The Scandinavian Shankly's final chapter: From paupers to kings v2

[withnail316]

Evening all.

After the death of my Inverness/Sunderland thread, I'm heading back to a part of the world I love playing FM in. Scandinavia was the destination for my favourite ever save so it seems a good place to revisit, only this time I'm heading to Sweden. (I did have an attempt at this club a couple of years ago, but I got distracted by the bright lights of the Eredivisie after five years - that isn't going to happen this time.) I ideally wanted to move on from FM13, but I'm still struggling for the amount of time it would take to get started on a new version thanks to family and work life. I can play 13 in the 30-60 minute chunks that I find during the week, so I'll stick with the retro life. Sorry, gang.

As I've said before, Just for the record I'm no Liverpool fan (Notts County are my team) but of all the "great" managers of the past Shankly is perhaps the one I most admire and so he's the one I'd like to emulate. For those who don't know, when Shankly arrived at Anfield in 1959, Liverpool had been floating around in the Second Division for five years, yet in his time there he transformed them from top to bottom. Although he only won three league titles in his time, it was his work building the foundations of the club that enabled them to go on and dominate English and European football. I'd like to do the same in Sweden, and ultimately become the biggest club in the world.

That's ambitious. Why Scandinavia in general, and Sweden in particular?

The reason I enjoy playing in Sweden and Norway is the leagues are restrictive in terms of player registration. Both contain strict rules forcing me to use and develop homegrown players. In Norway, 16 of your 25 man squad must be homegrown, while in Sweden you must select 9 homegrown players in every 18 man match day squad. Now I have no self control in the transfer market (ohh, shiny!) so I can never commit to using just homegrown players in a save, or to just develop my own in a youth challenge as many of you like to do, but when the league forces me into developing players, I really enjoy that side of the game. It often means later on in the save that my signings are no older than 18 years of age, simply because they can become homegrown. Another reason for playing in this part of the word is there is a relatively low amount of TV and prize money, so even when or if the club is a European regular, we still have to sell players to ensure the club doesn't get into financial difficulties. I'll be playing in Sweden this time as I've already achieved my goal with a Norwegian club, so it seems right to cross the border. 

So what happens if you get sacked?
Hopefully I can avoid that fate, but if it does happen, I'll find another job in Sweden and keep going. 

Game details:
Belarus, Denmark, Finland ((2nd tier and above in all) France, Germany, Norway (3rd tier and above) & Sweden (4th tier and above)
FM13.3 with no edits
Large database, 31,000 players
Start date: January 2013 
 
Meet the manager:
32 year old Johann Andersson is the man in the hotseat. The Swede spent most of his playing career in the lower leagues of Norway and Sweden before a career-ending knee injury around his 30th birthday, but he hopes to make more of a splash at a higher level from the dug-out.

[withnail316]

Örebro SK
(From Wiki)

Örebro Sportklubb, also known simply as Örebro SK, Örebro or ÖSK, are a Swedish professional football club based in Örebro. The club are affiliated to Örebro Läns Fotbollförbund and the club colours, reflected in their crest and kit, are black and white. The club were formed on 28 October 1908, and played their first year in the top flight in 1946–47. Despite their long history, the football club have never won a major trophy, although they have finished as runners up in the top flight (Allsvenskan) twice.

The club play their football at the 14,400 capacity Behrn Arena, which is rented from the city.

(From FM)

The club had been relegated from the top flight in 2012, so when I arrive they are one of the favourites to get promoted. The club has 2,000 season ticket holders, and offer a generous wage budget (almost €40,000p/w, with €15,000p/w available to spend) although there is no money available to buy players. The club has a fierce rivalry with Degerfors, while both Västerås as Forward are also considered rivals. The club has average training and basic youth facilities, with average junior coaching and above average junior recruitment.

[withnail316]

The squad is decent, and I have almost four months to add to it before the new season starts, so I would hope it will be even better by the time we kick off. 

However, there's very little in the youth ranks now, so nothing to report in terms of youngsters to watch right now.

I also arrive to a bit of money in the bank, but I anticipate financial troubles in a year or so. 

[withnail316]

In terms of tactics, in most of my saves I'm a pragmatist - I'll simply see what players I have at my disposal and work out a system from there. That often means playing either 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1, but this time I'm going to try and develop a "philosophy" for the club. Personally I love watching sides who play with old fashioned wingers (the chalk on their boots type, rather than modern wide forwards) but that also have a bit of bite and guile in midfield so I'll be working on two 4-3-3 shapes with that in mind. (My pet hate is seeing my team get overrun in the heart of midfield too, so I'll try and avoid that wherever I can.) One system will have an AM, the other a DM, which will obviously depend on our opposition. I'd also rather see us get the ball forward quickly too, as tiki-taka isn't really my thing. 

[Deisler26]

Excellent! Best of luck!

[withnail316]

3 hours ago, Deisler26 said:

Excellent! Best of luck!

Thanks chief. Made a little progress earlier today, hopefully I can get a first update in tonight.

[withnail316]

Örebro SK
Season preview 2013 (Superettan)

Media expectation: 3rd (of 16)
Board expectation: win promotion to the Allsvenskan

Transfer budget (remaining): €52,000
Wage budget: €40,500p/w (€6,000p/w under budget)

Ah, it's good to be back. I've been flying through this first pre-season, and already feel like I have my feet under the table at the club. As I've already mentioned, the board's expectations for this season are for the club to get promoted, which I think is fair enough. While I wouldn't say this is a "big" club, it certainly shouldn't be stuck in the second tier. Unfortunately, there isn't any Swedish Cup for us this season, as for some reason the competition isn't run in 2013. Still, it means we can "concentrate on the league", as the old saying goes. 

I've added to the backroom staff, which meant replacing my old (terrible) assistant manager, and replacing him with the club's wily old chief scout. I've also managed to add a couple of coaches, and so training seems to be going well so far, and every category in training is now at least ranked at 2.5 stars. Not perfect, but a good start. Money is a little bit tight at the club, so I won't be asking the club for any upgrades at all this season, and I'll have to hope the HoYD pulls a rabbit out the hat when youth intake day comes around. 

In terms of transfers, at this stage we've only had one player leave the club (although the window is still open and that could change before April) but he left for a decent fee. Albanian international striker Shpetim Hasani had several clubs chasing him, and he's joined Rio Ave in Portugal for a club record fee of €90,000. He's a good player, but that was a fee we had to accept, especially as it was all paid up front. We did spend €50,000 of that on Hasani's replacement, which was the only fee spent by the club, although that will be paid off over several years. The man who will fill Hasani's boots is Norwegian Tore Andreas Gundersen, who has come in from HamKam in the Norwegian second tier. He is one of four Norwegians who have come in, the other three were all made available by Odd in the Norwegian top flight. Full backs Emil Jonassen and Niklas Gunnarsson will both start every week when fit, and both should develop into top quality players, as should midfielder Fredrik Oldrup Jensen. Another player to arrive on a free from Norway was goalkeeper Ole Söderberg. He was surplus to requirements at Molde, with his contract running down, and he was the first player my new scouts recommended I sign and he should be our number 1 for the foreseeable future. The biggest hole in the squad was in the left wing role, and I made huge contract offers to two players who turned us down, but I did finally get former BATE man Aleksander Alumona in. Unfortunately that means a tweak tactically as both of our left wingers are now inside forwards, but we'll just have to live with that. The last permanent arrival was ex Blackburn, Middlesbrough and Lyon midfielder Herold Goulon. He's made fewer than 50 league appearances at the age of 24 thanks to injury problems, but if he can stay fit, he'll be a real asset as an anchor man. Finally, we took Djurgårdens IF youngster Simon Tibbling on a two-year loan, who will be our "spare" midfielder to cover in case of injury. 

Overall I'm happy enough with the balance of the squad, although I do need to be careful with the homegrown balance. Currently, 10 of the squad are not classified as homegrown, which is probably a couple more than I would like, but it should be manageable over the course of the season. I suspect if I am to sign any more, I'll probably have to sell one of the 10 to make room. That also means that in the next couple of windows, I'll be concentrating on bringing in as much homegrown talent as I can. 

[Deisler26]

How good is Tommy Høiland?

[withnail316]

4 minutes ago, Deisler26 said:

How good is Tommy Høiland?

He wouldn't get into my team, but he's currently playing for one of two semi-pro sides in the Norwegian top flight:

[Bobsled]

I will be following this. Really enjoyed your last Scandinavian save.

[Deisler26]

7 hours ago, withnail316 said:

He wouldn't get into my team, but he's currently playing for one of two semi-pro sides in the Norwegian top flight:

He's still 

[withnail316]

1 hour ago, JonasAjax said:

I will be following this. Really enjoyed your last Scandinavian save.

Thanks, man. Welcome on board.

[withnail316]

A little more transfer news, including a surprise sale for a player who has just arrived. Winger Alexander Alumona had only been with us for a matter of weeks, but top flight club Östers IF were sniffing around him from the day he arrived, and he was already unsettled in our friendlies. My scouts had found a potential replacement for him for free, so I took a gamble in offering him to Östers, who put down €75,000 to us for his services. That's good money at this level, so I took it. We also sold two reserve players for €24,000 and €30,000 to bring our transfer intake to €219,000 this winter. 

The man who came in was this lad, former 1860 Munich forward Djordje Rakic. Much like Alumona he's very versatile, and although he's earning a bit more money, at 27 we could probably keep him for a couple of years and then sell him on for a huge profit. While he is probably ideal to use as a striker, he'll play on the left in the current set-up. 

 

[deltablue]

Back to where you belong

[withnail316]

A long old pre-season is finally over, and we're good to go for the new season. 

All in all, it's been a productive pre-season. Everybody is fit, and bar the poor display against Kongsvinger, we've looked pretty decent. 

There has been some more transfer news, too. 35 year old centre back Magnus Wikstrom was wanted by Stockholm giants AIK, and we let him leave for €10,000. We also sold goalkeeper Jonas Sandqvist for €20,000, and we used some of that money to bring in Slovenian international defender Nejc Potokar on a free from Danish side Maribo.

[withnail316]

Early weeks

I'm not *strictly* using months for my updates this season as I've just realised I've got to mid-May without writing anything here. The joy of a 30 game season means my first update comes after 20% of the campaign, which is at least a round number, so that will have to do!

On the pitch, things are going great. Six games, six wins, just one goal conceded and 17 scored. Tore Andreas Gundersen has already found his shooting boots with 7 to his name, and we look pretty solid all across the park. Off the pitch though, things aren't quite so rosy. Despite bringing in €200,000 in profit in the transfer market and averaging more than 5,000 at our home games, we are over €800,000 in debt. I suspect I'll have to sell a couple of players when the transfer window opens in the summer. We also have an issue with injuries, with five important players missing. 

[withnail316]

May

On the pitch, results are still going well as we hit a two week summer break. To have conceded just three goals after 10 games is outstanding, and long may it continue. I'm trying a few tweaks to the system so we get a few more bodies forward as we're not quite as creative as I'd like, but that's me being very picky. 

Off the pitch, things aren't looking quite so rosy. We are now €975,000 in debt, and while I'd hope the board would put their hands in their pocket to sort some of that, I need to do my bit too. Second choice striker William Atashkadeh was linked with a move away on transfer deadline day, when we rejected an offer of €150,000 for him from Kalmar FF of the top flight. They are now rock bottom and desperate for a striker, so when I offered Atashkadeh out for €500,000, they responded with an offer of €350,000 (plus 50% of any sell-on.) I simply can't afford to turn that down, although we won't receive the money until the window opens in August. He'd scored three goals for us this season from the bench. Fortunately, third choice striker Peter Samuelsson is a very able deputy to Gundersen, and we also have an AIK youngster on loan from before I took over, so we should be OK. 

[withnail316]

It would seem Kalmar are really chucking some cash around, they've now come in for midfielder Mohammed Saeid. The 22 year old is Swedish born, but he started his career at WBA so he isn't homegrown, so I'm happy enough to let him leave - especially for €220,000 (plus 50%). 

I've replaced him with this lad, who was recommended to me by an agent as he was out of contract.

[withnail316]

After re-reading my old thread, I've decided I'm going to go back to writing out brief descriptions of games. It just feels like I'm adding a little more effort to the thread rather than simply posting a results image.

SU: Örebro SK 3-1 IK Brage
We blew the visitors away in the first half, and cruised into the break 3-0 up. The front three all got on the score sheet, Rakic inside the opening minute, before Gundersen thumped on in from 25 yards 12 minutes later. Daniel Bamberg curled home a third right before half time, and although we took our foot off the pedal in the second half, it was a solid win. 

SU: Ängelholms FF 1-2 Örebro SK
A real battle against another side chasing promotion, and we got away with a win in the end thanks to a missed penalty. Rakic had levelled things up after 38 minutes, then Gundersen thumped home a header on the stroke of half time. 

SU: Örebro SK 1-1 GIF Sundsvall 
We were dismal here, and really should have lost the game. A curler from Rakic after 40 minutes at least ensured we got a point, but it was probably our worst display so far...

SU: Degerfors IF 1-1 Örebro SK
..until the derby, that is. A robbery was committed at the Stora Valla, but when Peter Samuelsson bundled home from close range after 87 minutes, I really didn't care. 

SU: Örebro SK 2-0 Assyriska FF 
Much, much better, although it should have been more comfortable. Defender Christoffer Wiktorsson nodded home his first of the season after 25 minutes from a corner, and then Gundersen drilled home a second from distance after 62 minutes. He's up to 10 for the season now. 

[withnail316]

I've been trying to secure a couple of Bosman deals for next season, but I haven't had a great deal of joy. I need to secure a back up full back as 37 year old Samuel Wowoah won't be at the club next season, but I need to find one who is homegrown. I have made offers for two candidates, but both players have rejected my offers, while the Superettan's 19 goal top scorer has also turned us down. I have secured one deal so far for a striker, who will probably start as our main striker next season. 

This may mean I sell Gundersen in the winter, simply because the club needs the money. 

[withnail316]

Another Bosman deal for next year, simply because it'll allow me to sell Herold Goulon in the winter. Needs must, unfortunately. 

[withnail316]

July & August

SU: Landskrona 2-2 Örebro SK 
Weird game, but it nearly cost us our unbeaten record. Rakic slotted us in front after just four minutes, but they dominated the game. We were still behind with just seven to play, but Gundersen popped up with a late header to secure a point. 

SU: Örebro SK 1-0 Jönköpings Södra
A much better performance, and although we only got one we should have had five or six. Gundersen again with the goal. The bloke is a machine. 

SU: Örebro SK 3-1 GAIS
3-0 up at half time in one of our best performances of the season. Gundersen, Rakic and Samuelsson with the goals. 

SU: Ljungskile 0-1 Örebro SK 
Dour, but a win is a win is a win. Samuelsson with the strike which came four minutes from time. 

SU: Örebro SK 5-0 Östersunds
Poor old Östersunds are in big trouble, and the offered no resistance here at all. Marcus Astvald grabbed a double, as did Gundersen, and Herold Goulon scored the goal of the game from 30 yards, which was his first for the club. 

Svenska Cupen 2nd qualifying round: IK Kongahälla 0-3 Örebro SK
A potential banana skin against a regional league side, but we cruise into next season's group stage - which runs before the league season starts, and the final is in May/June. It took some getting used to initially, but there we go! Gundersen and Holmberg (2) with the goals. 

SU: Falkenberg 1-3 Örebro SK
Two from Gundersen and one from Bamberg see us secure yet another win. 

SU: Hammarby IF 0-3 Örebro SK
Hammarby are absolutely woeful this season, and even though they sacked their manager back in May, I wouldn't be surprised if they make another change in the winter. Bamberg got two more, while Rakic bent in a corker for his tenth of the season. 

I'm not getting over-excited about our season, despite us flying. Not only do we have the largest wage bill in the division, we actually have a top 6 budget for the top flight. It would seem the board want a champagne lifestyle on lemonade wages though, as we're now €1.25m in debt, despite making a profit of €775,000 in the transfer market. 

[withnail316]

Youth intake

Nothing spectacular in our first youth intake, but with a bit of work these lads have a chance of a career ahead of them. Whether that's with us or another club, that's another question!

[withnail316]

September & October

I know I said I'll write results, but I've got a lot to get in tonight in two posts, so I'll have to make do with an image. 

An unbeaten season then, and the second tier title has been secured. I'm not *that* excited by this achievement though, considering we should always have been in contention for promotion and our wage budget. Still, we're back in the top flight, and now I can start planning for next season. 

[withnail316]

Örebro SK - season summary 2013

League (Superettan)
Media prediction: 3rd
Finished: 1st (promoted as champions)

Cups
Svenska Cupen: N/A

Europe
N/A - Champions League won by Real Madrid, Europa League by Newcastle

Top scorers
Tore Andreas Gundersen: 29 appearances (all starts): 21 goals (20 in the league)
Djordje Rakic: 24 appearances (20 starts): 10 goals (all in the league)

Top assists
Daniel Bamberg: 12 in all comps
Marcus Astvald: 11 in all comps

Positives
Very pleased to have gone up of course, but promotion this season was more about *when* we go up, rather than if. On the pitch, the squad is excellent, and even if I was to start next season with the exact same bunch of players as I have now, I'm quite happy we'd be able to compete for a top half finish. The form of the front three has been immense, with 40 goals between Bamberg, Rakic and Gundersen, while we've only conceded 13 goals in the league all season. All in all, there's plenty to be happy about. 

Concerns & disappointments
Despite what I've just said, I do anticipate there being quite a bit of transfer business over the winter, simply because the club is carrying so much debt, which is an obvious concern. We are over €1.5m in debt on the day of the final league game, so we haven't paid out any bonuses or increased wages on promotion, and the board haven't added any funds in either. That means I'm going to need to sell players to try and get the club back on an even keel. Daniel Bamberg, Herold Goulon, Nejc Pokotar and Tore Andreas Gundersen are likely candidates to leave (although I'd rather keep Gundersen if at all possible.) The debt also means I can't ask for training and youth facility upgrades either, but at least the stadium is alright!

Manager's player of the season
It would be easy to give it to Gundersen considering he's scored so many goals, but the entire back four are good candidates too. I'm going to give it to Djordje Rakic, though. 

Attendances (capacity of 14,400)
Lowest attendance: 4,976
Highest attendance: 13,419
Average attendance: 5,696

[withnail316]

Örebro SK
Season preview 2014 (Allsvenskan)

Media expectation: 12th (of 16)
Board expectation: safe midtable position

Transfer budget (remaining): €164,000
Wage budget: €50,700p/w (€8,250p/w under budget)

Another long pre-season is almost over, and it's been a busy few months for the club. Firstly, the board did me a huge favour by organising two sponsorship deals for €1.6m in total, which went a long way towards clearing our debt from last season. It didn't provide enough of a buffer for me to avoid selling players, or allow me to ask the board for an upgrade or two, but it was hugely appreciated all the same. The board also allowed me to bring in a few more coaches and scouts, the most notable of which was our soon to be out of contract left back Samuel Wowoah. The 37 year old elected to retire and take up a position as a coach, giving our defensive coaching a huge boost in the process. I've also been able to cast a wider net in terms of scouting, so we're now searching all the Nordic nations and nearby Belarus, while agents are offering players released in France and Germany, so we're quite well covered there. 

I'm fairly content with the board's requirements for this season, even if we're not spending much more on wages this year than last. Midtable is certainly feasible, but I'll be aiming for a top half finish if we can. The board have no expectations of progression in our Cup Group, especially as we're in the same one as league champions AIK, and this year I don't anticipate taking it too seriously. Who knows though, the other clubs may have the same idea, so we might get lucky. 

In terms of transfers, it's been a busy window as I attempted to hack our wage budget down. Unfortunately we're still in debt, but the board now anticipate we'll finish the season around €500,000 in the black, which I'd certainly take. We've seen some pretty high profile players leave this window, and yet I feel we're about as strong as we were. The biggest names to leave were wingers Daniel Bamberg and Djordje Rakic. Both were hugely important last season, but they were on €7,000p/w between them. In the end, we got €325,000 (+50%) from German second tier side Freiburg, while Lokeren paid €275,000 (+50%) for Bamberg. European-chasing Nordsjælland of the Danish Superliga took both Nejc Potokar and Herold Goulon from us for a combined €500,000, while midfielder Denis Abdulahi could bring us €75,000 in over the next year. He's gone out on loan to GIF Sundsvall. That's over a million euros into the club this winter, and almost two million since I took over. 

In terms of players in, I had aimed to avoid spending any money at all, but in the end we spent €224,000 - including an enormous €200,000 on one player, which quadruples our transfer record. That was because I had initially tried to sign on loan defender Emil Bergström to a permanent deal, but his club wanted €750,000. Finding a replacement for €200,000 seemed like a bargain, under those circumstances! The player in question is 22 year old Mikael Dyrestam from IFK Goteborg. He's an excellent addition who can play all across the back four, so I'm really pleased with this deal. The other €24,000 was spent on Rakic's replacement. That man is Dzmitry Rekish, who turned us down last winter, but was more than happy to come to us now we're in the top flight. He had been playing at Naftan in his homeland, hence the ridiculously cheap price tag! (Seriously, Belarus is great for cheap players of genuine quality, and when playing in the Nordics where work permits aren't an issue, I often find some real bargains.) The rest of my additions were on free transfers. Prince Oniangue had been released by Ligue 2 Tours last summer. He can play as both a DM and a centre back, and according to my assistant is our best player. We also picked up attacking Spanish midfielder Ivan Carril, who had been released by SV Reid, but who began his career at Barcelona. I expect he'll play as an inside forward on the right, and compete with Marcus Astvald. We also got German left back Marcel Halstenberg, who had been released by Dortmund. Add those with the two Bosman deals we secured in the summer, and things are looking pretty good for the club right now. 

[withnail316]

Hmm. Norwegian club Lyn have had a huge tycoon takeover, and got promoted to the second tier last season. It appears they want to spend some of that cash on one of my players:

They made an enquiry, I thought I'd frighten them off by asking for twice our transfer record. They had other ideas! Gundersen had a brilliant season last year, but I can't turn that amount of money down. 

[withnail316]

The Gundersen deal went through, and he's trebled his wages moving to the Norwegian PSG. I've replaced him with a young Finn, who my scouts have been recommending for a year, but only after my original target turned us down for a move to Tromsø.

[withnail316]

March

Svenska Cupen Group 1: Örebro SK 3-0 Sylvia
A comprehensive victory over the third tier side, and amid a little bit of chaos with the unexpected Gundersen bid. Still, it was an excellent win and gets the group stage off to a solid start. Strikers Pär Ericsson and Tim Väyrynen both scored debut goals, while Marcus Astvald grabbed the other.

Svenska Cupen Group 1: AIK 3-2 Örebro SK
15 months and 33 games into my time in charge, and this is a first defeat. Not bad, but we never should have lost the game. We were 2-1 up with 13 minutes to go thanks to Ericsson and Rekish, but two individual errors in the last five minutes cost us. We leave the national stadium with nothing. 

Svenska Cupen Group 1: Örebro SK 3-1 Östers IF
The situation here meant all three top flight sides could progress. If we failed to beat Östers IF, they were through. A win for us would be enough to go through providing AIK didn't thump Sylvia, in which case, they would go through. We did our bit thanks to Jensen, Ericsson and Väyrynen, but AIK won 5-0. That left both us and them having scored 8 goals and with a goal difference of 4...which meant they pipped us to the quarter final spot on our head-to-head record. 

 

[oriole01]

Super unlucky not to go through there. I quietly followed along towards the end of your Inverness thread and enjoyed it, and I love a good Scandinavian thread as well. Great work so far!

[withnail316]

16 hours ago, oriole01 said:

Super unlucky not to go through there. I quietly followed along towards the end of your Inverness thread and enjoyed it, and I love a good Scandinavian thread as well. Great work so far!

Thanks mate. Yeah it was unfortunate to go out, hopefully next year we'll be in a position to have a good run at the cup. It looks like my best option for European football in the next few years.

[withnail316]

April

Apologies for the graphics again, but time has been scarce this week, so I just want to get a quick update in. A bright start to the season, much brighter than expected. Lots of goals scored, and our new arrivals are settling in well. Whether we can keep this form up only time will tell, but I certainly can't grumble. 

The first major trophy of the Swedish season has been decided already, too. Helsingborg beat Ängelholms FF 2-0 in the final at the national stadium in early May

[withnail316]

Well, this is a surprise:

Great for him, but definitely a little awkward for us to lose our main striker for at least three games, and potentially six. 

[withnail316]

A couple of Bosman deals arranged for the winter, both of whom are homegrown players.

Kouakou is likely to be our third choice striker next year, while Johansson will replace the on-loan Simon Tibbling, who signed a new deal with his parent club before I could offer him a contract. 

[withnail316]

A first job offer, and it's from one of the Stockholm clubs:

No thanks, gents. You might be good enough for Teddy Sheringham to spend a year on loan with you, but I'm not interested. 

[withnail316]

Two more deals for next season, both coming in on free transfers:

Linde will just be a number two keeper, but Atta will start every week. 

[withnail316]

Mid-season

Apologies I've not kept up with a monthly update, I keep forgetting. Still, it's another ridiculous season. Sweden's big clubs have fallen apart, and we seem to keep marching on. I'd hoped things would be tougher than this, but we are where we are. 

[withnail316]

This is utterly insane. €2m from a second tier Norwegian club. I can't blame my board for accepting the offer, it matches his asking price, but it's not ideal.

[withnail316]

More transfer news in the last few days of the window. Gunnarsson accepted the contract on offer from Lyn (€8,000p/w!) so leaves for €2m and I replaced him with Emil Bergström, the youngster we had on loan from Djurgårdens IF last season. That deal cost us €180,000, which is a bargain. I also sold midfielder Mohammad Abubakari for €100,000 to Horsens in Denmark. He complained about game time, and his form was iffy, so it made sense. A surprise sale though was striker Tim Väyrynen, who is off to IFK Goteborg for €475,000 (+50%.) I'd rather not sell excellent players to other Swedish clubs, but he had to leave because we signed Denni Avdic on a free after his contract at Werder Bremen expired, who also happens to be homegrown, so Väyrynen would otherwise be kicking around in our reserves. 

I would like to spend that €475,000 on a new holding midfielder, but the two candidates I want are currently a little bit too pricey, so we'll have to wait and see. 

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One last deal.

A new record transfer, €230,000 from Helsingborg, and crucially another homegrown player for the squad. It was getting a little awkward ensuring we had 9 in the match day squad, but now it's pretty comfortable, and it will be even more so when the Bosman deal players arrive. Unfortunately only two of the first team squad are trained at the club though, so we'll need to work on that when European games come about. 

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FM is certainly a relief from real life football. The state of my football club... 😣😥😫

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August

August hasn't been great for us as we've dropped points three times, but the big clubs in Sweden continue to struggle. Only Helsingborg are having anything close to a reasonable season, although IFK Goteborg could shoot up the table if they win their games in hand. Amazingly, I think we should win the title at the first attempt - which is a bit frustrating, but the challenge here is to build a side able to compete in Europe, which is a long way off just yet. 

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Youth intake 2014

Nothing to see here...

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September

So close to the title I can almost touch it now. As mentioned before, it's a little disappointing we'll inevitably get it at the first time of asking, but I'll take it. We are still miles off where I want to be at this club, so there's a lot of road yet left in this journey. 

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Struggling for time with this, so my end of season update will be short and sweet. 

We've secured the title in our first season in the top flight. Not bad for a side expected to struggle, and our key men were Pär Ericsson (19 goals) Dzmitry Rekish (14 goals 15 assists) and Prince Oniangue, who was my player of the season. 

I'm not planning too much transfer activity this summer, although I can see Oniangue leaving if we get a big offer, simply because we'll need to bring some more money into the club. We have a lot of work to do on our facilities, and the only way I can fund that sustainably is by selling players. Just for reference, we have so far brought in almost €6m in transfer fees, and have spent €825,000. 

I do anticipate all the big Swedish clubs to improve next season, but I'm hopeful we'll be ready for them.

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I think Lyn just send their scout to all of our games. They want three more of our players - and have activated the release clause of Oldrup Jensen. €2.5m if he returns to Norway. I shall offer him a new deal, but we can't compete on wages with the side from Oslo.

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Örebro SK
Season preview 2015 (Allsvenskan)

Media expectation: 2nd (of 16)
Board expectation: challenge for the title

Transfer budget (remaining:) €3m
Wage budget: €62,000p/w (€9,000p/w under budget)

Apologies this has gone off the ball a little over the last week or so, unfortunately real life seems to have got in the way. I'm looking forward to getting stuck back in to things again, though. 

Its been an interesting winter so far. The board have agreed to our first upgrade, so the youth facilities will be looking a little better in a few months time. I would like to improve our youth coaching too, but so far my requests have been denied. Depending on what happens in Europe, I might think about asking for a training facility upgrade too - although we aren't too bad there for the time being. 

In terms of the board's expectations, I'm not shocked they expect us to challenge again considering the way last season went. I do expect all of the big clubs to strengthen, but I'd like to think we've got plenty of quality too. I also hope we can get out of the Swedish Cup group this season, although the board aren't especially interested in the competition. It helps that I've been able to create a squad that contains enough quality that I can rotate every player if I want to, and I don't think results should drop too much. I do have a slight issue with homegrown players, but only at the club, so we shouldn't have an issue in domestic games. Our first team squad contains 16 homegrown Swedish players, while a couple of the non-Swedes are on the path to becoming homegrown, too.

In terms of transfers, both transfer records have been broken this winter. The biggest deal was for midfielder Fredrik Oldrup Jensen, who we picked up on a free in my first season. He's gone back to Norway for a record €2.5m, as Lyn activated his buy-out clause. It's a shame to lose him, but when I added that release fee to his contract, I knew the risks. It's a wonderful deal for the club, though. That's also €5.3m Lyn have spent on our players in two seasons! Also leaving was defender Christoffer Wiktorsson, who has joined Malmö for €170,000, while Denis Abdulahi has gone to Bodø/Glimt for €90,000. 

As for players in, you've already seen four of the new arrivals, all of whom came in on free transfers. We have spent €800,000 ourselves though, which is a little more than I planned but it's a pair of great deals. First up was holding midfielder Marcus Hansson, who arrives from relegated Djurgårdens IF for €400,000. That's genuine competition for Prince Oniangue in the anchor man role, while he can also do a job at centre back too. The next arrival is a bit more of a gamble, but with regular game time, he might become a top player. Northern Irish kid Michael Dickey also costs €400,000, from his local club Linfield. I am pondering a bid for an 18 year old Croatian striker in the weeks before the window closes, but I can't see there being any progress there (and I already have plenty of options up front anyway.)

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Finally got to play the first games of the new season, update coming later. 

I also pondered spending €1m on a player for the first time, but pulled back from the brink of insanity just in time.

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THE SAVE LIVES!!!!