[FM23] Rise Like A Mackerel - The Swedish Supremacy

[Deisler26]

Göteborgs Atlet- och Idrottssällskap (meaning Gothenburg's Athletics and Sports Association), commonly referred to as GAIS or Gais, is a Swedish football club based in Gothenburg. The club is affiliated to the Göteborgs Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Gamla Ullevi. Fans also refers to the club as Grönsvart (green-black) or Makrillarna (the Mackerels) because of the traditional shirt colours.

GAIS is one of the oldest football clubs in Sweden. The club was a founding member of Allsvenskan and also the first champions of the league. They have won a total of four national championship titles, five league championship titles and one national cup title. Even though GAIS have played 49 seasons in Allsvenskan they only spent six years in the top division during a 30-year period from 1976 to 2005, with another six seasons of that time spent as low as the third division. The club thus gained the reputation of being a yo-yo club, constantly going up and down through the league system. After their promotion in 2005 the club played seven straight seasons in Allsvenskan which was a feat not achieved since the degradation in 1955. After relegation in 2012 they finished seventh in Superettan in 2013 and has remained there since.

According to polls, GAIS are the second most supported club in Gothenburg, with 12% of the people in the city who follow a football team claiming to have GAIS as their favorite side. Their supporters have traditionally been perceived as coming from the working class-districts of Gothenburg and having left wing sympathies. even though research on the subject couldn't conclude that this were more true than for other clubs. Their supporters are also perceived as being loyal, despite whatever hardships the club may face. The oldest and primary GAIS supporter group is called Makrillarna (meaning the Mackerels) and was founded in 1961.

During the 2018 season the club chose to allow a supporter to act as an assisting manager for a single game, against Halmstads BK in September, which at the time were unique amongst Swedish football clubs.

The club and its supporters harbour a fierce rivalry with Gothenburg's other traditional working-class team IFK Göteborg. Attendance rates are normally around 4500–7000 when playing in top tier Allsvenskan and 3000–4000 in second tier Superettan with greater numbers attending against local rivals IFK Göteborg, Örgryte IS and IF Elfsborg as well as the biggest teams from Stockholm and Skåne.

 

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If you remember my previous thread, I was just having absolutely no fun with it and it was a chore to play. So I made a choice and got rid of it, in the hope of just playing my way and regaining that spark. So this is my save. They're also known as the team of the local Dock Workers, so we will be looking at Stamina, Determination and Work Rate in every player coming into the club and looking to use the youth system as much as possible!.

Edited October 31, 2022 by Deisler26

[Deisler26]

Welcome

 

Expectations

 

[Deisler26]

First Team

Interesting mix of players. we have far too many attacking wingers, so there will need some cutting of deadwood there. We also don't have much in the way of ML's either.

Youth Team

Not much in the way of quality here. Looks like we'll have to wait for the facilites to improve

[SixPointer]

Nice change of pace! 

[Deisler26]

4 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Nice change of pace! 

I really wasn’t enjoying the idea I’d picked. The beta made it hard to concentrate on what could work and what couldn’t with what I’d decided.

So I decided to go for something that I’d enjoy

[SixPointer]

47 minutes ago, Deisler26 said:

I really wasn’t enjoying the idea I’d picked. The beta made it hard to concentrate on what could work and what couldn’t with what I’d decided.

So I decided to go for something that I’d enjoy

I agree if your not enjoying the save it’s always better to change, as you lose the immersion and it just becomes a clicking exercise.

Big footballing city you chose as well. It’s even seen some European silverware!

[vara]

nice choice of club, will follow.

quite enjoy a Scandi adventure! good luck. 

[Deisler26]

3 hours ago, vara said:

nice choice of club, will follow.

quite enjoy a Scandi adventure! good luck. 

Many thanks! And cheers!

[Deisler26]

Well, our first signing at the club is this little beauty, just released from AS Monaco FC. Will be looking for him to be second choice this season, but with an eye on being #1 next season!

[ARodgers]

August Wangberg is one hell of a name 😂 Good luck!

[Deisler26]

After a genuinely threatening pre-season, where he played well and scored goals, we gave him a contract extension..

Next week, however....

 

[Deisler26]

Well, our pre-season was here for us. We had to work hard on this one to get the team used to the formation and all the guff that goes with that. The board demands this season were; Gain automatic promotion to the Superettan, with a transfer budget of £45k and a wage budget of £15.5k. Well, let's hope we hit the ground running, eh?

Pre-Season Results

An undefeated pre-season in which, we mainly played minnows to get the players ready for the new season, however we did pull off a good 1-0 win over Allsvenskan side Hammarby IF. Mervan Çelik  was the pre-season top scorer with 7, which made his injury all the more galling,

 

Transfers

• ST Joris Manquant (Free Agent) 

The young Frenchie should fire us to glory and make us a fat profit when we sell him on hopefully.

 

• ST Kristoffer Krebs (Free Agent)

IYKYK

 

• MRL/AMRL Jakob Johnsson (Loan, Östersunds FK)

We were looking very light on the left hand side, so in came this loanee to help bolster that position.

 

• DL Lorick Cots (Free Agent)

Another free Frenchie to bolster our light left hand side

 

Outgoing was goalkeeper Erik Krantz who went across the border to Vålerenga Fotball in Norway for £2.5k

Edited November 9, 2022 by Deisler26

[SixPointer]

4 hours ago, Deisler26 said:

After a genuinely threatening pre-season, where he played well and scored goals, we gave him a contract extension..

Next week, however....

 

Sickening!!!

[SteinkelssonFM]

5 hours ago, Deisler26 said:

An undefeated pre-season in which, we mainly played minnows to get the players ready for the new season, however we did pull off a good 1-0 win over Allsvenskan side Hammarby IF. Mervan Çelik  was the pre-season top scorer with 7, which made his injury all the more galling,

This was cooking up nicely, until the shocking news that you would lose Celik for four months! 

[Deisler26]

 

Well, that'll do pig!

[Deisler26]

19 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Sickening!!!

I genuinely couldn't believe it. Had me scrabbling in the free market, I can tell you!

[Deisler26]

18 hours ago, MattyLewis11 said:

This was cooking up nicely, until the shocking news that you would lose Celik for four months! 

It's been a nightmare, I've had to trial what seems like half of Sweden

[Deisler26]

Goalkeepers: 1 (Rating: E)

Full Backs: 2 (Rating: D)

Wing Backs: 1 (Rating: C)

Centre Backs: 2 (Rating: C)

Defensive Midfielders: 0  (Rating: -)

Wide Midfielders: 2 (Rating: D)

Central Midfielders: 3 (Rating: B)

Attacking Midfielders: 1 (Rating: E)

Wingers: 2 (Rating: C)

Strikers: 2 (Rating: C)

 

Well, as a first intake, this low down, I'm not surprised we've got a poor intake. With no money to upgrade either, it looks like a long old slog

[Deisler26]

Two in a row baby!

[Deisler26]

This is the kind of data hub that makes men weak at the knees. Oh baby.

[Deisler26]

MID-SEASON TRANSFER WINDOW SUMMER 2023

Transfers IN

• DM/MC Amadou Diambo (Free Agent)

This Ghanian is the player of our dreams and will become the linchpin of our first XI

 

• MRL/AMRLC Nebiyou Perry (Free Agent)

Celik's injury meant we had to scramble for a replacement left-sided midfielder and in the mix of trialists, this gem appeared.

 

• AMRL Sam Lundholm (Free Agent)

In the Trialists list, this guy came up and he would be an excellent player in our AMR position

 

Transfers OUT

GK Mergim Krasniqi (£24k, Degerfors IF)
AMRL/ST Michael Kargbo (£34k, SV Holstein Kiel)

Edited November 12, 2022 by Deisler26

[Deisler26]

Svenska Cupen Second Round
23 Aug 2023
Tele2 Arena, Stockholm
19:30

Hammarby IF 1-2 (aet) G.A.I.S
Ludwigson 71..............................................Lundgren 33
......................................................................Manquant 93

Knocking out Allsvenksan opposition is always a great morale boost and this is no exception!

 

The winning goal!!

[Deisler26]

Our starting Half-Back, FFS

[SixPointer]

21 hours ago, Deisler26 said:

Svenska Cupen Second Round
23 Aug 2023
Tele2 Arena, Stockholm
19:30

Hammarby IF 1-2 (aet) G.A.I.S
Ludwigson 71..............................................Lundgren 33
......................................................................Manquant 93

Knocking out Allsvenksan opposition is always a great morale boost and this is no exception!

 

The winning goal!!

Great finish on the angle 

[Deisler26]

What happens is that I keep an eye on all players released by the major leagues in my game. This guy looked brilliant and a quick contract later, he was ours, beating off higher-rated opposition.

Now, his Pace and Acceleration need working on, but he can be a long-term stalwart in the defence and a possible money-spinner if he continues his development

[Deisler26]

So, our 2023 academy scholars came in. We're at Adequate Youth Facilities and Average Youth Recruitment. As ever, we will sign all the youth players and work on their flaws. At this level, our players Dockside Natural Ability (DNA) will need to be 7+ in the catagories of Stamina, Work Rate and Determination

I'm a little worried about my HOYD, if the guy he is hyping isn't amongst the top talents in the intake. Might need to look at 

Anyway, let's look at our Top 3 Prospects

• M/AML Hugo Persson - Stamina: 7, Work Rate: 10, Determination: 14 - DNA (Dockside Natural Ability): PASSED

Persson makes the grade from the jump, however, once we go up next season, his Stamina will need to get up to 10.

 

• MC Samuel Hjertén - Stamina: 13, Work Rate 15, Determination: 10 - DNA: PASSED

Hjertén will need to be retrained into perhaps the Segundo Volante role, but otherwise, he could improve to become a first team player

 

• M/AMC Patrick Wiklund - Stamina: 8, Work Rate: 13, Determination: 16 - DNA: PASSED

Wiklund does not look like he'll amount to much and, unless his Stamina improves, I can't see a future for him here!

[Deisler26]

Well, we lived up to our expectations, finishing 1st in Ettan 1 Södra . We pretty much smothered the opposition with some blanket defence and quick goals. We finished the season a cool 14 points clear of second place and only one defeat, a late 0-1 loss to second-placed Falkenbergs FF in only our second game of the season! We also finished 1st in Goals Conceded with a whopping 15 conceded all season and finished 3rd in Goals Scored, with Joris Manquant top scoring with 21, breaking the club record. We also broke league records too, as our points tally and amount of wins beat the previous records held by Mjällby AF

Ettan Fötbol 1 Södra Results Apr - Aug
Ettan Fötbol 1 Södra Results Sept - Oct

Player Stats
Commercial Summary

 

Edited November 18, 2022 by Deisler26

[Hootieleece]

Great Job becoming Champions! but it was a foregone conlusion once "Managerino" took the reins.

[Winski]

Well done, @Deisler26! That was a great season!

[SixPointer]

Smashed the league 

[Herr Müller]

Great first season!

[Deisler26]

13 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

Great Job becoming Champions! but it was a foregone conlusion once "Managerino" took the reins.

Many thanks. I was surprised with my FM22 tactic working with all of the new changes to the ME. 

[Deisler26]

13 hours ago, Winski said:

Well done, @Deisler26! That was a great season!

It was awesome. I do think that it helped that we were done of the best teams in the league anyway tbh

[Deisler26]

5 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Smashed the league 

That we did. Not much in the way of cash for the Superettan though.

[Deisler26]

3 hours ago, Herr Müller said:

Great first season!

Thanks! It's given us a good platform for next season!

[SixPointer]

56 minutes ago, Deisler26 said:

That we did. Not much in the way of cash for the Superettan though.

Bargain hunting 

[SteinkelssonFM]

Congratulations on securing the title, now **** gets real! Look forward to seeing how you choose to progress. 

[Deisler26]

8 hours ago, MattyLewis11 said:

Congratulations on securing the title, now **** gets real! Look forward to seeing how you choose to progress. 

Hopefully much the same. We're in too much debt to improve our facilites, so some cashing in, may be needed

[Deisler26]

A good haul! I think the only reason that we didn't get the left back in was because of injuries.

[Deisler26]

A brillant capture for us. Matty will drive the midfield on in the Superettan.

[Deisler26]

So, the opportunity came to maybe pick up a good young forward from England on a free, this off-season. However, due to our reputation and his talent, he was looking to get the Star Player designation and we had an Star Player already in that position already. So, let's take a look at the contender and the incumbent. Oh, and

 

The Incumbent

Sam was our saviour last season when Celik went down injured and he came in. He's got one more year on his contract at £350 p/w and averaged a 7.20 rating in 24 games in the Ettan 1, with 6 assists and 3 goals, which translated to 0.25 APG and 0.13 GPG for the season. He played well, but downside is his age and the short-term nature of his contract.

 

The Challenger

Tyreece was released by Arsenal in the summer, and hadn't found a club by the time I took him on trial. He'll be expensive, as his agent wants £2k p/w to be a Star Player, but he's seven years younger and he meets two of the three Dockside Natural Abilties and misses out on making the Work Rate threshold by a point. He's also quicker and more technical. Let's see how they both match up

So, the only real area that Lundholm outshines John-Jules is Defending, but I don't really require my AMR's to come back and help that much. John-Jules has him easily beat on Speed and just about on Aerial and Attacking, with the same levels of Vision & Technical ability.  Seems a no-brainer to be honest, sell Lundholm and start John-Jules. Let's go!

[Constantine]

Always a good idea to pick up bunch of young, English talent. One decent half season and you'll have clubs kicking your doors in, showering you with silly money.

[vivu]

4 hours ago, Deisler26 said:

So, the opportunity came to maybe pick up a good young forward from England on a free, this off-season. However, due to our reputation and his talent, he was looking to get the Star Player designation and we had an Star Player already in that position already. So, let's take a look at the contender and the incumbent. Oh, and

 

The Incumbent

Sam was our saviour last season when Celik went down injured and he came in. He's got one more year on his contract at £350 p/w and averaged a 7.20 rating in 24 games in the Ettan 1, with 6 assists and 3 goals, which translated to 0.25 APG and 0.13 GPG for the season. He played well, but downside is his age and the short-term nature of his contract.

 

The Challenger

Tyreece was released by Arsenal in the summer, and hadn't found a club by the time I took him on trial. He'll be expensive, as his agent wants £2k p/w to be a Star Player, but he's seven years younger and he meets two of the three Dockside Natural Abilties and misses out on making the Work Rate threshold by a point. He's also quicker and more technical. Let's see how they both match up

So, the only real area that Lundholm outshines John-Jules is Defending, but I don't really require my AMR's to come back and help that much. John-Jules has him easily beat on Speed and just about on Aerial and Attacking, with the same levels of Vision & Technical ability.  Seems a no-brainer to be honest, sell Lundholm and start John-Jules. Let's go!

I had him in my Beta save in Polish First Division. He was absolutely magnificent the Polish leagues (and made me a hell of a lot of money when he moved on). I played him in ST position though

[Deisler26]

3 hours ago, vivu said:

I had him in my Beta save in Polish First Division. He was absolutely magnificent the Polish leagues (and made me a hell of a lot of money when he moved on). I played him in ST position though

TJJ will get the odd game at ST, but having Manquant as our main and the full rotation of the squad, there won’t be many opportunities to play him up top

[Deisler26]

4 hours ago, Constantine said:

Always a good idea to pick up bunch of young, English talent. One decent half season and you'll have clubs kicking your doors in, showering you with silly money.

And, much like Graham Potter’s sojourn into Sweden, it can work very well for both club and manager!

[Deisler26]

So, we're looking for some reinforcements after our promotion, however, scouting every player you find means that your scouting budget gets drained and you can't afford scouts anymore. Bugger. So what do you do? You wait until the next round of European U-21 internationals and you go through their squads to find the unattached players and invite them for a trial. It seems to be a more realistic method of finding players with no scouting budget for me as you can just look at a countries' FA website/Twitter account and they have the full squads on there.

So, we're out on the top countries, obviously. Let's see what we can pick up from the lower reaches.

 

• GK Alan Spahić  (Montenegro)

Alan does not look like he'd ever replace Westergards in goal for us, so he will be Let Go at the end of the trial

 

• AML/ST Elmar Škrijelj (Montenegro)

Elmar does not fit in with our Dockside Natural Ability, missing out by 3 on Work Rate & 1 on Determination. He would also be behind Manquant and Krebs as third choice striker. But there is something nagging at me. That he could be good for us. Against my better judgement, he will be Offered a Contract at the end of his trial

 

• M/AMC Giorgos Pavilides (Cyprus)

Giorgos is an interesting one. Above the DNA baseline in all areas and looking pretty good for a young player at our level. However, he'll be 5th choice at whatever I try him as and I'm not sure our wage budget can carry passengers. Depending on his demands. it's an Offered Contract situation as he may allow us to make profit on a mid-range player.

 

• DRL/WB/MR Atmir Krasniqi (Albania)

Atmir has Pace and Acceleration, which I love in my full backs. He also fulfils all three DNA thresholds. But his Bravery, Off the Ball and Tackling aren't good enough for us at 21. So he will be Let Go at the end of his trial.

 

• MC/AMRLC Amin Haj-Yahya (Slovakia)

Amin has nothing to make him stand out at 20 years old. Especially considering his Determination was only 3, along with Composure of only 4 and Concentration of 5. He'll never be enough, so he will be Let Go at the end of his trial.

 

• AMRL Aldin Drndar (Montenegro)

Aldin is not a terrible player and could have been a decent squad rotation piece. That being said, he also hits our DNA thresholds, but we've just signed a cracking winger to play in his position. All that adds up to being Let Go at the end of his trial.

 

• DRL/WBR Sander Brauer-Ersoy (Cyprus)

Sander is a very interesting player. He comfortably meets our DNA thresholds and has decent pace for the level. I like him a lot and that means we will be Offering a Contract to him at the end of his trial.

 

• MC Tom Bandikian (Armenia)

Poor Tom. He's not a great player and will be Let Go at the end of his trial.

 

 

Edited November 21, 2022 by Deisler26

[Deisler26]

[Deisler26]

Svenska Cupen Group Stage
19 Feb 2024
19:30

Västerås SK  1-3  G.A.I.S
Granath 33...................................Lindberg 8, 55
................................. .....................Biambo 37

 

Svenska Cupen Group Stage
26 Feb 2024
19:30

Helsingborgs IF  1-1  G.A.I.S
Ali 20.........................................................Manquant 69
.................................................................. Longstaff s/o 82

 

Svenska Cupen Group Stage
4 Mar 2024
19:30

Kalmar FF  1-1  G.A.I.S
Maxwell 83..............................Henricksen 65

 

Edited November 23, 2022 by Deisler26

[Deisler26]

Well, our second pre-season was here for us. Our promotion to the Superettan means the hard work is only just starting. The board demands this season were; Finish mid-table in the Superettan, with a transfer budget of £71k and a wage budget of £32k. Well, let's hope we hit the ground running again, eh?

Pre-Season Results

Well, the outstanding performer this pre-season was new signing Elmar Škrijelj who hit 10 goals this pre-season, including an astonishing 5 in one game alone! Joint second came youth product Simon Sjöholm and main goalscorer Joris Manquant with 5 goals each.

 

Team News

This is great news as it'll give my players who are too old for the U-18's and not good enough for the first team, somewhere to play

 

Transfers -

IN

• DRL Pablo Hernandez (Free Agent) - Stamina: 11, Work Rate: 13, Determination: 16 - DNA: PASSED

A punt on a future payout here. Hernandez will spend 3 years or so in our system, if he's good enough, he'll play, if not, I'll sell him for a profit.

 

• DLC Iván Muñoz (Free Agent) - Stamina: 9, Work Rate: 9, Determination: 12 - DNA: PASSED

Another defender from Valencia C.F comes our way. Not the quickest, but due to the interest in our current CB's, we need cover

 

• DC Kim Harald Emblemsvåg (Free Agent) - Stamina: 8, Work Rate: 5, Determination: 8 - DNA: FAILED

Another punt on a young defender, this was purely on his octogon as he doesn't hit any DNA markers. Much like Hernandez, he's a future guy

 

• GK Tyrick Bodak (Free Agent) 

Goalkeepers don't fit into the DNA and we needed a decent backup for Westergard. 

 

• ST Luca Gagliano (Free Agent) - Stamina: 12, Work Rate: 11, Determination: 13 - DNA: PASSED

Luca was again, a punt, as he seemed to be a decent enough striker and we could loan out Elmar. He passed the DNA and will probably be #1 when Manquant leaves at the end of the season

 

• ST Elmar Škrijelj (Free Agent) - Stamina: 8, Work Rate: 6, Determination: 8 - DNA: FAILED

Something about him, made me sign him up. He had a great pre-season, but he needs games, so he'll be loaned out

 

• DRL/WBR Sander Brauer-Ersoy (Free Agent) - Stamina: 12, Work Rate: 11, Determination: 12 - DNA: PASSED

Again, a DNA pass and we could do with backups for the positions.

 

• M/AMC Giorgos Pavildes (Free Agent) - Stamina: 12, Work Rate: 11, Determination: 11 - DNA: PASSED

Again, a good backup for the DM positions.

 

• GK Demba Thiam (Free Agent) 

Can't pass up a goalie of this talent, that's willing to come to the club. Leaves a logjam at goalie, but it's a nice decision to have.

 

• M/AMC Horenus Tadesse (Free Agent) - Stamina: 14, Work Rate: 14, Determination: 14 - DNA: PASSED

International-calibre midfielder, nearly 10 years younger than our first choice AMC too.  

 

OUT

ST Joris Manquant (£1m, Borussia Mönchengladbach ) - Loan back for the season
DLC Niclas Andersen (£10k, Örebro SK)

Edited November 23, 2022 by Deisler26

[Deisler26]

Oh well...*shrug*