HeresdaKicker Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 **First, some concise background on my career of 3.25 seasons to get you caught up. Please also note that this is my first ever career save, as I’m a newcomer to FM and the forums! If you enjoy the thread, send me a shout or ask a question. I’m currently averaging 110 gate receipts a match, so I could really use the support! Also note I will not be in the habit of posting walls of text beyond this introduction! True to the LLaMa ethic, I started off as a Sunday Leaguer with no stinkin’ badges, then vacationed for several months before deciding to apply to my first job in Italy. My career began by taking over U.S. Alessandria Calcio 1912 mid-season. In case you couldn’t guess they’re an Italian side from Serie C/A, and were in the throes of a relegation battle when I came on. I got the boys to fight somewhat valiantly against the drop, but finally lost, after which I caught my first sack. Back on the hunt immediately after losing my post, I landed the task of keeping newly promoted English side Tonbridge up in the Vanarama N/S (doesn’t that sound like a sweet gig!) It’s hard to explain how horrendously mismanaged the finances were by Tonbridge’s board, but “despicable” would be a good word to sum up their slipshod accounting. Staying in the black is no easy task for a small club, on or off the pitch, but we hemorrhaged tremendous amounts of cash—tempting me to speculate that the boardroom were engrossed in a long-running cocaine spiral that had kicked off well before the time I took over. While I tried to manage their reputation, they blew 40-50k every month which is nothing to sneeze at. In their white powdered frenzy, they babbled the same gibberish every month, going on about “how we expect to see some income from player sales in the near future,” despite having received zero paying transfer offers in all my time at the club, which was primarily a result of the club’s poor reputation, and not that we didn’t have any attractive talent—though there wasn’t loads of it. Despite the club’s fated financial ruin, I managed to stay on for 2 ¼ seasons and took all the hard knocks I could gather along the way. By the time my third season in charge got underway, I’d become completely fed-up with the farcical nature of the club’s relationship to myself and the players, and so I started to daydream about new posts I might find upon entering the job market. Finally, the end to my tenure came after we lost our first-stage match in the FA Cup to minnows Wembley in the 2017/2018 season, which was the first time I had failed to meet the board’s expectations since arriving at the club. As I’d been waiting for months for the right moment to leave, I simply couldn’t pass up the opportunity for greener pastures, and so resigned. I immediately applied to second division (4th tier) Swedish club Västra Frölunda IF, and got the job despite the club having a slightly larger reputation than my previous. The Board has declared they want me to stay long-term in order to make measured progress through a number of seasons, and to suggest I don’t jump ship anytime soon, all of which I agree to. I make a request for all illegal drug use at the club to be banned, and stipulate that I will not stand idly by as players do a Robbie Fowler goal celebration. As it turns out, Sweden have a lower incidence of drug use across the board, so I should be in safe hands. Season Team League Position Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 14/15 Alessandria Serie C/A Relegated 15/16 Tonbridge Vanarama S 11th 16/17 Tonbridge Vanarama S 14th 17/18 Tonbridge Vanarama S Resigned Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeresdaKicker Posted October 16, 2015 Author Share Posted October 16, 2015 Club Background Founded in 1930, Västra Frölunda IF are a semi-professional Swedish club currently playing in the Swedish Second Division West Götaland. Västra Frölunda will be looking to build on their mid-table finish in the Second Division WG last season.The club play their home games at Ruddalen and possess below average training facilities and basic youth facilities. The club also has average junior coaching and a fairly basic youth recruitment network. The club is affectionately know as Frölunda.As a club which is currently enjoying its best ever spell of success-their last competition win coming as recently as 2017-Frölunda are a club with a growing history. Västra Frölunda won the Swedish 4th tier for the only time in 2015, and won the Group 10 in 2017. Göteborg The city we share with a number of other clubs Our groundsPre-season, or a good marinadeIt’s months before matches start, so I hire my staff, fire some duds, and start the search for new talent. My goal, without having tested the competition yet, is to gain promotion by the end of my third season. And I plan to do so by buying youth at a discount (free players), nurturing their development, and holding on to their contracts for as long as possible.I’m pleased with the way the team looks. We have several quality players ranging from attackers to defenders that give the squad a strong talent base from which to build. My job during pre-season will mainly be to condition the team adequately so that we are ready to play from the first whistle, and to add some depth via young players that look to hold a bit of promise. We are figured at 20-1 odds to win the league, and the board wants somewhere above mid-table. They also want defensive football which I agree with, which means I’ll be looking to grab goals from the break most games, and rarely start matches with an attacking mentality. I’m disappointed to see that we won’t be earning any prize money for league finishes. Also, no money for cups as we won’t be playing for any.Some worrisome statistics from the team’s previous campaign: 6 goals from strikers in 26 games? Will definitely look to improve this ratio. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dllu Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Welcome! Not sure why the arrow on your map seems to be going to Norway, but looking forward to this... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Welcome!Not sure why the arrow on your map seems to be going to Norway, but looking forward to this... And it doesn't start anywhere near Tonbridge Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeresdaKicker Posted October 16, 2015 Author Share Posted October 16, 2015 Welcome!Not sure why the arrow on your map seems to be going to Norway, but looking forward to this... And it doesn't start anywhere near Tonbridge Couldn't be bothered to get precise with the fat drawing tool in Photobucket What's better than an unnecessary and completely inaccurate image to distract you from a wall of text? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maw74 Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Could have just let Google Maps do it. Anyway good luck in Sweden. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeresdaKicker Posted October 16, 2015 Author Share Posted October 16, 2015 Thanks, Maw! If I win any kind of award for this thread, you deserve at least half credit Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 You've got a long wait, we've only just had our last awards night Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nie jem frytek Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 Top name that Västra Frölunda! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeresdaKicker Posted October 18, 2015 Author Share Posted October 18, 2015 Star Players/Staff Omar Hamid- Attacking Mid. L/R, ST© Jamy Makindu- Attacking Mid. R Herish Sadi-Chief and only Scout Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeresdaKicker Posted October 18, 2015 Author Share Posted October 18, 2015 APRIL/MAY A very pleasing start to our campaign. The six friendly pre-season wins sees us go 10 games unbeaten. Top performances: Jamy Makindu is top class for our league and has really impressed, as has our veteran striker Erik Johannesen who is playing out of his shoes. An experienced nose for goal, he scores four goals in three games; a healthy haul for a player of his age and rating. Also, young Omar Hamid, who I’ve started with on the left wing is making some good decisions, and looks like he’ll fit in squarely with what we’re trying to achieve here. In the 90th minute of our loss to Tord, our star right winger Jamy Makindu tears his hamstring. We don't have a physio. on staff, but the estimate is 4-5 months/ the entirety of our season. JUNE Rising star and 1st team striker Philip Djup goes injured with a broken foot, calamitously in a training match after our loss away to Fässberg. Thankfully, Erik Johannesen keeps banging in the goals, and we sit uncomfortably in 2nd at the midway point. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeresdaKicker Posted October 18, 2015 Author Share Posted October 18, 2015 I had originally planned to do match recaps, but I think I might just do a few important matches each season. Need to manage my time so that I get in more playing Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeresdaKicker Posted October 19, 2015 Author Share Posted October 19, 2015 All transfers for the first season: K. Trajanovski was brought in as a prospect, but I sold him on when I decided I couldn’t use him. Loyala Nyden M ©, Kenndal ST©/ AM ®, Mleczkovicz AM ®/M ®, and Mistry D © are all young players with a lot of promise who will start in the first team as soon as they’re fit. Edin Hadzic is a decent backup for D (RL) who is still developing. Västra Frölunda 2 - 2 Gunnilse Opposing wide midfielder Olausson loses his marker and finds the end of an accurate cross into the box to find the first goal on 16’. We answer back 15 minutes later as our vice captain Smolander receives the ball at the edge of the box, quickly turns and places a slow roller accurately into the corner. Smolander turns provider on a corner in the 57th minute as Sehlström rises above the defense to loop in a goal over the head of Gunnilse’s outstretched keeper. 76’ sees our central defender and goal scorer Sehlström collide with a number other players in our box to give up a penalty and the tying goal. We lead on possession and chances but are unable to cope with Gunnilse’s fight, in the end. Jonsered 0 - 1 Västra Frölunda We probably rate as the second best team in this match, and are lucky to leave with all three points. Omar Hamid finds space on the left wing to play in overlapping left back Özgün, who takes his run to the byline before crossing it in for Eric Johannesen’s flying header in the 35’. Högaberg 1 - 3 Västra Frölunda An even match on paper that ends in a vital victory for our chances. Högaberg are top of the table going into this, and our win sees us take the top of the table for the first time in the season! We concede first early on as has become our habit, but a goal from Özgün gets us level, and Omar Hamid bags another nice goal shortly before new signing Ronni Mleczkovic gets the finishing touch on his debut for the club. Västra Frölunda 1 - 0 Lindome A fortunate win as Lindome have double the chances, but we keep our gap with Högaborg as young defender Erik Hermansson saves us late on in the 85th minute. Tord 0 - 1 Västra Frölunda A very even match that sees us squeak by again, as captain Joel Perkhead comes to the rescue as the second half wears on. We are unbeaten in our last 8. Västra Frölunda 1 - 3 Tenhult Tenhult have had a great run in the second half of the season and are threatening the top of the table with this away win. We start the scoring in the 17’ minute, but are outclassed all over the pitch, and are embarrassed at home. Högaberg also lose, so we are still tops. Västra Frölunda 1 - 0 Assyriska BK Västra Frölunda 1 - 0 FässbergLärje-Angered 0- - 1 Västra Frölunda All three matches are close affairs but our defense is reliable enough to see them out for wins. All goals come early, and Omar Hamid has 3 goals in the last 4. Ahlafors 3 - 1 Västra Frölunda Our loss away sees us drop down to second behind running mates Högaberg on goal difference. Despite more shots and greater possession we’re never really challenging for the win here. Very disappointing to leave without points. Råslätt 1 - 1 Västra Frölunda A massive point, as our rivals at the top lose to Lärje-Angered, and we are in front again. Every point is precious, and two wins to close out our season guarantees our title and promotion. New signing and star striker William Kenndal gets his first goal late on to seal the draw. Västra Frölunda 1 - 0 Sävedalen A nervy scare at home as we almost do enough to lose our lead on the race for the title. Midfielder Robert Smolander scores a wonder goal in the first minute, but we feed on scraps for the rest of the match. Young goalkeeper Berglund has to save a penalty late on just to keep the win. Västra Frölunda 3 - 0 Tvååker This was never in question, as captain Perkhed knocks in the first on 10’, and Kenndal has a brace by 33’. Strangely, I switched to a formation I’d trained with but never used in a league match for this one, after noticing that we were gaining comfortability much quicker with a 4-2-3-1 DM Wide. And despite the odds we’ve narrowly won it in our first season! Heartbreak for Högaborg! An interesting statistic from our first season is our record in the league when conceding the first goal: 3-4-4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeresdaKicker Posted October 19, 2015 Author Share Posted October 19, 2015 Season Team League Achievements ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14/15 Alessandria Serie C/A Relegated 15/16 Tonbridge Vanarama S 11th 16/17 Tonbridge Vanarama S 14th 17/18 Tonbridge Vanarama S Resigned 1/4-season 17/18 Västra Frölunda 2nd Div. WG Champions Promoted Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 Looks like you really had to work hard to get all those points. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeresdaKicker Posted October 19, 2015 Author Share Posted October 19, 2015 We did-- trying to fight back against a goal in 11of26, as the statistic says. It turned out that we had more class, but only just! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greyfriars Bobby Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 I'm enjoying this so far, HdK. Congratulations on your promotion! I'll keep following. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeresdaKicker Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 Thanks, GB. The first division has been tough, but not too tough I'm rolling along as best I can, hoping for a decent finish. Will update my progress soon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeresdaKicker Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 To the few of you who are following, I've had some hard times at home of late, and I don't mean for Frölunda. Halfway through my Div.1 season my HD died. I'd been making irregular saves to the cloud despite reading an awful lot of users tell sorrowful tales of long lost saves. My last cloud save was made back when we were 4 games in to the current season. I also lost my draft for the update, though the screenshots are saved. Basically, I'll be trying to figure out this evening if any of the save files are salvageable, and if so, continuing on from my desktop. If they aren't able to be retrieved, I will need to decide how to proceed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeresdaKicker Posted October 31, 2015 Author Share Posted October 31, 2015 2018/2019 Season Wrap-Up *After losing 10 matches that were saved on my dead HD, I began the season again on the fifth match day after our win against Åtvidaberg. Final Results 11 games unbeaten to start the season, and it felt pretty good. It didn't ever seem to me like we were overachieving, so when I evaluated our position atop the table at mid-season, I genuinely believed we had a chance at promotion again. But the hitch in our season came when we drew four consecutive games, a few of which were to the weaker teams in the league. Yes they were mostly away fixtures, but when we needed to secure full points in order to challenge Utsikten, GAIS, and Kristianstad, we fell short of the mark. And on the last day, we faced GAIS where a win would secure us the title. It was a tight affair, and we scored first, but unfortunately they bested us by a goal, just as they did earlier in the year, which meant they nosed us for the Division 1 championship. Ballz. Final League Table Another very close race, as you can see. Accolades I will be up for the golden cucumber next. Season Team League Achievements ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14/15 Alessandria Serie C/A Relegated 15/16 Tonbridge Vanarama S 11th 16/17 Tonbridge Vanarama S 14th 17/18 Tonbridge Vanarama S Resigned 1/4-season 17/18 Västra Frölunda 2nd Div. WG Champions Promoted 18/19 Västra Frölunda 1st Div. S 3rd Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Damn, so close Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeresdaKicker Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 My third season with Västra Frölunda was a poor one, as we tanked mid-season after truly mowing through our competition in the first half. So what happened? It’s hard to say really, but going by the numbers tells me we stopped scoring goals, which will always put a cover on an open flame. If you take a gander at the fixture results, you'll no doubt notice we had four consecutive games without a goal. And this from a side who won ten straight to start the season! Tellingly, our away match against Skövde at the start of the season ended in a 5-3 victory, while our home meeting ended in a goalless 2-0 loss. But beyond that, I learned a hard lesson from a few rioting players who felt they weren’t being given the playing time they were promised, one of whom was my vice-captain. In other words, I managed to lose the dressing room along with a load of games that saw us end the season in 8th place. The board had wanted an above mid-table finish, and they were not pleased with the result. I did however get us into the group stage of the Swedish cup, which meant the privilege of getting battered by the big boys of Allsvenskan prior to the start of the upcoming season. This cup achievement was beyond the board’s expectation of a second round berth, but it wasn’t enough to overlook our anemic performance in the league. They called me in for a chat, and said that my performance in the next match would determine my future with the club. Our next competitive game would come pre-season in the Swedish cup that I’d guided us to, which meant that the inevitable battering by a top club would end my career at Frölunda. Ironic that winning our way into the group stages ended up spelling the end to my tenure. If I had just exited in the second qualifying round instead, the board would have likely still given me until my next competitive match to prove myself, which would mean facing a beatable side from the league. Rats! Table | Fixtures Season Team League Finish ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14/15 Alessandria Serie C/A Relegated 15/16 Tonbridge Vanarama S 11th 16/17 Tonbridge Vanarama S 14th 17/18 Tonbridge Vanarama S Resigned 1/4-season 17/18 Västra Frölunda Div. 2 WG Champions Promoted 18/19 Västra Frölunda Div. 1 S 3rd 19/20 Västra Frölunda Div. 1 S 8th Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeresdaKicker Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 So despite my real desire to stay on and win promotion with Frölunda, I was sent packing. But two games into the new season unemployed, and a recently relegated club from the Superettan was looking for a new skipper. I applied and got the job at Landskrona BoIS. Landskrona have a significantly bigger reputation and wallet than any other team I’ve managed. I had about 150k to spend once the transfer window opened mid-season, and decided to start looking for some upgrades to our roster. As we battled through the first few months of fixtures, we steadily won games to keep ourselves tight with the rest of the league. To give you a better idea of the league, Division 1 is split into North and South for a total of 28 teams vying for 3 tickets to the Superettan, two of which are automatic ups. I stayed on in the South split, and would be facing my now-old side Frölunda. Fixtures | TableWe struggled mid-year with keeping our squeeze on games where we’d gone ahead by a couple goals, and ended up turning a number of those would-be wins into draws. At the end of the year, we had an outside chance to take the promotion playoff spot in the last game should another game’s result have gone our way, but it wasn’t to be. We finished 3rd, just four points from the playoff. The board wanted a title challenge, and we did just enough. Regarding our performance on the year, we really should have won promotion. Our squad was good enough, but I feel I let the team down with a run of games that should have been taken for full value. Towards the end of the season, I realized I had made a few tactical blunders whilst trying to close out matches, but I righted the ship too late to win anything. In the cup, we faced Allsvenskan side AIK in the second round of qualifying after a hapless draw, and were summarily dispatched with ease. No worries though, as we reached the almighty board’s expectation. As the season ends, I’m confident we can again challenge for the title come next year.The problem with a club like ours dropping down into the lower division after spending years in the league above, is that if you stay down too long, you start to resemble the clubs you play with. You lose sponsorships, prize money, affiliates. While the change doesn’t happen all at once, the fire beneath the arse is well and lit after missing out on promotion following the first go round. First, the professional status we had last season has been replaced with a sorry semi, which means that despite my still relatively large transfer budget, there’s no talent willing to be prized away from bigger sides. We train less, and with that our fitness and overall advantage in preparedness diminishes. We lose one of our affiliated clubs as they’ve done the job asked and gotten promoted, while we’ve languished and the old link no longer seams useful to the more successful side. Which means my youth prospects are sent back to me, and will undoubtedly be upset over lack of playing time. And I can assure you, the list does go on. But I wanted to include this quick summary to illustrate one thing; that I am very much in the position of learning as I go. Consequences I had never thought of reveal themselves to me as I make my way through my career, and this is truly a learning process. IRL, I shouldn’t be playing the full-fat version of FM as I don’t have the time, and will need to switch over to FMC as soon as this career ends, which is why I plan to play only until I reach an in-game equivalent to real-life middle age. I’m currently managing at 35, but if I’m able to find some success in the Allsvenskan by the time I’m 45, I may just think about an early retirement when I turn 50. Everybody wants to rule the world, but not everyone can. Still, I think I’ve got another good 15 seasons in me. And then again, 50 is the new 48, so who knows what the future holds! Season Team League Finish ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14/15 Alessandria Serie C/A Relegated 15/16 Tonbridge Vanarama S 11th 16/17 Tonbridge Vanarama S 14th 17/18 Tonbridge Vanarama S Resigned 1/4-season 17/18 Västra Frölunda Div. 2 WG Champions Promoted 18/19 Västra Frölunda Div. 1 S 3rd 19/20 Västra Frölunda Div. 1 S 8th 20/21 Landskrona BoIS Div. 1 S 3rd Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeresdaKicker Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 Also, Landskrona used to be a Danish fishing village, and has preserved a medieval citadel with a moat system intact. It's pretty awesome. You should look it up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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