken in 2nd place. 

IF Elfsborg and IFK Göteborg have 1 games and 3 games in hand on us respectively, but even if IFK Göteborg with their 3 games in hand, we're still ahead by 1 point and I expect to have a better goal difference even if they might have scored more goals. 

I've just checked and it's decided on goal difference followed by goals scored. They have a +18 GD after 18 games and we have a +28 GD after 21 games. 

Svenska Cupen. 

Transfers. I'm not going to bother showing you Marcus Varli and Michael Öberg because they are back-up players who were signed for the reserves by the DoF. Eric Eliasson * on the other hand just might be something special. 

Eric Eliasson * appears to be the stuff dreams are made of. I had to pay £1M for him up front, (and I also think that Brøndby IF get 30% of future profit, but it looks to be an absolute steal. He had 5.0 PA in his scout report and still has 5.0 PA after arriving. His Technical and Mental attributes indicate that he's good enough to start for us immediately, and it's only his physicals where he is lacking. He made his debut in the cup and I would also be starting him in the league already were we not in with a chance of becoming highly unlikely Champions. 

[Jimbokav1971]

6x 5.0 PA players. Sep 2053. 

When I sort the players by PA, this is what it shows me. 

I've just shown you new arrival Eric Eliasson * and he's straight in there at the top.

Next up is Joakim Eskilsson and I have to be honest here. I have absolutely no idea who he is. He's a young playmaker who was in the Reserves and has been sent out on loan. Oh hang on. He's the kid I paid £700k for him. Yeah I do remember him. I seem to have gone out and bought 2 playmakers after Almström * got injured. 

(51c) Fredrik Broberg * ML is a striker who I have decided looks more like a left midfielder. I don't like his workrate, but fingers crossed I can do something about that. 

(51a) Kabangu (COD) * is a young GK who I really like the look of. It seems silly to have a FGN player in goal when we have a quota to adhere to. We won't have a FGN player in goal for long because (51a) Kabangu (COD) * is capped at U19 level for (SWE) and (COD) is only a 2nd Nationality. While I might not take a huge deal of notice of a 5.0 PA rating on day 1, I certainly take notice after he is into his 3rd year at the club. 

Almström * was the playmaker that I expected great things of at the start of the season, but he did his cruciate ligaments in a friendly and has missed the whole season. It remains to be seen whether he will recover fully from his injury. 

Ahmetovic (BIH) * 6'2" is a centre-back who I was going to play at left back just for 1st team exposure, but I loaned him out in error. He won't be getting loaned out next season!

[Thebaker]

3 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Because the save has been going on for so long now, the landscape has changed completely. 

While Hammarby had the highest average attendances in the game from the start of the save until 2031, they haven't topped the attendance tables since then and their numbers over that period, (about 27.5k), have been completely obliterated this year. 

 

I think the problem with Hammarby is that in real life their 32,000 stadium was only built in 2013 and only has a capacity of 32,000. 

Djurgårdens IF also have a 32k stadium, (it's actually the same stadium), but you will notice that the team with the highest avg attendance in the game is Djurgårdens IF with almost 28k in 2032. This is down to Djurgårdens IF out-performing Hammarby IF in the game. 

Our capacity is only 15,500, (I hadn't looked until now), and the stadium was built in 2022. 

IF Elfsborg have a 57,941 stadium built in 2051
AIK have a 53,000 stadium built in 2012
IFK Göteborg have a 46,573 stadium built in 2039
Malmö FF have a 42,500 stadium built in 2047
Hammarby IF have a 32,000 stadium built in 2013
Djurgårdens IF have a 32,000 stadium built in 2013
IFK Norrköping FK have a 29,856 stadium built in 2045
BK Häcken have a 27,545 stadium built in 2030
IF Sylvia have a 20,885 stadium built in 1932 and then rebuilt in 2009
Dalkurd FF have a 16,000 capacity stadium built in 2017
We have a 15,500 capacity stadium built in 2022
Falkenbergs FF have a 14,758 stadium built in 2046
Kalmar FF have a 14,701 stadium built in 2011
Mjällby AIF have a 14,416 stadium built in 2047
Jönköpings Södra IF have a 12,767 stadium built in 2049
Dalkurd FF have a 10,000 capacity stadium built in 1909 and rebuilt in 2020.

So partly Hammarby IF have been restricted by not building a bigger stadium, but the reason they haven't built a bigger stadium is because they haven't been successful and haven't generated the funds for the new build stadium.

The other clubs around them have largely been able to generate funds for a new stadium based on success, (qualifying for Europe regularly), and even Djurgårdens IF who share the same stadium have managed to have more fans watch them. That's in complete contradiction to the real life trend as shown here. 

 

Although Hammarby IF haven't been relegated over the course of the save, they also haven't finished higher than 4th and have only qualified for Europe, (via the Cup) on a few occasions.

 
 

That's very interesting, last year i played in Sweden until 2034 and did not see much change in that time with attendances or new stadiums built. Sylvia (and Sleipner) share a ground with Norrkoping at the start but clearly didn't also move.

Hammarby and Malmo were the dominant teams for that save as well.

Edited February 25, 2021 by Thebaker

[Jimbokav1971]

Just now, Thebaker said:

That's very interesting, last year i played in Sweden until 2034 and did not see much change in that time with attendances or new stadiums built. Sylvia (and Sleipner) share a ground with Norrkoping at the start but clearly didn't also move

I thought it was really interesting too when I started looking. 

It seems that multiple factors came together to influence things, but basically Hammarby IF have been consistently rubbish without getting relegated. They are currently in 14th place in the league, (meaning that they are in line for the relegation Playoff), but they should always be too good for the 3rd best Superettan side. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2053.

Youth Intake. 

Edited February 25, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2053.

I've been offered a new 3 year contract at £3,200 pw and am delighted to sign. 

Allsvenskan. The pressure is piling on and we are faltering. We've only taken 5 points from a possible 15 in this period, but thankfully our competitors seem unable to take advantage. We still have a game in hand on IF Elfsborg....... oh no we don't!  IF Elfsborg have a game in hand on us and if they win it they will move 2 points ahead of us. We have 1 game in hand on BK Häcken but they are unlikely to be the problem. IFK Göteborg have a game in charge and if they win it they will go level with us on points, (but probably behind on goal difference). With 4 games to play, (for us at least), we have Mjällby AIF 15th, IFK Norrköping FK 7th, IFK Göteborg 4th and then the last game of the season is Helsingborgs IF 13th away. 

I think that if we avoid defeat to IFK Göteborg then we will win the league. Can we hold our nerve?