The 3 Games [2013]

So tactics were sorted and there was no point in trying to recruit new players for this. It was just down to how we performed in the final 3 games of the season (more if we slipt into the relegation playoff).

We had midtable Nykopings BIS away, midtable Roterbro at home and the finally bottom of the table Farsta away. Not impossible games but stacked against us at this point in the season.

Vs Nykopings

The first half was tense. We had possession and the lion's share of the chances but nothing got converted. We were on top of them but only on for a point. The tactic did seem to be doing the job but it was getting worrying. No matter how well we were player at 0-0 a freak goal would be enough to rob us of anything.

It remained tense in the second half until the 67th minute. My right winger Cirak latch onto a ball nodded down by the striker (Robic) and lashed it into the corner. Just over 5 minutes later another Cirak, my AP in MC, charged forwards and placed a shot in the corner from just outside the area.

Final Score: Nykopings 0 - 2 'Tuna City

Vs Rotebro

We were buzzing with confidence, and I could see it in the way the team was playing. They produced some fantastic moves. We went behind but just before half time Anton Hansen...a defender...popped up at the post and nodded in from a corner.

The second half was a full on battle and it looked like we were just going to come away with the point. That was a but too optimisitc. Rotebro caused the home fans some anguish and scored with only minutes left.

Final Score: 'Tuna City 1 - 2 Rotebro


So, a win and a loss. That left us in 9th place. Above the relegation playoff zone (and Akropolis) by two points. A win would gain us survival no matter what. A draw might be good enough depending on results elsewhere and likewise a loss might be okay so long as Akropolis below us didn't win.

Vs Fastra

They were bottom of the table and already relegated. This should have been easy*...

The first half remained goalless. Which is not what we wanted. The team battered them but they held on. Bad news filtered across the stadium as fans discovered Akropolis were winning 1-0. At this point we were safe but only on goal difference. If we lost we would go into the playoff place...if Akropolis scored a couple more we would likewise drop down a place.

5 minutes into the second half we were award a dubious penalty. When I say dubious I mean my player dived. It was blatant and I frankly didn't care. We put the penalty away to go a goal up. Now we had our 2 point cushion back, and in fact had climbed another place to put even more distance between us and relegation.

We finally sealed it in the 3rd minute of injury time. A tap in gave us a 2-0 win.

Final Score: Fastra 0 - 2 'Tuna City


We did it! And what's more we did it well. The team looked like they were playing really good football. They feel like a good team. A team to build with and do well.

Season Analysis

Well this is based on 3 games really but the team played well. The players are much better than the 8th place we finally achieved. I didn't foresee a great need for wholesale changes.

What we did need....was a striker. Sounds a bit familiar but the striker we had relied on was already off before I joined. He had signed a contract. The rest of the team was safe and staying put though so I only really wanted to focus on bringing in a couple of strikers.

The rest of the team could be generally improved if the right player came up.



*And it was I guess.

Enter Eskilstuna City [2013]

And....back on the horse.

Fresh Start

I didn't stay unemployed for long. Struggling Eskilstuna City weren't put off by my recent sacking and instead seemed to think that I might be the one to stave off relegation. With 19 games played (and so only 3 to go) they were 10th and in the relegation spot. The relegation zone proper was only 4 points away, but a couple of other teams were within a point or two of Eskilstuna.

This close to relegation and with only 3 games to go would normally have put me off but there's something about the 'Tuna as I have taken to calling them. I'd always noticed them in other games and they just sounded like a team worth managing. I know that sounds odd but the City in the name made me think there's a team with potential. Size wise it's not too bad 97k ish inhabitants. And the facilities are pretty good too. A 7k seater stadium. Somewhere to build.

When I wiki'd them my interest was piqued further. In real life they have an agreement with another local team. Basically City are THE team and have the aim of getting to the top Swedish tier, whilst the other team (Eskilstuna Sodra FF) are meant to act as a development side for them. This deal is then reviewed every few seasons - I guess to see if actually the other team are closer to it; then they swap roles. I know FM isn't going to actually model that but I thought that was a particularly forward thinking way of running lower league clubs from one locale! Better than one makes it than all of them toiling in the lower league forevermore.

So I was sold, and accepted. 3 games to save them. Pressure was on really as a sacking followed by a relegation (plus the sacking as it would be relegation to an unplayable league) would be quite a set back at this stage.

Tactics

A sudden a swift tactical change is perhaps not the best thing at this stage in a season but what they had been doing before wasn't working. As I looked at the squad certain things became clear. They had a good core of CM's and good DM. They had wingers and attacking midfielders coming out the wazoo, and...they didn't seem to have many out and out strikers.

Based on this I decided to go for a 4-1-2-3, or a 4-5-1, or a 4-1-2-2-1 (depending how you like to label these things.

Sweeper Keeper, two DC's, two wingbacks, a DM, 2 CM's, 2 attacking wingers, 1 striker.

Defence

As before really. We have some solid central defenders so I placed them there in the standard role. Wingbacks again to push forward and assist the wingers.

Midfield

I played the DM initially as simply a DM on defensive duties. They were there mainly to protect the back and maybe kick start some counter attacks.

In a similar fashion to the previous ill-fated Oskarshamn tactic I had two CM's. One advanced playermaker, one a deep lying playermaker. Both on support. These two would pull a lot of strings for me, depending on where we won the ball.

Two out and out attacking wingers again. These were better suited to cutting inside as...well inside forwards but initially I just stuck to wingers. Mainly because I'd prefer to use a player preferred move and have them cut inside from the winger position rather than be an inside forward. If that makes any sense.

Attack

And back to the trequistra. Poacher if need be.

Style

Zonal marking once again (I seem to be phobic about man marking) and counter attacking or control variants. At this stage in the season it was going to be all counter attack, all the time.

Out of Oskarsham [2013]

Title gives it away really. I got sacked. Probably fairly although I would have liked a few extra games to try and turn things around.

Sacked!

After the record high of 4th the media was expecting a healthy midtable finish of 7th for the club. Which I thought was more than attainable. At least I did right at the end of the 2012 season before I started trying to recruit some players.

Pre-season

They really didn't want to come to the club. First of all I tried Hinningsson and got the dreaded, "You'll have to make a fantastic offer..." message at the contract screen. Based on his 26 goals last season and the fact he was on a free now I pumped all my transfer budget (a whole 12k!) into the wage budget and offered the best I could. £250 a week, £7.5k sign on and all the other bells and whistles I could. I didn't hold back. I put a yearly wage rise of 50% and a promotion rise of 50%. He laughed it off.

It didn't go much better for any other targets either. I normally check and see who's been realised from the squads in the divisions above and see if I can tempt anyone into joining. It took a while to trawl through every team above Oskarshamn in Sweden and the return was pitiful. I got a few extra youth prospects.

The loan market wasn't much better. Very few teams wanted their players to go to such a small team, at such a low level of football (sorry Oskarshamn). So I decided I would rely on the players I had and my new youth players.

At least until my first choice winger got sold from under me by the chairman for £33k. I had a back up but it rankled a bit.


The Season

Our form was patchy. When the team was fit and all my so called first choice players were there we did alright.  We did lose a few matches undeservedly but generally the results were fair.

When were weren't fit and had injuries we couldn't win. We weren't even scraping points. As a result we yo-yo'd up and down the table - mainly from mid-table to the relegation playoff place. We only once dipped into the dreaded relegation zone.

With 15 games gone the board had decided enough was enough and sacked me. We sitting just in the relegation playoff place. With 7 games left to play I'd like to think I could have climbed back to midtable safety but the board didn't want to gamble on that. Which is fair enough. 7 games gave them enough time to reach safety with someone else.

Off I went to find a new job. I was quite worried. At this point my managerial career consisted of one season of slight over achievement (but no reward) and a sacking after a poor season. Not exactly a stellar C.V.