'Tuna to the Top [2016]

Top of this table anyway. Not quite at the top of the Swedish pyramid but one step closer after grabbing the title here.

I know I should really try and build up to it and maintain some suspense but it was straight forward. Once we got 1st place with 5 games to go we didn't give it up. Viggeborn played amazingly well and we kept out unbeaten run going.

The key game was against Vasalund - a point at this stage would have won the title for us. Instead we squeezed in a victory to do it with some style. Here's the the title winning goal (although I imagine Felic and Viggeborn would argue the combine 25 goals they bagged were more important).

Molder is off at the end of the season - and that's a nice way to say goodbye.

Here are the end of season player stats - I think the fact we had a bit of an injury ridden season is clear. A lot of appearances spread around. The team pulled together well and although it never really felt like we were playing amazing football (at least not to the extent we did last year) we still managed to grab the title with a record points total.

I managed to get manager of the year.

And more importantly as far as I'm concerned I'm finally on the clubs favoured personnel, with an untouchable job status. I may well need that as the Swedish Elite division is going to be tough.

End of Season Analysis

Here's a slightly different squad display - I've taken out the players that are leaving, either to other clubs or on free, so I can see where we need to improve. I've also moved Moller, a youth keeper, into the squad.

'Keeper

I willing to give Bergh another season with Moller as backup. Bergh did just fine this season and got the most clean sheets in the division. It'll be tougher, especially with a weaker defence (potentially) in front of him but I don't see it as being the key position to change.

If I see a great keeper then I'll bring them in but I'm not going to be hunting specifically for one.

Defence

Molder and Hansen were immense, as always, and now leave a giant hole. With Ekholm going as well I definitely need to recruit and strengthen here. At least one left wing back, one right wing back, cover for that position and maybe another DC as cover.

I'm going to retrain Gregorcik and Claesson to play on either side of the pitch as well but only as a back up.

Midfield

Things went quite well here, and as we've only really lost the poorer of the two Ciraks (Adhan) and Tinnerholm I don't think we need to do a great deal here.

AML is covered by Bjorkebaum and Backstrom.
AMR is covered by Sunday and Celsing.
AP  is well covered by Kamara and Backstrom.
DLP is covered by Lundesvall and Gustafsson
DM is covered by Wikstrom and Gustafsson

I just need to bring in some extra cover I think.

Attack

I think it's time for Felic to move to the bench and Viggeborn to take the starting position. He finished the season well and at a young age he will benefit from starting much more than the 33 year old Felic. I won't be getting rid of Felic as with 13 goals this season he can do the job but I think the transition has to be made.

For back up I only really have the 30 year old Berner. I think I need to bring in some younger options if I can.

Overall

Defence is key - aside from that I think I just need to add depth. My new wage budget is going to be 7.7k a week which will help, though my transfer budget is a little miserly.

With the jump to the Elite division I'll have to see if I can tempt better players over.

Topsy-Turvy 'Tuna [2016]

Well this season is keeping even me guessing as we bounce around. In the last update for the middle of the season we'd fallen off the pace and looked a little bit...well crap. I was really worried that we were just going to fall further and further away from Vasalund who were sitting pretty in 1st place. They'd just beaten us to extend the gap.

What has happened though has gone against that. We've managed to fight back to first. Although fight back might not be the most accurate way of phrasing it. We've clawed our way back whilst Vasalund and Vasteras have faltered.

Those recent draws we had occurred around the same time as a dip in form for the others. They dropped points with draws or losses. We crept up and then eventually overtook them.

Five games to go then. Can we do it? Erm....yeah maybe. I should actually be more optimistic as we're looking on to get more points this season than last but it's still very tight at the top. I don't feel like the team are performing at their peak either.

Pass completion isn't great and Felic is out for most of those final 5 games. In fact he's probably out for all of them when you consider match fitness too. Viggeborn has been doing well as a straight replacement for Felic. Perhaps too well as I'm sure he was listed as a ML/ST when I bought him...now he's just a ST. I'm guessing that he was in the process of being retrained for the ML spot and then when I signed him I didn't continue - so now he's lost it.

Kamara is almost certainly out for the final 5 games too. And Lundesvall might only make it back in time for the final couple of games. Can probably see why my optimism is waning a little.

What you might also notice* is that a lot of players have decided to jump ship. Molder, Hansen, Tinnerholm, Ekholm and Muqdisi. Of those Molder and Hansen will be big loses, and Ekholm might be considering he's my back up at right back.  I don't really care about Tinnerholm and Muqdisi. Neither of them have lived up to even my quite low expectations of them.

I just couldn't get them to stay though. Most of them wanted out or wanted more than I could offer them. I've not tried to recruit yet because I think my two options for squad building depend on whether I get promoted or not. If I wait and get promoted I can recruit, hopefully, a better standard of player. If I don't get promoted then I think I need to gut the team. I'll need to get rid of deadwood and free up wages for the next push.

I don't really fancy a big rebuild of the squad though, so I'd better get promoted then.


*And what you might also, also notice is that the individual training for most of the players doesn't seem to change much. I did initially change it quite a bit but because of the level of my coaching, and the fact most players are part time, very little seems to change stat wise for a lot of the players. I do change things up every now and again but as the changes aren't huge I don't get much benefit from changing them often.

Off the pace already [2016]

 

It's odd. Things aren't going well but they're still going better than the board and media expect. We hit a sort of slump. Or perhaps more accurately we're still getting results but we're dropping points.

2nd is still good. But we're 7 points behind 1st. And they just beat us. We're performing okay but we're just not clinical enough. Games aren't getting finished off and some of the players (the unhappy ones) seem a little lacklustre. You can see it in the stats to an extent.

An injury to Hansen revealed something as well. Without him I have to play Manns at left back and we suddenly become very bad at attacking (in comparison). Whether we're controlling or counter attacking. We can still do it but it's not as effective. It means my next buy, if I want to stick with this system, is another attacking left wing back.

There was another knock on as well. With Manns moved over Gregorcik went in at DC. Suddenly we became a bit frailer in defence. Which put me in a bit of a pickle. He's not as good at soaking up the pressure that the defence might come under when counter-attacking, but he's also not very good if we get outnumbered when trying to control. Luckily Hansen came back after a short while but I was left a bit stuck. I had no idea which one to choose and in the end I was looking at just going back to standard for a while.

Prospects for the season? If we keep dropping points like we have done we won't get first. In fact we need a big improvement to pull Vasalund back. What I think is more worrying is that I can see us being over taken by Vasteras and Karlslund if we're not careful too.

Getting that playoff place is essential this season. Well getting promotion is one way or another. We've hit our wage limit for this level I think at around 5k. It's not going up anymore. A few players are getting on a bit, like Wikstrom and Felic, and the replacements aren't quite ready yet. Some players just want to leave as well. Kamara isn't interested in signing an extension. If we don't get promoted the team for the 2017 season will be older, weaker and I'll have less room in the budget to fix things.

Which would leave me with a career/journeyman dilemma. Do I stick around if the going gets tougher? I have to admit I'm already feeling a certain amount of wanderlust. I've had some job offers and although they weren't more tempting that 'Tuna City they were at a good level.

Now I don't want to make the same mistake as my previous career game - I don't want to leave a club that I've been gradually developing for a new club that actually might be a bit of a downwards or horizontal step. I would just have to build again but I'm not looking forward to the idea of repeated seasons in the First Division North.

If I don't get promoted this season I think I would have to stick with 'Tuna but consider very carefully any job offers that come my way. Hopefully though it'll be a moot point, I'll turn things around a bit and get promoted. That's the plan.

Trick for 'Tuna [2016]

A pretty good start all told. We're top after 5 games which is a nice start.

We're unbeaten too but we could still be doing a bit better. That 3-3 opener? We were up by 3 goals initially and let it slip. I don't know what it is but the team just doesn't seem as secure at the back. It's nothing horribly obvious when watching the match but we just don't seem as comfortable.

We don't seem to be passing as well. I have theories on that. My players don't seem as happy anymore. I have two make noises about leaving (Hansen, Manns), one thinks I'm forcing him out (Kamara) and three don't think they're playing enough (Cirak, Claesson, Gregorcik). So whilst overall morale is pretty good I have three or four first teamers that aren't at their best.

Enough of that...what about the new recruits? They seem to be settling in quite nicely.

Viggeborn  has bagged a few - from both the AML and ST. He seems to be versatile enough and has enough pace to make a real impact.

Backstrom is only really appearing from the bench at the moment, for either the AML or MC (AP) positions. Looks good on the ball but I think I will ease him in for the moment. As Kamara gets more and more unhappy I might have to give Backstrom more and more time. No time for whiners.

Bjorkebaum hasn't scored yet but he's putting fantastic balls in. He's my first choice at AML at the moment and having him there has given Celsing on the right a new lease of life. Celsing started because Sunday was injured but Bjorkebaum has made it difficult for Sunday to get back in now. He keeps pinging awesome cross field balls for Celsing to run onto. Then he either cuts inside and shoots or moves outside and swings a ball in. It's working really well at the moment.

Whether they keep it up or not I don't know. Quietly optimistic that we'll have a good season at the moment.

Another go [2016]

Time for another stab at promotion after the surprise season. I really wish we had gotten the promotion last time round. Not just because of the obvious reason of...you know...being promoted. But because for the second season expectations will be much higher and teams will be approaching things differently.

I did say I wanted to strengthen at the AML and ST positions so I managed to bring in...

Bjorkebaum

Cover for both AML and ST! The scouts and coaches rate him pretty highly and I think he'll be, at the very least, better than Muqdisi.

Backstrom

 He looks like he'll develop well and the scouts are convinced that he'll maybe even be a premier prospect. I shelled out £10k for him but I don't mind. I'm quietly confident that he's well worth the investment. Last season he played 17 games in the same division as us so he's at this level at least.

Viggeborn

Viggeborn cost 18k in compensation but again I think he'll do the job. In my mind I'm picturing him beating the defenders for pace and then cutting inside. Trust me in my mind, the goals look awesome. He got 4 in 12 games in the South division, which is the same level. I'm expecting a bit more from him but at least he's already got a record at this level just like Backstrom.

I'd be on the track of another DC...

But I couldn't tempt him here. Hopefully though the defence will stand up again.