To the Top Flight....of Scotland [2020/21]

Going to be a bit of a brief update, and a bit squashed together (all of the season) but unavoidable really.

So how did we prepare? Well I brought in a few extra players. Mainly young defenders as I was happy with most other areas...oh...and Darren Bent as player/coach :D His stats looked fine for the SPL, at least as an impact sub. I didn't want to bring too many people in as I wanted a fairly stable team.

Not a terrible start considering. Took a while to scrape the points we wanted but the team looked to be pulling together. An importantly we didn't look completely out of our depth.

End of the Regular Season

We hit some bad patches and we had to make a few changes. First of all our plucky Scottish keeper was relegated to the bench. With barely a handful of clean sheets to his name I gave the french stand in a go and he was much better. I think by the end of the season he had still shipped plenty but it felt like some damage had been avoided.

We also changed tactics. We moved to a 4312. It hadn't worked for me in a previous career save but I think that's because it needed some slight tweaking...and the right players. Things started to improve with it.

 Annnnnnnnnnnnnd...safe. The remaining games were pretty much dead rubber in terms of survival. And I was capped in terms of how far up the table I could go. They were just for pride and a few 100k in prize money.

End of Season

And that will do nicely. Not exactly the heights of the SPL that we reached but good for a newly promoted team (history aside) trying to operate on a shoe string. What I'm probably most proud of is the fact we never dropped into the relegation place. We kept out head above water all the way through the season.

Again the same names came up to help us. Byrne took to the SPL almost as well as he did the division below. His value has shot up but I don't fancy cashing in on him. I don't think I could replace him.

What next?

Ideally build for next season. Shore up the team, which means gradual improvement. I think we could stave off relegation again next season so I don't feel there is a desperate need for whole sale changes on that front.

What will cause a bit of a change though is the financial situation. The board keep injecting money to keep us afloat. At one point we were 2m in the red. The prize money and a cash injection put us back into the black once the season finished but it won't last. The wage bill is too high, attendances are too low and it's a long way till our next lot of prize money. We need to somehow cut out some fat in our wage budget whilst improving the team. It's probably going to be quite hard.

Do I want to stay? I'm a little ambivalent. I think I could make a real go of it here with Aberdeen. It might take a while but the SPL title isn't impossible. The problem is it could take a good long while. So I think I'm going to carry on but maybe put a cheeky job application in if there is something or somewhere I can't resist.

At the moment the MLS has caught my eye (something different) and Portugal would be interesting. Likewise so would a mid sized team in a 'bigger' league. Or a team that has the potential to be big but is stuck near the bottom of a league structure....alternatively I could always try to go back to 'Tuna City! They've managed to survive and hold on in the First Division Elite without me. I think every season has involved a Wigan-esque great escape but they've done it.

But we shall see. 

Just got to hold on.... [2018]

My doom and gloom view was justified. Look at the form!

I was a game away from resigning. We had four defeats in a row, and we slipped down the table.The team were unhappy and I was furious. Both my key strikers, Felic and Viggeborn, were on 8 or 10 match goaless runs respectively. So I gave this guy a start as striker.

I signed him at the start of the season. I didn't mention him, or the AMLC I bought because I didn't think they'd be much use for a good long while. But I figured it was worth giving him a go as striker. After all even if he couldn't score it would still take 8 games for him to be as bad as Felic and Viggy.

It worked out quite nicely. He grabbed a great goal from outside the area, which spurred Viggy on when he came off the bench, and we beat Brommapojkarna 4-1. Which then triggered a run of wins allowing us to just move up and out of the relegation zone and sit in 12th place. The screen shot at 20 games messed up so here it is at 21.

Team are doing...okay. A lot of them won't be here next year simply because I'm not renewing their contracts.Bjorkebaum for example will be going. He's getting on and he's not impressed.

The final 10 games? Could go either way still. A bad run will suck us back down, a good run will keep us afloat. I want to finish this season and survive at the very least. I'll be left with a bit of a decision at the end though.

I think if we survive and can recruit the players I'm looking for in the upcoming transfer window (got my eye on about 5 players, all decent) then I'll stay for another season.

If we get relegated then I'll go down with the ship like a good captain should be then...once the bubbles have stopped rising I'll quietly hand my notice in.

Anything in between that I don't know.

Ireland U-19's

One friendly, one win. Beat Iceland 1-0. Some of the players look promising but it doesn't mean much at the moment. It's the comparative games and the squad I can put together for them. I've arranged several friendlies so I can play around with tactics and cynically tempt some dual nationality players into declaring for Ireland! But the important games won't be for at least another year.

And relax [2017]

And.....we can unclench. 9th with 40 points. Survival has been assured, with a couple of games to go.

Relegation didn't look too much like a possibility as we held on fairly firmly to that 9th place. There were a few blips and a few losses crept in but overall we didn't take the fatal nose dive that the media were expecting (and predicting with every loss).

The squad performance picked up quite a bit as players settled, thought I'm not sure how well it shows in the stats*. As an aside I've been thinking of running something of analysis on some of the starts I have from each seasons match stats. I'm not quite sure what sort yet because of the sheer amount of variables but maybe with a few more seasons data I can think about looking at performance as related to some of the stats I've been focusing on like pass completion.

I've been noticed again and offered a job.

What I also did was turn a little traitor...

It was just too tempting. Birmingham, in League 1, with a squad good enough for the championship. A team from the second city and ripe for some real success. Unfortunately they turned me down. I think those are the kind of jobs I want to go for. I'm happy building with 'Tuna but a sleeping or fallen giant would be great.

Next Season

What to do? Where to recruit?

I'm not looking really for any players. Sounds a little daft but I think the team is good enough to survive. I don't want to rush into getting any players. Maybe a stunning left back would be great but I've got a lot of young players who deserve a chance.

If I can get a few cheap or promising players I'll add them for depth but otherwise we're going to try and keep the squad stable.

*Weeks of marking has pretty much fried my brain and I'm not going to go in depth with this end of season review.

I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed

I know it's a cliche, and I know I shouldn't be that disappointed considering season expectations but I am.

3rd and 43 points. Only 2 (plus some goals) off the playoff place, and 3 off the title. So close. So far. That in itself isn't disappointing. After all if you try your hardest and don't succeed then you can't really complain. What makes it difficult is just how bad we were in our final 5 games.

We collapsed. 2 points from 4 games. It left us in a horribly position for the final game of the season. We were 5th but could get 2nd if we won and certain games went our way.

If we won and Vasalund drew or lost then we could do it. Alternatively if Forward lost we could do it. Though it would be on goal difference in certain situations.

At various points during the final game we were 5th, 4th, 3rd and a tantalising 2nd. Until Forward came from 2 goals down to win 3-2.

What a sad looking graph. It comes down to over reliance. Bergh was out and in the Degerfors game Felic ended up out for 6 weeks. Key players at either end.

That said we played well almost all the way through the season, and way beyond what was expected. We'll have done our rep no end of good. The team is increasingly settled and now we might be able to add a few key players to make another push.

We were rewarded at the end of the season too. I got manager of the year, and Bergh was named as the keeper in the team of the season. I would have probably added Felic to the team of the year but as that would have meant paying him a £4k bonus I didn't mind too much.

Also got another job offer. Stockport in the BSP. Nah, I think I'll skip that. Looking forward to at least another season with the mighty 'Tuna City.

End of Season Analysis

I'll squeeze this here if I may:

Injuries meant we kept rotating and rarely settled. I think over half the season was played without an actual AML in the AML position. Passing completion was okay and told the same story as ever. I think it was reflected in the match engine too. We played great possession football and when we had the right people at the end of the move we were deadly.

The goals weren't as spread around but I think that is due to the combination of the step up and the injury forced rotation in the midfield. We definitely relied too much on Felic.

Attack

Broken record I know but an extra striker would be nice! Muqdisi to be frank wasn't great. He wasn't as clinical or creative as Felic, and he didn't have the pace of Berner. He just sort of trundled along.

Berner didn't get a great deal of starts, especially up front. Mainly because I was running him ragged by using him as cover on the wings.

Abohwo didn't start up front as he was doing too well from AMR. Frankly the way he drifts inside from the AMR was productive enough. I didn't want to tamper with that.

Midfield

Again...broken record. I'd like a nice out and out AML please. Easier said than done though if no one really wants to join. Other than that I think we're okay. What I need to do is ease Gustafsson into more games so he can take over from Wikstrom - he's getting on.

Defence

I feel okay with it as it stands. My first choice back four all played well. I have two back up/promising DC's and a back up DR (Ekholm) who had a howler of a debut, but might be alright. If I recruit here it has to be a quality plater.

Keeper

I've got Wachtmeister now. I might get a loanee in (if I can) for extra cover but they'll do for now.
 

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.