False Start [2028]

Well I gave it a go but my heart wasn't in it. After 7 games in the premiership with Vasteras, despite being in a healthy 13th place, I decided to resign.

Things weren't bad but I wasn't enjoying it. To be fair this was my 12th or 13th season in Sweden so a change of scenery was probably about due.  I was also struggling with the fact that we had become a default selling club but the players weren't raising much even by Swedish standards, and there was little to reinvest it in. The facility upgrades cost too much and players just weren't interested, even those from lower down (not without a big price tag).

So I left. Head held reasonably high. Two promotions with Vasteras. All the way from the 3rd tier to the 1st on a shoestring. It had been fun, but it was time to go.

Where next?

Well I'd like a bigger club in a bigger league. Ideally a club without a great deal of history (silverware wise) or a league where there was a monopoly on the title that hadn't been broken for some time. I wanted the difficult balance of potential for building yet a size that meant I wouldn't be a complete minnow. Which league or country I didn't really mind.

At this point I had leagues loaded in England, Scotland, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Greece, Turkey, Portugal and Holland. Some only the top flight but there was plenty of places to go. I also didn't mind revisting somewhere I'd been before.

Career Recap

I would just put up the club history from the manager profile but it is horribly broken, and one of the few things in FM13 that really disappoints me. For someone playing a long career a working club history screen would be fantastic.

So I've broke it down into some key information. I think I'm at that the definite journeyman stage. Several clubs, some limited success. Silverware is silverware though.

Clubs Managed: 8

Oskarshamn
Eskilstuna City
Leeds
Aberdeen
Houstan Dynamo
Boavista
Degerfors
Vasteras SK

Countries Managed: 2

Republic of Ireland u19's (and 1 Republic of Ireland Senior game as caretaker!)
Morocco

Countries Managed In: 7

Sweden
England
Scotland
USA
Portugal
Ireland
Morocco

Silverware: 5

Swedish Second Division SS Title
Swedish First Division North Title (X2)
Scottish First Division Title
Scottish Challenge Cup

Prophecy Lite? [2027]

With 5 games to go the title seemed unlikely, although not impossible. We were in the fight for automatic promotion or a playoff just like last season though. So in a way we seemed to be potentially fulfilling a 'lite' version of the prophecy - 3rd place finishes leading to some sort of success the season after.

Our form at the end wasn't anything special but we held onto 3rd place to grab a playoff spot for the 2nd season running. At this point I should be pleased. We had performed above expectations, well above, two seasons running considering we had one of the lowest reps and smallest budgets in the league. All this alongside having to sell our two best players. But honestly I was just nervous. Losing in the playoffs would crush me.

This season we had Brage, who had gone up last year. Probably the best opponents we could get from our point of view.

Playoffs

Two goals and a clean sheet put us in a commanding position against a team that looked ordinary. We then followed it up with a 1-1 draw away. They went ahead and we didn't equalise until the 89th minute through Broberg, again, so it looked a little dodgy at times.

But that was it we had been promoted to the Swedish top flight!

In the process I managed to get the Manager of the Year award too. Not bad, not bad at all.

End of Season Review

We had definitely punched above our weight. The team pulled together well though despite the loss of key players. The new players in didn't quite fill the gap but it was enough.

I'll be honest I don't have a great deal of confidence for next year. We've done well against top flight sides in the cup, or even relegated sides but the squad is small, young and doesn't have very many players that I would consider top flight. They are all very replaceable players (Sorry Wallinder!) but the problem for me (not for them) is I doubt I can bring many decent replacements in. Our rep is lagging behind us, we're not very rich and the players that are interested have inflated prices.

I'll do what I can and see how we performed. But I think relegation straight back down is on the cards, and I'm not attached enough to the club for that. I'll be keeping an eye out for opportunities elsewhere.

Steady as she goes: Consistency for Vasteras [2027]

I had been a bit doom and gloom before with the sale of Wallgren but it seemed a little premature. Despite losing his goals the rest of the team stepped up. I don't think anyone took over directly but the extra goals got spread around. We weren't quite making up for the loss but our goal difference improved as the defence tightened up a little - so overall there was an improvement.

4th wasn't bad at this stage.

A potential hiccup arose though. Posing the same question as before. Would we push for promotion or become a selling club? Bids came in from all over for Alexandersson. I was hoping we could sell and still push for promotion.

I managed to offload him for £250k and another 30% sell on. The money got reinvested fast. First of all the board agreed to improve the youth facilities for £350k and then I brought in three players.

Jijdso and Niscosia for the AMC and ST role - young and promising but pricey. Holmberg was proven at the leve below, and whilst not cheap would hopefully shore things up front whilsts we got on without Alexandersson.

The sale demonstrated something a little worrying as well. Qviding had £250k to waste on a single player. They were in the same division and much lower. Mid-table Elite mediocrity was their standard at the moment yet they had much more financial muscle then we could hope to have at this stage. We were very much minnows.

Promotion Push or Selling Club? [2027]

We had just missed out on promotion the season before so now we had to build and push on. Automatic promotion would have been nice but still a bit of an ask with the players available. That said we had 'the prophecy' behind us. Finishing 3rd normally resulted in the title the season after. Admittedly at the level below but maybe it would apply here?

I had hoped that the high finish would boost our rep, and it had, but not to the point of attracting better players. As a club despite the rise our rep was still lower than some teams in the divisions below. It would be a case of recruiting naive youth I think.

My worries from the end of the season were further confirmed when bids for Wallgren and Alexandersson came in. I managed to dodge the Alexandersson ones for the moment as they were too low but when a £250k bid came in for Wallgren I started to cave. I managed to negotiate it up to £300k with a 30% sell on but it was still a big loss.

The money helped though and the club accountant seemed happier. Even after I got the board to improve youth recruitment to excellent. I reinvested a little in some young players as well (though only around 20k total).





Draskic came in as a long term replacement on the left. Hopefully he'd fit in well.

Rubarth was there to compete with Broberg and now Alexandersson for the ST role.

Bjorklund gave us a bit more cover in midfield and looked very promising.

So...on with the season. How well we do depends on if we can replace the goals of Wallgren I think.

Swedish Squeaky Bum Time [2026]

With 5 games to go this is how the table looked...

We were in the promotion race properly. Our form had been extremely good for a side tipped for relegation and we seemed like we would be able to maintain our level of performance. The big question was how would the teams around us perform?

In the end they did a little better although we did take it down to the last game of the season, or two if we're being fair. With two games to go we bottled it a little. In our penultimate game we bottled it and Brage, our promotion rivals, came back against Degefors to secure a win. That put them ahead of us. Going into our final game we could have still pinched 2nd but we needed to win and Brage needed to lose. We won in style but Brage finished things off and left us in 3rd place instead.

I was pretty upset by this. Which was daft considering 3rd meant we were in the promotion play offs. We would have to face whoever was in the relegation playoff place in the division above. There was a bit of a wait as the premiership had 3 games to go but eventually we found out who we would be playing - Varnamo.

1st Leg

We took the lead and then pretty much proceeded to hammer them. Nothing really came of it but a 1-0 result at home gave us the advantage and meant they didn't have any away goals.

2nd Leg

Boo. They took the lead early and held on to it. My team just couldn't get back into it. They were tired but they still didn't play as well as they should have done. One goal would have won the tie for us on away goals but it never came.

I shouted at the players in the post match comments and they all ended fired up. A nice response but a little too later. Top flight Swedish football would have to wait another season.

What now?

This season demonstrated we had a capable team and with some extra players and slight improvements I think we could finish higher still. 3rd place was also my highest finish in Sweden. With 'Tuna the best I'd managed was to scrape 9th. Potentially there are huge problems though,

First of all I'm not convinced I can keep our key players. Most of them only have a year left, other teams have been sniffing round pretty much every one of my first 11 and some like Wallgren and Alexandersson have had the dreaded 'ambition' talk. I had to actually turn down a £220k bid for Wallgren. If it came in again I don't think I could get away with turning it down.

Normally I wouldn't be too bothered. If they were unhappy and valuable I'd ship them off and replace them but I'm not convinced I could replace them properly.  A quick search finds very few players either willing to come or cheap enough to come. We've punched above our weight in the league but financially were well behind the rest of the teams in the Elite and and the Premiership. Our rep, although improved, lags behind as well.

I think I need to see if I can extend a lot of contracts. If they accept they might get grumpy later on but at least I'll have the option of keeping unhappy but good players, or selling them on for more cash.

The next problem is I think we've lost the element of surprise. We'll be rated high next season and so teams will play differently from the off. My 3-2-2-2-1 tactic with counter attack style has worked well his season but I think it might be a little less effective next time round. I might be able to switch styles and make some tweaks but such changes normally take a little while to be effective.

The third and final problem is probably recruitment. I'll be losing a few players that have been cover this season. Mainly because I couldn't keep them happy and they were moaning, which led to complaints of poor squad harmony. But it's difficult to recruit players without promising them lots at the moment. My targets don't want to hear that they'll be squad rotation, they want to be important at least, which causes all sorts of problems. I'm thinking of just filling the gaps from the youth team for this coming season and leaving my hollow promises for a while. Maybe my rep will increase the season after and I'll be able to lie less to get players to join.

Punching Above Our Weight [2026]

Season preparation was pretty light so I might as well cover it and the halfway stage in one go!


Season Start

As I was pretty happy with the squad I only ended up bringing in two players. A keeper and a youth right back.

Haginge was from my former team Degerfors. I'd raided them before and usually for a player who had been 1st team for me. Hanginge hadn't been. He had been a back up keeper but he was the best I could find who was willing to join and from his stats he looked like I might have underestimated him whilst at Degerfors. I don't think he was at the time as strong as my 1st choice keeper but he looked to have some potential.

The plan was to ease him gently into first team football and if he was reliable, phase Carl out.

Oldinger was maybe a prospect for the future. He was free so worth a go.


Halfway Through

A slightly longer season than we had been previously used to with 30 games in total. After 15 we looked in really good shape. As the title suggests we were punching well above our weight and pretty much matching the teams that had been expected to trounce us.

7th place was pretty impressive, as were the scalps we had taken and the manner in which we had done so. These weren't lucky results.

Importantly it meant we were getting closer to to a points tally that would guarantee us safety. I'd set 45 as the target. 40 had been enough in most previous seasons but 45 would hopefully mean not having to worry about a relegation play off.


Player performances were good...

...and though it might have been a little premature I wasn't that worried about relegation. We definitely seemed stronger than a lot of clubs and the team were playing well. At this point I felt it would have taken an insane collapse for us to drop into serious danger. I was actually starting to entertain thoughts of a sneaky promotion instead...

According to the prophecy... [2025]

At the end of last season after finishing well but not quite making the promotion places I mentioned an odd fact - every time a team of mine has finished 3rd in the Swedish First Division North it has won the title and promotion the next season. I did it with 'Tuna City, Degefors managed it without me in the second season and now....now I can add Vasteras SK to the list.

It was really tight and came down to the last game of the season to confirm it. Form and fixture wise I was in 1st place for the last few games but Brage pushed all the way. I didn't make it easy after some patchy performances at the tail end of the season but a draw on the final day to Sandvikens was enough. Our goal difference saw us through.

The squad pulled together pretty well and it was difficult to pick just one stand out player.

Hammnskog was ever present and picked up 9 assists. He bossed most of the games he was in.

Yilmaz had a similar impact in defense and chipped in with 8 goals, mainly from set pieces. He was in control though at the back and we looked much better with him playing. He gradually pushed Ozgen out of the starting 11.

A surprise player was Erik Johansson. He had been my striker last season and with the competition up front I didn't expect him to get much playing time. I had started training him as an AMC though so when injuries forced me to play him early on in the season he took his chance. He ended up with an impressive 8 assists and 4 goals from playing just behind the striker.

Broberg and Wallgren did well in rotation with each other. Neither reached the heights of last season but it was nice to know that regardless of who started I still had a threat on the bench to play.

Next Season

As we played so well, and took a few top flight scalps in the cup, I'm feeling pretty confident. The squad is settled and most of the players are developing. A benefit of having so many young players now is that I don't have to rush to replace any retiring team members.

The area I definitely need to improve on is the Keeper. I said that last year and had to revert back to Carl in net. He did well enough but he looks shaky in the match engine. I either need a direct replacement or a player who can understudy for a season and then replace him. I don't think Carl has many more seasons left in him.

On target despite wobbles [2025]

At the midway point in the season we found ourselves pretty much on target. The team were playing well together and clocking up wins.

Second place was great and we were within reach of first. The only worry was that sometimes we would throw away a match or drop points. Most of those draws should have been wins, and the losses at least draws.

It was a bit worrying to have those kind of dips in form as teams all the way down to 6th were still pretty much in contention.

There isn't much else to add at this point. Wallgren and Broberg have worked well in rotation for the striker role. Broberg doesn't look like he'll be getting as many goals as before but he's still offering a lot from the bench. Alexandersson can also play up front and has but he seems much better just sat behind the striker.

I've already started to get interest in some of my key players like Wallgren, Alexandersson, Yilmaz and even Asberg. Frankly I think we need to secure promotion if we don't want to lose them. The club isn't poor but we don't have the status or funds to keep them at this level.

Vasteras: Start of Round Two [2025]

So it was time to build for the next season. The board wanted a top half finish and the media though that 4th might be manageable. I would of course be gunning for 1st place.

In terms of building I didn't think we needed a great deal. I wanted a few options up front. Some cover in midfield and defence and ideally a new keeper.

My keeper Max was getting on and was now just average for this level. He got the most clean sheets last year so I wanted him to stay on but not at the wages he was demanding. He wanted too much and I let him go, pinning my hopes a youth Keeper called Patrik Sloth who had been released by Angleholm.

Things didn't quite work out though. Sloth wouldn't agree terms, neither would any other released keeper so I ended up offering a contract to the now released Max, at higher wages than I'd wanted. I had to completely eat humble pie.

Elsewhere though things were a little more promising.

In attack and potentially midfield we managed to recruit Wallgren and Alexandersson.

Wallgren played for promoted Falkenberg and was the top goal scorer in the First Division South. I managed to get him before the season ended and Falkenberg gained promotion so I feel a little sorry for him. But he looks amazing and he's got a good record. I was tracking him for sometime.

Alexandersson looks like he's cut from the same mold and has top flight experience after time with Orgyte.


In midfield I only really brought in one player, Karlsson. A defensive minded midfielder who would cover both the BWM and DLP roles.

In defence a few more were added, Yilmaz, Gashi and (after a few games into the season) my favourite Wallinder!

Yilmaz looked physically up for the role in the back 3 and because of his ML role might even be worth a try in the WBL role.

Gashi was a bit of a long shot but the scouts were convinced he had potential.


Wallinder has now played for me 3 times, for 3 different clubs. He can cover the wingback positions and can do so well from past experience. He'd provide cover I could rotate in and competition to keep my current wingbacks on their toes. Oddly Wallinder will now be back up for Asberg, when previously at Degerfors it was the other way round!

The Cup

Normally wouldn't mention the Cup but we did really well. We got out of the group and took AIK into extra time. And even then they only won because of an OG that was completely against the run of play. We went up against 3 top flight sides and although we only beat one we more than matched each one of them on the pitch. A good sign for the new season?

The Kit

Inspire after reading Shwrenaldo's blog, and seeing the kit he had made, I downloaded the shirt designer and made a couple of new ones for Vasteras! I wish I could work out how to insert them as the kit you see during the match.

Home

Away

Now Vasteras actually play with hoops rather than stripes as far as I'm aware but it's 2025 in my game and I though maybe they'd change things slightly.

I'm pretty sure they're not sponsored by either Puma or Koppaberg but they seemed fitting. I loved  making the kits. Adds another level of immersion into the game for me. Which is why I'm desperate to have them in the match engine - but I don't think my skills are up to it.

Valiant Vasteras [2024]

As the second half of the season progessed we hit a really good run of form. The team were happy with the tactic, they were settled and fit and confidence was a high. A good combination. The team seemed relaxed as well. With fairly low expectations so long as we finished above 8th place we could chalk the season up as a success.

I wanted more though and as we played more games we started to edge closer and closer to the top 4. Then gradually it looked like we might challenge for a spot in the top 2. At one point we were only 2 points adrift.

Nerves kicked in though and the bigger squads told on our fairly small and young squad. Towards the end of the fixture list we had to play 1st place Degerfors and 2nd place ??? and we lost both games. So not only did we miss the chance to close the gap but in true 6-pointer style they extended the gap and with 2 games to go 3rd was the best we could hope for. We just had to hold on. Which I was worried might be difficult, especially considering our lost to (in my mind) rivals Degerfors.

The team rallied well and....we did. 3rd place was ours.

The more things change the more they stay the same. Over the course of the career I've played 4 seasons or so in the First Division North. I've finished 3rd twice.

The first time was with 'Tuna City, and the following season I built on it and got promotion.

The second time obviously with Degerfors. I didn't get a chance to build because of the sacking but I considered it a good omen that they also then finished 1st the following season. If we follow the tradition then 1st place should be going to Vasteras in 2025!


And I'm fairly confident. We did really well the season. Exceeded expectations  and ended up, briefly, in the promotion tussle rather than mid-table. The team is pretty strong and the players have progressed. With one or two recruits I think we should do well next season. The only thing I'm worried about is how hard it is to get out of the division generally. One automatic spot with the title and then one play off place. We'd have to play well from the off.

Again though I'm fairly confident we can do that. The tactic won't be new and I know how the players work. Some of them have come on a great deal.


Player(s) of the Season

Very difficult to chose so I didn't bother and just went for 4. In no particular order, Broberg, Al-Azhar, Khalaf and Hammenskog.

Broberg gradually became first choice striker and got a reasonable 10 goals in his first season. He needed rotating because he always seemed knackered after playing a game. At first I thought it was a combination of being young and having low natural fitness. In actual fact I'd forgotten that I'd also said he could play the full 90 for the reserves...and he had been. Broberg played over 50 games this season! Whoops.

Al-Azhar was a monster in midfield. I actually played him in the IF role and he was dribble through the defence like Messi at times. He was always a danger.

Khalaf was in the DLP position and he controlled the game really well. He'd pop up with a goal threat at times but usually he was just out passing the other side and creating space.

Next to him was Hammenskog in the BWM role. He was sat just behind Al-Azhar and would win the ball back from the opposition and either A) run with it and take a pop himself or B) run, open space and lay it on for Broberg or Al-Azhar. He would also pop up in the box at odd times and make a real nusance.

I could have added my wingbacks to the list as well. Jeppsson and Asberg shuttled up and down the wings like mad. Defending, passing and attacking. Often they would end up on the end of the move, appearing out of nowhere.

Next Season

We just need a few players I think. A striker with real goal threat to compete/rotate with Broberg would be good. Some more support for the wingbacks would be nice (though I have a Mexican left back from my youth intake who'll be stepping up too) and maybe a replacement keeper as Max is getting on.

Aside from that I don't think we need to do much. We don't have a vast amount in the bank or left in the wage budget but I think there'll be enough for a few players. Stability and gradual improvement will do!