A Journey To End FM24

[danmcconnell1]

After many great and entertaining saves on FM24, and with the impending arrival of the upcoming FM25, I've decided to load up as many leagues as my laptop can handle and go on a journey around the world to see what I can achieve. I've started the save as true to life as I can with no coaching badges and Sunday League experience, so let's see who takes a punt on me and where I can take them.

We are off to Sweden! IK Gauthiod play in a town called Grastorp in southern Sweden, around 4 hours drive away from the capital Stockholm and not too far away from another big city in Gothenburg.

They play their home matches at Lunnevi IP in Grastorp which has a capacity of around 2500.

IK Gauthiod look to be a real family club which I love, however growing the fan base will really help in bringing in much needed revenue.

The club have bounced around the lower leagues for the best part of the last 2 decades after a restructuring of Swedish football to make it more localised automatically promoted/relegated some sides. IK Gauthiod were one of the sides that faced the latter unfortunately and haven't really recovered since. The club have won 2 trophies in the 100 year history, the most recent of which came in 2011 when they won the Swedish 2nd Division North Gotaland title.

We currently sit 12th in a league of 14 with just 9 points from the first 11 matches. If the season were to end now, we'd be in a 2nd/3rd division play off, so we'd like to avoid that if possible and stave off any worries of relegation. We have 15 matches left in order to avoid that possibility, or worse. Only top spot guarantees promotion, 2nd place is also a play off with the side in Division 1, so that'll be the aim once we stabalise and get the team playing how I want.

Speaking of the team, here's the squad. William Jensen looks to be the stand out player so far this season with 2 goals and 4 assists, however he's joint top scorer from central midfield with 4 other players, so we need to address the goal scoring issues urgently. David Larsson is the only player out injured at the minute, he should be back within a fortnight.

There are only 2 players in the youth team at the minute and they obviously can't play for them, so I'll be promoting both of these promising prospects to the 1st team straight away to see if they can contribute.

At first glance, and there'll be plenty of tweaking no doubt going forward, this is the strongest team for the style of football which I think suits this squad the best. We desperately need a new GK, Alfred Larsson is the only GK at the club so even if he ends up being number 1 we need another 1 at least for cover, however I'm looking to upgrade urgently. The rest of the squad looks relatively okay but upgrades are required all over the pitch as well as cover too. We can name 7 subs in this league which is helpful as it provides more options off the bench across the pitch. As suspected, Jensen looks to be the catalyst for anything good that we do, so I'm really hoping he can perform to his best for us. Jacob Berg looks to be a decent front man too, I'm looking to try and get the ball out wide as often as possible with wingers and marauding full backs to get the ball in the box for him, while providing plenty of cover in central midfield to fill in the gaps they leave out wide when going forward, as well as 3 centre backs too.

IK Gauthiod had an okay start to the season losing just 1 of their opening 8 matches, but the only won 1 as well, drawing the other 6. They've lost the last 3 on the bounce too so with no win since April, we head into the final 2 matches of June hoping to reverse the trend of not winning and try to get some points on the board to propel us up the table. We take on Vanerborgs IF in my first match in charge at home before travelling to Grebbestads IF in my first away match. 

[danmcconnell1]

My first match in charge didn't quite go to plan with a 3-1 defeat at home to Vanersborgs IF. We were 2 down with 12 minutes left before Paul Khajo gave us some hope, however the visitors restored the 2 goal cushion in the final minute to seal ensure the 3 points for them. Vanersborgs IF are flying high up in 3rd place and that win saw them move just 2 points from the top, so we didn't disgrace ourselves as we entered the final minute just a goal down, so there's plenty of positives to take heading into the 2nd half of the season. 

The goalkeeping situation has been bolstered with the imminent arrival of American Jacob Aduama from Ockero IF. He has better stats than Larsson and I'm hoping he can be a more dominating presence in goal, however doesn't arrive until the 7th July, so Larsson will remain in goal until then.

We were really unlucky to lose this one. Qeraj gave us an early lead which we held for almost an hour when Edvardsson equalised with a brilliant strike for the hosts. But then disaster struck as keeper Larsson could only parry Edvardsson's free kick straight into the path of Adebahr for a tap in which was enough for Grebbestads IF to pick up the 3 points.

That's 5 defeats in a row now, including my first 2 matches in charge. We have dropped to bottom of the table too as all sides around us have gained at least a point since I arrived while we've got none. Just to add to the frustration, we don't play again for a month and that's against league leaders IFK Skovde which will be a tough match at home.

[danmcconnell1]

Whilst we were waiting for the football to get back underway, I asked the board to fund a coaching course for me, which they agreed to. I'm now working towards a National C License and hope to have it by November all being well.

[danmcconnell1]

The long break did us the world of good and we returned to league action with a thumping win over league leaders IFK Skovde, beating them 4-1. We were 3-0 up at the break thanks for goals from striker Jacob Berg and a brace for CB Tim Skogsberg before Axel Johansson completed our scoring with 12 minutes left. Skovde's Axelsson did get a consolation late on, however we were more than good enough value for the win. It was an important one as not only was it my first in charge, but to beat top of the league so convincingly will breed confidence throughout the squad and hopefully see us pick up some more points going forward.

That huge win sees us move off the bottom into 13th, however still in the relegation zone. The sides around us all have similar records though, so it'll only take a couple of good results in a row for us to potentially catch the likes of Herrestads up in mid table. Saffle, now bottom, have a game in hand though so we could find ourselves back at the foot of the table if they get a good result in their next match.

[danmcconnell1]

We followed up the huge win over Skovde last time out with a 2-2 draw with Ahlafors IF. Despite going 2-0 down, our spirit never waivered and we recovered with a goal before half time from Johansson before CB Tim Skogsberg continued his fine form in front of goal with is 3rd in 2 matches to equalise with 7 minutes of normal time to go which rescued a point.

Again, we remain bottom but only down to our goal difference, if we keep fighting and picking up points I've no doubt we'll end the season above the relegation zone. The last 2 matches in particular have shown there's plenty here to keep us up and with the table as tight as it is at the bottom, there's no need to panic despite being more than halfway through the season.

[danmcconnell1]

We took on Herrestads AIF in our next league match hoping to kick on from our last 2 decent results however fell to a 3-2 defeat to the side in mid table. We took the lead through striker Jacob Berg's spot kick just past the half hour but collapsed late on, conceding 3 goals in 5 minutes between minutes 80 and 85. Berg did score another to make stoppage time interesting but it wasn't enough and we lost a match which, despite what the stats say, we really shouldn't have.

That difficult defeat sees us rooted to the bottom of the table, now 4 points from safety. 

[danmcconnell1]

An important win against Stenungsunds IF with Johansson scoring our only goal midway through the first half. It should've been more comfortable but for Berg missing a penalty 4 minutes before half time, but we were comfortable throughout really and held on to a valuable 3 points.

The win sees us move up 2 places into 12th and out of the relegation zone and into the relegation play off spot. We're just a point from absolute safety, so plenty to play for in the final 9 matches. Our next match is against the side directly above us too as we travel away to Motala AIF, so another huge 3 points are up for grabs there.

Edited September 4 by danmcconnell1

[danmcconnell1]

Another point picked up that should've been 3. We went 2-0 up with just over a quarter of the game remaining thanks to goals from Jensen and Berg, however Hana scored the first of his brace for Motal AIF just a minute later before we conceded a penalty 8 minutes later. Hana stepped up for his brace and the home side held on despite a late onslaught from us, we could only take a point home with us.

The point sees us stay in 12th with 8 games remaining and just 1 point behind Motala. The gap is widening up to 10th though, so a couple of wins in the upcoming matches will be imperative if we want to remain in the division with games to spare.

[danmcconnell1]

IFK Kumla were our next opponents, the side directly below us in the table. We thrashed them 4-1 thanks to a brace each for Alkeo Qeraj and striker Jacob Berg. Danielsson did get one back to make it interesting at 2-1, however Berg's late goals sealed an important 3 points for us.

We're in very decent form at the moment with just 1 defeat in our last 6, winning 3 and picking up 2 draws too, picking up a total of 11 points from a possible 18. We're arguably the form side in the relegation battle and have now clawed our way out of the relegation zone altogether, whilst Motala AIF sit in the relegation play off zone 2 points behind us, Saffle SK and IFK Kumla occupy the relegation places. With just 7 games to go, this form that we're in could be vital. Ever the optimist, I look north of the table at the likes of Lidkopings FK up in 3rd and see they're only 9 points ahead of us. I don't believe, with the quality of this league being pretty poor, that's it's impossible to reach their tally from our final 7 matches, so I'm now aiming for mid table at the very least.

[danmcconnell1]

We were, for once, not on the receiving end of a come back and clawed our way back from 2-0 down to salvage a point and continue our decent form with a 2-2 draw against Saffle SK. We were 2-0 down with a quarter of an hour to play thanks to a Filip Holm brace for the home side but Jacob Berg continued his good form in front of goal with a brace of his own to restore parity.

That point ensures we remain 11th, only on goal difference now though ahead of Motala AIF who got themselves an important win against win over Vanersborgs FK in their last match and also face the other side from Vanersborgs, IF this time, which if they avoid defeat, they'd overtake us in the table.

[danmcconnell1]

We got back to winning ways with a 3-2 win over BK Forward. An Axel Johansson brace and Jacob Berg goals were enough for us to claim the 3 points in what turned out to be a nervy finish.

We move up another place in the table to 10th. I'm really happy with the form we're in at the moment and seem to have found somewhat of a groove. The change in goal from Larsson to Aduama has certainly made us look more solid at the back too, despite still conceding goals, we definitely have more presence at the back.

[danmcconnell1]

We took part in the Friday night football this week against high flying IK Kongahalla and continued our great form with a 3-1 win on the road. We were 2-0 up before the half hour mark thanks to 2 goals from Jacob Berg before Hagstrand got one back for the home side with 12 minutes remaining. Berg then went on and completed his hat-rick just 2 minutes later though to cap off a brilliant individual performance by him.

He has been lauded by the travelling support too, all 3 of them.

This is Berg's form since I took over back in mid-June. 12 goals in 11 appearances, plus 2 assists. He's definitely going to be key to any success we have in the future, we just need to keep him.

[danmcconnell1]

We've really hit our stride and found some brilliant form over the last 10 games. This time out we thrashed Lidkopings FK 4-0 with Berg bagging another brace, Nilsson and Johansson also getting on the score sheet. In truth we dominated the match from the first minute and were more than worthy of another 3 points. 

With just 3 games remaining we sit in mid table in 7th place. It's still very tight though with just 9 points separating 3rd place down to 12th. We're still just 3 points above that dreaded relegation play off spot so there's still plenty of work to do, however with the form we're in, whilst we won't take anything for granted, I'm quietly confident we can avoid that fate.

Berg's recent form in front of goal sees him now topping the goal scoring chart this season in the league. He'd scored just 2 before I arrived, he's now on 16.

[warlock]

That's some turnaround since you took  over!

KUTGW 

[danmcconnell1]

15 minutes ago, warlock said:

That's some turnaround since you took  over!

KUTGW 

Cheers man!

[danmcconnell1]

A game of very little incident on the whole ended with us running out 1-0 winners over Vanersborgs FK thanks to a late goal scored by super sub Paul Khajo, his 4th of the season.

The best thing about this win was how far it's seen us move up the table. We now sit in 5th, just 2 points behind 4th place IK Kongahalla. I think if you'd have offered IK Gauthiod fans 5th place with 2 games to go they'd have thought you were mad, however a combination of a change in formation and the team really knuckling down and showing what they can do has reaped its rewards since I took over. 3rd place isn't impossible either, especially with our form, so that's the aim, but 4th is more realistic as we'd need Ahlafors IF to lose both of their remaining matches, us to win both of ours and record a 4 goal swing in goal difference, so catching IK Kongahalla is the aim for us now.

[danmcconnell1]

Another match, another big win, this time against Vanersborgs IF as we pummelled them 4-0 on their own patch at Vanersvallen. Axel Johansson, who's move to Inter City in Finland was confirmed this week at the end of our season after he rejected our offer of a new contract, opened the scoring before Alkeo Qeraj scored 2 before the break. Again before half time, Jacob Berg continued his good form in front of goal with number 17 this season.

That big win sees us move up another place to 4th in the table, now 9 points clear of the drop zone with just 1 game remaining. That match is against the side directly above us Grebbestads IF at home next week. Although we aren't in the promotion picture, we could still effect who gets that coveted 2nd place.

[danmcconnell1]

It was a pretty special way to end the season with yet another win, this time dominating Grebbestads IF with more than 60% of the balls, 22 more shots and a significantly higher xG too. Axel Johansson scored his final goal for the club on his final appearances 9 minutes into the 2nd half before Jusic equalised late on for the visitors. The action didn't stop there though as Alkeo Qeraj scored a later than late winner to give us another 3 points.

This is the final league table before all of the various promotion/relegation play offs take place. Considering where we were when I arrived at the club, down in 12th and flirting with the relegation zone/play off spot, to finish 4th with a brilliant end of season run is beyond our wildest dreams. 

These are the matches I was in charge for and as you can see, things turned around pretty quickly after my arrival. We lost just 3 times against Vanersborgs IF, Grebbestads IF and Herrestads AF and only drew 3 matches too, they came against Ahlafors IF, Motala AIF and Saffle SK. We won every other match we played, a total of 15 matches, 3 defeats, 3 draws and 9 wins, as well as remaining unbeaten in our final 10 matches.

[Skora11]

Very good going. Out of interest, what does Berg's att's look like?

[danmcconnell1]

3 hours ago, Skora11 said:

Very good going. Out of interest, what does Berg's att's look like?

Thanks @Skora11 

Here he is, nothing spectacular. But for this level, he certainly does a job. Managed to get him to sign a new 1 year deal too, so I'm hoping he can continue his good form going into the new season.

[Skora11]

16 minutes ago, danmcconnell1 said:

Thanks @Skora11 

Here he is, nothing spectacular. But for this level, he certainly does a job. Managed to get him to sign a new 1 year deal too, so I'm hoping he can continue his good form going into the new season.

Very solid for that level. Will definitely score a fair amount of headers. 

A tip I had seen and one I like to use is editing the base numbers for attribute colours to get a better sense of how good players are for the particular level. I'm sure if you have them set at lower numbers he would look excellent for the level you are at.

[danmcconnell1]

14 minutes ago, Skora11 said:

Very solid for that level. Will definitely score a fair amount of headers. 

A tip I had seen and one I like to use is editing the base numbers for attribute colours to get a better sense of how good players are for the particular level. I'm sure if you have them set at lower numbers he would look excellent for the level you are at.

Yep, loves a back post header for sure. I play with 3 at the back and attacking full backs with plenty of cover in midfield and 2 up top, so we play to his strengths for sure.

Thanks for the tip too!

Edited September 6 by danmcconnell1

[danmcconnell1]

After a successful 2nd half to last season following my arrival, there were plenty of incomings and some outgoings too this summer as we try to improve the squad as a whole. The first bit of news though...

I now hold a National B License after completing the C License earlier in the off season. I then asked the board to fund the next coaching course...

However they fear they'll lose me if I become more qualified. There was a change in running of the club over the winter as elections were held in November where a new club president was elected. He did fund the B License for me, however has refused the A at the moment, so we'll see how things go at the beginning of this season.

Speaking of the new campaign, let's see how we got on in pre-season.

Honestly, it's not been great. We've scored just 2 goals in 6 matches, however have only conceded to as well, so we're consistent to say the least. Christoffer Lingberg scored his first goal on debut against Celtic B, a friendly arranged by me to try and boost the club's bank balance in pre season, as was the Rangers B game too a week later. We took on lower league Swedish opposition in the remaining friendlies in March, losing to Fu/Vo, drawing with Tvaakers IF and IFK Skovde, the latter of which won our league last season, but did beat Bergdalens IK thanks to a Jacob Berg goal.

Moving on, here is our transfer activity this winter so far.

Axel Johansson completed his move to FC Inter in Finland after refusing a new contract with us. He scored 10 goals last season and will no doubt be a success going forward. His stock looks to be rising too and has a very decent valuation on his back already.

The other player to leave was William Jensen. He was the beating heart of the midfield last season however also refused a new deal, he'll be difficult to replace as he was not only a brilliant player but also our captain too.

A number of contracts came to an end in November and December. I tried to renew David Larsson, Anton Hellborg, Tim Skogsberg and Felix Ekblad's deals however they all refused our offers so have moved on. The majrotiy of the other players to leave were fringe players so were no longer in my plans going forward.

The first player signed this summer was academy graduate Adam Rohden. He looks like he could progress nicely going forward so he'll be in and around the first team this season as we hope to start producing some of our own talent.

Oskar Lofstrom is the player I hope will replace Jensen long term. He's still only 20 and looks to be a real battling central midfielder. I really hope he can kick on and become a key player for us.

Andreas Kilit is a Lebanese international CB who's been brought in to provide depth at centre back. We need this depth as we play with 3 central defenders so he'll be called upon to provide cover as well as step in across all roles in central defence throughout the campaign.

Carl Valgma is a player I couldn't resist bringing in. He looks like he could play well above this level and has bags of potential. He has youth caps for Estonia too which will stand him in good stead, I really hope he can form a partnership in midfield alongside Lofstrom.

I was ecstatic to bring in Emil Lundquist. We lost both keepers due to their contracts expiring (Larsson and Aduamu) so it was imperative to bring in fresh talent in goal and we have more than done that with a huge upgrade in Emil. Really happy to have him at the club, albeit on a non-contract basis, so we could lose him at any time if his performances live up to the promise he's showing.

Javier Donado Gomez is Johansson's replacement up front. The Spanish striker looks decent for this level and alongside Berg I'm hoping he'll form as good, if not better partnership than we had last season at the top of the pitch. 

For this level, Erik Olofsson is a Rolls Royce of a defender. He can play anywhere at the back and dominate too. His Physicals are very decent for this level too, I'm sensing future captain material here.

Niklas Kjaer Andersson will be our new number 2 keeper. With Lundquist's deal on a non-contract basis, we could lose him at any point, so to have a more than capable deputy tied to the club is essential. He's a very solid keeper and again, an upgrade on what we had to call upon last season, so I'm really happy with the depth we now have in goal.

We're just going to call our new LB Colin for time saving's sake. He can also play at CB too so I'm really happy with the depth of cover we have at the back now and has decent physicals again. He will hopefully be a key player for us.

Christoffer Lindberg was mentioned previously after scoring in a friendly soon after arriving at the club, he'll be the number 2 RWB option for us. He has a decent throw too which I hope may cause confusion in opposition defences and with the likes of Berg up top, he can win those headers from Lindberg's long throws.

Last but by no means least, through the door so far is Francis Mensah. He'll be the first choice RWB this season ahead of the new arrival above. Mensah is a player with decent pace who I hope can provide good width for us and maybe chip in with an assist or two.

[danmcconnell1]

We begin this new season as we ended the last, with a 2-1 win, this time over Ahlafors IF. We were 2-0 up inside 33 minutes thanks to debut goals from both Corlin and Gomez, so it was great to see them get settled early in their careers with us with a goal. Another newbie Francis Mensah also won man of the match after his 2 assists which I was delighted about.

The table after 1 match played sees us up in 3rd, this could change though with the weekend's matches yet to be completed, but we're joint top.

[danmcconnell1]

Unfortunately, after just 1 appearance for us, the non-contract curse has come to haunt us for the first time and no doubt the last. Carl Valgma will join Kalju back in his homeland of Estonia in June.

Edited September 6 by danmcconnell1

[danmcconnell1]

In our second league match of the new season, came just my 4th defeat in charge and our first defeat for 12 matches. We took the lead through Jacob Berg inside a quarter of an hour however conceded goals in stoppage time in both halves, Aaquist just before the break, then Lindelov in the 92nd minute.

After 2 matches, we drop to 8th.

[danmcconnell1]

We return to winning ways at home against newly promoted Stromtorps IK beating them 2-1 at Lunnevi IP. Carl Valgma and Jonatan Nilsson both scored to put us 2-0 up before Hamilton got one back for the visitors, but we held on for an important victory to make it 2 wins from 3 to begin the new season.

And we move back up to 4th with the win too, but it's still very early in the campaign.

[danmcconnell1]

We lose on the road at IK Kongahalla, making it 2 wins from 2 at home and 2 defeats from 2 away. We were 3-0 down inside 46 minutes thanks to goals from Bertilsson from the spot early on, Erenius 9 minutes before the break then Rostrom, a player I tried to bring to Gauthiod in the off season who got the 3rd. Valgma continued his good form in front of goal with a consolation with 21 minutes left, but we were well off the pace, despite what the stats say.

That defeat sees us move way down the table into 9th, but as I said before, there's still a very long way to go here this time around.

[danmcconnell1]

Another home match, another win! Oskar Lofstrom with the only goal as we beat Herrestads AIF 1-0 in a tight match. Mensah played really well at RWB again and won MOTM.

Another 3 points sees us move back into the top half of the table into 6th place. If we can avoid defeat on the road a bit more, maybe even pick up some wins too, I have a feeling we could be in and around the promotion picture this season.

[danmcconnell1]

We win for the first time on the road this season with a tight 3-2 victory over Yxhults IK. Mensah scored his first goal for the club before Nilsson doubled our lead. Andersson got one back for the hosts but Gomez scored his 2nd goal of the season to keep the home side at arm's length. Pettersson did get another one back for the hosts but we held on for our first win on the road this season.

Back to back wins see us move up into 4th now up from 6th. I really hope we can push on now and get ourselves into the top 2 as soon as possible.

[danmcconnell1]

A goalless draw at home against Lidkopings FK sees us drop points for the first time at home this season.

We're down to 6th again, however we are 1 of 5 teams on 13 points at the moment, so we're joint 2nd. I think with a smaller league, the league table isn't really worth looking at too much until well past the halfway point of the campaign.

[danmcconnell1]

We were poor away to IFK Kumla as we went 1-0 down inside 5 minutes to a Damstrom goal. Emil Hodin scored a brace in the 2nd half, the 1st of which was a penalty as the home side took control of the match. Berg scored his 2nd goal of the season late on to see us get a consolation goal, but we didn't turn up in this one.

We remain in 6th place on 13 points.

[danmcconnell1]

More away day troubles for us as we lose 5-2 on the road at FBK Karlstad. Sten and Jassem both got a brace for the home side while Nilsson scored the odd goal. Gomez and Lundmark got on the score sheet for us but in truth we were at arms length the whole match.

We'll also be without striker Jacob Berg for up to a month with a calf injury.

Finally, we drop to 10th in the table. Again, plenty of matches left to play. We're still only 4 points from 2nd place, so plenty of football left this season.