DaneBramage

Åtvidaberg FF - August 2042 I signed a new goalkeeper. I hadn't had any problems with the existing fella, but when this new chap Oscar Bernhardsson came up in a scout report he was clearly much better. He was out of contract at the end of the season so I offered him a deal, and when this was agreed Varbergs BoIS said we could have him straight away for £210. --------------------------------------------- Oscar Bernhardsson came in for the Skövde AIK game, and has made an immediate impression keeping four clean sheets in six games since then. Other than that though, our league form has stunk. We've won just one, with four draws, three of which were goalless. We're absolutely toothless going forward and neither starting striker can hit a barndoor at the moment. Our league unbeaten run has extended to 22 games, but we've dropped way too many points here. Our overall unbeaten run ended with the Svenska Cupen loss to IK Sirius. I wasn't bothered by this, as we got £24.5k by selling them home advantage, then another £45k from our share of the increased gate receipts. This was immediately invested in upgrading our youth recruitment to an average standard. --------------------------------------------- I know I said last month that I've managed to screw up bigger leads before, but I didn't anticipate that we'd try to do so quite so quickly. A seven point advantage is now down to just one. ---------------------------------------------

Åtvidaberg FF - July 2042 So this is a lot of fun! Wish I'd done it much sooner. We were flying through this period, and set a new club record eight wins in a row. We also have a record 17 games (and counting) unbeaten run, which I've almost certainly just cursed by mentioning. Sofian Ben Salem has really found his stride with seven goals over these eight games, what a signing he's been. --------------------------------------------- Heck yeah! I'm not going to get ahead of myself as I've certainly bottled better leads than this before, but it's looking very nice at the moment. --------------------------------------------- I used the run of form we're on to try and get some upgrades approved. A couple were rejected, but the chairman did agree to improve the junior coaching up to a good standard. Youth intakes are obviously less important now, but I don't want to forget about them entirely and will still try to use that as a pathway to the first-team. ---------------------------------------------

I'm glad I gave it a go, but as you say, just couldn't get that final part to click. Definitely enjoying being able to bring in a striker who can score goals. Bad news is coming, they've dropped a long way off. Have limited us to a pair of draws though, we've been unable to beat them so far.

Åtvidaberg FF - May 2042 I'm very happy with this start, a lot of green and no red is a joy to behold. All of my new signings have helped contribute to this, with at least one goal contribution each, and Reine Blomgren leading the way with one goal and three assists. If I was being greedy I'd argue that we should be doing even better, and that two of the draws should have been wins. We battered Ljungskile SK, but were defensively frail and let them score three times from just five shots on target. And we were really poor going forward against FC Linköping City, only scoring once from 32 efforts and missing a penalty. --------------------------------------------- We're in the mix after nine games but it's very close. Ljungskile SK are the in-form team, having won six in a row and only conceding once in that time. ---------------------------------------------

2042 Season Preview I decided to stick with this save, but the youth only limitation has been removed. I tried, I failed, I move on. I went on holiday applying for all jobs, but I was getting offers that were clearly above my station. I was invited to speak with Varbergs BoIS and Östersunds FK (Allsvenskan), as well as Drottur Reykjavik (Icelandic Pepsi-deildin). Nothing I've done so far deserves a top tier job, so I stopped this and just manually advanced while looking for openings in the third tier (either in Sweden, Denmark, or Norway). After a little while I was approached by Åtvidaberg FF, and one interview later I was installed as their new manager. They're based in Division 1 Södra, so the same level as my last job but a different regional group. They've been at this level for most of the last 13 years, barring one ill-fated season in the Superettan. Historically they've had some major successes, with two Allsvenskan victories and two Svenska Cupen victories in the early 1970s. --------------------------------------------- Facilities aren't great. Below average training facilities - Below average youth facilities - Adequate junior coaching - Fairly basic youth recruitment --------------------------------------------- When I took over we had £100k in the bank, but on the eve of the season kicking off we're down to £11k. I assume the financial situation will again be a bit dodgy, but perhaps the increased attendances will put us in a better standing here. At Rynninge IK the average attendances in my time ranged from 161 to 298. At Åtvidaberg FF the average attendance last year was over 2,500. --------------------------------------------- But with an increased fan base comes increased pressure. The board want us to qualify for the promotion play-off in 2nd place, while the media also think we should finish in the top two. --------------------------------------------- The top five signings were by me for the senior team. The rest were by the DoF to bolster the ranks of the reserve squad. --------------------------------------------- Here's the squad going into the new campaign. We had a good run through the pre-season friendlies (six wins and two draws), so hopefully we're set up to start the season strong. ---------------------------------------------

March 2042 For what it's worth, he was just sold to Kalmar FF for £800k (possibly rising to £975k). 40% of this would have been worth £320k (possibly rising to £390k), so it's good to know that I've caused Rynninge IK to miss out on a substantial chunk of cash.

Not really sure yet. I have an idea for a save I want to do, but setting up a new career and getting started with it is always a bit of a pain. So I might stick with this save and turn it into a Scandi journeyman. Either way, I think I'm done with youth only. One promotion and two sackings in 22 years, I'm clearly not cut out for this approach.

October 2041 The downward spiral for Rynninge IK continued, as they didn't manage to do enough over the final 12 games to avoid relegation. Proof that I wasn't entirely the problem.

Rynninge IK - July 2041 Four crap performances in a row saw me dragged into the chairman's office and they demanded answers why we were doing so poorly. There was no option to blame the players for being lazy and mentally weak cowards, so I went for the difficult run of games choice. The chairman didn't really buy it, but gave me a month to turn things around. We battered BK Forward but couldn't score, and didn't deserve to lose. 34a Helmer Augustinsson was sent off. We picked up a first win in a while against IF Karlstad, 19 year old centre-back 38e Fredrik Tillman stepping up to score a penalty on his debut. Lunds BK were much better than us, but we grabbed a point with a screamer from outside the area. We battered Huddinge IF but couldn't score, and didn't deserve to lose. 34a Helmer Augustinsson was sent off on his return after suspension. --------------------------------------------- We all know what's coming here, right? One win isn't going to be enough, I've been royally let down by the majority of these players. --------------------------------------------- Hope they go on to get relegated. --------------------------------------------- You can't be this desperate surely? BK Häcken - Allsvenskan (13th) ---------------------------------------------

Rynninge IK - May 2041 Apparently nobody's been paying attention to our last two years of abject failure, as expectations have increased for the coming season. The board want a top-half finish, and the media are predicting even higher, top five. --------------------------------------------- I cashed in a clause, taking £211k from IK Sirius to pass up on 40% on the next transfer fee of 35d Alain Ibara. We lose so much money each month that this doesn't do much for us financially (currently £269k in the red, despite another £75k being injected by the board), but it seems unlikely that this figure will go up or that he'll be sold for more than half a million, so I thought it best to cash in on this now while it was so high. This has tripled the total amount that we've received for our academy graduates. --------------------------------------------- I was pretty worried after the first two games, especially after the loss to IF Karlstad where we were completely FMed. We didn't score at all from 17 shots, whereas they scored twice from just two shots on target. Luckily we won the next two games to take the pressure off, but it's still a very whelming start with a mix of results with no rhythm nor rhyme to them. Whether it's home or away, the first team or the rotation team, it's basically just a die roll as to what the result will be. --------------------------------------------- Very midtable. ---------------------------------------------

I've generally found the chairmen to be pretty good with upgrades, the youth recruitment and junior coaching have been improved every two or three years. The issue is the training facilities, that's the one we need badly. It's all well and good presumably having the potential, but with such a limited way of reaching it (gametime only) it's never going to happen.

Rynninge IK - 2040 Season Review A hugely frustrating season as we've regressed massively these last two years, and I don't know why. No matter what I try, nothing is working. On a happier note, all the money injected throughout the year has meant we've ended up with a positive bank balance for the first time in a while. We also managed to get a couple of upgrades through, though only one popped to the next level. At the start of the year the board agreed to improve the junior coaching and youth recruitment at the end of the season as long as we gave the youth players a lot of gametime. I've found these promises to be a bit hit-and-miss previously, with the commitment sometimes not being honoured, but both were implemented here. Using the editor I can see both are now at 17/20, so nearly improved as far as they can go. --------------------------------------------- Not a lot to impress here. 31b Anders Aronsson was voted the fans player of the year, and he did end up with the most goals and assists. Neither tally was in double figures though, so he was just the best of a bad bunch. --------------------------------------------- 31b Anders Aronsson is now our record appearance maker, though his goalscoring has heavily slowed down in the last three years and I wish we had a striker to replace him. It could have been 36h Mohammed Teklit had the board not sold him. 30b Thomas Svensson, 32b Lucas Andersson, and T25a Isaac Brikell will all be leaving the club this winter. It seems pretty negligent to let three left-wingers go at the same time, but if they're all so intent on playing badly it's pointless keeping them. T20b Magnus Ternstedt made one final appearance this year, and has retired for real now. 13 academy graduates made their debuts this year. --------------------------------------------- The Reserves won their second tier group, but can't get promoted. The Under 19s came 4th in the initial stage of the U19 Premier Division, but then last in the Championship stage. --------------------------------------------- Previous Clubs Tyresö FF (Division 2 Södra Svealand) bounced back at the first time of asking, going to the top of the table early on and eventually running out champions by a convincing 17 point margin. ---------------------------------------------

Rynninge IK - October 2040 Another £100k thrown in by the board. --------------------------------------------- Same old rubbish. Any hint of quality is immediately replaced with incompetence. No commitment or integrity from these players. --------------------------------------------- There were 11 games where we didn't score this season, literally more than a third of our games. Pathetic. ---------------------------------------------

Rynninge IK - September 2040 This squad of players is just utterly broken. They're a complete disgrace. --------------------------------------------- Another interview offer. Should probably start attending some of these, I am fed up of wasting my time with this squad which is clearly never going to improve. Halmstads BK - Allsvenskan (15th) ---------------------------------------------

Rynninge IK - 2040 Youth Intake A golden generation! Ugh. Lots of potential, but those personalities means that the top-rated players just aren't going to make it.

Rynninge IK - August 2040 Another injection of cash from the board, this time £75k. We also sold home advantage in the second round of the Svenska Cupen for £15k, and earned an additional £30k from ticket sales due to this. --------------------------------------------- But the chairman also found another to make money, by selling my players. For the third time this year they accepted offers 'too good to turn down', though at least on this occasion there was a bit more time before the deadline, so I was able to offer these two players out and negotiate higher fees. 36h Mohammed Teklit was our top scorer last year, and was also leading the way so far this season. Not an impressive tally mind, just four in the league. Even so, losing him is a blow. The chairman accepted £19.25k from Varbergs BoIS, I managed to increase this to £33.5k + 50% of next sale from AFC Eskilstuna. He's now our record sale. Also going was our second-choice left-back, so this was less of a blow. The chairman accepted £16k + 30% of next sale from Degerfors IK for 36j Thomas Nilsson, I managed to turn this into £19.5k + 50% of next sale from Östers IF. We've made just over £100k from sales of academy graduates. --------------------------------------------- A very mixed couple of months. If we scored, we were laughing. We scored in five games this period, and we won all of them. But there were another five games we didn't score, and we only gained one point. I moaned a few years ago about how often we weren't getting on the scoresheet, I think it was nine games in total that season. We've already shot blanks 11 times this year. 36h Mohammed Teklit went out the right way, with a hat-trick in Svenska Cupen and then a goal in his final appearance at Gottne IF. --------------------------------------------- I think we've done enough to get out of the relegation battle, now we need to build on this and get a top-half finish. --------------------------------------------- Not content with taking our striker, they wanted me to join as well. AFC Eskilstuna - Allsvenskan (11th) ---------------------------------------------

At the moment we could sell the clause for £50k, but with our finances being in the red it wouldn't benefit me to claim it. Just got to hope he catches the eye of a scout. One of the real big boys seems unlikely, but could probably fit in at an Eredivisie or Championship side.

I took a look at the Allsvenskan page (while seeing if they also have a summer break - the answer is yes, but the Superettan doesn't) and happened to see the top scorers chart. 35x Lars Jakobsson is currently leading with eight goals, his nearest rivals are on six. He so far has 36 goals in 93 appearances for Örebro SK, all in the top tier or Svenska Cupen. Gutted that we missed out on him.

Rynninge IK - June 2040 Another £50k pumped in, but that's not even enough to cover our monthly running costs. --------------------------------------------- I've completed a coaching course and now have my Continental C Licence. --------------------------------------------- Nothing's changed, but we've had a much better month (and a bit) over May and June. I can't tell you why we've improved, maybe it's just our turn to be good for a bit. Scoring goals definitely helps, five wins from eight is good form by anyone's standards. But given how poorly we started the season we're still playing catch up, so it's the two defeats that are more important, both unacceptable in their own ways. We were thumped by Skiljebo SK, a newly promoted side that were bottom of the table at the time. If this was FM07 (by far the best in the series) I'd have fined everyone that played in that match, but with the limited options in FM20 I was only able to fine one player. Ridiculous. And we were humped even worse by Enskede IK. Granted, they're a good team, but we shouldn't be conceding four at home so easily. The two goals we scored make it look a little more respectable, but even those came when we were already four down. --------------------------------------------- We've recovered to an extent, but we're still nowhere near safety. Let's hope we return from the summer break with the same form as May, and not April. ---------------------------------------------

Rynninge IK - April 2040 The board injected another £320k over the winter, but it's just putting water into a bucket with a hole in it. --------------------------------------------- The sale of 33a Zoran Stokiljkovic was my choice, as he was constantly rubbish and never looked anywhere near his potential. Also includes 50% of next sale, which we'll be lucky to see even pennies from. The transfer of 36f Mikael Johansson was the board's choice, as apparently just over £20k is too much to turn down. He'd made it into our starting line-up last season, so it's a bit of a blow, but we still have plenty more mediocre midfielders to pick from. --------------------------------------------- Expectations have increased, with the board now wanting us to finish midtable. The media are predicting that we'll finish 6th. Given how poorly last year went, it feels like I'm being set up for failure. --------------------------------------------- Five games, three goals, two points. Nine fines. Useless. --------------------------------------------- Off the top of my head, I think this is the first time we've been bottom of the table at any time over the years. I don't think I'm going to make it to the end of the season. ---------------------------------------------

Rynninge IK - 2039 Season Review To point out the obvious, I'm not happy with this at all. We suffered a big drop off from last year for no apparent reason. I have no idea how I'm going to get back on track, it didn't seem to matter which players or formations we used, everything went badly. --------------------------------------------- Not many players emerged with any credit this year. 36h Mohammed Teklit was voted fans player of the season after scoring 10 goals. 32a Samuel Hansson was the only player with a good average rating, but he missed half the season injured. Perhaps things would have been slightly better with him involved - his winning percentage was 35%, compared to an overall 27%. We conceded considerably fewer foals when 37f Adrian Söderberg took his place between the sticks - 27 conceded in 22 games, compared to 18 in just nine games before him. Everyone else was pretty crap. --------------------------------------------- T20b Magnus Ternstedt came out of retirement in the second half of the season and extended his appearances and assists records. He has also twice as many assists as 31b Anders Aronsson, who himself has twice as many goals as anyone else. Six academy players made their debuts this season. The one who had the main impact was 37f Adrian Söderberg, who is now our first-choice goalkeeper. --------------------------------------------- The Reserves finished 2nd in their second tier group. The Under 19s came 6th in the initial stage of the U19 Premier Division, and then 11th in the Championship stage. --------------------------------------------- Previous Clubs We beat Tyresö FF both home and away, and then they got relegated. Operation: Revenge is a success! ---------------------------------------------

Rynninge IK - October 2039 When we beat Hudding IF I hoped that this would set us up for a strong end to the season, but it wasn't to be. We went five games without scoring from open play, and only managed to salvage points from penalties. At least we beat Tyresö FF again. --------------------------------------------- Only 40 goals scored is an appalling figure. We were 13 goals off of last year's amount, and seven off of our worst previous total. 39 points is our second worst amount at this level, and is a drop of eight from last year. Crap. ---------------------------------------------

Rynninge IK - 2039 Youth Intake A golden generation! 13 players have been signed from this batch. The usual mix of decent and dodgy determination attributes and personalities, but at least in general the worse of the bunch are rated towards the bottom. Seeing a 3.0 CA player is encouraging, 39f Simon Lindström could probably do a job for us already. In fact, I'm going to throw him in for the final few games.

Rynninge IK - August 2039 Another £100k injected, but nowhere near enough to actually help. --------------------------------------------- I'm running out of ways to describe how poorly we're playing. Even at 3-1 up over Lunds BK we found a way to lose. The emergency call was sent to T20b Magnus Ternstedt in the director's office, but even him chipping in with a couple of goals and assists wasn't enough to stop the rot. --------------------------------------------- It's difficult to look any direction other than down at the moment. With Tyresö FF and Gottne IF finding form we could be in real trouble. ---------------------------------------------

Rynninge IK - July 2039 Another £75k was invested by the board. We're currently £157k in the red. --------------------------------------------- We briefly got our **** together until it all started falling apart again. For the most part we've improved our defensive performances, but have just stopped scoring instead. I'm really hating the youth only decision at the moment. In a normal save I'd have kicked most of these wasters out by now, they do not deserve to be at my club. --------------------------------------------- Still wouldn't rule out relegation to be honest. --------------------------------------------- Another job interview offer came in. Mjällby IF - Allsvenskan (11th) ---------------------------------------------