***The Official Football Manager Thread***

[jasontoddwhitt]

Taking a week off from work combined with the shorter seasons in Sweden is allowing me to breeze through this....

Year 4....it will go down as a disappointment. Not because we did poorly. By all means, we had our best table position since I took over FC Hollviken. But, my word, what could've been. We spent the first half of the season in first place. Our attack was on point. Toth and Gibanica both scored in double digits (first time that's happened). Our defense was solid as always. Halfway through the season, we had gotten 26 points from 13 matches. We were optimistic.

Then a little nasty bug crept in, one we haven't seen in my entire career here. The injury bug.

Late in the season, Gibanica suffered broken ribs and missed most of the second half of the season. The scoring load fell on Toth as nobody stepped up and our attack suffered. Then to make matters worse, Stagova, who was doing a better job spearheading our attack as an attacking midfielder, suffered a torn hamstring that ended his season. Then to just make it comical, Toth also missed three weeks late in the season with a damaged knee cap. Yup, both of our starting strikers were out at the same time.

Those three misses, combined with Eskilsminne IF ending the season on a 16-game unbeaten streak ended our title hopes. Still, heading into the last day of the season, we were sitting in fourth place and still in contention for the promotion playoffs. We were playing the second place team (Hasselhohms IF). A victory combined with a draw/loss by Osterlen FF (3rd placed team) would see us finish second. Osterlen did their part, losing to Solvesborg.

Hasselhohms IF scored the first salvo in the 16th minute, a header off a free kick that evaded Patat to give them the 1-0 lead, which would be the score at half time. We were struggling to spearhead any attack. Thirty seconds into the second half, the equalizer came when Nilsen found Gibanica at the top of the box, and he powered the shot past the keeper, who managed to get a hand on it, but not enough to deflect it away from goal.

In the 62nd minute, a Hasselhohms defender got caught dwelling on the ball by Gibanica. Gibanica was able to win the ball very high up the pitch and immediately unleashed a cross into the box, where Toth was waiting to hit it on the volley. 2-1 Hollviken and the small contingent of supporters who made the trip were dancing in the aisles at the prospect of the playoffs.

It wasn't to be, however.

In the 74th minute, Hasselhohms won the ball and unleashed a long ball forward. Jingblad got turned around, and Crnalic forced Patat to come out, then laid the ball off to Matikka, who slammed the ball into the upper corner. 2-2....and we never mounted a challenge after that.

In the span of 12 minutes, we went from finishing second to finishing fifth.

Offseason was interesting. We were able to keep who we wanted to keep. But the board decided to cut staff wages. Begrudgingly, most of my staff signed contracts, save for my assistant and our chief scout. I was the last to sign. My name has been popping up in media reports, my reputation is slowly climbing, but no interviews have been offered. The board initially offered me a one year, $27k deal, a $10k pay cut. I walked away. They came back with a one year, $24k deal. Now I'm really aggravated. I took over this club when they were in dire straights. Not even Sir Alex Ferguson could've steered this club to avoid relegation that first season. I've built a solid foundation. We've got the best staff. And this is how I'm going to get treated???

But I'm attached to these players, and I have unfinished business. So, I begrudgingly accepted a one year, $31k deal.

Released
CB Emil Aleskog - a reserve defender, made 19 appearances in two seasons.
ST Lucas Eliasson - failed when called upon after Gibanica's injury, scored one goal in 16 appearances (10 starts).

Transfers In
AMC David Lindgren (loan from GAIS): 18-year-old who is very well suited for our division according to scouts.
ST Andreas Odersjo: 21-year-old who scored 3 goals for Habo FF last season. I love these reclamation projects.
DC Oscar Wedell: 21-year-old made three sub appearances for Kvarnby IK last season.
MC Ludvig Schultz: 22-year-old made six appearances (two starts) for Smedby AIS, scoring one goal.

Of course, the injury bug reared its ugly head again in preseason. My goalkeeper Emre Patat (26 starts, 8 shutouts, 1.19 all/90), who has started every game since I signed him back in year one, suffered a torn groin muscle and will miss the first two months of the season. Reigning midfielder of the year Jesper Nilsen (25 starts, 4 goals, 7 assists, 7.4 rating) will miss the first month of the season with broken ribs.

Predicted Starting Lineup

GK - Linus Gustafsson (Patat's back up since he arrived in 2017. Hasn't made an appearance in three years. Hoping he can be a stop gap until Patat's return from injury)

DL - Christofer Bengsston (Another solid season in 2019, with 24 starts and a 7.14 rating)

DC - Albin Jingblad (Might have made the key mistake in the last game of the season, but Jingblad broke out in 2019, making 25 starts and a 7.21 rating)

DC - Filip Olausson (In and out of the lineup last season as his form took a dip from 2018, making 26 appearances (14 starts) and a 6.77 rating)

DR - Oscar Vilas Nilsson (the captain won his second straight defender of the year award. Oscar showed a scoring prowess last season, scoring 5 goals and registering 2 assists in 24 starts with a 7.38 rating)

MC - John Back (slight dip in form last season, but managed 25 starts and a goal with a 6.98 rating)

MC - Franko Moreno Petkovic (beat out Leo Sjowall in preseason and will hold the fort down till Jesper can return. Made 16 appearances (4 starts) with a 6.74 rating)

MC - Ludvig Schultz (new signing who also looked better in preseason than Sjowall, who did register 8 assists for us last season. Might see more rotation in the midfield this season)

AMC - Davind Lindgren (loanee who was brought in to improve our attack. Stagova seems to have lingering effects from the torn hamstring he suffered last season)

ST - Adis Gibanica (scored 10 goals and racked up 7 assists in 21 starts. If only he hadn't missed time due to injury last season)

ST - Philipe Andersson-Toth (put disappointing 2018 behind him by having a tremendous 2019. Scored 16 goals and dished out 4 assists in 24 starts. If he also hadn't missed time due to injury last season)

Okay, that was long, but I am enjoying this team. I just hope the board doesn't ruin this for me and force me to take another job.

[Kobalt]

Biggest nightmare in FM



My alternate save is 3 months behind my main one

[JHedges2]

This is my first time REALLY diving in to FM. I honestly can't wait for 18 as I plan to get really deep into a save. I've been completely addicted to this game the past couple of weeks--even without any football on TV (outside of the friendlies starting, of course). I can't even bring myself to fire up MLB TS or anything else. Just want more of FM.

Moving through the summer of 2017 (currently 21 July, 2017) as Premier League, and Champions League winners has ben nice. I wanted to bring in Icardi this summer, even went to watch him about 10X last season, but in the end--in typical Arsenal fashion, they just wanted too much, so I let City bring him in for £75M, and instead I swept in and grabbed Lacazette for a mere £40M.

[jasontoddwhitt]

Year 5

The 2020 season will go down as a successful failure. The injury issues we faced going into the season caused us to get off the blocks slowly, losing two of our first three matches. Linus Gustafsson started the first seven matches of the season, and he was serviceable. But he was no Patat and our defending suffered for it. We managed to go 3-1-3 in those seven matches, sitting firmly in the mid-table. Once Emre Patat came back, our defending improved, and we started racking up more wins. As for Jesper Nilsen, he missed the first month of the season with broken ribs, then re-injured said ribs in a U20s match and missed another month. Damn injuries.

Once we got healthy, the wins started coming. Over the next 14 games, we went 10-2-2 and climbed into second place. Our faulty start caused us to get too far behind to Prespa Birlik, but we were closing the gap. But we needed more help from them. The final five matches would dictate if we would indeed challenge for the title. However, with five matches to go, we needed 10 points to secure our spot in the promotion playoffs.

And much like last season, and the season before that, the spectacle was too much. We dropped consecutive 0-1 decisions to IFK Trelleborg (8th) and BW-90 IF (5th) that knocked us out of the title hunt and our grasp on the promotion playoffs was gone as Lunds BK scored two wins and evaporated our six point advantage. Our next match was a road tilt with the league champions Prespa Birlik while Lunds had a home tilt against IFK Trelleborg. Lunds did what we couldn't do and defeated Trelleborg 1-0, putting the pressure on us. We managed to go into Malmo and snatch a 1-1 draw against the league leaders.

With two matches to go, we were down two points. As luck would have it, the last match of the season was against Lunds BK. But we had a match against FC Rosengard to worry about first. If we win, Lunds wouldn't be able to put us away. A draw or a loss, and we risk losing out on the promotion playoffs. The fans were really hyped (all 98 of them) for the match, and with a goal in the 33rd minute by Andreas Odersjo, we held on for the 1-0 victory. BW-90 IF did us a favor, playing Lunds to a scoreless draw. The final match of the season and we are tied on points with Lunds BK. We hold the goal differential tiebreaker. A win or a draw sees us into the playoffs.

None of our fans bothered to make the 21 mile trip from Vellinge to Lunds, but that didn't matter to us. We're playing for pride here.

The first highlight of the match was near disaster for us. Lunds won the ball out on the wing and unleashed a long ball that beat our defense. It should've been 1-0 Lunds, but Filip Olausson didn't give up on the play and did a masterful job of racing back and blocking the shot. Our first opportunity came in the 31st minute when off a set piece, Ludvig Schultz got clear at the top of the box, but his shot was deflected. We struck first in the 36th minute, a lovely pass by Gustav Alnas to fellow midfielder Schultz unlocked the defense and Schultz drove the ball into the lower right corner of the goal to make it 1-0. In the opening minute of the second half, Jesper Nilsen found a streaking Odersjo, who unleashed a shot from just outside the box that the keeper had no chance of getting to. 2-0 and the crowd were absolutely stunned. Lunds BK got one back in the 51st minute, but never threatened after that.

We were going to the promotion playoffs!

We were drawn away against Ullareds IK and home against BK Forward. Won't go into too much detail here, we got a 1-1 draw against Ullareds, setting up a win or go home against BK Forward. Unfortunately for us, we had absolutely nothing going forward, and all it took was one cross that my defenders failed to close down on late in the game, and we lost 0-1.

I signed up for another year.

Transfers Out
MC Franko Moreno Petkovic: 66 appearances and four goals over four years with us. One of my first signings...playing time started decreasing as the talent level started improving.

AMC Elie Mukanga: 83 appearances and nine goals over four years. Another one of my first signings. Starter his first year, key reserve the last three seasons. A casualty of the board cutting the wage budget.

MC Farhang Fathiyan: 48 appearances and two goals over three years. A starter his first season, but never really improved after that.

DC Oskar Wedell: 10 appearances in one year with us. May have some youth getting ready to move up, so he was expendable.

Transfers In
DL Daniel Olsson: On loan from Osters IF. Left back has been a weakness for me my entire tenure. Bengtsson has been solid, but unspectacular. This 17-year-old kid looks like a great pick up for us.

AMC Morgan Lindqvist: Signed on a free from Division 2 side Motala AIF. Made 13 appearances for them last season with an average rating of 6.38. Love his teamwork, bravery, and work rate. I think I can get a whole lot more out of him, especially since he's now labeled as my hot prospect.

MC Johan Persson: Signed on a free from recently relegated Bromolla IF. The 25-year-old failed to make an appearance for them. Love his physical traits though his technical traits leave some desire. But in the lower league, sometimes, all you need is speed.

ST Elie Kouakou: Signed on a free from recently promoted Stromsberg IF. Scored 12 goals for Stromsberg to get them back to Division 2 after a three-year absence. Signing is more for depth purposes, as he can play striker, attacking midfielder, and midfield.

DR Diego Delgado: Signed on a free from Division 2 side Vasteras IK. The 30-year-old lost his starting job last season after leading them to promotion the year prior. Love his mental attributes, and will make the perfect backup to Oscar Vilas Nilsson, and he can also fill in at center back.

Key Player and Captain
DR Oscar Vilas Nilsson: Vilas Nilsson made 26 appearances last season for FC Hollviken, scoring four goals, five assists, and two POTM awards (7.35 rating) en route to winning his third straight Defender of the Year Award. Vilas Nilsson joined Hollviken back in 2016 and has currently made 125 league appearances, scoring 17 goals, 18 assists, and 11 POTM awards.

Vice Captain
ST Philipe Andersson-Toth: Andersson-Toth made 23 starting appearances last season for FC Hollviken, scoring 11 goals, five assists, and one POTM award (6.94 rating). Andersson-Toth joined Hollviken back in 2018 and has made 78 league appearances, scoring 32 goals, 16 assists, and 7 POTM awards.

Fan Favorite
GK Emre Patat: Patat made 21 first team appearances last season for FC Hollviken, collecting five shutouts, allowing 1.00 goals/90, and one POTM award (7.06 rating). Patat joined Hollviken back in 2016, where he made his senior debut. In 109 appearances, he has collected 23 shutouts, one POTM award, and 1.30 goals against average.

[texasbum06]

I also just made the switch to FM not that long ago from FIFA (JHedges might recognize me as a frequent poster of the FIFA Career mode thread).

I started a journeyman career with no badges and no playing experience and took the job at Eastleigh after interviewing there.

In the first season we came out of the gates slow but found our form about halfway through and cruised our way to the title securing it with 2 matches left in the season.

Season 2 was a roller coaster that saw us struggle in League 2 to open the season, and then we raced our way out to 2nd place with about a month and a half left only to fail to win any of the last 6 matches and fall out of even a playoff contention spot.

Currently in season 3 now and I am in December now sitting in second place, although after last season I know that means nothing. I am planning for this to be my last season at the club and will most likely let my contract run out at the end of the year and move on to a hopefully bigger club. I'm only spending about half of the wage budget they've given me and I only use free transfers and yet the club is still losing money like crazy. Because of the finances I haven't been able to study for any new badges for almost a year now so I feel like my progress at the club has run it's course.

[Suntan Superman]

Year 2 making the Group Stage of the UCL, last year we managed 3rd and a decent run in the Europa League, this year, I'm gonna hope our goal differential is better than -10

[JHedges2]

Quote: Originally Posted by texasbum06

I also just made the switch to FM not that long ago from FIFA (JHedges might recognize me as a frequent poster of the FIFA Career mode thread).

Welcome Tex!

FM is making it increasingly difficult for me to be able to shell out $60+ for a lackluster (to say the least) career mode in FIFA.

With that said, there's like a 1% chance I DON'T buy FIFA, lol.

How you liking FM so far?

[Suntan Superman]

For the first time in awhile, I've gone back to youth signings/development. For awhile I had gone to established players, and it was very different, and a very rewarding experience, but I realized my youth team/B team was lacking greatly, so our transfer window was dedicated to shoring that up.


Linus Wahlqvist and Carl Johansson are not youth signings, but first team signings.

Dario Lima is the oldest player I signed(and nearly first-team ready) at 19 years old.

Hilariously, and frantically for me, most of my scouts came back to me on deadline day with their youth reports, making the last few there a little awkward.