All culminating in 3rd place. No title, no promotion, no playoff.
Before the final game we were in 3rd and all we had to do was win. A draw would probably have done it provided Akropolis didn't go on a goal frenzy. We lost. And why? Well my keeper being in international duty didn't help. All of the goals we conceded in that final game were rubbish ones. A scramble, a poor clearance and a weak dive to stop a routine shot.
In actuality we lost it earlier but we just didn't realise it. Those 3 draws cost us 6 points. Converting one to a win would have meant 2nd place. Converting all 3 would have meant challenging for the title.
That lost against Akroplis? A draw against them would have actually meant we would have got 2nd place over them.
The board are a little disappointed. They wanted promotion, the media thought 3rd place was fair. So my job is a little insecure. I'm fairly confident that they'll keep me on though. We're in a good position for next year.
Ah well...
End of Season Review
How'd the team do?
Well they pulled together pretty well. Almost all the signings played their part. Apart from maybe Citaku who will be put on the unwanted list.
Stahl was the stand out player. My player of the year. Look at him. He's a beast.
He scored, provided and ran at the defense time and time again.
Wallinder and Engstrom did really well too. And even the two AMC's I got as youth gambles and cover, Goransson and Kallgren, did really well.
There are some problems though.
1) Depth - We still had a pretty small squad. Injuries, bans and international call ups cost us at times. Our 3-0 loss to Akropolis came after we had to go to extra time in the cup against Qviding. They were knackered.
Whenever I had to rest key players like Fredriksson or Bajric there was a knock on effect.
Up front although Pode bagged a tidy 14 goals when he was playing badly, tired or was on his mid season dry spell we just didn't have the options on the bench to maintain the goal threat. Citaku wasn't up to it and playing Stahl there meant changing the midfield.
So we need more players. I've got two coming in, a DM and a AMC. I think I need a striker and then a few youth players as back up in midfield and up front. Then I can rotate them in.
2) Age? - I'm a bit doubtful but the squad average age is pretty young, 22 years old. The youngest team in the league has an average of 21. Did this mean we were more likely to crack under pressure? I'm not convinced but it's documented to have an effect. I think in part with another seasons experience this will improve and there'll be less of an impact. I'm just worried though that if we lose say Fredriksson, the old man of the team, the core of midfield, that'll we'll suffer.
I don't want to bring in older players for the sake of it though. I want to keep the faith with the younger players. I just need to talk to them more using the player interaction options, and keep an eye on my team talks. They'll need more hand holding.
Right, time to recruit during the long cold Swedish off season.
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