retired_princess160

"Hjørring Idrætsforening – i daglig tale HI - blev stiftet den 9. november 1886."

So I decided to take the helm there (feck starting unemployed, I wanna PLAY!) because it's such a respectable old club. Well, it's old anyway. Apart from this googled info, I know nothing about the Danish 2nd division west and even less about its respectability.

The first three seasons

In our first season, we would have sunk without a trace (boy, do I love the new commentary in FM), ending on the higher of two relegation spots, if Silkeborg, somewhere high above us in the Premier Division, hadn't been relegated, which also dooms their B-squad, who play in our division, so I manage to end on a relegation spot without actually getting relegated :cool:

As we only have one scout available and none at all willing to sign for us (those few that bother to apply through the job centre laugh at the wages we offer), the number of scouted players is limited, thus the number actually signed minimist: 3 youngsters (amongst whom 'Jörg' and 'Bo') and 2 half-hearted attempts to fill gaps in the first
team.

As I sneakily offer some aspiring scouts spots on my staff as coach and assistant manager, I do manage to get some help in that area.

Financially we do fine: we actually make some money from playing friendlies, but none of it is made available to me. Not that that matters: I actually have a budget of some k to spend :thup:

The second season sees us clawing to mid-table, with the help of some early-season 1k/free signings. One of these, a Swedish ST bloke we'll call 'Bjørn' for privacy reasons and another gratuitious use of alt+0248, actually scores quite a few goals, almost one for every two
appearances.

Again, we make some money from friendlies and again we sign no new scouts. The one I have spends 2 months in Germany this season. No idea what he does there, but he finds no players at all. A club-paid holiday for him

In the third season, we actually get one spectecular result: one of the youngsters I signed (Finnish AML 'Jörg') is now two years older and his stats are zooming through the roof. Bought for 2k, value estimated at 160k, he leaves for 1 million Euros :eek: and isn't really missed, to be brutally honest. Guess he'll be back with his new team AB to haunt me some day.

On the pitch, we do OK-ish and end up high in the mid-table. I spend my million wisely (55% thereof), which is to say I try to buy formerly unattainable shortlisted players (alas, almost all snub my lowly club), on three players and end the season with 0,998 million (55% thereof) unspent transfer money...

At least the directors are now more than willing to honour my request to change the potato field we train on into something that resembles a proper training ground.

the 4th season

At the start of the 4th season, I therefore get a whopping 10 new youngsters :cool: Hah! If I can't buy 'em, I grow them myself

This season is weird but good. We start and end the season with 4-game winning streaks with an unbeaten streak of 12 games in the middle. We win none of those 12 either: 12 draws on the trot!! Because of those nice results, we end up second in the league and in the playoff we beat Roskilde (the other team I pondered managing, just because Roskilde hosts one of the coolest rockfestivals on earth) and get promoted!!

Bjørn scored masses of goals for us (26 league games and 4 cup games - 22 goals) and Ahmet (name faked), a guy that came with the team already, has reached the ripe age of 28 and also whacked in 18 goals. They come first and third on the top-scoring list of the division.

After the promotion, I get to spend some more on wages (not much more) and hire another two scouts (who look as crap as the first one). I now get more names of scouted players, but to be fair, they are all just as crap and if I dare to scout outside Scandinavia (in other words: in Germany) I get 0 results again. Odd, that.

the fifth season, Danish First Division

We are called relegation material, but Bjørn and Ahmet (who has the edge this season, netting 20 in 25 games) just can't stop scoring: even if the opponent score loads, we score as many back (and often one more) and we find ourselves back on the third spot at the end of the season :eek: and who knows what might have been if there hadn't been that one horrible match: playing against number two AB our luck (that now is already spanning two seasons) leaves us. One penalty against, one own goal, one red card (for my star DC) and Bjørn and Ahmet injured (and out for the rest of the season) within 15 minutes! All in all, I'm of course delighted with the team position and gladly tie myself to the club for another four years.

Ahmet is now leaving us (for 1.5 million), joining Jörg at AB (who are of course now dead-sure winners of our division coming season), but Bjørn is now joined by Bo, whose stats, after a loan at Premier Division Bröndby, are nothing short of amazing. Hopes for next season are high! (With me, in any case. The directors and fans are still trying to cope with the fact that we play in the First Division and worry about relegation. )

Apart from the ones I mentioned already, the few signings (A GK, a DC, a DMC, an AML and an MC) I got over the seasons turn out to be gems, every single one of them (which starts to make me doubt my own judgement of my scout!), and by now I have replaced just about two thirds of the original squad with a better counterpart, retaining those that even score well on this level.

I now have my eyes on several very good players, but despite getting 700k to spend and being allowed a wage budget that is (for now) 6k over what I am spending right now, I can't get any 'bigger' player to sign for our team, not even for relatively silly money. Guess our reputation needs working on. (Maybe if I win the cup? )

So far, me as a manager

So does my own, by the way: I am scoring 19/20 for my ability to handle pressure and the media and for behaving like full pro, but alledgedly I'm a soft touch and a double-crossing so-and-so: my ambition is 5/6, so is my loyalty. The only thing that went unchanged over the seasons is my temperament: steady at 10.

Despite my tactics working OK, I won't be able to silence my Ajax-heart much longer: instead of reacting to the opponent, I would like to dictate the game. The few experiments I tried in that direction failed so far, so I guess I really am mirroring Danny Blind/Ajax

retired_sherry320

KUTG avoiding relegation on a technicality

retired_skinner3

Just when we start to like Ahmet...he leaves.

KUTGW :thup:

retired_Lalalalare

cool update, good read. KUTGW!! :thup:

retired_Harish Chandra

Wah! I'm confused :thup: KUTAW

retired_princess160

the sixth season - Danish First Division

We lose the first match and draw the second. So much for my thoughts of dominating the league. But then it happens. In the cup, we get behind against some none-league opposition. This irritates me so, that I decide to play the all-out attack I usually reserve for weak opponents when playing at home. We score 4 goals in 15 minutes!

That must have given my players the idea, because after that we go on an unbeaten run of 15 games and not only are we unbeaten, we also enjoy a winning streak of 12 games on the trot!

By half-season, we're three points over Vejle (who freshly came down, but are clearly on the way back up), who in turn are 8 points over my old friends Silkeborg.

Bo and Bjørn do most of the scoring, but my new AML 'Pekka' takes a few, too.

With about 6 games to go in the season, we drop the ball for the first time and Vejle immediately catch up with us. The week after we play away against them and they send us home with a 1-4 defeat in our pockets. After that, we loosely cruise towards the second spot in the league. As I am waiting to see who our play-off opponents will be, I get notified that we've won promotion :eek: There is no play-off, second place gets promoted, too

Cue much rejoicing in the northern tip of Denmark (in case you were wondering where Hjørring is).

In the meanwhile, our reserves won their league and so did our under-18 team. In that team we have a home grown boy by the name of 'Kim'. He plays 50 games this season (for the U18s and the reserves - how he does this is beyond me, my first teamers are knackered by half-season, after 15 games. Must ask the fitness coach of the youngsters what he puts in their food ) and knocks in 60 :eek: of their 105 :eek: goals.

After the season, I get a barrage of offers for him, but I manage to warn them off and in the next season, on the morning of his 17th birthday, I managed to sign him for five years. I think I got a winner there

Start of the seventh season - Danish premier division

I guess I need winners, too, because even though we started OK in the Premier Division (1 loss, 3 draws, 1 win) we are now on a 4 match losing streak, one point clear of the dropzon.

It's going to be tough to sign winners, however: even though I'm a stunning 29k under my wage budget, the board won't let me offer more than €30 a week to potential scouts, so I'm still stuck with the same two old holiday-makers...

Bo, who missed a couple of games at the end of last season through injury, is still not back at his old form, even though Bjørn (about whom I regularly get glowing reports from my assistant, always claiming he's gonna keep this up for a while yet) keeps slotting them home. Ever since he signed for us, he scores about .8 goals per match. He's 30 now, I fear for the day he retires

Then again, we got Kim He hasn't scored for the seniors yet, but I play him only as a sub, once per two games. Wouldn't wanna waste him by burning him up too soon!

With Christmas fast approaching, here's hoping that the board will see light and let me spend more on wages!

retired_elizabethlacey

great work,i love your detailed updates

KUTGW

retired_crazybonejr

Detailed updates? That sounds like a story to me.

No offence, DJ, but they're a tad long.