[FM11] The Travels and Trevails of a Peripatetic Irishman

[sambos]

As the title suggests this will be a journeyman-type save. Im Irish and we are great at travelling, in particular emigration (ask the poor aussies). In true peripatetic fashion I will travel from place to place sharing my experiences on this forum. Hope its an enjoying read.

I want to run as many leagues as possible without compromising computer performance too much so I have loaded 11 European leagues (all of which are the top divisions) and they are: EPL (England), Ligue 1 (France), Bundesliga (Germany), La Liga (Spain), Primeira Liga (Portugal), Allsvenskan (Sweden), Super Lig (Turkey), Serie A (Italy), SPL (Scotland), and last but not least the Eredivisiae (Holland).

I will be running the 11.2.1 update, starting unemployed with automatic reputation and applying for jobs primarily in the less popular leagues that I have chosen (e.g. Sweden, Turkey, Holland) with the aim of graduating to manage a European powerhouse such as Barcelona, Real Madrid or Liverpool (Yeah Right!!!). My target whilst in said leagues will be to win all domestic cups before maneouvering into another league and I will not move unless I have won all the domestic trophies at least once, unless of course, im dethroned.

Im open to constructive critiscism on layout of posts and other ideas you might like to share will be greatly appreciated.

Let the journey begin...........

[sambos]

This area will be kept for career summary.

[sambos]

After starting the game at the beginning of July there were several managers with precarious positions in the Swedish league as they're season runs from March to October. I declared an interest in 2 of these positions and one of the clubs kindly offered me a job and sacked the legendary Nanne Bergstrand who won the Swedish League Cup in 2007 and qualified for the qualifying stages of the Europa Cup this year.

HALMSTAD BK

Halmstad Bollklubb is a Swedish club formed in 1914 and located in the south-west of Sweden in a small village. It has a proud history having won 4 league titles and 1 national cup. The club play their league games in Orjans Vall with a capacity of 15,500 which is shared with local rivals IS Halmia. Former famous players include Dusan Djuric and Freddie Ljungberg. Last season they finished a lowly 12th in the 16 team league.

Season Aim

The club is positioned nicley in 3rd, 3 points behind Malmo FF after 15 games and just 1 point behind Helsingborgs in 2nd. Halmstad are also still competing in the Swedish national cup after 3 rounds. Taking over half-way through a season is not ideal for implementing a tactical overhaul so i expect to struggle initially whilst the team become familiar with our new tactical system. The aims for the remainder of the season are to compete with Malmo for the league title and attempt to reach the final of the Swedish Cup. The squad is on the short side and I have some money (£90k) to spend on transfers which I may or may not dip into depending on form in the next few matches.

Updates and screenshots to follow.....

[sambos]

Have completed the league season and will update later, but only havee screenies for end of season due to me forgetting the shortcut for saving a screenshot.

[sambos]

2010 END OF SEASON SUMMARY

ALLSVENSKAN (LEAGUE):

Halfway through the season upon my arrival at the club and challenging for the title in 3rd place, just 3 points off top spot. The players seemed to adapt to my tactics quickly as we went unbeaten until the final games of the season were we lost 2-1 to 14th place Djurgardens. Even though we went undefeated for a long spell, Malmo FF edged us to the title with an unstoppable run of results. Our downfall was 7 draws in our last 15 games but still it was enough to finish in 2nd in the league.

A good cup run saw us meet arch rivals and league winners Malmo FF in the final which proved to be an enthralling match which swayed from end to end. Eventually the better team won which ended our season on a high and my first piece of silverware in only 5 months at the club. It was only the 2nd Swedish cup in Halmstads history.

The squad needs some strength in depth next season and I will aim to being in at least 1 quality striker which may solve our problem of drawing too many matches.

Next season will post more in depth updates with more screenshots. Roll on season 2!!!!

[sambos]

2011 SEASON PREVIEW

The board made funds available (£2M) for the new season and I wasted no time in spending it with 7 players signing for the new season. Firstly though 4 players departed including: Baqaj (loan finished), Kujovic (£1M), Bala (£140k) and Johnsson (Loan Fee £30k). A couple of youth prospects including Magyar, Moller and Raskaj were promoted to the 1st team squad.

SIGNINGS

Mendes: signed from Kalmar FF for £170k this 29y.o. Brazilian can play on both wings and as a striker. Should get 10+ goals in our attacking tactical set-up for the new season.

Alander: also signed from Kalmar FF (£180k), a strong experienced individual who can play in central defense of or midfield.

Norregard: signed from Denmark for £800k, has the ability to create and tackle and could be our best signing!

Makela: pacey striker signed on a free after scoring a hattrick in his first game on trial. Will give us more options up front.

Ekenberg: tall Swedish striker costing £1M but is proven at this level with 15 goals last season for Mjallby.

Anderson: scouts found this potential Brazilian wonderkid which i duly snapped up for £450k and he will join the club in July just in time for our foray intoi the Euro Cup.

And last but not least another free signing where an old hero who began his career in Halmstad makes a final return!!!!

Ljungberg: the ex-Arsenal and Swedish international makes his long awaited return from the USA as a free agent. Still has quality especially at this level.

That concludes the preseason signings, I am confident we now have the personnel to challenge Malmo for the league title and attempt to gain entrance into the Euro Cup group stage.