Thunderbird Delta: International Footballing Rescue

[deltablue]

OK, after spending the entire afternoon waiting to download about 1/3 of the game in addition to disk installation (which tells you everything you need to know about why I still get a disk instead of the digital version, due to a problematic DVD drive it took my laptop over half an hour and about 25 tries to recognize the disk in the first place), FM 13 is go!

Nations (all leagues unless specified): Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Rep, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy (Except C2), Holland, Norway, Portugal (Except 2nd Div), Poland, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Sweden (except 2nd Div), Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Serbia.

So, Autumn is drawing in (though I’m writing this at the end of August), a new FM year is here, and that means a new career for (hopefully) the following year. Having gone from the BSN to the CL title, and then succeeding with teams made up of players signed under 21, my next trick will be to try it while only being able to take charge of lower league teams! The title referring to the rescuing of teams (often underachieving) from whatever division they’ve ended up in.

I’ve had my eyes on this since starting the last one, Diesler’s go at Monaco and Acidmonkey’s taking Sunderland back up from League 2 have definitely provided extra encouragement, on a different note, AK22 taking Balma to new heights has set a good example as well. This would be even better in the days when Lazio would often go down after a few years, and 10-15 seasons in, one of Liverpool or Chelsea would go down as well (though haven’t seen that sort of thing since FM09 sadly), but by the time I’m able to pretty much pick what I like, there should be some interesting options available, especially as without the ability to go to a top division club in a smaller nation (like with MTK and Michalovce respectively) to grab some trophies and catapult my rep, it should take some time, in fact I don’t even have those smaller nations loaded this time, which leaves me without the career boosting routes I’ve used before.

What an experience it should be. Promotions are a great feeling, with the excitement and dread of a new level, and the joy when doing better than merely surviving the first season up, plus if you achieve more, taking pleasure in how far you’ve come, not to mention the first good results against the bigger clubs. Plus it encourages staying at clubs as if I’m in a reasonably sized top division I won’t have loads of big clubs to move to. There are two potential exceptions that I might as well mention now. The first is Barca, who I have never managed on a career save, and not at all for a long time, but I can’t do that until I have a CL in my pocket, so I have to still take the long road to the top, and U21 rules will apply (as my multiple stints at Milan have showed that’s makes a big club very fun indeed). If they ever become an established Premier League side (like that’s ever going to happen, in fact I’ll probably need to rescue them from League 1, or even 2), Ipswich would be the other.

Having established myself in these parts over the past year, a lot of you have a decent idea what to expect. I can now sign players of any age again, but lots of young signings should still be the norm, no managing in a nation twice in a row (which I hope won’t be hinderance if I fail early on), or at archrivals of a previous club, which could apply to teams I end up battling with a lot of the time. After my first Milan stint last time I didn’t feel like going to any other Serie A club at all, but that’s a rare and extreme case. It could also be a while until I get anywhere, even promotions, let alone trophies, especially the big ones, but should be rewarding.

While Rangers were a tempting club to start off with, I want to have the BSS/N as a consistent starting point (at least for now), so once again it was time to choose, this time going for...

Worcester City

Right, lets get started shall we?

[deltablue]

[spoiler]
[font=monospace] 
2012-13, Worcester City, BSN, 18th, sacked in January.
2013, Tollnes, Second Div Group 4, 11th.
2014, Tollnes, Second Div Group 4, 3rd.
2015-16, Weymouth, BSS, 22nd, left in Oct.
2016, Nest-Sotra, Second Div Group 3, 8th.
2017, Nest-Sotra, Second Div Group 3, 1st!
2018, Nest-Sotra, First Division, 15th, relegation.
2018-19, Raith, First Division, 7th, arrived in January.
2019-20, Raith, First Division, 6th, Challenge Cup winners!
2020-21, Raith, First Division, 8th, left in October.
2020-21, Ipswich, Championship, 14th, arrived in Nov.
2021-22, Ipswich, Championshp, 7th.
2022-23, Ipswich, Championship, 3rd, promoted via playoffs!
2023-24, Ipswich, Premier League, 12th.
2024-25, Ipswich, Premier League, 8th.
2025-26, Ipswich, Premier League, 15th.
2026-27, Ipswich, Premier League, 8th.
2027-28, Ipswich, Premier League, 8th.
2028-29, Ipswich, Premier League, 4th.
2029-30, Ipswich, Premier League, 8th, cup finalists.
2030-31, Ipswich, Premier League, 6th.
2031-32, Ipswich, Premier League, 7th.
2032-33, Ipswich, Premier League, 2nd, Europa League winners!
2033-34, Ipswich, Premier League, 1st! League and League Cup double!
2034-35, Ipswich, Premier League, 4th, League cup finalists.
2035-36, Ipswich, Premier League, 5th, FA Cup finalists.
2036, Sirius, First Division North, 3rd, took over in June.
2037, Sirius, First Division North, 2nd, promoted through playoffs!
2038, Sirius, First Division Elite, 7th.
2039, Sirius, First Division Elite, 16th, relegated and sacked 
2039-40, Ecija, Second Division B4, 7th.
2040-41, Ecija, Second Division B4, 6th.
2041-42, Ecija, Second Division B4, 8th.
2042-43, Mattersburg, Austrian First Division, 1st!
2043-44, Mattersburg, Austrian Premier Division, 8th, cup winners!
2044-45, Mattersburg, Austrian Premier Division, 9th, left in October.
2044-45, Ipswich, Premier League, 4th, LC winners.
2045-46, Ipswich, Premier League, 5th, FA Cup Finalists.
2046-47-Ipswich, Premier League, 9th, sacked in December 
2047-48, Fiorentina, Serie B, 19th, resigned in October.
2050-51, Hoffenheim, Second Division, 9th, arrived in October.
2051-52, Hoffenheim, Second Division, 7th, cup finalists.
2052-53, Hoffenheim, Second Division, 1st!!!
2053-54, Hoffenheim, First Division, 9th,
2054-55, Hoffenheim, First Division, 17th, left in November.
2054-55, Ipswich, Premier League, 8th, arrived in November.
2055-56, Ipswich, Premier League, 4th, League cup finalists.
2056-57, Ipswich, Premier League, 3rd. cup finalists.
2057-58, Ipswich, Premier League, 6th.
2058-59, Ipswich, Premier League, 5th.
2059-60, Ipswich, Premier League, 1st! Domestic Double!
2060-61, Ipswich, Premier League, 1st!
2061-62, Ipswich, Premier League, 5th, cup winners.
2062-63, Ipswich, Premier League, 1st!
2063-64, Ipswich, Premier League, 1st, CL winners!
2064-65, Ipswich, Premier League, 1st, Community Shield, ESC, CWC, League cup and FA cup winners!

Trophy Cabinet

Nest-Sotra
Second Division: 1 (2017)

Raith
Challenge Cup: 1 (2019)

Ipswich
Europa League: 1 (2033)
League Cup: 3 (2034, 2045, 2065)
Premier League: 6 (2034, 2060, 2061, 2063, 2064, 2065)
Community Shield: 4 (2034, 3061, 2063, 2064)
FA Cup: 3 (2060, 2062, 2065)
Champions League: 1 (2064)
Euro Super Cup: 1 (2064)
Club World Championship: 1 (2064)

Mattersburg
Austrian First Division: 1 (2043)
Austrian Cup: 1 (2044)

Hoffenheim
Second Division: 1 (2053)

International
Chile (Jan 2047-Jul 2050)
Copa America 2047: Quarter-finalists
WCQ 2050: 5th
World Cup 2050: Group Stage
[/font]

[/spoiler]

[SRL88]

Good luck fella

[ri916]

Good luck mate, sounds very interesting

[Hypanimz]

Really looking forward to seeing your progress. Good luck

[Dejay]

Good luck chap.

[B.W.G]

Good luck at Worcester City

[abulezz]

Good luck!

[deltablue]

Good luck fella

Good luck mate, sounds very interesting

Really looking forward to seeing your progress. Good luck

Good luck chap.

Good luck at Worcester City

Good luck!

Thanks everyone, probably going to need it!

[joshpmilton]

Good luck! Hopefully you'll find this level as easy as everyone else has.

[withnail316]

Good luck, man.

[deltablue]

Good luck, man.

Good luck! Hopefully you'll find this level as easy as everyone else has.

Sadly the answer so far is 'no'.

Chapter 1: Worcester City

Summer 2012

Worcester weren’t a bad place to start with in terms of value (300k), Stadium capacity (4749, with 1223 seated), and general ‘basic’ facilities all round being better than some other clubs around, but with an expectation of a top half finish. There was no money for transfers (though I would be going for frees anyway, and a wage budget of 2.8kpw, which was sensible for this level. I had under £100pw free at the start, but managed to get rid of a couple of unwanted players that gave me an extra £400pw. There was about 50k in the bank (which admittedly was projected to be almost all gone at the end of the year), and as many as 6 players in the youth team who looked good prospects. The squad in general looked a decent one (though with a lot of very young players who weren’t that good yet), though I moved quickly to get in necessary midfield and-left wing reinforcements, though further signings proved to be hard to come by. After the season started there was finally a good defensive signing as well, though no luck on keepers as the good ones were Canadian and couldn’t get permits.

Hennessy

Kalonji

Mutero

Transfers

One to watch:

Admitedly there's an element of hindsight here, but he was always looking a great prospect, even if I hadn't expected such an impact already.

[Dejay]

Decent prospect, he's certainly banging them in.

[deltablue]

Decent prospect, he's certainly banging them in.

Yep, due to a lack of depth up front, started the season with one up front, which wasn't him, but he came on in the first game, scored a hat-trick and I thought 'right, he's definitely in the side now' Not very consistent (he then drew two blanks before another hat-trick) but as you say, definitely grabs the goals.

Aug 2012

Worcester 3-0 Brackley (BSN)

I expected to get off to a good start against Brackley. We looked vaguely the better side in the first half, but were unable to make the breakthrough. However an injury had forced the bringing on of a very talented young forward, the 17yr old Martin O’Sullivan, and he gave us the breakthrough in the 53rd minute, with another 10 minutes later, and the local lad completed hat-trick on his debut in the 89th minute. Remember the name, no doubt he’ll be featuring a lot. As strong as we looked, it was one of the easiest games of the season, so we couldn’t get too carried away.

Hinkley 1-0 Worcester (BSN)

A trip to Hinkley would be a little tricker, especially with a few injuries and it was a very cagey affair with a few chances at each end, and it was frustrating to see them snatch a winner with 5 minutes left as we could easily have got a point, even if a win was unlikely.

Worcester 0-3 Boston (BSN)

We needed to improve against Boston, but had one of those games where the entire defence would be hauled off if only I could. We were only a goal behind at the break but that didn’t last, and with an injury reducing us to 10 men they breezed to a 3-0 win. Hopefully we wouldn’t have many games like that.

Bishops Stortford 2-4 Worcester (BSN)

A long search for defenders finally bore some fruit with the 3rd signing of the season, the Belgian Kalonji from Solihull. He was thrown in at Bishops Stortford, improving my confidence about the match. Thankfully O’Sullivan shined again. He scored in the 9th minute, and though they equalized, he completed a hat-trick before half-time. The game had actually been rather even, and they scored again, but only after midfielder Thorley became the first Worcester player other than O’Sullivan to score this season.

Sept 2012

Guiseley 0-0 Worcester (BSN)

We went to 2nd placed Guiseley and I was happy that we matched them throughout the game, though got lucky when they had a 54th minute goal disallowed, a draw being the right result for this game.

Worcester 0-1 Oxford City (BSN)

I expected a win against Oxford City, and while we had the dominance, we were a bit too tired to convert our chances, instead they scored from a 74th free-kick to give us defeat in a game we should have won. Having two penalty claims denied (one near the beginning, the other near the end) didn’t help matters much.

Worcester 1-1 Solihull

Solihull were strong but struggling, and they took an early lead. O’Sullivan gave us a deserved equalizer in the 50th minute.

Gainsborough 1-4 Worcester (BSN)

I switched tactics for the trip to Gainsborough, from a sort of 4-5-1 to my usual 4-4-2/4-2-4 and it seemed to work. O’Sullivan gave us the lead in the 6th minute, and though they equalized his strike-partner Glover (restored to the team as the second forward) restored the lead in the 30th minute, soon extending it with a penalty. They had a strong second half but a header from defender Rowe finished off a great win.

Stourport 2-1 Worcester (FA)

We shockingly went out of the FA Cup at Stourport, as they dominated early on, taking a 2-0 lead after 11 minutes, with another disallowed. We didn’t fight back that well, only getting a goal from Mutero in the 65th minute, shortly after he came on.

Corby 3-0 Worcester (BSN)

We failed to take a good chance to win at Corby, and it got even worse later on when they scored 3 times in the last 75th minute.

It's been a messy start, as there are definitely a lot of growing and gelling pains going on, hopefully we can get sorted later and push for the playoffs.

[B.W.G]

Mixed start,but things should become better once the gelling pains have eased off.

[SRL88]

As BWG said, mixed start...

[AK22]

Plenty of time for things to bed down, and get moving up the league.

Looking forward to some saucy footballing tales- good luck! :o

[CityAndColour]

Love a good English lower league career. Good luck and God speed.

[Hypanimz]

Not a terrible start. All it takes is a run of a few good wins and you will be moving right up the table.

[deltablue]

Mixed start,but things should become better once the gelling pains have eased off.

As BWG said, mixed start...

It's partly gelling with a lot of new faces (even though I only signed three players), and having a lot of young players who won't be consistently good if they are at all.

Plenty of time for things to bed down, and get moving up the league.

Looking forward to some saucy footballing tales- good luck! :o

Not a terrible start. All it takes is a run of a few good wins and you will be moving right up the table.

Still not happening, and job starting to get a little insecure, so definitely need to improve soon.

Love a good English lower league career. Good luck and God speed.

As above, I doubt I'll be staying too long.

Oct 2012

Worcester 2-0 Stalybridge (BSN)

We had to play table-topping Stalybridge, but managed to hold firm in the first half, which I saw as a positive. O’Sullivan gave us a 62nd minute lead, but it was still tense until right-winger Smith scored another in stoppage time.

Worcester 0-1 Vauxhall (BSN)

Vauxhall were a good chance to follow on, but while we looked the more likely to win, we failed to earn in, and they even got a shock winner with pretty much the last chance of the match.

Worcester 3-1 Colwyn Bay (BSN)

We were clearly stunned by that, as we were hit early against Colwyn Bay. Otherwise we weren’t too bad, but the pressure to be in the top half was mounting. Glover equalized in the 60th minute, giving us the lead 5 minutes later, and a 75th minute penalty completed the fightback, we were now just 2 points off 5th.

Bradford PA 3-3 Worcester (BSN)

We weren’t expected to do much at Bradford PA, but Glover gave us an 8th minute lead. They hit us with 2 goals late in the first half, and went 3-1 up early in the second. They had another disallowed, which proved to be the turning point, as a Glover penalty pulled it back, and he snatched a point with his second hat-trick in as many games.

Halifax 2-3 Worcester (BSN)

We went behind against at Halifax, and as the game wore on, another goal seemed inevitable. However O’Sullivan equalized in the 67th minute, and after we saved a penalty, Reese gave us the lead. We couldn’t hold on however as they were awarded another penalty, this time scored and snatched late winner.

Nov 2012

Gloucester 3-3 Worcester (BSN)

We looked terrible at Gloucester, going 2-0 behind by the 26th minute, and looking defensively non-existent. Glover pulled one back before the break, with another in the 69th minute. O’Sullivan even gave us the lead in the 85th minute, but they stole a late point.

Totton 3-1 Worcester (FAT)

We went to Totton in the FA Trophy, hoping to make amends for Stourport. We again failed miserably, going behind in the 22nd minute, and they went on to get two more in the second half. Sub forward Symons getting a rather worthless consolation.

Worcester 0-1 Harrogate (BSN)

We were mediocre against Harrogate, but we might still have gotten a point despite going behind in the 36th minute.

Histon 0-0 Worcester (BSN)

We looked better at Histon, but while we weren’t under threat, neither did we look that likely to win, as we extended our winless run to 5 games, but were still only just outside the top half.

Worcester 4-0 Workington (BSN)

Armed with new ‘back to basics’ tactics and a morale boost from a team meeting, we hoped to finally win again against Workington, though we looked slow in the first half. A goal from O’Sullivan on the stroke of half-time saw us burst into life, goals from Reece and Glover (twice), with another disallowed in between, saw us roar to a very welcome 4-0 win.

Great wins to start and end, but lots of near misses in between, and even a few terrible games.

[deltablue]

Dec 2012

Droylsden 3-1 Worcester (BSN)

We went to a Droylsden side propping up the league, and went behind midway through the half. O’Sullivan equalized in the 39th minute, but the defence was still wide open, and though they had a goal disallowed after the break, they strode to a 3-1 win after an hour.

Worcester 0-3 Altrincham (BSN)

We were on the back foot from the start against Altrincham, and eventually went behind in the 26th minute. Yet again the defence were barely worthy of the title, and again the opposition walked through to win 3-0.

Chester 3-1 Worcester (BSN)

O’Sullivan gave us the lead in the 5th minute at Chester, promising better times, but they equalized a few minutes later, and kept on battering to be 3-1 up at the break. We only had occasional chances in the second half to come back. We had dropped to 19th 1 place above the drop zone, as a tight mid-table meant the short run of defeats were proving so costly, but I held on for now.

Brackley 1-2 Worcester (BSN)

We went to Brackley just before Christmas. Having easily beaten them on the opening day, we went behind in the 22nd minute this time. We huffed and puffed and were rewarded by a Mills equalizer in the 83rd minute, followed by a winner from O’Sullivan. We still had a long way to go to get out trouble but a win was a massive relief.

Worcester 0-1 Hinckley (BSN)

We looked a lot better early on against Hinckley on Boxing Day, however they caught us unawares with a 29th minute goal. We kept pushing, but were too wasteful, only managing 7 shots on target from 21, but even considering that there was no way we should have lost this, or even had anything other than a win.

Boston 1-1 Worcester (BSN)

We went to Boston, and I was half expecting to be job-hunting in the New Year. They took the lead in the 14th minute, and we didn’t look like getting anything until O’Sullivan scored in the 64th minute and after that we had a few chances that might have seen a winner.

Jan 2013

Worcester 0-1 Bishops Stortford (BSN)

I was still around for a new year game with Bishops Stortford, which was a great example of failing to score while we had the chance before they took control and the lead late in the first half. Later in the second half we had the chances to equalize but couldn’t do so.

Oxford City 1-1 Worcester (BSN)

O’Sullivan gave us the lead in the 18th minute at Oxford City. We generally looked comfortable, but had to share the points late on. It was still nice to have a game without having to take off defenders.

Worcester 7-1 Guiseley (BSN)

We stepped up to the mark against Guiseley in impressive style. Thompson set us going in the 12th minute. Two Glover goals put us 3-0 up after half an hour, with O’Sullivan and another Thompson goal giving us a 5-0 half-time lead. O’Sullivan scored again early in the second half, and though they pulled a goal back, Glover completed his hat-trick and a 7-1 rout.

Solihull 4-1 Worcester (BSN)

After that we went crashing down to earth at Solihull. Thompson equalized their 6th minute goal in the 15th minute, but they tore us a part to go 4-1 up at the break, and I was amazed that despite a defensive injury early in the second half (we had a sub left, but no defenders, leading to an odd formation with hole in defence), it didn’t get worse. That was still enough as far as the board were concerned, as they delivered the long-awaited sacking.

Sacked!!!

Oh dear, that didn't last long. Lots of things went wrong really, though the defence was far more culpable than the attack. We were on the wrong side of a lot of close games, the squad would have mostly been strangers even if I hadn't done anything in the summer, as well as a bit green in place, we had a few long term injuries to players who would probably have made a big difference. The writing was starting to appear in the wall even when we were hanging on to the top half, so when we plummetted in December, and struggled to gain back any ground at all, I had a feeling I wouldn't last. I've always been against the 'no sacking' option, but given I knew things would have been much better last year, I could see the appeal in situations when it was just a matter of riding out a difficult short-term.

Still I'm used to starting these things slowly, all it takes is the occasional club where things do go well, but I was unlikely to find many of those at the moment. For now I'm the one that needs rescuing.

[deltablue]

Chapter 2: Tollnes

It didn’t take long for there to be something available in the Norwegian Second Division, which would always be one of the most likely destinations at this stage, if only as one of the few places I felt confident about getting something in. I had two offers in the table, from Tollnes and Bossekop. They were both newly promoted, had a few seasons at this level in the past decade, were offering similar budgets, and were hard to choose from. Tollnes were worth slightly less, had spent longer in the 3rd Division, and had a smaller stadium (1000, 200 seated, compared to about 2,300), but most importantly, while Bossekop had only a few brief seasons at this level, Tollnes had a better record in terms of having a more consistent presence at this level (their earlier relegation aside), and even a brief visit to the First Division at the start of the last decade, so with their higher rep (Regional vs Local, and predicted 12th vs 14th and bottom) they seemed the better option, for a given value of ‘better’ of course, as they had no backroom staff, and would still be fighting to stay up. Promotion in the long-term would always be tough, but things going reasonably well for a while would still be useful, like Frigg in my last career, and I hoped I'd manage that at least.

[abulezz]

So Norway it is! It looked positive with Worcester there for a bit, but cant fault you for going to what appears to be a much bigger club!

[Hypanimz]

Unlucky at Worcester. Hopefully it all works out at Tollnes.

[deltablue]

So Norway it is! It looked positive with Worcester there for a bit, but cant fault you for going to what appears to be a much bigger club!

I was sacked, so not much element of choice involved, and the media surprisingly seemed to treat Tollnes as a place that might be slightly beneath me.

Unlucky at Worcester. Hopefully it all works out at Tollnes.

It will somewhere, question is where?

[B.W.G]

Shame with what happened at Worcester.Best of luck in Norway.

[SRL88]

Shame on being sacked.

[deltablue]

Shame on being sacked.

Not an unreasonable sacking admitedly.

Shame with what happened at Worcester.Best of luck in Norway.

I'm going to need it, aside from there being no staff, the squad is terrible (few players have any attributes anywhere near double figures, and there are a worrying number of 5 star scout reports that probably have more to do with this than the quality of the players featured) and haven't a chance without a dangerously high level of new signings. I'm reminded of the second club of my last career, Hogaborg, when I ended up having to bring in a whole new, massively superior squad, who probably still weren't that good even when the squad-gelling issues are taken into account, the result being 1 point in half a season. While lots of signings (especially if they're genuinely good ones) doesn't necessarily mean disaster, it's fair to say hopes aren't high, but lets see what I can do.

[AK22]

Oh dear!

Norway's nice though. Cold, but nice

[CityAndColour]

Shame - what were the board's expectations at Worcester? Haven't seen someone sacked the week after scoring seven!

Good to see you've landed on your feet though.

[withnail316]

Unlucky at Worcester. Hope you can hack the monster winter break in Norway!

[ashton321]

This must be a first for any thread so far on FM13 not sure a record you want though mate. Good luck in Norway

[AcidBurn]

Never mind about the sacking time get going in Norway.

[Deisler26]

Forget the bitter Sauce at Worcester! Crack on with Tollnes! I had a wonderful Norwegian save in '06!

[SnakeXe]

Love the concept, and good luck in Norway! Wouldn't worry about Worcester, threads with failure are far more interesting.

[deltablue]

Oh dear!

Norway's nice though. Cold, but nice

Been there quite a bit in the past few years, this being the 6th or 7th time since FM10, more than most places, oddly enough always in the Premier or Second Divisions, never the First.

Unlucky at Worcester. Hope you can hack the monster winter break in Norway!

Or as it's otherwise known, 'the close season'.

This must be a first for any thread so far on FM13 not sure a record you want though mate. Good luck in Norway

The first what, sacking? There have definitely been a couple of others.

Shame - what were the board's expectations at Worcester? Haven't seen someone sacked the week after scoring seven!

Good to see you've landed on your feet though.

They wanted top half, but even when we were hanging onto that in the autumn my job was only just about stable so I knew I'd be fired soon over a month before I did once we dropped down. As for landed on my feet, that's only true of the fact that I got a new club very quickly. Otherwise I had a squad that would be lucky to get a win all year, let alone survive a league where 3 go down out of 14, meaning I needed to get in an entire new team, which means squad (and tactical) familiarity is 0. And one of my best signings is on study leave until July. Not the best position to be in, but survival is still possible if the side actually manages to come together.

Winter 2013

There was a lot of work to do if we were going to get anywhere near surviving, starting with getting in backroom staff, as there was no-one else. Most of the squad (such as it was) were useless, even those rated very highly. That meant I had to sift through mounds of reports on free agents who all looked superstars by comparision to find the actual good players. Thankfully I was able to use a transfer budget of just over 12k to add to the wage budget, taking it to 3.8kpw, half of it being spare, though I did have to use some of the 150k or so in the bank to release players later once it was clear that we didn’t have as anywhere near as many players who were good enough when it was mostly filled up, and the scout and Ass Man ratings adjusted to a more sensible scale.

I’d probably have been signing and releasing players from now until Halloween and just about had a squad I was sure about, but after 20 signings I felt the side I now had would so, especially as there were some pretty good players in there. Obviously there would be issues of both squad and tactical familiarity, but if we could get past those we definitely had a decent squad for this division, which made me hope that we could pull off survival despite all the changes. It was a massive roll of the dice, but one that had to be taken. It can work if the right players are there.

Froysnes

Johansen

Kveen

Mimic

Mohammadi

Rhamani

Svaeren

Transfers

One to watch (eventually):

Roll in July, I think we're going to need him.

[deltablue]

Never mind about the sacking time get going in Norway.

Forget the bitter Sauce at Worcester! Crack on with Tollnes! I had a wonderful Norwegian save in '06!

Oh I'm very much cracking on. Should be interesting to see whether we succeed or crash miserably.

Love the concept, and good luck in Norway! Wouldn't worry about Worcester, threads with failure are far more interesting.

I doubt that'll be under threat for the time being.

[AK22]

You've got two pretty decent right-backs. Can you shoehorn two right-backs into your formation though?

[deltablue]

You've got two pretty decent right-backs. Can you shoehorn two right-backs into your formation though?

Froysnes can play anywhere in a back 4, so that's easy.

Apr 2013

Vigor 2-1 Tollnes (NC)

We went to non-league Vigor in the cup to start the season. Very little happened for most of the first half, then we had a few chances. They then woke up and took the lead after 70 minutes. Froysnes equalized in the 79th minute but they snatched a winner. However I didn’t mind as the only thing that mattered was the league.

Tollnes 1-2 FKUM Oslo (D2)

In the league we started against FKUM Olso, and were unlucky to be behind at the break. A penalty from Mimic equalized in the 54th minute, and we had a good spell afterwards, but they scored a harsh winner with 5 minutes left.

Harstad 3-0 Tollnes (D2)

We were terrible at Harstad, going 3-0 down in the first 10 minutes. Thankfully that’s as bad as it got, but we failed to even start to turn it around.

Tollnes 4-0 Modum (D2)

We had a chance to get something against Modum, who also had lost both games so far. Mimic had a 7th minute goal disallowed, but Mohammadi managed to give us the deserved lead 20 minutes later. Rastoder extended the lead, and an own-goal took us 3-0 up. We had a tougher task in the second half but Mimic rounded off a great win the 84th minutes. We’d need a points from far tougher games, but it was great to have such a strong win on the board that may help get more soon.

May 2013

Moss 4-2 Tollnes (D2)

Moss away was near the tougher end of the scale, though we kept the game even for a while. They scored in the 23rd minute, but Mohammadi equalized immediately. Sadly they pushed on to lead 4-1 before Arezu gave us a consolation in the 67th minute.

Tollnes 1-1 Frigg (D2)

My previous Norwegian club, Frigg, were top, but we still started well, the Afghan international Arezu giving us a surprise 20th minute lead. We were under great pressure for a while, but could have extended the lead from a disallowed Rastoder effort. I had a feeling the disallowed goal could be costly, and they equalized in the 70th minute, but a draw wasn’t too bad a result.

Mo 1-1 Tollnes (D2)

We got a bit lucky at Mo when they had a 10th minute goal disallowed, then Solvang gave us a 16th minute lead. We looked shaky in the second half, and they equalized in the 56th minute. We still held on to get our first away point of the season.

Bossekop 1-4 Tollnes (D2)

We went to Bossekop, the team I rejected, who looked as weak as Tollnes were when I arrived. Mimic gave us a 2nd minute lead, though we struggled to build on it. Arezu missed a penalty, then made up for it in the 50th minute. They pulled a goal back, but another Arezu goal, and one from defender Kveen gave us a great win.

There are actually 3 relegation places, not 2, so we're nowhere near as comfortable as it looks. However having feared the season would be a disaster, I'm glad we're keeping our heads above water.

[DodgeeD]

Like the look of this deltablue. If I get a career going this time (I am concentrating on rancer's Asian challenge in CSE for now), I'll probably load leagues with more than two tiers so I can work my way up the ladder a bit more. In past careers, it's always been the case that minor success in a small league has led to a job offer from a much bigger club.

Shame it didn't work out in Worcester but it will be interesting to see what happens next in Norway.

[danielgear]

Lower leagues in england are looking more of a challenge for a few people which is great really shame you got sacked though, better luck in norway

[ashton321]

Things seem to be going better in Norway. In your FM11 career did you get sacked in England and then go to Norway (I think maybe it was with Frigg) cant remeber long time since I read that thread from the start.

Good work though I do enjoy your updating style.

[deltablue]

Like the look of this deltablue. If I get a career going this time (I am concentrating on rancer's Asian challenge in CSE for now), I'll probably load leagues with more than two tiers so I can work my way up the ladder a bit more. In past careers, it's always been the case that minor success in a small league has led to a job offer from a much bigger club.

Shame it didn't work out in Worcester but it will be interesting to see what happens next in Norway.

Good idea, it's good trying to take a club that far up. The likes of the Norwegian Second Division were the sort of thing I was thinking of cutting, but I knew that it was an important place I could go early on. We'll see how much I have to do before I get noticed by anyone.

Lower leagues in england are looking more of a challenge for a few people which is great really shame you got sacked though, better luck in norway

Thanks, it is indeed going better, and Norway's been good to me over the years, as it is now.

Things seem to be going better in Norway. In your FM11 career did you get sacked in England and then go to Norway (I think maybe it was with Frigg) cant remeber long time since I read that thread from the start.

Good work though I do enjoy your updating style.

I was indeed last in Norway with Frigg (who are in the same league now), my 3rd club of that career, though I hadn't been in England yet, instead having terrible spells in Slovenia and Sweden that both ended because I gave up on survival, not sackings.

June/July 2013

Tollnes 2-1 Ull/Kisa (D2)

The summer started against Ull/Kisa, which I didn’t expect anything from as they were in 2nd. They scored in the 18th minute, but we chased the game after that, getting our reward from two Arezu goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half gave us a great win, as it looked like we were finding our feet in the division.

Tromso 2 0-3 Tollnes (D2)

Arezu kept up his run with a goal after half an hour at Tromso 2. He scored again in the 56th minute, and the 70th minute saw Mimic finish off our 3rd win in a row, taking us into the top half, and 8 points clear of danger.

Tollnes 3-1 Kvik Halden (D2)

We extended the run to 4 games against Kvik Halden. They took a 6th minute lead, but Arezu equalized in the 10th minute. Mimic gave us a 22nd minute lead, and sealed it with 5 minutes left.

Nesodden 4-0 Tollnes (D2)

The run ended at high-flying Nesodden. They took the lead in the 4th minute, and had a 2-0 advantage after 2-0 minutes. We had a spirited start to the second half, but faded away as they went top with a 4-0 win, our first defeat in 7 games.

Boler 1-3 Tollnes (D2)

A trip to Boler was a good chance to extend the safety margin, as they were in the last relegation place. Leikvang was finally available, and marked his debut with a penalty in the18th minute. Kveen’s header made it 2-0 in the 57th minute, followed by Rastoder a few minutes later. They had actually outshot us in the match, eventually getting a consolation with 15 minutes left, and we were now 11 points (and 6 places) ahead of trouble.

Tollnes 1-1 Senja (D2)

We went behind after 20 minutes against Senja, and despite it not being one of our better performances, we snatched a late point from Svaeren, remaining in the top half at the half-way point.

Aug 2013

KFUM Oslo 4-1 Tollnes (D2)

We went to Oslo hoping to make up for our opening day defeat to KFUM. An even opening 15 minutes was followed by three Oslo goals in 10. Mohammadi scored just before half-time but an injury had already reduced us to 10 men, and they strolled to a 4-1 win.

Tollnes 2-0 Harstad (D2)

We had 3 home games in the next 4 (Modum being a manageable exception), but failed to take advantage against Harstad. We missed a 33rd minute penalty, summing up the fact that the lead was in our grasp but we didn’t take it, and a pair of second half Harstad goals punished us, as they proved to be far more efficient on the day, though not better. That also gave us our first back to back defeats since playing the same teams at the start of the season.

Modum 1-3 Tollnes (D2)

Modum were one of two teams at the bottom with just 4 points. Arezu gave us the lead after just a few minutes, and helped by a red card, Rastoder extended the lead in the 51st minute. They pulled a goal back, but Arezu immediately scored again to give us a 3-1 win.

Tollnes 1-3 Moss (D2)

A poor defensive display cost us badly against Moss. They took a 16th minute lead, then an own-goal gave them another 20 minutes later. A 56th minute penalty added a 3rd goal, before Rastoder scored a consolation.

Tollnes 1-3 Mo (D2)

Arezu gave us the lead in the 29th minute, but although they were a man down, they fought back hard. An own-goal that levelled the scores after 85 minutes was disappointing enough, but they had time to score twice more.

Slipped a bit recently but otherwise a reasonably strong summer (which took us as high as 6th, and briefly 5th) means that I don't think we have too much to worry about this season. Will be looking for a pretty strong finish, but as long as we're not too close to the bottom three I'll be happy with the outcome.

[withnail316]

Ah OK. I didn't know if Norway went on a similar pattern to Denmark, where the season starts in June, breaks up early December and continues in March, or whether it was like Finland, which starts in April and finishes in October. Either way, it's a long break.

[AK22]

Not going too badly; should keep you employed for another season anyway

[deltablue]

Ah OK. I didn't know if Norway went on a similar pattern to Denmark, where the season starts in June, breaks up early December and continues in March, or whether it was like Finland, which starts in April and finishes in October. Either way, it's a long break.

The Second Division season is shorter than the others so this season has been April-October, wheras the other league would at least go through November. A reset date in mid-Jan leads to a very long pre-season.

Not going too badly; should keep you employed for another season anyway

We managed it in the end, despite a very bad late run.

Sept 2013

Frigg 3-1 Tollnes (D2)

Frigg away was an almost guaranteed defeat. They scored after 10 minutes, having already had a number of chances, and again late in the half. We seemed incapable of doing anything in the entire match, aside from stopping them from getting more than 1 second half goal, and a late Johansen consolation.

Tollnes 2-0 Bossekop (D2)

We played Bossekop after a disastrous team meeting, but thankfully they were team we were bound to beat. Stephensen gave us a 5th minute lead and it was amazing that though we kept battering them, we didn’t get more. They came close a few times but Rhamani clinched it in stoppage time.

Ull/Kisa 2-1 Tollnes (D2)

We were up against it at Ull/Kisa just as much as against Frigg. It was one-way traffic from the start. They scored in the 25th minute, late having another disallowed. They got their second goal after the break, and Rastoder’s 85th minute goal made the score a lot closer than it deserved.

Tollnes 0-2 Tromso 2 (D2)

We were ending the season very badly, and were 1-0 down at the break against Tromso 2. We didn’t really improve, conceding again in stoppage time, and also had Svaeren angry at being subbed.

Oct 2013

Kvik Halden 3-0 Tollnes (D2)

In need of fresh faces, I threw in a winger from the youth intake to go to Kvik Halden. The first half was a very tight affair, but they tore us apart to win 3-0 in the second half, though admitedy injuries had given us an unbalanced defence.

Senja 1-0 Tollnes (D2)

We went behind in the 6th minute at Senja, though otherwise were better than recent games, and were unlucky not to get an equalizer with a few good chances late on.

Tollnes 2-2 Nesodden (D2)

Rastoder gave us the lead in the 28th minute against Nesodden as we look good for the first time in ages. They equalized early in the second half, and did so again at the end to deny us the win after Kveen’s header in the 82nd minute.

Tollnes 0-1 Boler (D2)

We played the last game against Boler knowing we’d survive and they’d be the last confirmed team to go down. That was just as well as we should have taken the lead while we had the chance, but they scored the only goal in the 66th minute.

It was a season of two halves. We lost the only cup game, then the first 2 league games, but lost only two more until the halfway point, including 4 wins in a row as part of a 6 match unbeaten run. However we lost 10 of the 13 games in the second half, winning just twice, and with a single point from the last 6 games. It wasn’t all bad, as I was worried it would be a disaster of a season, and having survival mostly confirmed halfway through (though it was only mathematical late on), we showed potential for a while. At the end of the day’ despite getting in an entire new team to try and survive, we did what I needed to do, which was the only thing that mattered. There would still be some changes next year as some players would be let go to make room for reinforcements, but otherwise having a mostly familiar squad should help next year, and we could start climbing the table.

There was a financial cloud over the horizon, as we were often losing more money than the entire player wage bill (which was made quite a bit over budget by contract renewals and the youth intake, as we had no players in the youth team before), going from 100k in the black to 150k in the red. Admitedly releasing players had played a part in that, but we’d be going deep into trouble anyway, and I absolutely had to clear out all the wage space I needed to get in a team that was capable of surviving, just look at how badly Modum and Bossekop did with squads similar to the useless one I inherited. I doubt even cup runs and promotion (which was a way off if it would ever happen) would really help so it was just a case of marching on and hoping for the best, as we had only 2 players worth anything, and only a combined total of £300! While I would have to replace a few departing players I would probably manage to keep within the wage budget this time, for all the good that would do.

Squad Stats

Star player: The Afghan summed the season up, as he was on fire in the summer when we had our good run, but disappointed for the rest of the year.

[deltablue]

Elsewhere

While I'm not one to spend ages looking up and posting 'Rest of the World' updates like some people, it wouldn't hurt to update you guys on the PL table and CL final each year, as well as the Euro's and World Cup. I could probably easily manage a couple more things if people wanted (though I hope people understand that I don't want to break my FM rhythm too much each year to grab and post too many different things), and as this will be a long-term career no doubt people will want to know what has happened in various leagues and to various clubs, which they should feel free to ask me at any time.

PL table:

CL Final:

[AcidBurn]

Good luck next season, considering the bad run you went on you did well to stay up.

[cerud]

You hung on. Hopefully, next season gives you a decent run up the table.

[ashton321]

Good work staying up after the bad run.