[FM 20] Turtle Race Journeyman (COMPLETE)

[TerminalPortugal]

After investing in the newest iteration of Football Manager, I have decided to do a little story. I generally always do a journeyman career and this one will be no different. And I will be using a node map to advise which leagues should be loaded at any given time and where my managerial avatar can move.

However since I don’t want it to be too much of a whirlwind affair, I have imposed a 10 year period for me to manage at my current club, but if a better job comes around in the same country I will allow myself to be headhunted to one of the big boys in the country I am managing. If I am sacked at any point, I will have to start my 10 years in the country I am managing, that should be penalty enough to make sure there is a deterrent for bad performance. There is not really an end to the challenge, we will just keep going and see how we do in our various stops across the world. We are playing with the default leagues this time around.

The Rules

·         Must manage club (or in the country) for 10 years

·         Can only be headhunted to a new job in the same country I am already managing during the 10-year period. No linking myself to the job myself and no applying for jobs.

·         If sacked, I must get a new job in the same country and start the 10-year period again.

·         I can only load leagues adjacent to the country node I am in.

·         The first country will be picked by a random number generator

·         I must manage the first club in that country by using the “Pick a Team for Me” button

·         My manager must be a national of the first country without any coaching badges or on the field experience.

·         I can take international jobs as I like, but again they must approach me, I will not approach them.

The next post I will find out my first country, my new club and a little explanation as to the tactical approach I will be using. Below is the node map.

 

Career Overview

Spoiler

Nations Managed In

 Sweden  Norway  Scotland

Clubs Managed

 Hudiksvalls FF (March 2019 - November 2028)

 Swedish National Team (July 2024 - June 2028)

 Lillestrom (July 2029 - December 2039)

 Hibernian (January 2040 - Present)

 Portuguese National Team (January 2044 - July 2048)

Trophies Won

  1 x Division 2 Norra Svealand (Sweden) - Hudiksvalls FF (2019)

  1 x Division 1 Norra (Sweden) - Hudiksvalls FF (2020)

  2 x Allsvenskan (Sweden) - Hudiksvalls FF (2026, 2027)

  5 x Eliteserien (Norway) -  Lillestrom (2030, 2034, 2035, 2038, 2039)

  4 x NM SAS Braathens Cup (Norway) -  Lillestrom (2030, 2034, 2037, 2039)

  4 x Norweigan Super Cup (Norway) -  Lillestrom (2031, 2035, 2036, 2039)

  8 x Ladbrokes Premiership (Scotland) -  Hibernian (2042, 2043, 2044, 2045, 2046, 2047, 2048, 2049)

  3 x William Hill Scottish Cup (Scotland) -  Hibernian (2042, 2045, 2046)

  2 x Nations League (Europe) -  Portugal (2045, 2047)

  1 x Champions League (Europe) -  Hibernian (2047)

  1 x Betfred League Cup (Scotland) -  Hibernian (2048)

 

Edited August 9, 2020 by TerminalPortugal

[TerminalPortugal]

WELCOME TO SWEDEN!

Sweden is our first stop, and therefore our avatar is young 19 year old Swedish manager Alrik Alriksson. We will be loading Finland, Norway and Denmark and Sweden of course as per the node map above. 

HUDIKSVALLS FF

Our first club is Division 2 Norra Svealand Hudiksvalls FF. We will have our work cut out starting at the bottom level of Swedish football in the FM20.

We are predicted to finish 4th in the league, so we at least seem to be one of the better teams in the division, although we are not expected to achieve promotion this season.

Hudiksvalls hail from pretty far north in Sweden. So I am expecting some unseasonable weather come the winter time.

Not much to say about the team, since the player ratings are all relative to the players already at the club. Tobias Sandstrom is the standout player for the side, and so we will be hoping to make good use of him on the wing.

The board are not expecting much more than top half finishes year after year. So that is at least a positive that we do not start under a huge pressure to get promoted in our first few seasons. Although my target has to include being in and amongst the promotion hopefuls to get this career on a roll.

Tactically we are going to attempt to deploy, however foolish it is likely to be a short tiki-taka style of play, although a big part of the style has influences from the Klopp style Gegenpressing football. We have two main shapes we will be using a 4-3-3 (or 4-1-4-1) and a 4-4-2 (or 4-1-3-2). Predominantly I expect to use the 4-3-3 but we will switch it up as required, especially if we hit a bad patch. I expect I will tinker with the tactics, especially at this level. During the save I hope to implement a tactical philosophy and fit the players into this, rather than adapt the tactics to the players we have available. This way can at least have some consistency in how we want to play.

Next up I will probably update once the season has either started or is around the corner.

 

 

 

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (Pre Season 2019)

A busy pre-season comes to an end and we looked very good, we adapted well to how I wanted us to play and we look ready for the new season. We did try and get started on the coaching qualifications but this was denied and now we are in the red, so I don't expect to start that until we drag ourselves out of debt, which could be some time.

Added to the busy pre-season we were also busy in the transfer market. We really had a lot of gaps in the team and so I picked up several players for the new season. The backroom staff also contributed, bringing in some non-contracted players for the Reserves and Youth Set Ups. The new expected first 11 is above, with a host of new names expected to start for us.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (April & May 2019)

It has been a good start to the season, Sandstrom has been integral to our attacking threat and we have been solid at the back. We had a little bit of a blip in early May, it coincided with me trying to shift the highest earner at the club as we have descended into £25k of debt and projected to be almost £100k by the end of the season. Considering the club are expecting me to control finances I am little worried.

Beating Taby FK gave us top spot in the division, up until then they had led. Hopefully we can maintain this position although it is very tight at the top, so a few bad results will probably see us tumble down the league.

[Motlhen]

Promotion might save you from your financial troubles, no pressure!

Great idea for a save- will be following along

[TerminalPortugal]

3 minutes ago, Motlhen said:

Promotion might save you from your financial troubles, no pressure!

Great idea for a save- will be following along

Maybe, I have never really managed in Sweden, so not sure when the money starts flowing in because at the moment, we make nothing pretty much. Promotion is looking like a must this season, just to keep the bank manager happy.

Thanks.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (June & July 2019)

Another very solid couple of months on the field as we go unbeaten, registering only two draws in amongst all the wins. Some of the time we have been a bit lucky to get away with the points I feel, but I will take it. The debt has now piled to £35k, but the projection has improvemd to £80k in debt over the season, so I guess that is something.

We have been good but so have Taby FK, we both look like certainties at this time to be in the two promotions spots, but it is still very much in the mix who will go up automatically and whom will have to entertain a playoff.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (August & September 2019)

Our end of season form was pretty imperious as we secured the title with still two games to play. In the end we only lost one game in the league season, which is a great achievement for us. We will see next season how we can do in the division above. Although the finances have continued to deteriorate all season, the promotion has given us a huge increase in the wage budget for next season, which means I feel confident enough to secure at least the key players at the club to new contracts, and I expect the finances to improve, if the club have done their sums correctly.

In the end we win the league by 10 points, from Taby FK who could not keep up with the pace and almost got caught by Karlsbergs. Taby will fall into the playoffs to see if they can still be promoted this season. 

[TerminalPortugal]

As expected we were offered a brand new deal at the club, and we accepted to stay for the next season. It's still one year deals which I expected.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (Pre-Season 2020)

Pre-Season could not have gone very well as we go the entire fixture schedule without conceding a goal. In other news we were finally out of the red when it came to the bank balance if only momentarily, by the end of pre-season we were back in debt, but in that time I was able to pick up the National C Licence and get approval to start work on the National B Licence.

Our stats have improved a little since we started, but not by much.

With the wage budget increased and a prediction of finishing 14th out of 16 teams. I decided to invest into any area of the team I could get away with, plus the reserve manager decided to continue to bolster the reserves which I don't really mind too much.

The expected best XI is much changed for this season, we will see if it is enough to stave off relegation. Certainly the board's expectation is to fight relegation, so anything beyond that will be a bonus for us.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (April & May 2020)

Our early season form, had me raising an eyebrow as we put together a ridiculous run of clean sheets. However that form did not last and we have been brought back down to Earth a little bit. However we have been superb considering the expectations that the club had. The board were so impressed by our run in April that they offered us a new contract, which I gladly accepted. The club is £34k in debt, but we are well below the wage budget so I am not as bothered this year.

Considering the prediction of 14th. I am delighted with our position of 3rd in the league. We are three points behind Sandvikens IF and equal on point but behind Gefle IF. I am unsure whether we can maintain it, but if we can we would be well overperforming.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (June, July & August 2020)

We lost our only game in June and then another in July, but we really improved from mid-July and put together some impressive results. It seems we are maintaining out run the Division 1 Norra. In other news we got our National B Licence, but there is no chance of getting the next Licence due to the club's financial position. So we will have to wait until the time comes when the club has some spare cash again to progress again.

We are progressing a bit further but we will have to wait for the final National Licence.

We sit top of the table and our three points clear of the chasing pack, which is a fantastic achievement so far. Down to 6th place everyone has a chance, so we certainly can't afford a slip up or we will very quickly find ourselves down the table and out of promotion contention.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (September & October 2020)

We could have made it a lot easier than it was, the two losses, a win in either of them would have been enough to win the league. Even already relegated Bodens BK managed to beat us with nothing left to play for. This set up a winner take all affair against Lulea, who realistically if they lost they could be overtaken by Akropolis. In the end we manned up and took the points on the final day to take the Division 1 Norra title and promotion to the division above. Luckily for Lulea, Akropolis fluffed their lines and Lulea at least got the consolation of a playoff spot. An amazing season all things considered, back to back promotions has made me very popular with the board, so I expect my job to be very safe for the near future, despite what results may come.

The league table says it all, we are champions and secure back to back promotions.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (Pre-Season 2021)

Pre-Season went pretty well for us again, as plenty of new faces were coming to get acquainted to the system we play. We now have our National A Licence, but the club are back in debt, we spend on average about 3 months in the black and the rest of the year in debt.

We still have a long way to go as a manager but we are making progress.

A tonne of new faces into the club in every position, we are predicted to finish in 15th out of 16 teams so again we needed to improve the playing staff to compete in this division. Not sure we will but we have given ourselves at least some chance of doing so with our acquisitions.

The expected best team is now above, most positions again have a new player in them.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (March, April & May 2021)

We have made a sensational start to the league season, with plenty of wins along the way. It always feels like we are just one goal either side in the result, and so I never feel particularly easy in any games. The new squad is performing admirably, and we have begun to be linked to the Vasteras SK job, whom are in the same division as us, but a far more reputable club. Unsure I would be interested in taking up that kind of job.

We amazingly lead the league in the early stages, and have already built a mini lead over the clubs outside the promotion playoff places. I know full well that this nice form will end and we will come crashing back down to Earth, but even if the consolation is that we have opened up a nice lead on the relegation places I will definitely take it. The squad is very much bloated at the moment and it is causing issues as I have to respond the players consistently, but we have a lot of respect from the players, so no mutinies as yet.

[TerminalPortugal]

We got our first job interview from another club in the form Vasteras, but I am not interested. It would not really be a step up considering where they currently are in the league.

[TerminalPortugal]

Another interview from a divisional rival, but again we decline the opportunity to speak to them.

[TerminalPortugal]

And another one.

[TerminalPortugal]

This time around top division strugglers Orgryte IS come in for us, but again we decide to decline.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (June & July 2021)

The mid point of the season and it has been a pretty inconsistent month with draws, being the main feature, but I will take that all day long, as long as we don't begin losing game after game, the drop should be out of the question at this stage. In fact we still remain very much in promotion contention. Again goals have been a hard commodity for us, but fortunately we don't tend to concede many either.

IK Brage top the league and we slot in 2nd place. If it ends like this at the end of the season we will be promoted to the top division and that would be some achievement but we are a long way away from that at this time. All in all we are doing a pretty good job.

[TerminalPortugal]

Another offer of a job interview as we are now getting a lot of attention. This time Halmstads from the top division, but they look like they are going to be relegated so I decline.

[TerminalPortugal]

This was a job I had to think about, but in the end I decided it was a little early to abandon Hudiksvalls, and decided to reject the interview.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (August, September & October)

August was a bit of a disaster month for us as the only game we won was the cup game, which at least means next season we can continue in the cup 3rd Round, but this run really killed us. However our form recover in the next two months, including a perfect October, gave us what we needed to sneak into the Promotion Playoffs. We still are waiting to see who we will play, but at least we gave ourselves a chance of being promoted. The club got over £700k for finishing in 3rd place and I instantly went to the board asking for the Continental Licence C money, which they agreed to.

Falkenbergs win the league, on goal difference from IK Brage and we finish just a point behind. If we could have mustered just one win in August, it would have been enough to win the league, but alas that didn't happen and our season is not over yet.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (August, September & October)

August was a bit of a disaster month for us as the only game we won was the cup game, which at least means next season we can continue in the cup 3rd Round, but this run really killed us. However our form recover in the next two months, including a perfect October, gave us what we needed to sneak into the Promotion Playoffs. We still are waiting to see who we will play, but at least we gave ourselves a chance of being promoted. The club got over £700k for finishing in 3rd place and I instantly went to the board asking for the Continental Licence C money, which they agreed to.

Falkenbergs win the league, on goal difference from IK Brage and we finish just a point behind. If we could have mustered just one win in August, it would have been enough to win the league, but alas that didn't happen and our season is not over yet.

[TerminalPortugal]

GIF Sundsvall will be the opponents for the Promotion Playoff.

[TerminalPortugal]

We get a new 2 year deal at the club, just before the Playoff Finals.

[TerminalPortugal]

The first leg against GIF Sundsvall sees us put one foot in the Allsvenskan, as we take them down 3-0, despite really not having most of the game. I know that there is still a chance that if we start badly away we could fall apart, but defensively we have been good this season and I hope we can defend doggedly. 

[TerminalPortugal]

We were even more dominated in the return leg but we defended well and hit GIF on the counter attack twice to record a famous win and push into the Allsvenskan. A crazy season comes to an end as we make it 3 successive promotions in as many seasons. This season was beset by a bloated squad and this time around even I feel we might not have the quality I want to make sure that we keep the squad size down this season to avoid the unnecessary complications of complaints concerning playing time.

[TerminalPortugal]

We sign a new deal with the club, one that will keep us with them for another 3 years. The club also turned professional, from its previous status as a semi professional club.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (Pre-Season 2022)

This was the kind of pre-season that sends shivers down my spine, clearly there are issues you can just see it in the performances. We exited the cup rather tamely, 2 draws and a loss enough to see the end of that. We recovered later on, as I focused on team cohesion in training but we look undercooked going into our maiden Allsvenskan season. In other news we got our first Continental badge.

We are described as having low self belief, this might be because of all the squad management we had to do last year, probably meant we said a lot of contrary things. Hopefully that disappears in time. We are becoming a better manager but certainly no world beater yet. Although our reputation is becoming pretty respectable especially in Sweden.

I was a little more cautious than last season when it came to transfers. Firstly I let a lot of players leave when their contracts ended and then we brought in just enough players to have pretty well covered squad. I don't want a repeat of the bloated squad of last year. We are predicted to finish rock bottom. Then again we have generally defied expectations, but I think this time it is probably going to be a step too far, but we shall see what we can do.

The new expected best 11 looks like this.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (April & May 2022)

Our first experience of the Allsvenskan has been mixed you could say, but I would take it. We were forecast to finish bottom so even though in our first month we were winless, we were difficult to beat, only losing games that we had minimal hope of getting anything out of. Despite that we had a team meeting and the reaction was good and that spurned a lovely 5 game winning run before we hit another bad patch at the end of the month with 3 straight defeats. I am confident in the side, I feel happier with the smaller squad and if we can stay up with a little bit of financing in the transfer windows we could slowly add a piece or two to the side, as at the moment, none of these players are really cut out for this level of football, but it is the best we can get at this time.

We are sitting very pretty on 19 points in 7th place. I would have bitten your hand off after the first two months had you offered me that pre-season. We will see if we can string a few results together and steer clear of the relegation places. AIK have sacked their manager and are sniffing around us again, but I don't think I would take the job and there are a few Norweigan clubs also interested but again I would not be able to take those jobs anyway. At the moment things look pretty decent.

[TerminalPortugal]

Stabaek from Norway come calling but we must reject.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (June, July & August 2022)

Our season continues and despite a few losses, we have managed to keep things generally going. The highlight was a stonking 5-2 win at Djurgardens and completing the double over AIK, who look like they are really in trouble now when it comes to the relegation places. We have continued to plod along, we definately are not the best team in the league and we have barely a good Allesvenskan quality player in the squad, but we are grinding out results and we look great value to secure our survival this season.

We sit in 9th place, 10 points clear of the relegation places, which I am very happy about.

[TerminalPortugal]

BK Hacken come calling but we are not interested.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (September & October 2022)

The final fixtures of the league season saw us do pretty well as we picked up wins from half our games. The win against Hammarby secured our survival for another season, and in the end we very comfortable. We did brilliantly this season and with another £1.81 million in the bank for our league finish, if the board allow us to spend some of that we can make some nice additions to the squad to improve the team and perhaps do even better next season.

Malmo ended up taking the league title from IFK Goteborg, we finished a very creditable 9th in the end. AIK improved to stop an improbably relegation and finish just behin us in the league as Helsingborgs, Mjallby and IK Brage are the victims this season. I am looking forward to what progress we can make next season as we finish our 4th season in Sweden.

[Motlhen]

Unbelievable progress! 

[TerminalPortugal]

4 minutes ago, Motlhen said:

Unbelievable progress! 

Thanks, yeah it has gone a lot better than I expected. Had a fair bit of luck along the way like the Playoff win, but hoping I can kick on in season 5.

[TerminalPortugal]

Norweigan outfit Kristiansund are offering an interview but we must decline.

[TerminalPortugal]

Our first Danish club comes in for us in the off season in the form of Aalborg. We must decline.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (Pre-Season 2023)

We made a good fist of the cup this year, with three wins in the group stages to reach the quarter finals, but we got suckerpunched by Norrkoping and it all ended at that stage. The rest of pre-season has gone well. We have bedded in the new players pretty well and I am hopeful for the season ahead.

We continue to grow as a manager picking up our Continental B Licence, at the moment we have not been able to convince the board to fund our A Licence.

The transfers were spread over the two time periods, as I spent most of the summer looking for the players that would help us now and in the future. Jokanovic looks like the star picks out of the buys, but I had some good results scouting the U21 national sides in Eastern Europe and picked up a few for the future as well as for now. Elsewhere we also picked up reinforcements for key positions.

The new expected best side has many new faces in it. I hope we can kick on and build on last season's great league performance.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (April & May 2023)

Well things have not really gone to plan, we have a real lack of goals in the side at the moment, we just can't seem to find the net and that means any goal we concede is consigning us to defeat. It was a problem that perhaps I mostly overlooked in the transfer window. We have problems with Jokanovic, whom I placed of trust in this year, throwing his toys out of the pram on one of the minor promises I made him, and playing awfully and then getting injured. The silver lining is that we have got some wins along the way and sit safe at the time of speaking, but it is looking a little ominous I have to say at the moment. Getting spanked 6-0 by Malmo probably didn't help matters for us much.

We sit 10th, and have a 5 point cushion on Orebro at the moment, but we need to pick up points in the next few games or we are going to be facing a scrap for survival when we were meant to be building on last season's successes.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (July & August 2023)

Things were looking pretty bleak in July and early August. I was fearing that we dropping like a stone and I was already working out where the wins would need to come to avoid the drop. I was already worried enough that I decided to bring in another striker, one we had been watching for a while in the summer window, in the form of young Danish striker Andreas Kirkeby, and in fairness he started getting on the scoresheet. But we are a strange side, we seem to just pick up form out of nowhere. We went from losing at the time to bottom of the table Halmstad to a plucky draw away to Djurgardens, who are flying this season, then knocked off Goteborg in a shock 3-0 win and then after the cup game, we could not be stopped as we picked up another couple of wins, which pretty much leaves us safe this season.

We sit in the heady heights of 6th. However most of these months we have sat around 10th and 11th, looking below us for what might be coming past us.

Edited July 25, 2020 by TerminalPortugal

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (September, October & November 2023)

Our end of season form was pretty patchy, defined by a full month of nothing but draws, but it served it's purpose to allow us our best finish of 7th place, although the points total was down 2 from the season before. A nice win on the final day against Helsingborgs really defined the Jekyll and Hyde performances this season. But I am glad to be returned again next season.

Malmo won the title again pretty easily, we finish in 7th, very similar to last season, and considering we were as low as 11th at one point in the season and it looking pretty bleak going forward I will take it. Kirkeby hit the ground running 12 league goals in 15 starts, that probably was one of the main reasons why we were able to improve as the season went on. Next season I will look for the special players that will truly improve the squad. So ends the 5th season in Sweden.

[TerminalPortugal]

Danish side Randers come in for us, but we must decline.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (Pre-Season 2024)

Another season is upon us and pre-season went reasonably well. The Cup continues to frustrate as we get through our group, but then lose of lower league Osters on penalties. This side is so difficult to predict, who knows whether we go in and win the first five games or lose them.

My personality has now changed to Fairly Ambitious which is better than Low Self Belief. I have quite a reputation now, which is why so many clubs are coming in for me on a yearly basis.

Much like I said before, this time around the transfers were considered to specific players who would improve the team. I think I managed to accomplish key acquisitions that should help us advance.

The new expected first 11, incorporates our newly acquired players.

[TerminalPortugal]

Another job offer of the Danish persuasion, this time in AGF. We reject the approach.

[TerminalPortugal]

New two year deal with the club will see us remain until 2026.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (April & May 2024)

A very good start to the season for us as we really improve this season. The loss against Falkenbergs was early enough in the season for me to just consider it to be the kind of thing that the team does, but our form has been very consistent this season and in the second month despite away games against Malmo and Goteborg we remained undefeated in May. Kirkeby has started like a house on fire this season with 10 goals in 12 starts. He is quickly turning into one of the most prolific strikers in Swedish football.

 

We sit in 2nd place in the league, 2 point behind Malmo, whom are looking to make it the 6th title in a row.

[TerminalPortugal]

Sweden National Team

We are hired as the Sweden National Team manager, we will continue the Hudiksvalls FF job and the Sweden job at the same time.

[TerminalPortugal]

Hudiksvalls FF (July & August 2024)

You really have to pity our fans, the couple of months before were sublime. This set of months was absolute trash, we are such an unpredictable team, We go a couple of months winning regularly and the next couple where we can't buy a win, barely can score a goal. Very disapppointing considering what we had done up to here.

We sit in 7th place, with probably not a lot left to play but pride and keeping our mid table place.